So he rose, unlocked a drawer with the key upon his chain, and handed to the deformed man the packet containing the half-burnt statement.
“Well,” remarked Diamond, as he took the precious documents in his hand, “if you think it a wise course, let us adopt it.”
“Yes, but where are we to commence our search?”
“The stranger said he was a Dane. He came from Copenhagen. Is it not probable,” suggested the Doctor, “that the discoverer was some friend of his residing in that city?”
“More than likely,” Farquhar agreed. “Yes. Let us try Copenhagen. We must first find out who are the professors of Hebrew resident there. I will write to our Copenhagen correspondent to-night and ask for a list. Then, if necessary, I will run over there myself. In this matter we must lay out a decisive line of inquiry and follow it up.”
“Quite so,” exclaimed the hunchback. “Copenhagen must be our starting-point. The initial difficulty, however, as far as I discern, is that we do not know our dead friend’s name. If we did and could trace him, we might discover whether he knew anybody who was a Hebrew scholar.”
“The Danish police would furnish us with names and descriptions of persons lately missing from the capital.”
“So they would, that’s a brilliant idea,” exclaimed the Doctor. “My opinion is that the reason why he refused his name to me, even at the final moment, was because he was wanted by the police, and intended that they should remain in ignorance of his end.”
“If so, it makes our inquiry far easier,” declared Frank. “And suppose we find him?” he asked.
“If we find him,” answered Diamond, looking straight into the eyes of the ambitious man opposite—“if we find him, we will compel him to furnish to us the context of the statement.”