"Go ahead," Deane answered.
"I have found a key in the service-room which I think would open Number 27."
Deane nodded. "Very well," he said, "let me have the use of it to-night, and I will give you twenty pounds."
The man moistened his lips with his tongue. Twenty pounds was a wonderful sum! But—!
"There is a good deal of risk about it, sir," the man said slowly, "and I have to divide with the night-porter, who told me where to find this key."
"Very well," Deane answered, "I will give you twenty pounds each,—no more."
The man placed the key silently in his hands, and Deane counted out eight five-pound notes.
"If I were you, sir," he said, "if you want to be alone in the room and be sure of no one seeing you, I should use it between four and five to-morrow morning. Everyone is off duty then except the night-porter."
Deane nodded. "By the way," he said, "do you know anything about the chambermaid on this floor—the young, slim one?"
The waiter shook his head. "She has only just come."