“Not more than a mile.”
“I’ve been told Harvey Maxwell has a hotel located in Canada.”
“Yeah,” nodded the sheriff, following her thought. “We’ve known for years that furs were being smuggled, but we never once suspected the outfit was located here at Pine Top. And no wonder. This scheme is clever, so elaborate a fellow never would think of it. The underground railroad, complete with drainage pumps, storage rooms and electric lights, crosses the border and connects with the Canadian hotel. Fergus and Maxwell buy furs cheap and send them here without paying duty.”
“And teletype communication is maintained just as it is on a real railroad,” added Penny. “Fergus and Maxwell must have bought up the old mine just so they could make use of the tunnels. And they wanted to get rid of Mrs. Downey’s Inn so there would be no possible danger of a leak. How large do you suppose the smuggling ring is, Mr. Clausson?”
“Large enough. Likely it will take weeks to get all of the guilty persons rounded up. But I’m satisfied we have the main persons.”
“If I interpreted the code message right, a fur train should be coming in about eleven-thirty.”
“My men will be waiting,” the sheriff said grimly. “I’ll get busy now and tip off the Canadian authorities, so they can close in on the gang from the other end of the line.”
“What about Fergus and Maxwell?” asked Penny. “There’s no chance they can trump up a story and get free?”
“Not a chance,” returned the sheriff gruffly. “You’ve done your work, and now I’ll do mine.”
Penny started to turn away, then paused. “Oh, may I ask a favor?”