“More valuable!” exclaimed Dick.
“Yes. Why not? Precious stones—or a secret of some sort worth thousands of dollars.”
Sandy sat up, clutching the sides of his chair.
“I’ll say this is getting interesting. You’re arousing my curiosity, corporal. I love a mystery.”
“Well, you have one here,” smiled Rand. “The morning after the murder I came to the conclusion that it would not be a very difficult case. However, it seems that I was wrong. Apparently, ‘Rat’ MacGregor is not the only person involved. Before we sift this thing to the bottom, we may discover that many persons are implicated. It is one of the most mysterious, unusual cases with which I have ever had to deal.”
“How do you purpose to work it all out?”
“I’m almost wholly at a loss to know. I haven’t a great deal to go on. It occurred to me that you boys might be able to pick up information that I couldn’t get myself. You may be able to find a clew. In the meantime, I’m going over to Crooked Stick River—the place where Dewberry came from just before the murder—and question some of the people there. Perhaps Dewberry had a friend or two in whom he confided. Certain it is that the contents of that poke has been seen by someone. Otherwise, to use a well known expression, MacGregor never would have been ‘tipped off.’”
“Don’t you suppose that Dewberry might have told MacGregor about his secret?” asked Dick.
“Scarcely likely. MacGregor was hardly the type of person in whom one would confide. He was a notorious character here in the North. He had a very unsavory reputation. At various times he had been implicated in certain questionable undertakings, and once had served a term in jail.”
“You think, then, that MacGregor had been following Dewberry?”