cial crisis has been safely passed, and
the son--who could have no possible reason for injuring the lad, who
is, indeed, remarkably fond of him, and by whose invitation he
visited the building--is solely in charge and as wildly anxious as
man can be to have the abominable thing cleared up without delay.
He now knows why she so abruptly closed up the other case, and he
is determined that nothing under heaven shall interfere with the
prosecution of this one to the very end. It is he who is the client,
and both he and his fiancee will be here presently to lay the full
details before you."

"Here!" Cleek leaned forward in his chair with a sort of lunge as
he flung out the word, and there was a snap in his voice that fairly
stung. "Good heavens above, man! They mustn't come here. Get word
to them at once and stop them."

"It wouldn't be any use trying, I'm afraid, old chap; I expect they
are here already. At all events, I told them to watch from the other
side of the way until they saw me enter, and then to come in and go
straightway to the public tearoom and wait until I brought you to
them."

"Well, of all the insane----Whatever prompted you to do a madman's
trick like that? A public character like Miss Larue, a woman whom
half London knows by sight, who will be the target for every eye in
the tearoom, and the news of whose presence in the hotel will be all
over the place in less than no time! Were you out of your head?"

"Good lud! Why, I thought I'd be doing the very thing that would
please you, dear chap," bleated the superintendent, despairingly.
"It seemed to me such a natural thing for an actress to take tea
at a hotel--that it would look so innocent and open that nobody would
suspect there was anything behind it. And you always say that things
least hidden are hidden the most of all."

Cleek struck his tongue against his teeth with a sharp, clicking
sound indicative of mild despair. There were times when Mr. Narkom
seemed utterly hopeless.

"Well, if it's done, it's done, of course; and there seems only
one way out of it," he said. "Nip down to the tearoom as quickly
as possible, and if they are there bring them up here. It's only
four o'clock and there's a chance that Waldemar may not have returned
to the hotel yet. Heaven knows, I hope not! He'd spot you in a tick,
in a weak disguise like that."

"Then why don't you go down yourself and fetch them up, old chap?
He'd never spot _you_. Lord! your own mothe