oprietor's business as restaurateur.

Malcolm Hay had lunch at the place and saw nothing suspicious in its
character. Most of the clientele were obviously foreign, and not a few
were Russian. Pretending to lose his way, he wandered through the
service door, and there made the important discovery that the kitchen
was on the top floor, and also that meals were being served somewhere in
the basement. This he saw during the few minutes he was allowed to make
observations, because there was a service lift which was sent down to
the unseen clients below.

He apologized for his intrusion and went out. Officially there was no
basement-room, nor, from the restaurant itself, any sign of stairs which
led down to an underground chamber. He made a further reconnaissance,
and found the back door which Sophia Kensky had described in her
hypnotic sleep, and the location of which the old man had endeavoured to
convey to his agent.

Malcolm Hay was gifted with many of the qualities which make up the
equipment of a good detective. In addition, he had the education and
training of an engineer. That the underground room existed, he knew by
certain structural evidence, and waited about in the street until he saw
three men come out and the door close behind them. After awhile, another
two emerged. There was nothing sinister or romantic about the existence
of a basement dining-room, or even of a basement club-room.

The character of this club was probably well known to the police, he
thought, and pursued his inquiries to Marlborough Street police station.
There he found, as he had expected, that the club was registered and
known as "The Foreign Friends of Freedom Club." The officer who supplied
him with the information told him that the premises were visited at
frequent intervals by a representative of the police, and that nothing
of an irregular character had been reported.

"Have you any complaints to make?" asked the official.

"None whatever," smiled Hay. "Only I am writing an article on the
foreign clubs of London, and I want to be sure of my facts."

It was the first and most plausible lie that occurred to him, and it
answered his purpose. He returned to Kensky with his information, and
the old man producing a map of London, he marked the spot with a red
cross. All this time Malcolm Hay was busy making preparations for
departure. He would have been glad to stay on, so that his leaving
London would coincide with the departure of th