“You’ll tackle it?�
Fay eyed Sir Richard, then reached for his cap.
“Does it mean my freedom?� he asked as he fingered the visor.
“It certainly does, Chester! That little bit you did in Dartmoor never happened. You were sent away, wrong. I’ll answer for the Home Secretary. We can arrange everything! Come now—can we call upon you to go to that country, north and east of here, and open the embassy’s vault without compromising us or without leaving a trace? All we want is the key to the cipher. If you’re not willing to make a try for it—then—â€�
Sir Richard hesitated and rose from his chair. He stood with his hands clasping the edge of the table. His jaw was thrust forward like a block. His eyes hardened to points of tempered steel. They bored toward the cracksman. “Take your pick, Fay!� he said in a last appeal.
“Pick of what?�
“Getting the key to the cipher or going back to Dartmoor!�
“There’s no alternative,� said Fay with a rare smile. “I’ll turn the trick for you and England! If I don’t turn the trick, without trace and without compromise, then I’ll knock on the big gate at the prison and ask to be taken in. Is that satisfactory, Sir Richard Colstrom?�
“I never had the slightest doubt of you,� said the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division.