“Here’s some work for you, kid. There are the names and addresses of about fifty people here and in Oakland who carry burglary insurance. It cost me one hundred dollars. The lawyer who got it for me probably gave the clerk who got it for him ten dollars. It’s cheap though, at that, for it will save me a lot of footwork, guesswork, and uncertainty. A glance at that list tells you where they live, it tells you they have valuables because they are insured, and it tells me that they are careless because they are insured. It also tells me that in case of a showdown they will give up their valuables without a murmur because they are insured. It further tells me that some of them are going to collect insurance shortly, providing you get out and do your part of it, and that’s this.

“I want you to look over some of those shacks. Tomorrow you copy off about three names and plant that list somewhere around your hotel; then go out and look over the places. Later I’ll look at any you think are possible of approach. I want to know about dogs, kids, servants, sick people⁠—everything. The house, the porch, the basement, the yard, the alley.