“He bent forward to listen, and as he did so I launched my clenched fist at his right temple with my full force.”
His eyes turned once more in the direction of the safe, in spite of himself. I saw a struggle going on in his mind.
‘There is no necessity for you to decide hastily,’ I said in my blandest tones. ‘I am as anxious as you are that you should have every possible security. If you are so far satisfied as to release me from arrest, we can sit down and talk over things quietly.’
This hint had the desired effect. The judge called in the policeman, and informed him that his services were no longer required.
As soon as I heard the outer door of the building clang to on the departing officer, I drew nearer the judge, lowering my voice to a confidential whisper, as I said—
‘Now you shall have the truth.’
He bent forward to listen, and as he did so I launched my clenched fist at his right temple with my full force, and he dropped senseless without so much as a sigh.
The moment I was satisfied that he was unconscious I stepped to the door and locked it. Then I rifled his pocket of his bunch of keys, picked out the right one, and opened the safe, all without drawing breath.
The contents of the safe were chiefly official law papers, which I did not waste time over. But in a narrow tray at the top I found something that interested me more.
It was nothing less than a draft treaty—a treaty to be made between the Norwegian Ministry, acting without the knowledge of their King, and the Imperial Government of Russia!