to help, even if, for official
reasons, you may not find it possible to admit him wholly into your
counsels."

Of course I willingly assented, and the conditions understood, Plummer
offered no further objection. Hewitt despatched his telegram, and in a
very few minutes we were in a cab on the way to the Admiralty.

"This is the way of it," Plummer said. "You will remember that when we
lost Mayes at the end of the Lever Key case, I was waiting for him in
that city office, with an assistant, and that we only saw him for an
instant in the lift. Well, that assistant was a very intelligent man of
mine, named Corder--a fellow with a wonderful memory for a face. Now
Corder is on another case just now, and we'd put him on, dressed like a
loafer, to hang about Whitehall and the neighbourhood, watching for some
one we want. Well, this morning there came an urgent message to the Yard
from the Admiralty, to ask for a responsible official at once, and I was
sent. As I came along I saw Corder lounging about, and of course I took
no notice--it would not do for us people from the Yard to recognise each
other too readily in the street. But Corder came up, and made pretence
to ask me for a match to light his pipe; and under cover of that he told
me that he had seen Mayes not an hour before, coming out of the
Admiralty. At this, of course, I pricked up my ears. I didn't know what
they wanted me for, but if there was mischief, and that fellow had been
there, it was likely at least that he might have been in it. Corder was
quite positive that it was the man, although he had only seen him for a
moment in the lift. He hadn't seen him go into the Admiralty office, but
he was passing as he came out, and noted the time exactly, so that he
might report to me at the first opportunity. The time was 11.32, and
Mayes jumped into a hansom and drove off. He walked right out into the
middle of the road to stop the hansom--you know how wide the road is
there--so that Corder couldn't hear his direction to the cabman, but he
took the number as the cab went off. Corder ought to have collared him
then and there, I think, but he was in a difficult position. It would
have endangered the case he was on, which is very important; and
besides, he didn't realise how much we wanted him for, having only been
brought in as an assistant at the tail of our bond case. Still less did
he guess--any more than myself--what I was going to hear at the
Admiralty office."

"A