the despoilers

[Zorra]

Вот абзац целиком:
Carrados had already foreseen this eventuality and decided to accept it. Whether a promise exacted on the plea of treasure trove would bind him to respect the despoilers of the British Museum was a point for subsequent consideration. Prudence demanded that he should investigate the offer at once and to cavil over Madame Ferraja's conditions would be fatal to that object. If the coins were, as there seemed little reason to doubt, the proceeds of the robbery, a modest ransom might be the safest way of preserving irreplaceable treasures, and in that case Carrados could offer his services as the necessary intermediary.
Перевожу детективный рассказ 1914 г. издания.
Заранее спасибо за ответы.

[perpetrator]

MT says "to despoil" means грабить, расхищать..

[Zorra]

Спасибо! ;))) Иногда не хватает элементарного мыслительного усилия, чтоб самостоятельно решить простенькую задачку ;))) Спасибо за помошь ;)))