d dollars
to get the map from you for him, the Weasel chose the line of least
resistance. He KNEW you, and approached you with an offer to split the
money in return for the map. It was not a question of your accepting his
offer--it was simply a matter of how you could do it and still protect
yourself. The Weasel was well qualified to point the way--a fake robbery
of your house would answer the purpose admirably--you could not be held
either legally or morally responsible for a document that was placed,
unsolicited by you, in your possession, if it were stolen from you."

Mittel's face was ashen, colourless. His hands were opening and shutting
with nervous twitches on the top of the desk.

Jimmie Dale's lips curled.

"But"--Jimmie Dale was clipping off his words now viciously--"neither
you nor the Weasel were willing to trust the other implicitly--perhaps
you know each other too well. You were unwilling to turn over the map
until you had received your share of the money, and you were equally
unwilling to turn it over until you were SAFE; that is, until you had
engineered your fake robbery even to the point of notifying the police
that it had been committed; the Weasel, on the other hand, had some
scruples about parting with any of the money without getting the map in
one hand before he let go of the banknotes with the other. It was very
simply arranged, however, and to your mutual satisfaction. While you
robbed your own house this evening, he was to get half the money in
advance from Hamvert, giving Hamvert to understand that HE had planned
to commit the robbery himself to-night. He was to come out here then,
receive the map from you in exchange for your share of the money, return
to Hamvert with the map, and receive in turn his own share. I might
say that Hamvert actually paid down the advance--and it was perhaps
unfortunate for you that you paid such scrupulous attention to details
as to cut your own telephone wires! I had not, of course, an exact
knowledge of the hour or minute in which you proposed to stage your
little play here. The object of my first visit a little while ago was
to forestall your turning the diagram over to the Weasel. Circumstances
favoured you for the moment. I am back again, however, for the same
purpose--the map!"

Mittel, in a cowed way, was huddled back in his chair. He smiled
miserably at Jimmie Dale.

"QUICK!" Jimmie Dale flung out the word in a sharp, peremptory bark. "Do
you need to