“It says here that a box of furs valued at $8,500 was stolen last night from Pier 23. So far the police haven’t traced the thieves.”
Dan relieved Brad of the newspaper and read the account for himself. The story related that during the early hours of the evening, a fast motorboat had pulled alongside of Pier 23 where a box of furs had been piled up with other merchandise for shipment. Before the warehouse watchman had suspected what was happening, the craft with its unknown occupants had sped away into the darkness.
“Say, do you suppose that could have been the same boat that struck us last night?” Dan demanded as he finished reading the story.
“What time did the robbery occur?” Midge asked thoughtfully.
“The story doesn’t say. But you remember, the boat was showing no lights, and coming from the general direction of the docks.”
“That’s true,” Midge admitted, impressed. “All the same, Manheim isn’t the type of man to get mixed up in a fur theft. In the first place, he has plenty of money.”
“We may have been mistaken about it being the Manheim boat,” Dan argued.
“In any case, this story about the fur theft is interesting,” Brad said, rereading it. “It looks to me as if the river pirates are getting pretty bold when they can pull off a robbery practically under the eyes of the watchman.”
“I wish we had more information,” Midge remarked. “Pier 23 isn’t far from here. Why not go there and see if we can pick up any more information.”
The proposal appealed to Brad and Dan. Finishing their drinks, they caught a bus which dropped them off a few minutes later at the commercial area of the river.