“Our theory is built chiefly upon trivial circumstances, all of which are significant enough, I’ll admit, and sufficiently numerous to warrant considerable suspicion. But we must secure more positive evidence before we can take any decisive action against these suspects.”
“I guess that is right, Nick.”
“We ought to get the evidence easily enough, if we really have located the crooks,” declared Patsy.
Nick Carter laughed again, with a glance at the eager eyes of the youthful detective.
“That one word, really, is quite important, Patsy,” said he. “It is barely possible that we are mistaken, at least in part, if not entirely so. Circumstantial evidence is never wholly trustworthy.”
“I’ll bet you are right, sir, for all that,” insisted Patsy, with abiding faith in Nick’s shrewdness.
“I shall first make sure that I am,” said Nick, “by taking some step to confirm my theory. As for securing the evidence with which to convict these rascals, Patsy, that may not be done as easily as you think. If they become wary, fearing that we suspect them, they not only may drop the business entirely for a time, but may also cover their past tracks so cleverly as to conceal the evidence that we require.”
“I hadn’t thought of that, sir.”
“It’s too true for a joke, Nick, and we cannot be too careful and crafty at the outset,” Chick gravely put in, now taking the measure of the case quite as clearly as Nick himself. “What do you intend doing?”