“Ah, I see!” Nick nodded. “The plate has been stolen during transportation.”
“Exactly.”
“Tell me what you know about it.”
“That can be briefly told. Archie wrote to his London agent, Mr. Cherry, a thoroughly reliable man, giving him all of the necessary directions. Mr. Cherry had the goods packed for shipment. They filled twenty large cases. These were marked and numbered to correspond with an inventory mailed to Archie, stating what each case contained.”
“The inventory was duly received?” Nick questioned.
“Yes, it came nearly two weeks ago.”
“Continue.”
“The goods were shipped on the liner Flodora, which should have arrived in New York five days ago. As you may have read in the newspapers, however, she had a break in some part of her engine and was compelled to put into Boston, where her cargo was discharged and shipped to New York by rail. We were notified by New York agents on the day of her arrival, informing us how our shipment would be forwarded.”
“I follow you,” said Nick.
“To guard against any mishap, Mr. Carter, we then sent our chauffeur to Boston to engage a special car for our goods and to see that all of the twenty cases were put into it.”