“Great guns, this does settle it!” Chick exclaimed. “What kind of a rigging is it? What use had they for this huge basket?”
A brief inspection of the several articles enabled Nick to hit upon the truth.
“It’s perfectly plain, Chick,” he replied. “That basket was hung from the end of the joist and lowered to Strickland’s bedroom window. That was done after one of the crooks had descended and entered through the bathroom. He probably was the only one in Strickland’s flat. Notice the long cord on each end of the basket.”
“What do you make of them?”
“One was used to draw the suspended basket to a window of this house, the other to draw it back again to that in Strickland’s bedroom. The crook in that apartment loaded the basket with portions of the plunder, as speedily as he could transfer it to the bedroom, and his confederate then drew it to a window of this house and unloaded it. There is no telling how many times that was repeated. Another confederate was probably at work on the roof, from which he could easily have guided the basket and in other ways assisted the thief in the flat below. That’s how it was done, Chick, as sure as fate.”
“By Jove, I believe you are right.”
“This rigging tells the story.”
“But why the alleged death of the housekeeper, the casket, the flowers, the——”
“It may be explained with a breath,” Nick interrupted. “Vaughn evidently is an exceedingly clever crook, also the two women who have been living here with him. They became friendly with Strickland only to learn his habits and the feasibility of this job. It was planned for last evening, and the rascals would have found a way to lure him from the flat, even if his niece and Arthur Gordon had not saved them the trouble.”
“No doubt,” Chick quickly allowed.