“I’ll let you know just what you want — and I’ll keep this matter to myself. Does that mean that you’ll stay away from here after this?”
The big man hesitated before making a compromise. At length he made a proposal.
“Give us the straight dope,” he said, “and we won’t bother you any more.”
“All right,” agreed Harkness, in a satisfied tone. “I promised Theodore Galvin to say nothing about the designs I made for his house. In fact, I had forgotten about the matter.
“Galvin is dead now, I understand. So it doesn’t mean anything to me.”
He raised his hands and gestured. “Let me have pencil and paper. I can show you.”
“Wait!” cautioned the big man. “I’ll get them for you. Where are they?”
“Right here.” Harkness motioned to a table at his right side.
THE big man found a large pad in the table drawer. He also brought out a pencil. He gave the articles to Harkness. The architect began to draw a rough plan.
“The cellar stairs are here,” Harkness explained. The big man was watching the drawing; but his companion still covered Harkness. “Here’s a passage. At the side are two steel posts against the wall.