ng good news when next I see you."

"I hope so, too, Mr. Hewitt, most fervently," Telfer answered; and his
looks confirmed his words.

We walked in silence through the corridor, down the stairs, and out by
the gates into the street. Then Plummer turned on his heel and faced
Hewitt.

"That man's a wrong 'un," he said, abruptly, jerking his thumb in the
direction of the office we had just left. "I'll tell you about it in the
cab."

As soon as our cab was started on its way back to Hewitt's office
Plummer explained himself.

"He's been watched," he said, "has Mr. Telfer, when he didn't know it;
and he'll be watched again for the rest of to-day, as I've arranged.
What's more, he won't be allowed to leave the office this evening till
I have seen him again, or sent a message. No need to frighten him too
soon--it mightn't suit us. But he's in it, alone or in company!"

"How do you know?"

"I'll tell you. It seems the lead roofs are being repaired at the
Admiralty, and the plumbers are walking about where they like. Now
I needn't tell you I've had a man or two fishing about among the
doorkeepers and so on at the Admiralty, and one of them found a plumber
he knew slightly, working on the roof. That plumber happens to be no
fool--a bit smarter than the detective-constable, it seems to me, in
fact. Anyhow, he seems to have got more out of my man than my man got
out of him; and soon after I reached the Yard he turned up, asking to
see me. He said he'd heard that a valuable paper was missing (he didn't
know what) from the room with the skylight in the top floor, where the
gentleman with the single eye-glass was, and where the safe was let in
the wall; and he wanted to know what would be the reward for anybody
giving information about it. Of course I couldn't make any promise, and
I gave him to understand that he would have to leave the amount of the
reward to the authorities, if his information was worth anything; also,
that we were getting to work fast, and that if he wished to be first to
give information he'd better be quick about it; but I promised to make a
special report of his name and what he had to say if it were useful. And
it will be, or I'm vastly mistaken! For just you see here. Our friend,
Mr. Telfer, says he put that code safely away at 10.20 in the safe, and
that he never went to the safe again till 12.20, when the Controller's
secretary was with him; never went to it for anything whatever,
observe. Well, th