“Well, see here, chief,” Patsy went on. “You say both these letters were sent by the same person.” “Yes.” “Well, the woman, if it is a woman, as Ida says, was dead right, wasn’t she, when she said it was goin’ to be tried on.” “You mean the attempt to rob the Sanborn house of the jewels, the wedding presents?” asked Nick. “The same,” said Patsy, eagerly. “Well, it was tried on, wasn’t it?” “Yes.” “Then the moll what wrote this letter knew all about it beforehand, didn’t she?” “Yes,” replied Nick, smiling as he recognized that Patsy was slipping back into his east-side talk as he always did when he grew very earnest. “Well, then,” continued Patsy, “it goes, doesn’t it, that she must know the people what was goin’ to work it?” “Yes,” replied Nick, eagerly, for he saw Patsy was getting to a point. “And,” went on Patsy, “the moll has given you the warning that there was a woman behind Ellison’s runnin’ away?” “Yes.” “And she must know who that moll is?” “Yes.” “And if yer could get on ter her, you’d get a line on the whole biz, wouldn’t yer?” “Yes.” “But the thing is, Patsy,” said Chick, “to get to the woman who wrote the letters.” “That’s what I’m gettin’ at,” said Patsy. “The chief knows that the man Lannigan, the swell cracksman of Philly, led off in this biz of tryin’ ter nip the jewels. And it’s dollars to doughnuts that Lannigan knows the moll what writ these letters. So, Lannigan is the startin’ point ter turn the lamps onto.” Nick brought his hands together with a resounding clap and replied: “You’ve hit it, Patsy, and you have given us what we have been fishing for, a starting place. Now, Chick, you and Patsy start right out and see if you can’t find Lannigan, and put him and his fellows under watch. Don’t lose them until you know all they’re doing.” Without waiting for anything else, Chick and Patsy went out. “I fancy, Ida,” said Nick, “that there will be a good deal of work for you to do in this case. You had better go home and spend the night in getting a good rest. What you have to do will depend upon what the boys will find out to-night.” Ida went away, and Nick busied himself with a new make-up. CHAPTER XVIII. IN THE TENDERLOIN. Chick and Patsy relied upon their knowledge of the haunts of criminals and crooks in the city to give them trace of Lannigan. It was nearly seven o’clock when they left Nick’s apartments. “I’ll bet you, Patsy,” said Chick, “that the gang working the Sanborn residence this morning was governed by our old friend Lannigan.” “I’m thinking so myself,” replied Patsy. “If that’s so,” replied Chick, “and they’re in the city yet, the place to find them to-night is in the Tenderloin, where they’ll be rolling about for a bit of a spree.” “If they’ve got the price,” replied Patsy. “Their little show didn’t come off according to the bill of play. They may be broke.”