Lane named a liberal sum, and, truth to tell, it did make the valet’s mouth water, but he was a greedy fellow, and he was determined to try for a bit more. So for a few minutes they haggled till a compromise was effected. But still Simmons was torn in two between his greed and his fear of detection and would not say positively that he would assist.
The detective was a man of resource, he saw that he must adopt different tactics with this cowardly rogue and relieve him from his apprehensions.
“Look here, my friend, I can see you are in a blue funk; you are afraid of what I am certain won’t happen, that Sir George will return unexpectedly, walk into his flat and find me at work. Of course, he has got his key.”
Mr. Simmons wanted to get that money in his possession, and his greed sharpened his wits.
“Yes, he has got his key; he always carries it with him. But I could put the inside latch up, making some plausible excuse for doing so, and while I was going to the door you could put things straight and escape into my room, hide there and be smuggled out as soon as we got a chance. What do you think of that?”
“Quite ingenious,” was the approving answer. No doubt the fellow would have developed a very pretty talent in the domain of “crookdom” if he had been properly trained by a qualified professor.
“Quite ingenious,” repeated Lane; “but I think I can manage it in a way that will avert any danger from yourself if accidents should happen. Now here is my plan. I will explain it as briefly as possible. You won’t appear in the matter at all.”
Mr. Simmons heaved a sigh of relief. He looked at his new friend with an air of admiration; he felt he was in the presence of a master mind.
The detective lucidly explained his scheme. “You meet me at the bottom of the street to-morrow evening at seven o’clock, and hand me the key of the flat. You come on here, I join you in five minutes; we have met here as usual for a chat. I’m in a hurry; I stay with you a quarter of an hour, then hasten off on the plea of having to attend to some urgent business. I go on to the flat, take care that nobody is about, put the key in the door, enter Sir George’s room and do my business. You will sit here for an hour with your pals, then you will leave and meet me, say, in the buffet of Victoria Station, when I will hand you back your key.”
“It sounds all right,” said Mr. Simmons, still speaking dubiously. “But what happens if Sir George ‘cops’ you, and you can’t meet me at Victoria?”