"But—but——" he began.
"Mr. Dene hit upon a clever ruse," continued Sage, "and——"
"But the advertisements! Did you know this at the time?"
"It was known at Department Z., sir, and the advertisements were to convince the Hun of our eagerness to find John Dene so that we might start operations."
"I see, I see," cried Mr. Llewellyn John; "but how on earth did you ferret all this out?"
"We just sat down, sir, and waited for the other side to make mistakes," said Malcolm Sage quietly, "just as the Opposition does in the House of Commons," he added slyly.
And Mr. Llewellyn John smiled.
"It was better to say nothing about the Finlay business," said Malcolm Sage, as he and Colonel Walton walked back to St. James's Square. "It's results they're concerned with."
Colonel Walton nodded. "We must see John Dene, however," he said.
"If only for the good of his own soul," said Sage, as he knocked his pipe against a railing.