"But we are not going to prosecute," said Mr. Llewellyn John anxiously.
"Mr. Paul Cressit will have forty-eight hours in which to leave the country," said Malcolm Sage evenly. "He will not return, because Scotland Yard will see that he does not do so. There will probably be an application to you, sir," Malcolm Sage continued, turning to Mr. Llewellyn John, "to confirm what I tell them."
"Excellent!" cried Mr. Llewellyn John. "I congratulate you, Sage.
You have done wonders."
"But I failed to understand your saying that you would be here this morning," said Sir Lyster, "and under an assumed name with——"
"A foreign accent," suggested Malcolm Sage. "The thief might have been an old hand at the game, and too clever to fall into a rather obvious trap. In that case I might have been forced, as a foreigner, to salute the hands of all the ladies in the house. I learnt to click my heels years ago in Germany." Again there was a suspicious movement at the corners of Malcolm Sage's mouth.
"But——" began Sir Lyster.
"To identify the scent?" broke in Mr. Llewellyn John.
Malcolm Sage inclined his read slightly.
"The Foreign Office messengers?" queried Lord Beamdale.
"I decided that pedestrians and cyclists would do as well. I merely wanted the house watched. There were quite a number of casualties to cars and bicycles in the neighbourhood," he added dryly.