“Be that as it may, he got the three cases containing the gold plate placed so near the car door that they could be quickly removed after arriving in New York. He further fooled Gilbert, moreover, into letting him forge a copy of the bill of lading, probably on a blank already obtained.”
“Sure thing,” Chick nodded. “That’s as plain as twice two.”
“He was on Gilbert’s trail from the time he left New York.”
“If we could discover his identity——”
“Leave that to me,” Nick interrupted. “Call in Patsy, also Waldmere, and his wife. Stay—wait one moment!”
Nick arose abruptly and approached a large roll-top desk near one of the walls. The cover of it was raised. Taking a lens from his pocket, Nick examined the polished woodwork on all sides, including the faces of several small interior drawers, surveying all of them at an angle that caught the light in a way that served his purpose.
“Now, Chick, I’m ready,” he remarked, resuming his seat.
Patsy Garvan entered a few moments later, followed immediately by Waldmere and his wife. Both gazed inquiringly at the detective, anxious to know what he had learned, but Nick did not inform them. Instead, addressing Waldmere, he said, with seeming indifference:
“I will have finished in a short time. I think you said, Waldmere, that the inventory of the twenty cases, which was mailed to you from London, was received about two weeks ago.”
“Yes. Just about that,” Waldmere nodded.