“Yes.”
“Ah! the vans were, no doubt, painted with our names specially, in order to mislead the police,” he said. “There’s some shady transaction somewhere, sir, depend upon it. Perhaps the gentleman wanted to get his things away, eh?”
“No. He had no necessity for so doing. He was quite well off—no debts, or anything of that kind.”
“Well, it’s evident that if our name is registered in the police occurrences the vans were painted with our name for some illegal purpose. The gentleman’s disappeared, you say.”
“Yes. And—well, to tell you the truth, I suspect foul play.”
“Have you told the police that?” asked the man, suddenly interested.
“No; not yet. I’ve come to you first.”
“Then if I were you I’d tell the police the result of your inquiries,” the manager said. “No doubt there’s a crooked incident somewhere.”
“That’s just what I fear. Quite a number of men most have been engaged in clearing the place out.”
“Have you been over it? Is it entirely cleared?”