"Well, do your best, Coombes. Tell your inspector that I am offering two hundred pounds reward for the capture and conviction of the burglar or burglars. Let me know at once if there is any information."
"Very good, sir," said the sergeant, and, saluting, he withdrew.
"Now, Atherton, have you any suggestions to make?" asked Sir Silas. "You are the—er—Leader, don't you call it?—of the patrol. But perhaps you haven't had time to consider the case properly?"
"Can I examine the window by which the burglars are supposed to have entered, sir?"
"Certainly, you have a free hand."
"I wonder if Sir Silas is trying to pull Atherton's leg?" whispered Baker to his chum Everest.
"Shut up!" replied Everest. "If he is, he doesn't know Atherton as I do. Atherton's on to something, I'll stake my word."
The Leader of the "Otters" carefully examined the marks of the jemmy, tried the window fastenings and the sash frames.
"Now, sir, may I see the lock of the safe?"
Sir Silas pointed to the cut-out portion of metal containing the complicated lock.