“Oho, I see!” exclaimed Patsy, starting up. “You think, Mr. Carter, that she is not as tall as the picture indicates.” “That’s exactly it, Patsy,” nodded Nick. “How do you make it out?” asked Chick. “Notice this fold of her skirt, where the skirt shows below the edge of her auto coat?” “Well, what of it?” “Plainly enough, Chick, the fold does not hang quite naturally,” Nick went on to explain, still pointing with his pencil. “It appears drawn a little to one side and back of her, with the edge of the skirt carefully arranged to touch the ground, precisely as if to conceal something beneath it.” “Something on which she was standing!” exclaimed Chick, quickly seeing the point. “That’s just it,” declared Nick impressively. “No skirt ever hung quite like that, if it hung naturally.” “Surely not.” “Notice also the distance from her hip to the edge of the skirt, where her feet should be,” added Nick. “Her limbs would be as much above the regular proportions as her arm is below them.” “I see what you mean.” “In a nutshell, Chick, such an anomaly could not be,” continued Nick decisively. “A person with abnormally long legs and disproportionately short arms is out of the question.” “And in your opinion——” “In my opinion, Chick, the woman was standing on something, possibly a rock, with her skirts lengthened to conceal it. Obviously the whole was done to give her the appearance of being very tall.” “And with what object?” “With a design to thus blind the police to the real looks of the woman operating with this gang of crooks.” “You think they aimed to send the police searching after some very tall woman?” “Exactly.” “I’ll wager you are right.” “Furthermore,” added Nick, “these discoveries conclusively prove that the picture was deliberately taken, with the several persons calmly posing to make it effective, and that the two women said to have been held up and robbed were not robbed at all.” “And the design of the photograph?” “It was taken purposely to be offered as evidence to corroborate the story told to the police.” “With a view to averting suspicion and throwing them off the right track,” added Chick. “Precisely.” “By thunder, that was a crafty scheme!” declared Patsy, rather pleased with the originality of it. “Yes, it was crafty enough,” assented Nick. “But the rascals overleaped their mount, Patsy, in not anticipating the deductions I have mentioned. All this sheds a new and very bright light upon the case,” the speaker added, as he tossed the photograph upon the table. “I should say so,” nodded Chick, resuming his chair and lighting a cigar. “It indicates that those two women, who claim to have been robbed, may be in league with this gang of thieves.” “Even more than that, Chick.” “What more, Nick?” “It suggests that Badger himself may be one of the gang, if not the chief figure in it, and that their headquarters may be at that isolated suburban place of his.” “By Jove, that may be so!”