"Yes," he said, "Finlay can do it."
At that moment Colonel Walton strode into the room, smoking the inevitable cigar. Thompson straightened himself to attention, Malcolm Sage nodded, then once more became absorbed in the photograph.
"I hear Finlay's here," said Colonel Walton.
Sage looked up and nodded. "We've just been checking his measurements," he said.
"With that Bergen fellow's?"
Sage nodded.
"It's a considerable risk," said Colonel Walton.
"Finlay likes 'em," retorted Sage without looking up. "I'd give a good deal to solve that little mystery."
The mystery to which Malcolm Sage referred was the arrest of a man on a Bergen-Hull boat some ten days previously. Although his passport and papers were in order, his story when he had been interrogated was not altogether satisfactory. It had been decided to deport him; but Malcolm Sage, who had subjected him to a lengthy cross-examination, had decided that it would be better to detain him for the time being, and the suspect was consequently lodged in the Tower. Both Malcolm Sage and Colonel Walton were convinced that he had been sent over on a special mission.
"Where's Finlay?" asked Colonel Walton.