“I refused to open the vault—at first. But he produced some dynamite and told me he was going to blow it open. He said he would tie me close enough to see it bust. There wasn’t anything for me to do except to open it. Then he roped me to a chair, put a gag in my mouth and helped himself. There was enough light through that side window for me to see that he put everything in a sack.”
“Masked?” asked Kelsey.
“Yes. I wish one of you would wire Ludlow. What was that crash that broke the front window?”
“Some drunken cowboys,” growled Kelsey. “How long before that did the robbery take place?”
“Possibly fifteen minutes. Might have been longer. But there was another man in here after that crash. I couldn’t see what he looked like, but he felt all over me, and then I heard him go out through the back door.”
Kelsey squinted closely at Sleepy, but Sleepy looked very innocent. His blue eyes did not waver for an instant.
“Pretty queer!” snorted Kelsey.
“Ain’t it?” agreed Sleepy. “Queerest thing I ever heard.”
“It might have been the man who tied me up,” said Warner.
Warner was a small, thin-faced man, slightly stooped, wearing steel-bowed glasses. He took them from his pocket and hooked the bows over his ears, his hands trembling.