"They may have been looking for something more valuable," Teal said temptingly.
The Saint nodded.
"Yes, that's possible. You must have been reading a book or something."
"Have you any idea what that could have been?"
Simon thought for a moment.
"I know," he said suddenly. "It was the plans for the new death ray which the master spy with, the hare lip stole from the War Office in chapter three."
Mr Teal felt the arteries in his neck throbbing, but with a superhuman effort he clung to his precariously rescued sangfroid, chewing fiercely on his blob of spearmint.
"Oh yes," he said with desperate moderation. "But we don't really believe in things like that. They must have thought he had something here that they could get money for—"
" 'They'?" said the Saint as if the point had just occurred to him. "I see — you've already found that there were several blokes involved in it."
"I was saying that to be on the safe side. Of course we haven't found any evidence yet—"