"No; he stopped only an instant, while George unlocked the door, and
then gave the jewel box to him to put away. George wished him good
night, with the remark that he could not ask him in, as he would be too
busy to entertain him. Mr. Flanders then came straight back to my store;
but he said at the inquest that he heard George lock the door behind
him, and that he saw no one around the building."

"Do you know anything about his circumstances at that time? Was he in
need of money?"

"No, indeed; he had a large balance to his credit. Why, surely, you do
not see any reason to suspect Mr. Flanders?" said Mr. McGregor.

"I don't say that I suspect anybody," I replied, "but I wish to gather
all the information possible. Now, please tell me how large a balance
Mr. Flanders had on deposit."

Mr. McGregor immediately examined the ledger for the previous year, and
reported that the balance due Mr. Flanders at the time of the murder,
was over twelve thousand dollars.

"You see, Mr. Pinkerton," he went on to say, "we balanced our books up
to that date, and thus we know just how each person's account stood that
day."

"Well, did you find that any of those gentlemen, who were in the habit
of entering the bank after business hours, were in debt to the bank, or
that they were cramped for money at that time?" I asked, carelessly.

"None of them were in debt to the bank, I know," replied Mr. McGregor;
"whether there were any of them in need of money particularly, I cannot
say."

"Had any of them tried to borrow from the bank recently?"

"No; in fact, none of them had drawn out the balances due them."

"Please give me a list of their balances on that day," I said; "just
give me a memorandum of the amounts standing to each one's credit."

"Whose accounts shall we give you?" asked Mr. McGregor, evidently
wondering what object I had in view.

"Well, let me have those of Mr. Flanders, Mr. Patterson, Mr. Drysdale,
and Mr. Caruthers; also, let me know whether any of those gentlemen had
made any loan from the bank during that year, and if so, the amount,
date, etc., and whether a note was given, or security of any kind."

Mr. McGregor, and the other two gentlemen, were completely mystified at
my request, but they complied with my wishes, and I noted down the
amounts given me in my note-book.

The balances were as follows: Patterson, $2,472.27; Drysdale, $324.22;
Caruthers, $817.48; and Flanders, $12,263.03. None of them had