Nick smiled and resumed his seat.
“I wouldn’t confide in either of them,” he replied. “I have, as you infer, come to at least one conclusion.[{13}]”
“What is that?”
“These robberies are not the work of shoplifters nor any outside crooks,” said Nick. “They have been much too numerous and varied. The crooks are among the persons employed in the store.”
“I think so, too,” Chick nodded.
“And for that reason alone, Chick, I would confide in no one in the store, from the heads of the firm down to the boy who sweeps the back stairs,” said Nick. “That is a mistake many detectives make, that of blindly confiding, perhaps, in the very culprit they are out to get.”
“Gee! that’s right, chief,” put in Patsy.
“If any inquisitive person in that store learns of my designs, it will be only when they culminate, and his curiosity may cost him something,” Nick pointedly added. “Secrecy is imperative to successful work in a case of this kind.”
“I agree with you,” said Chick, with a nod of approval.
“It sure does look like inside work,” said Patsy. “But how do they get out with the goods? The headquarters men are not lunkheads, nor are the store detectives blind. How do the crooks get out with such quantities of merchandise?”