“But the women have been here ever since the row started.”
“Then they took the money before that time. They might have taken it during the afternoon, for all I know. They had chances enough if they knew the combination, and they must have learned that, or they could not have taken it at all, for the safe was locked.”
“Where is the safe?” asked Nick.
“In a little room at the back end of the saloon.”
“Near the private staircase?”
“Close to it.”
“Is your name Jim?” asked the detective.
“Not for a minute,” was the reply. “Jim is the bartender.”
Nick glanced at the women. They threw him an appealing glance and turned their eyes away.
“Perhaps he took the money,” suggested Nick.