ewed
inquiries. Had anyone seen a car standing somewhere near the Moat House
that day? Again they met with no success.

Julius wired to town for his own car, and they scoured the neighbourhood
daily with unflagging zeal. A grey limousine on which they had set high
hopes was traced to Harrogate, and turned out to be the property of a
highly respectable maiden lady!

Each day saw them set out on a new quest. Julius was like a hound on
the leash. He followed up the slenderest clue. Every car that had passed
through the village on the fateful day was tracked down. He forced his
way into country properties and submitted the owners of the motors to
a searching cross-examination. His apologies were as thorough as his
methods, and seldom failed in disarming the indignation of his victims;
but, as day succeeded day, they were no nearer to discovering Tuppence's
whereabouts. So well had the abduction been planned that the girl seemed
literally to have vanished into thin air.

And another preoccupation was weighing on Tommy's mind.

"Do you know how long we've been here?" he asked one morning as they
sat facing each other at breakfast. "A week! We're no nearer to finding
Tuppence, and NEXT SUNDAY IS THE 29TH!"

"Shucks!" said Julius thoughtfully. "I'd almost forgotten about the
29th. I've been thinking of nothing but Tuppence."

"So have I. At least, I hadn't forgotten about the 29th, but it didn't
seem to matter a damn in comparison to finding Tuppence. But to-day's
the 23rd, and time's getting short. If we're ever going to get hold of
her at all, we must do it before the 29th--her life won't be worth an
hour's purchase afterwards. The hostage game will be played out by then.
I'm beginning to feel that we've made a big mistake in the way we've set
about this. We've wasted time and we're no forrader."

"I'm with you there. We've been a couple of mutts, who've bitten off a
bigger bit than they can chew. I'm going to quit fooling right away!"

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you. I'm going to do what we ought to have done a week ago.
I'm going right back to London to put the case in the hands of your
British police. We fancied ourselves as sleuths. Sleuths! It was a piece
of damn-fool foolishness! I'm through! I've had enough of it. Scotland
Yard for me!"

"You're right," said Tommy slowly. "I wish to God we'd gone there right
away."

"Better late than never. We've been like a couple of babes playing 'Here
we go round