"Where is the safe situated?"
"It is concealed, I thought securely, at the back of a bookcase. No one else holds a key. No one—not even my man—knows of its location. Curse Séverac Bablon! How, in Heaven's name, has he discovered it? I thought it secure from the fiend himself!"
Detective-Inspector Pepys scratched his chin thoughtfully, and Bernard Megger seemed to experience some difficulty in meeting the disconcerting gaze of his eyes.
"Possibly," said the inspector slowly, "an examination of your chambers may afford a clue. With your permission, Lord Vignoles, we will start at once."
"Certainly," said Vignoles. "I fear I have no car in readiness, so someone shall call a cab."
He moved to the bell.
"What's that, Jerry?" came a musical American voice. "Someone want a lift?"
The three men looked towards the door and saw there Zoe Oppner, a bewitching picture in her motor-furs.
"I was coming to say good-night," she explained. "I'm off to pick up Pa. But I've got time to run as far as Brighton and back, say. Nearly half an hour anyway!"
"You will not be called upon to create that amazing record, Zoe," responded Lord Vignoles. "Inspector Pepys and Mr. Megger are merely proceeding to Victoria Street."