as well as in the
illicit trade. He must get his hands on them too. But if he arrested
Archer he would thereby destroy all chance of accomplishing the greater
feat. The very essence of success lay in lulling to rest any doubts that
their operations were suspect which might have entered into the minds of
the members of the syndicate. No, he would do nothing at present, and
he once more felt himself up against the question which had baffled
Hilliard and Merriman--What was the syndicate doing? Until he had
answered this, therefore, he could not rest.

And how was it to be done? After some thought he came to the conclusion
that his most promising clue was the secret telephone, and he made
up his mind the next day he would try to find its other end, and if
necessary tap the wires and listen in to any conversation which might
take place.

CHAPTER 15. INSPECTOR WILLIS LISTENS IN

Inspector Willis was a good deal exercised by the question of whether or
not he should have Archer shadowed. If the managing director conceived
the slightest suspicion of his danger he would undoubtedly disappear,
and a man of his ability would not be likely to leave many traces. On
the other hand Willis wondered whether even Scotland Yard men could
shadow him sufficiently continuously to be a real safeguard, without
giving themselves away. And if that happened he might indeed arrest
Archer, but it would be good-bye to any chance of getting his
confederates.

After anxious thought he decided to take the lesser risk. He would not
bring assistants into the matter, but would trust to his own skill to
carry on the investigation unnoticed by the distiller.

Though the discovery of Archer's identity seemed greatly to strengthen
the probability that the secret telephone led to him, Willis could
not state this positively, and he felt it was the next point to be
ascertained. The same argument that he had used before seemed to
apply--that owing to the difficulty of wiring, the point of connection
must be close to the depot. Archer's office was not more than three
hundred yards away, while his house, The Elms, was over a mile. The
chances were therefore in favor of the former.

It followed that he must begin by searching Archer's office for the
other receiver, and he turned his attention to the problem of how this
could best be done.

And first, as to the lie of the offices. He called at the Electric
Generating Station, and having introduced himself