He unbuttoned the old blue frock-coat he wore, disclosing a standing collar and stock, drew out his watch and fob, and added:
"It's just eight o'clock."
"Shall we go over and investigate those cries?" asked Harry Brady, the youth.
"No, not yet. Get in this area. I see the house door opening."
They glided swiftly into the area of a flat house, and keenly watched proceedings.
Old and Young King Brady, as the pair were called, were the two most celebrated detectives in the Secret Service. They were not related.
On the contrary, they came of different families. But, since the time James Brady took an interest in Harry, and taught him his profession, they had been partners, and made themselves dreaded by all evil doers.
Both were shrewd, brave and daring to a fault, and Harry's ambition made him strive to excel his tutor in every way.
The boy was first to catch view of a man in the open doorway opposite, and he dimly observed that he was tall, thin, dressed in black, wore a high hat, and had a mustache and a pair of bushy side-whiskers.
"Looks like an undertaker," Young King Brady commented in a whisper.