Nick explained very briefly what had taken place in Hartley’s establishment.
“So the diamonds are actually lost?” asked Patsy.
“It seems so,” was the reply. “The sailors got them, in what manner I hope soon to learn, and turned them over to the agent. The agent put them in his trunk in their presence and checked them to New York. When the trunk got to Hartley’s the diamonds were gone, and a counterfeit package lay in the trunk. And it seems that both the sailor and the agent went to Hartley for their pay, which they would not have done if they had played him false. It is a great mix-up, and the finding of the men who took the diamonds from the house seems to have little bearing on the finding of the man who killed Alvin Maynard.”
“There must be some common-sense solution,” said Patsy.
“I have thought,” said Nick, “that the sailors took from the house a package supposed to contain the diamonds, but I can’t imagine them traveling to the station and turning over what they had to the agent without knowing whether they had the gems or not. They would not trust to appearances—such men never do.”
“Chick may learn something up at the Maynard house,” suggested Patsy.
“In the meantime,” said Nick, “we ought to get our hand on that bully and lock him up. But this should be done without letting Hartley know that he has been arrested. Now, I am going up to the Maynard house to-night, and I want you to manage the arrest of the bully. String a line of men around the whole block, if necessary, but get him! I’ll be back in the morning. And, when you arrest the fellow, don’t let him communicate with any one. Hartley would make a jump for liberty that might give us a long chase.”
It was eight o’clock when the detective left a train at the little suburban railroad station. Chick stood on the platform waiting for him.
“What’s the news?” asked the chief.