“Earlier this evening I was attacked by a man who entered my hotel room by using the fire escape.”
“The man who was guarding the cabin?”
“Yes, he took me by surprise, overpowered me, and at the point of a pistol made me go down the fire escape to a waiting car. I was brought here.”
“And were you robbed?”
The Major did not reply immediately. He thought a moment and then said:
“I may as well tell you now. I doubt if I’ll ever get out of this alive anyway. Yes, I was robbed.”
“Not money?” Doyle prompted.
“No, I had possession of important government papers. Correspondence which never should fall into the hands of an enemy. I had plans and specifications for a new tank the army is considering.”
“Nothing pertaining to Bailey Brooks’ parachute?” Flash asked quickly.
“Those plans were among my papers,” admitted the Major. “Captain Johns and I have been working on them intensively the past few days. The truth is, Brooks’ parachute hasn’t quite come up to our strict requirements. Our experts have suggested several changes which are being tried out.”