aution
of having two of my own men there as well--one in the restaurant
and one outside in the street. I had given them instructions that,
whatever happened, they were to keep Hoffman shadowed till further
orders.

"Well, you know how things turned out almost as well as I do. I was
vastly obliged to you for sending me that note, but as a matter of
fact I hadn't the least intention of drinking the wine. Indeed, I
turned away purposely to give Hoffman the chance to doctor it. What
did beat me altogether was who you were. I naturally couldn't place
you at all. I saw that you recognized one of us when you came in, and
that you were watching our table pretty attentively in the glass. I
had a horrible suspicion for a moment that you were a Scotland Yard
man, and were going to bungle the whole business by arresting Hoffman.
That was why I sent you my card; I knew if you were at the Yard you'd
recognize my name."

"I severed my connection with the police some time ago," I said drily.
"What happened after dinner? I've been longing to know ever since."

"I got rid of Hoffman at the door, and from the time he left the
restaurant my men never lost him again. They shadowed him to his
lodgings--he was living in a side street near Victoria--and for the
next two days I got a detailed report of everything he did. It was
quite interesting reading. Amongst other things it included paying a
morning visit to the hut you're living in at present, Mr. Lyndon, and
going on from there to spend the afternoon calling on some friends at
Sheppey."

I laughed gently, and turned to Tommy. "Amazingly simple," I said,
"when you know how it's done."

Tommy nodded. "I've got all that part, but I'm still utterly at sea
about how he dropped on to you."

"That was simpler still," answered Latimer. "One of my men told me
that the hut was empty for the time, so I came down to have a look
at it." He turned to me. "Of course I recognized you at once as the
obliging stranger of the restaurant. That didn't put me much farther
on the road, but when Morrison rolled up with his delightfully
ingenious yarn, he gave me just the clue I was looking for. I knew
his story was all a lie because I'd seen you since. Well, a man
like Morrison doesn't butt into this sort of business without a
particularly good reason, and it didn't take me very long to guess
what his reason was. You see I remembered him chiefly in connection
with your trial. I knew he was your greatest