Gilbert nodded that he quite understood.
"About James Russell," continued Hankey. "I can put my hand on him at any time; he is kept under constant observation, though he has no idea of it. Yet it hardly seems necessary, for he walks about quite openly in the streets, sometimes alone, sometimes with his wife. They have a lame, crippled child, which they have taken out once or twice."
"Is James Russell anything like this?" asked Gilbert, handing Hankey a photograph of Silwood.
"About the same height, perhaps, but otherwise quite different."
"Yet it is the same man," said Gilbert.
"If so—and I don't doubt your word—what a splendid disguise he has assumed! Case of absconding?" asked Hankey. "Do you wish him arrested?"
"By-and-by; but first I must try to get him to disgorge. He has absconded with a large sum of money."
"Much?"
"Between three and four hundred thousand pounds."
"Nearly two million dollars!" exclaimed Hankey. "Mr. James Russell must be a pretty smart man. Two million! I confess to a certain admiration for a man who can rake in as big a pot as that. Well, I should say it would be very difficult to make a man of that calibre disgorge. How do you intend doing it?"