name for the sake
of clearness--was in and out of my rooms a good deal, of course. And
what I want to know now, Mrs. Marlow, is--do you think he got access to
our letters, papers, books? Could he find out, for instance, that I was
engaged in this deal between the Princess Nastirsevitch and Mr. Delkin,
and that Miss Lennard had bought the Pinkie Pell pearls? Think!"

Mrs. Marlow had evidently done her thinking; she replied without
hesitation.

"If he did, or could, it would be through your own carelessness,
Mr. Fullaway," she said. "You know that I am ridiculously careful
about that sort of thing! From the time I come here in the
morning--ten-o'clock--until I leave at five, no one has any chance of
seeing our papers, or our letter book, or our telegram-copies book. They
are always on my desk while I am in the office, and when I go downstairs
to lunch I lock them up in the safe. But--you're not careful! How many
times have I come in the morning, and found that you've taken these
things out of the safe over-night and left them lying about for anybody
to see? Dozens of times!"

"I know--I know!" admitted Fullaway with a groan. "I'm frightfully
careless--always was. I quite admit it, Mrs. Marlow, quite!"

"Of course," continued Mrs. Marlow, in precise, even tones, "of course if
you left the letter-book lying round, and the book in which the
duplicates of all our telegrams and cablegrams are kept, too--why, this
Ebers man could easily read what he liked for himself when he was in here
of a morning before you got up. He was in and out a great deal, that's
certain. And as regards those two affairs, the documents we have about
them are pretty plain, Mr. Fullaway. Anybody of average intelligence
could find out in ten minutes from our letter-book and telegram-book that
we negotiated the sale of the Pinkie Pell pearls to Miss Lennard, and
that Mr. James Allerdyke was bringing here a valuable parcel of jewels
from Russia. And," concluded Mrs. Marlow quietly, "from what I saw of
him, Ebers was a smart man."

Van Koon, who had been listening attentively to all this, turned a
half-whimsical, half-reproving glance on Fullaway, who sat in a contrite
attitude, drumming his fingers on the polished table.

"I guess you're a very careless individual, my friend," he said, shaking
his head. "If you will leave your important papers lying about, as this
lady says you're in the habit of doing, what do you expect? Now, you've
been wonderin