“Just what do you suppose was my object in getting you out of jail?” Sautee asked seriously, leaning over the table and looking at Rathburn searchingly. “You said last night you were a good guesser.”
“But I didn’t say I was good at riddles,” drawled Rathburn.
Sautee leaned back. For a moment there was a gleam of admiration in his eyes. Then they narrowed slightly.
“The Dixie Queen has been robbed four times within the last year,” he said soberly. “That represents considerable money. Yesterday I resorted to a ruse and sent the money up with a truck driver, but whoever is doing this thing must have got wise somehow, for the truck driver was held up, as you know, and the money taken.”
“Why not put an armed guard on that truck?” asked Rathburn with a yawn.
“I had full confidence in that ruse, and I knew the man who drove the truck could be trusted. Besides, he didn’t know what was inside the package.”
“How much did they get?” asked Rathburn sharply.
“Twenty-two thousand eight hundred and seventy dollars in cash.”
Rathburn stared at the mine manager and whistled softly. “What’s the sense in sending it up there at all?” he asked suddenly. “Why not pay off down here in town?”