"O, you've got one, then?" cried Theydon.
"Yes, a Jap. The constable was wise enough to give him the point of his truncheon in the gullet, and that settled him."
"I wonder if he is the one who would have been shot had he broken into my flat," said Theydon musingly.
"Shot! Man alive, you'd never have heard him!"
"Not till he had a bullet lodged securely in his inside, it is true. Bates and I surveyed that lift last night, Mr. Furneaux, and regarded it as the weak part of our defenses, so we arranged that an automatic pistol should live up to its name, and fire at any one who opened the sliding panel."
"Did you now?" said Furneaux admiringly. "Whose brainy idea was that—yours or Bates's?"
"A joint effort," he said, with a self-satisfied smile.
"Well, I'm glad it didn't come off. British law is a fearsome and wonderful thing. You might both have got ten years for fixing a man-trap, to wit, a lethal engine. However, during the next few days you're going to change your abode. Tell Bates and his wife that they need a holiday, and ought to visit relatives in Yorkshire or North Wales. Pack what you need for a week, at least, and make straight for Fortescue Square."
"Are you joking?" said Theydon, genuinely astounded.
"Do I look it?" And, indeed, the detective did not. "Winter has just settled that program with Mr. Forbes. You see, you're in this affair now, neck and crop, and it's easier for us to safeguard one place than two. You're pleased, aren't you? Doesn't a pretty girl live there?"