“I guess, Gilbert, daylight will be necessary for a further investigation,” Nick replied.
“That’s right, too,” Chick agreed. “It don’t seem possible that the job could have been done from here. The rascals would have been blown away with their plunder.”
“It is much more windy than early in the evening,” Nick rejoined. “We’ll wait till morning to seek further.”
“That’s good judgment, Nick, in my opinion.”
“Go ahead. I’ll follow you.”
Both crawled through the scuttle and picked their way down the steep ladder, and five minutes later found them again in the Strickland apartment.
The elderly German still was moaning over the loss of his costly treasures. He looked up with anxious eyes when the detectives entered, saying quickly:
“Don’t keep me in suspense. What have you learned, Mr. Carter?”
Nick smiled faintly and shook his head.
“You must not expect too much of us, Mr. Strickland,” he replied kindly. “Such problems as this are not solved in a moment. Most of our discoveries thus far are of a negative character.”