CHAPTER XXIX
THE VOICE IN THE ROOM
As Silva anticipated, the colonel was up and waiting for him. He was playing Patience on his desk and looked up with a scowl as the Portuguese entered.
"So you've been skulking, have you, Pinto?" he began, but the other interrupted him.
"You can keep all that talk for another time," he said. "They've taken Phillopolis!"
The colonel swept his cards aside with a quick, nervous gesture.
"Taken Phillopolis?" he repeated slowly. "On what charge?"
"For being the receiver of stolen property," said the other. "They found the proceeds of the Regent Street burglary in his apartments."
The colonel opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again, and there was silence for two or three minutes.
"I see. They have planted the stuff on him, have they?"