ders from the Foreign Office to give you every assistance. What's
the game?"

"The biggest game in the world," said Beale promptly, "a game which, if
it succeeds, will bring misery and suffering to thousands, and will
bring great businesses tumbling, and set you and your children and your
children's children working for hundreds of years to pay off a new
national debt."

"Man alive!" said the other, "are you serious?"

Beale nodded.

"I was never more serious in my life," he said, "that is why I don't
want the police to be too inquisitive in regard to this murder of
Jackson, whose real name, as I say, is Predeaux. I can tell you this,
chief, that you are seeing the development of the most damnable plot
that has ever been hatched in the brain of the worst miscreant that
history knows. Sit down again. Do you know what happened last year?" he
asked.

"Last year?" said the superintendent. "Why, the war ended last year."

"The war ended, Germany was beaten, and had to accept terms humiliating
for a proud nation, but fortunately for her Prussia was not proud, she
was merely arrogant. Her worst blow was the impoverishing conditions
which the Entente Powers imposed. That is to say, they demanded certain
concessions of territory and money which, added to the enormous interest
of war stock which the Germans had to pay, promised to cripple Prussia
for a hundred years."

"Well?" said the detective, when the other had stopped.

"Well?" repeated Beale, with a hard little smile. "Germany is going to
get that money back."

"War?"

Beale laughed.

"No, nothing so foolish as war. Germany has had all the war she wants.
Oh no, there'll be no war. Do you imagine that we should go to war
because I came to the Foreign Office with a crazy story. I can tell you
this, that officially the German Government have no knowledge of this
plot and are quite willing to repudiate those people who are engaged in
it. Indeed, if the truth be told, the Government has not contributed a
single mark to bring the scheme to fruition, but when it is working all
the money required will be instantly found. At present the inventor of
this delightful little scheme finds himself with insufficient capital to
go ahead. It is his intention to secure that capital. There are many
ways by which this can be done. He has already borrowed L40,000 from
White, of Punsonby's."

Superintendent McNorton whistled.

"There are other ways," Beale went on, "and he is at