CHAPTER VII
The Thief Turns Up
As the others crowded around him, Bob held up a small business card.It had apparently been dropped near the museum's truck, perhaps by thethief himself. On it was printed the name Thomas Jordan.
"Thomas Jordan!" exclaimed Mr. Lewis, reaching for the card. "Why,he's a wealthy sportsman. Practically everybody has heard of him. Ofcourse it couldn't have been he that stole those specimens."
Bob's father agreed with him.
"Scarcely anybody is more respected," he said.
"You say he's a sportsman, huh?" said Joe thoughtfully. "What does hedo?"
"A lawyer by profession," Mr. Lewis returned. "But in addition heheads a private museum, merely as a hobby, I guess. Has a very widecollection of fauna from all parts of the world. He charges a smalladmission fee. Makes a lot of money at it."
"Where does he get his specimens?" inquired Joe.
Mr. Lewis looked puzzled for a moment.
"Why, from different sources," the naturalist replied. "Goes aftersome occasionally, buys some--"
"Buys some, does he?" Joe still spoke in a very thoughtful voice."Then might it not be possible that he will buy those that werestolen--get them from the thief, I mean?"
"By George!" exclaimed Mr. Holton, his eyes brightening. "You may beright, Joe. Strange that none of the rest of us thought of that now.Yes, it's quite possible for such a thing to happen. Perhaps the thiefhas already made arrangements with this Mr. Jordan to sell him thespecimens."
"I suggest that we hunt up Jordan immediately," came from Mr. Lewis."But I refuse to think that he had a part in the robbery."
"I don't think so either," put in Bob. "From what I've heard, he'sconsidered one of the leading citizens. But it's possible that thethief could disguise himself as a dealer in wild animals and easilysell them to Jordan."
"Chances are that is what will happen, if we do not interfere," Mr.Lewis said. "So I believe we should look up this fellow at once."
Bob's father, having instructed the truck driver to return to themuseum, led the way to his car. He desired to lose no time in callingon Mr. Jordan, who must be informed of the theft in time to preventthe sale of the stolen specimens.
The object of their remarks lived in a very fashionable residentialsection, which was at the very edge of the city. His private museumwas located but a few squares from his home.
"If we can't find him one place, perhaps we can another," said Bob."That is, if he hasn't left the city."
"In that case we'll have as good a chance to see him first as thethief," laughed Joe.
Some time later the four pulled up in front of a spacious home in anexclusive residential district. They left the car and moved up to thehouse.
A butler took the card Mr. Lewis handed him, standing aside a momentlater for them to go in. Then, after taking their hats, he disappearedinto another room.
The visitors had not long to wait. They had barely taken the chairsoffered them when a tall erect man walked up to them.
"You are Mr. Jordan?" asked Joe's father, rising.
"Yes."
The naturalist introduced himself and his friends and then lost notime in getting to the point. He told of the theft in the freightyard, then of finding the attorney's card.
"Naturally we resolved to hunt you up," he said. "It is entirelypossible that this thief has been to see you about buying specimensfrom him. Of course, you probably did not in the least suspect him.Or, if this is not the case, he got your card from some other source."
Mr. Jordan was silent for several moments, as if in deep thought.Finally he turned to the others.
"I think I know the very man who stole them," he announced.
"Good!" cried Joe impulsively.
"A very well-dressed chap," the lawyer resumed, staring hard at thefloor. "He came here about a month ago and said he dealt in alldescriptions of specimens. But there was something about him thataroused my suspicions at once. Perhaps it was the way he acted. At anyrate, I didn't trust him. Appeared to be one of these, ah, slick,well-dressed rascals that you see so much of. I told him I desirednothing at present but rare specimens from Africa. He wore a blanklook for a minute; then suddenly he gave a start and turned to me witha queer smile. 'I'll find you something,' he said. 'I think I knowwhere I can get exactly what you want.' I gave him one of my cards."
"Perhaps that's the very man we're looking for," said Bob. "Possible,anyway. Has he called you yet?"
"No. But if we think correctly, he may very soon now. Of course,though, he might wait till after the news of the robbery gets in thepapers and has died down a bit."
Mr. Holton shook his head.
"I'm of the opinion that he will sell those specimens before the newsgets in the papers," the naturalist said. "Perhaps he will pick todayto do it. The sooner he gets them off his hands, the better chancehe'll have to get away without being found out."
"Suppose you give me a description of them--the specimens, I mean,"Mr. Jordan suggested. "Then, if the thief comes, I'll know at once andhave him arrested."
"That will be fine." Mr. Lewis tore out a sheet of paper from hisnotebook and wrote down the names of each animal included in thecollection. He handed the paper to the attorney.
"I shall be glad to do this for you," the latter said. "If the thiefcomes, I'll slip away somehow to a telephone."
"We don't know how to thank you enough," Mr. Holton said gratefully."In doing this you will be performing an invaluable service for themuseum----"
He stopped abruptly as he noticed the butler entering the room.
