“Was that safe locked when you left town?”
“Yes,” replied Mr. Herron, “and the curious thing is that, before leaving town, I changed the combination without informing my wife of the change—a habit of mine always on leaving town.”
“Did you tell no one of that change?” asked Nick.
“I told no one, but, making a memorandum of it, placed it in my pocketbook.”
“And yet the safe was opened?” asked Nick.
“Yes, and without force.”
“I observed that your plate was kept in a dining-room safe?”
“Yes; and that has, also, a combination lock. That, however, was not changed, and was in the possession of the butler, who is an old and trusted servant.”
Mr. Herron paused a moment, and then went on:
“Of course, no one likes to lose a value of $8,000, but I would have been quite willing to have sustained that loss if that which I believe was the sole purpose of the burglary had been left me. It was for that that the desks and drawers were ransacked. That cost me, in actual outlay, $25,000, and, in the loss of its possession, deprives me of what I feel that I am justified in calling a large fortune.”