lplaquet, "and she is employed at the Headquarters of the Secret
Service. Strangwise was satisfied that nobody connected him with
the theft of the silver box which Nur-el-Din gave to this girl
until our young lady here appeared at the Dyke Inn yesterday
afternoon. Nur-el-Din played his game for him by detaining the
girl. Strangwise believes--and I must say I agree with him--that
probably two persons know where the Star of Poland is. One is
this girl..."

"The other being the late Mr. Bellward?" queried Mrs. Malplaquet.

"Precisely. The late Mr. Bellward or Major Desmond Okewood!" said
Bellward. "Between him and this girl here I think we ought to be
able to recover Strangwise's lost property for him!"

"But you haven't got Okewood yet!" observed the lady in a mocking
voice.

The man looked evilly at her, his heavy, fat chin set square.

"But we shall get him, never fear. With a little bird-lime as
attractive as this--"

He broke off and jerked his head in the direction of Barbara.

"... I shall do the rest!" he added.

"Ah!"

Mrs. Malplaquet drew a deep sigh of admiration.

"That's a clever idea. He is so _ruse_, this Strangwise. You are
quite right, Bellward, he never admits himself beaten. And he
never is! But tell me," she added, "what about Nur-el-Din?
They'll nab her, eh?"

"Unless our British friends are even more inefficient than I
believe them to be, they most certainly will," he replied.

"And then?"

Bellward shrugged his shoulders and spread wide his hands.

"A little morning ceremony at the Tower," he answered, "unless
these idiotic English are too sentimental to execute a woman..."

The car was running down the long slope to Paddington Station. It
drew up at the entrance to the booking office, and Strangwise,
springing from the driver's seat, flung open the door.

"Come on!" he cried, "we must look sharp or we'll miss our
train!"

He dragged a couple of bags off the roof and led the way into the
station. In the booking-hall he inquired of a porter what time
the express left for Bath, then went to the ticket office and
took four first-class tickets to that place. Meanwhile, the car
remained standing empty in the carriageway.

Strangwise led his little party up some stairs and across a long
bridge, down some stairs and up some stairs again, emerging,
finally, at the Bakerloo Tube Station. There he despatched
Bellward to fetch a taxi.

Taxis are rare in the early hours of the morning