ccepted
this very strange deposit without the smallest suspicion of the truth.
Now, is it conceivable that an intelligent, sensible, elderly woman of
the kind she has been described to me, could be such a fool?"

And then, for the first time since his wife had returned there from her
interview with Anna, Major Guthrie intervened.

"I think you forget, Mr. Reynolds, that this took place long before the
war. In fact, if I may recall certain dates to your memory, this must
have been a little tiny cog in the machine which Germany began
fashioning after the Agadir crisis. It was that very autumn that Anna
Bauer went to visit her nephew and niece in Berlin, and it was soon
after she came back that, according to her story, a stranger, with some
kind of introduction from her nephew, who is, I believe, connected with
the German police----"

"Is he indeed?" exclaimed Mr. Reynolds. "You never told me that!" he
looked at Mrs. Guthrie.

"Didn't I?" she said. "Yes, it's quite true, Wilhelm Warshauer is a
sub-inspector of police in Berlin. But I feel sure he is a perfectly
respectable man."

She fortunately did not see the expression which flashed across her
questioner's face. Not so the Dean. Mr. Reynolds' look stirred Dr.
Haworth to a certain indignation. He had known Anna Bauer as long as her
mistress had, and he had become quite fond of the poor old woman with
whom he had so often exchanged pleasant greetings in German.

"Look here!" he began, in a pleasant, persuasive voice. "I have a
suggestion to make, Mr. Reynolds. We have here in Witanbury a most
excellent fellow, one of our city councillors. He is of German birth,
but was naturalised long ago. As I expect you know, there was a little
riot here last week, and this man--Alfred Head is his name--had all his
windows broken. He refused to prosecute, and behaved with the greatest
sense and dignity. Now I suggest that we set Alfred Head on to old Anna
Bauer! I believe she would tell him things that she would not even tell
her very kind and considerate mistress. I feel sure that he would find
out the real truth. As a matter of fact I met him just now when I was
coming down here. He was full of regret and concern, and he spoke very
kindly and very sensibly of this poor old woman. He said he knew
her--that she was a friend of his wife's, and he asked me if he could be
of any assistance to her."

Thinking he saw a trace of hesitation on the London official's face, he
added, "A