There had been a robbery, sir, in
my brief absence, and the account that the inspector gave of the affair
was briefly this:
"While taking the round of his district, he had noticed an empty hansom
proceeding in leisurely fashion along Howard Street. There was nothing
remarkable in this, but when, about ten minutes later, he was returning,
and met a hansom, which he believed to be the same, proceeding along the
same street in the same direction, and at the same easy pace, the
circumstance struck him as odd, and he made a note of the number of the
cab in his pocket-book. It was 72,863, and the time was 11.35.
"At 11.45 a constable coming up Howard Street noticed a hansom standing
opposite the door of my brother's house, and, while he was looking at
it, a man came out of the house carrying something, which he put in the
cab. On this the constable quickened his pace, and when the man returned
to the house and reappeared carrying what looked like a portmanteau, and
closing the door softly behind him, the policeman's suspicions were
aroused, and he hurried forward, hailing the cabman to stop.
"The man put his burden into the cab, and sprang in himself.
Pages:
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148