Chapter Ten.
In the Lobby of the House.
The weeks had slipped by. Smeaton was not at all satisfied with the progress he was making. His inquiries had led him into a cul-de-sac. The absence of the man Stent from the Savoy worried him. It looked as though the man had received a hint from Mrs Saxton, and taken the alarm. In addition, he had constant inquiries from the Home Secretary as to what progress he was making.
He paid a visit to Chesterfield Street to talk over matters. Before he left, Sheila screwed up her courage to tell him of Varney’s visit, and their acquiescence in his proposal to investigate on his own account.
She had expected that he would display resentment at their having taken such a step before consulting him. But, to her relief, he did nothing of the kind.
“Varney is a rather clever young chap,” he admitted, “and if he devoted himself entirely to detective work, and acquired plenty of experience, I believe he would be as good as, if not better than, many of us. In the Caxley mystery he certainly got on the right track, while we went blundering on wrong lines altogether. And the revelations in the Balham affair were entirely due to him.”
“He spoke very highly of you,” said Sheila, with woman’s finesse. “I am glad you don’t think we did wrong.”
“Not at all, my dear young lady. Tell him not to hesitate to come to me—if he is in need of any special facilities that I can give.”