nt can possibly do. It strikes me--"

"Here they are, sir!" interrupted Chettle. He had lingered on the
kerb, looking towards the rise of the road going towards the Marble
Arch, and his quick eyes had spotted a closed taxi-cab which came out
of the Marlborough Gate at full speed and turned down in their
direction. "Blindway and two others," he announced. "Seems to be in
force, sir, anyhow!"

The taxi-cab pulled up at the little gate leading into Kensington Gardens
by the pumping-station, and Blindway, followed by two other men,
hurriedly descended and joined his superior.

"Well, what is it?" demanded the chief. "Something new? And about
this affair?"

Blindway made a gesture suggesting that they should enter the Gardens;
once within he drew the chief aside, leaving his companions with Chettle.

"About half an hour ago," he said, "a telephone message came on from the
City police. They said they'd received some queerish information about
this affair, but only particularly about the death of that man down at
the hotel in the Docks. Their information ran to this--that the actual
murderer has an appointment with some of his associates this afternoon at
that tea-house in Hyde Park, and that if the City police would send some
plain-clothes men up there he'll be pointed out. So the City lot want us
to join them, and I was sent along to meet you here, sir--I've brought
those two men and of course there's Chettle. We're all to go along to
this tea-house, not in a body, naturally, but to sort of drop in, and to
wait events. Of course, sir, that last murder occurred in the City, and
so the City police want to come in at it, and--"

"No further details?" asked the chief, obviously puzzled. "Nothing as to
who's going to point out the murderer, and so on?"

"Nothing!" replied Blindway. "At least, nothing reported to us. All we've
got to do is to be there, on the spot, and to keep our eyes open for the
critical moment."

"And what time is the critical moment to be?" asked the chief, a little
superciliously. "It all seems remarkably vague, Blindway--why couldn't
they give us more news?"

"Don't know, sir--they seemed purposely vague," replied the detective.
"However, the time fixed is two o'clock. To be there about two--that was
the request--at least four of us."

The chief turned and summoned the other three men.

"You'd better break up," he said. "Two of you approach the place from one
way--two from another. It's now a q