For some moments astonishment held him dumb.
"Gastrell and the rest of them will be at Eldon Hall, in Northumberland, the day after to-morrow," he said at last, "for the coming of age of Cranmere's son. The house is to be lootedcleaned out. Everything is arrangedthe plan is perfectas all the arrangements of The Four Faces always areit can't fail unless"
"Yes?"
"Now that you know, you can warn Cranmere. You must warn him to be very careful, for if they get wind there's suspicion about they'll drop it and you won't catch them. You know the robberies and other things there've been, and nobody's been caughtthey've not even been suspected. Now's your chance to get them allthe first real chance there's ever been. But you mustn't show up, mind that. This house is watchedto see when we come out. Nor you nor your man must go out of this flat till the gang's been caught, every one of themit's the day after to-morrow they'll be at Eldon Hall. They're expecting a gigantic haul there, including all the Cranmere diamondsthey're worth thousands on thousands. You're both known by sight, and if you're seen about we're just as bad as dead."
He stopped abruptly, then went on:
"And you mustn't answer if anybody rings or knocks. And you mustn't answer the telephone. You understand? Nobody must answer it. It's got to be supposed you're both in here, deadyou and your man. They've got to think we done it. There's no one else living in this flat, we know that."
"I can't warn Lord Cranmere if I don't go out of here."
"He can"he indicated the detective. "He can go out at any time. They don't know he's in here. If we'd known you'd anybody with you we'd have come another time. Your man said you were alonequite alone, he saidand, well, we thought the fifty quid had squared him."
Still holding my man tightly in the ju-jitsu grip, I again spoke quickly to the detective.
"Isn't he lying?" I asked. "Is it safe to let them go?"