Jackson, clerk.
Capper. Umph! Been here long?
Old Morton. A year. He was appointed by my son.
Capper. Know anything of his previous life?
Old Morton (stiffly). I have already told you he is an appointee
of my son's.
Capper. Yes! (Aside.) "Like master, like man." (Aloud.) Well,
to business. We have worked up the robbery. We have reached two
conclusions,--one, that the work was not done by professionals; the
other, consequent upon this, that you can't recover the money.
Old Morton. Excuse me, sir, but I do not see the last conclusion.
Capper. Then listen. The professional thief has only one or two
ways of disposing of his plunder, and these ways are always well
known to us. Good! Your stolen coin has not been disposed of in
the regular way, through the usual hands which we could at any time
seize. Of this we are satisfied.
Old Morton. How do you know it?
Capper. In this way. The only clew we have to the identification
of the missing money were two boxes of Mexican doubloons.
Old Morton (aside). Mr. Castro's special deposit! He may have
reason for his interest. (Aloud.) Go on.
Capper. It is a coin rare in circulation in the interior. The
night after the robbery, the dealer of a monte-table in Sacramento
paid out five thousand dollars in doubloons. He declared it was
taken in at the table, and could not identify the players. Of
course, OF COURSE! So far, you see, you are helpless.
Pages:
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95