“Nick Carter!” exclaimed a voice that had not yet been heard in all the talk.
“Do you think so?” asked Elwell.
“Who else? Who knew of it being here but Lannigan and I,” said the same voice.
“Has everything been taken out?” asked Elwell.
“Every blessed scrap of paper,” replied Lannigan. “And a lot of newspapers put in their place.”
“Lannigan,” said Elwell, “I believe that both you and your friend are square in this matter. I believe that you have really been robbed. This makes it all the more serious. For we now do not know in whose hands they are.”
“Nick Carter’s, I tell you!” exclaimed the strange voice again.
“Perhaps,” said Elwell. “If they are, then we are all of us done.”
“Beat to a finish,” said Seaman.
“He’ll die for it if he has swiped them,” almost shouted Lannigan, wild in his anger.