“I didn’t,” Dr. Stone chuckled. “It burst upon me. After the elimination of the shabby car, Rog lingered in my mind. I stopped at Jerry’s garage; talking to Jerry might bring forth some overlooked fact that might prove illuminating. But Jerry was not there, and his mechanic dropped a bomb-shell—there was eight thousand dollars in silver in the stolen money. I began to wonder if there might be two Johns: the John who sent a telegram from New York, and the John whom Rog mentioned, an entirely different John——”
“You mean——” Captain Tucker broke in suddenly.
“Yes; John Law. The crook’s name for the police. Why should they run from the police? Was it this hold-up? Eight thousand dollars in silver is something you cannot hide in your vest pocket or under your hat. They wouldn’t ride with it thrown into a car; a police drag-net would probably be searching cars. That silver would have to be carried where it would defy search. Where better than a storage-box hidden away under a car, particularly if we remember two things: First, these men had said it was an ice-box for fish. Second, they knew they weren’t going to get any fish. It held together except for one weak link.”
“What was that?”
“Had they received word from New York that this money was coming? That stuffed figure lying in the cobbled road meant just one thing—the highwaymen not only knew that money was coming but they knew it was coming on No. 5. In order to know that they must have received a message. That telegram came into the puzzle again. I called Ike Boles. He had not found Carl Metz; he had watched the train that should have brought John and no stranger had got off. John had said he would leave New York on the 8:11. The 8:11 was No. 5.”
Captain Tucker scratched a puzzled head. “But if nobody got that message——”
“Captain, let’s suppose they know whatever message was sent would be filed in New York at a certain time. What better safeguard than to send it to a name unknown here? What’s to prevent the one to whom that message is really intended loitering about the station and listening for it to click into the office?”
“You’re assuming they know telegraphy?”
“I wasn’t assuming, captain; I knew. Last night, when I walked into Jerry’s while he was looking over that storage-box, fingers began to tap a window. It was a message. It said: ‘Too much attention; let’s scram.’ I knew those men could read Morse.”
Captain Tucker stood up. “Doctor, any time you’d like a job as a detective——” He broke off short. “What made you so sure they wouldn’t make their getaway up-country?”