"Yeah, but where are they now?" Muggs wanted to know.
"Not in the building, you may be sure. They managed to get out in some manner."
"And what did they swipe?"
"The superintendent will have to tell that, I suppose. There are several thousand things in this place, Muggs, that are almost priceless. The Black Star has done it again. Let's go downstairs and see if there is anything in the nature of a clew."
They hurried down the stairs. The superintendent of the museum had just arrived—a worried, frantic superintendent who immediately telephoned for more guards and one of his assistants.
"I am almost afraid to look," he announced. "Do you suppose anything has been taken?"
"That little side door is unlocked," one of the detectives reported to the chief.
"It shouldn't be," said the superintendent. "It always is locked except when we are receiving new exhibits, which are delivered at that entrance."
Verbeck grasped one of the officers by the arm.
"Have you watched closely all night?" he demanded.