Then I told them of Stumm and Gaudian and the whispered words I had not been meant to hear. Blenkiron was giving me the benefit of a steady stare, unusual from one who seemed always to have his eyes abstracted, and Sandy had taken to ranging up and down the room.
“Germany’s in the heart of the plan. That is what I always thought. If we’re to find the Kaába-i-hurriyeh it is no good fossicking among the Committee or in the Turkish provinces. The secret’s in Germany. Dick, you should not have crossed the Danube.”
“That’s what I half feared,” I said. “But on the other hand it is obvious that the thing must come east, and sooner rather than later. I take it they can’t afford to delay too long before they deliver the goods. If we can stick it out here we must hit the trail ... I’ve got another bit of evidence. I have solved Harry Bullivant’s third puzzle.”
Sandy’s eyes were very bright and I had an audience on wires.
“Did you say that in the tale of Kasredin a woman is the ally of the prophet?”
“Yes,” said Sandy; “what of that?”
“Only that the same thing is true of Greenmantle. I can give you her name.”
I fetched a piece of paper and a pencil from Blenkiron’s desk and handed it to Sandy.
“Write down Harry Bullivant’s third word.”
He promptly wrote down “v. I.”