"Mr. Henry Overton to see you," the servant announced, as the attorneyarose.
Mr. Jordan took the card the butler handed him. He pondered forseveral minutes before speaking. Finally he turned his gaze upon thenaturalists and their sons.
"Gentlemen," he said with a smile, "I think the time is at hand. Thethief, I believe, is here now."
There were looks of surprise and astonishment on the faces of thevisitors.
"Suppose we four hide in an adjoining room while you talk to thisman," suggested Bob Holton. "Then we can hear what's being said."
"You're fairly sure the caller is the man we were talking about?"asked Mr. Lewis, hesitating a moment before following Bob's move.
"No, not sure," Mr. Jordan responded. "But he is a collector of wildanimals. And that seems suspicious enough, doesn't it?
"Tell you what," he continued. "Suppose you four do as suggested--hidein this room and listen in on us. If it happens that the man issomeone else, no harm will have been done."
The naturalists and their sons needed no urging. They hurried into thenext room and hid near the entrance. There was a curtain separatingthem from the reception room, and all crouched near to peep through.
Their hearts were in their mouths when a minute later a stranger wasadmitted.
"Doesn't look much like a crook," whispered Joe, as he noticed thatthe man was dressed handsomely.
"Look at his eyes, though," returned Bob, also keeping his voice verylow.
The four listeners strained every nerve to catch what was being saidin the next room. They were delighted beyond expression when theyfound that they could make out every word of the conversation.
"I was here a good while ago," the stranger was saying. "No doubt youremember me. You told me to let you know as soon as I found some rarespecimens from Africa."
"And you've found some?" asked Mr. Jordan rather impatiently.
"Ah, yes. You will be delighted when I tell you what they are. Therarest of the rare. Mounted beautifully by one of my experttaxidermists."
He opened a small black satchel which he had carried. After a fewseconds of nervous fumbling he removed a small leather notebook.
"Here," he said, handing the book to Mr. Jordan. "The complete list ofspecimens is here. Each is described carefully. All told, there arefive of the most unusual wild creatures imaginable."
"Only five!" whispered Mr. Holton, appear
ing suddenly angered. "Why,there were ten in the box that was stolen."
Almost at once the attorney broached the same matter.
"Five are all you have for sale?" he asked casually. "Why, that isonly a small handful, so to speak."
"Well, ah--" the stranger hesitated before speaking--"I might be ableto secure more for you."
Mr. Jordan looked up suddenly.
"Is that so?" he asked quietly. "It's rather surprising that you canhave them so readily. Of course"--he laughed to relieve thetension--"you don't go after them yourself, do you?"
The alleged buyer and seller of specimens faltered for a brief period,but at last looked up.
"These I was able to secure from a collector friend, who went on anexpedition merely for the pleasure it afforded him, and not for theadvancement of science."
"Oh, yeah?" whispered Bob to his friends who were hiding like himself."He got 'em from his 'collector friend' like I got 'em off a hot-dogstand."
"No wise-cracking," grinned Joe. "You might get me to laughing."
The next few moments of conversation convinced the youths' fathersthat the man in the adjoining room was the thief. A few descriptionsof the specimens, which Mr. Jordan purposely read aloud, weresufficient to convict the stranger in the minds of Mr. Holton and Mr.Lewis.
From then, the conversation appeared uninteresting, although Bob andJoe, as well as the naturalists, were anxious to see how the attorneywould dispose of the stranger.
"And," continued Mr. Jordan, "what are you asking for these fivespecimens?"
"The small sum of a hundred dollars," was the reply.
Mr. Jordan gasped in astonishment. Only a hundred dollars for whatshould be worth a great deal more than that!
Meanwhile, in the next room, Joe had decided on a plan of action.
"Now that we are convinced that this man is the thief, we are free todo almost anything," he began, speaking in a very low whisper.
The others looked at him inquiringly.
"My scheme is this," Joe continued, "I'll go out----"
"If you're doing anything, I'm in it with you," interrupted Bob.
"All right, then. We'll go out to this man's car. It's probably parkedin front----"
"Perhaps he came on a street car," suggested Mr. Holton.
"In that case, my plan won't work," Joe said. "But if his car is outthere, we'll look inside it and see if we can find anything that willtell us where he lives. Then we'll come back. What do you say?"
"Suits me," returned Bob at once. "We'll find something if there'sanything to be found."
"And while you fellows are gone," began Mr. Holton, "we'll find someway to get Jordan in here to have him detain the thief as long aspossible. But you be careful. There may be someone else in the car."
As silently as they could, Bob and Joe made their way out of the roomand in a roundabout manner found the front door. One glance across thespacious lawn told them that a roadster was parked at the curb. A morecareful look convinced them that no one was in the car.
"Now's our chance," said Joe, leading the way out to the street. "Ofcourse, this automobile might belong to someone else, but the chancesare that it is owned--or at least run--by the man in the house."
With a cautious look over their shoulders, the chums walked up to theparked car.