Erfert replied, "I have two fine clocks that were sent over to my store
by mistake and are too expensive to sell at auction, and I intend to
take them back to the main store, where they belong."
"Well," said the operative, "you take them up to Mr. Furlong's office,
and after you have seen him he will probably allow you to take them to
the main store."
The operative brought Erfert to my office, packages and all. I had known
Erfert since his boyhood, and on his entering the office I took him into
my private office.
Here I will say that on the second day I had put another operative to
work on this case, unknown to the first operative, who had been
shadowing the first operative and had witnessed everything that had
occurred, and had reached the office a few minutes ahead of the first
operative and Erfert, so that I was fully aware of all that had
occurred.
When we were seated in my private room, I said to Erfert, "Fred, what
have you in those two packages?"
He answered, "They are two clocks, which were sent over to the auction
store by mistake. They are expensive clocks and I will not sell them at
auction, and intended to take them home tonight and return them to the
main store in the morning, before I opened the auction store."
"What other stock have you on your person which was sent over to the
auction store by mistake?" I asked.
He replied, "I have only a few stick pins, and a few other small
articles of jewelry."