"No one else knows it," said West, and staggered unsteadily to the safe. Clearly his mind was in a dazed condition, but, setting his jaw with a curious expression of grim determination, he collected his thoughts and opened the safe.
He bent down, looking in.
In some way the knowledge came to me that the curtain was about to rise on a new and surprising act in the Fu-Manchu drama.
"God!" he whispered—we could scarcely hear him—"the plans are gone!"
CHAPTER XIX
I HAVE never seen a man quite so surprised as Inspector Weymouth.
"This is absolutely incredible!" he said. "There's only one door to your chambers. We found it bolted from the inside."
"Yes," groaned West, pressing his hand to his forehead. "I bolted it myself at eleven o'clock, when I came in."
"No human being could climb up or down to your windows. The plans of the aero-torpedo were inside a safe."