“Come to the point, eh?” he replied, still smiling. “That is a very good suggestion, Mr. Carter, and I will act upon it. Mr. Goulard, the junior partner of our firm, was to have met here to discuss our business with you. Pending his arrival, however, I will do what you suggest and tell you why I am here.”
“Very good. I am all ears,” Nick remarked, knocking the ashes from his cigar.
“I am here, Mr. Carter, because of the tremendous leak in our business,” said Frank, more gravely. “I refer, of course, to the department store of Mantell & Goulard, of which I am one of the managers. My father, you know, is the senior partner.”
“I am acquainted with your father,” Nick bowed. “When was this leak discovered?”
“Six months ago, after our semiannual taking of stock. Our business showed a shrinkage of more than thirty thousand dollars. That of the past six months is even worse, running close to fifty thousand. In other words, Mr. Carter, the leakage the past year is close upon eighty thousand dollars.”
“Much too large to be charged to the profit-and-loss account,” said Nick. “Are you unable to discover the cause?”
“Quite the contrary, Mr. Carter,” said Mantell. “We know the cause.”
“Namely?”
“Robbery.”
“Money?”