Two
courses were open to him, and he was mentally debating their
respective advantages.
"I have come to you to-night, Mr. Brinn," he said finally, "to
ask you a certain question. Unless the theory upon which I am
working is entirely wrong, then, supposing that you are in a
position to answer my question I am logically compelled to
suppose, also, that you stand in peril of your life."
"Good," said Mr. Brinn. "I was getting sluggish." In three long
strides he crossed the room and locked the door. "I don't doubt
Hoskins's honesty," he explained, reading the inquiry in Harley's
eyes, "but an A1 intelligence doesn't fold dress pants at
thirty-nine."
Only one very intimate with the taciturn speaker could have
perceived any evidence of interest in that imperturbable
character. But Nicol Brinn took his cheroot between his fingers,
quickly placed a cone of ash in a little silver tray (the work of
Benvenuto Cellini), and replaced the cheroot not in the left but
in the right corner of his mouth. He was excited.
"You are out after one of the big heads of the crook world," he
said. "He knows it and he's trailing you. My luck's turned. How
can I help?"
Harley stood up, facing Mr. Brinn. "He knows it, as you say," he
replied, "and I hold my life in my hands. But from your answer to
the question which I have come here to-night to ask you, I shall
conclude whether or not your danger at the moment is greater than
mine.
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