have to; it's not to their glory. The danger lies with those dead
folk waiting in Grant Place. If there were nothing to hide but the gold
in the drain, and the hole under the Treasury wall, it would prove easy
enough."

"But are you sure that Storri is dead? It's simply your deduction, you
know. You may yet find him very much alive."

"He's dead," reiterated Inspector Val, with deepest conviction. "If he
were alive, we would have found him at the drain. That gold would have
drawn him there in his sleep. Besides, I saw it coming. I've an idea,
however, that the Russian legation people possess as many motives for
holding Storri's death a secret as do the Secret Service men for keeping
dark the fact that the Treasury has been tapped. Yes, the Russians, with
the State Department to help them, will find a way. Everything goes by
pull, you know," concluded Inspector Val, confidently, "and it will be
queer if the State Department and the Russians, working together, can't
call Storri's blinking out by some name that won't attract attention."

Inspector Val related how, step by step, he had kept abreast of Storri.

"When he came out of retirement," explained Inspector Val, "following
the loss of his money in Northern Consolidated, I kept close tabs on
him. These half-civilized people are only half sane, and some crazy
crime would have come natural to this Russian at that time. So, as I
tell you, I stayed close to his heels. I could see by his face that he
had some big purpose. He began buying maps and visiting the department
buildings. I knew then we were getting to the heart of the affair, and,
while I couldn't guess the shoot he would take, I had only to follow to
find out. The moment he put foot in the Treasury Building, I turned
wise. Those visits to the other buildings had been mere 'stalls.' As I
followed him through the Treasury I could see that now he was in
earnest.

"When the Assistant Secretary showed him the vault that held the gold
reserve, I learned all I wanted to learn. His design and the crime he
plotted were written on his face. Of course as soon as ever I realized
that he meant to try his teeth on the Treasury, I had only to run my eye
over the year's calendar to tell when. There was a Sunday followed by
Decoration Day--two holidays, and no one on guard worth considering; it
was sure that Storri would hit upon those days to make the play. When I
saw how the Saturday before was set apart for a special holi