French nodded.
“You told me that you had been a mechanic in the works before your rheumatism got bad. Have you worked at any of those duplicators like what was packed in the crate?”
“I worked at all kinds of erecting works—duplicators an’ files an’ indexes an’ addressing machines an’ all the rest o’ them. I knows them all.”
“Good! Now I want you to come round to the store and show me the different parts of a duplicator.”
Gurney led the way from the boiler-house.
“Don’t switch on the light,” French directed. “I don’t want the windows to show lit up. I have a torch.”
They passed through the packing-shed and into the completed-machine store adjoining. Here French called a halt.
“Just let’s look at one of these duplicators again,” he said. “Suppose you wanted to take one of them to pieces, let me see how you would set about it. Should I be correct in saying that if five or six of the larger pieces were got rid of, all the rest could be carried in a handbag?”
“That’s right, sir.”
“Now show me the bins where these larger parts are stocked.”