Inspector Sharpe ruefully.

"Then," said Brett, "there is nothing else to be done here. Will you
come with me, Mr. Winter?"

"Where to, sir?" inquired the detective.

"To find Mr. Talbot, of course."

"Easier said than done," remarked Inspector Walters, as the door closed
behind the visitors.

Inspector Sharpe was less sceptical.

"He's a very smart chap is Brett," he said. "Neither you nor I thought
of punching that wire screen, did we?"

CHAPTER V

A STARTLING CLUE

Once clear of the Albert Gate mansion, the barrister was bound to
confess to a sense of indefiniteness, a feeling of uncertainty which
seldom characterised either his thoughts or his actions. He admitted as
much to his companion, for Brett was a man who would not consent to pose
under any circumstances.

"It is quite true," he explained, "that our first duty must be to find
Mr. Talbot, and it is still more certain that we will be able to
accomplish that part of our task; but there are elements in this inquiry
which baffle me at present."

"And what are they, sir?" said the detective.

"I fail to see why Mr. Talbot was dragged into the matter at all. On the
straightforward assumption that Turks were engaged in the pleasant
occupation of taking other Turks' lives--an assumption to which, by the
way, I attach no great amount of credence--why did they not allow Mr.
Talbot to go quietly to his own home? It was not that they feared more
speedy discovery of their crime. The hour was then late; it was
tolerably certain that he would make no move which might prove injurious
to them until next morning, and then the whole affair was bound to be
discovered by the police in the ordinary course of events."

"I don't quite follow you, sir," said Winter, with a puzzled tone in his
voice. They had, for the sake of quietude, turned into the Park, and
were now walking towards Hyde Park Corner. "What do you mean by saying
that Mr. Talbot would make no move in the matter until next morning?"

"Oh, I forgot," said Brett. "Of course, you don't know why the diamonds
were stolen?"

"For the same reason that all other diamonds are stolen, I suppose."

"Oh, dear no," laughed the barrister. "This is a political crime."

"Political!" said the amazed policeman.

"Well, we won't quarrel about words, and as there are perhaps no
politics in Turkey, we will call it dynastic or any other loud-voiced
adjective which serves to take it out of the category of simp