Only the basest motive could
inspire them to attempt my life now."
There was a pause. The secretary of state glanced from Mr. Grimm to Mr.
Campbell with a question in his deep-set eyes.
"Do I understand that you placed a Miss Thorne and the prince
under--that is, you detained them?" he queried. "If so, where are they
now?"
"I don't know," was the reply. "Just before the explosion the three of
us entered an automobile together, and then as we were starting away I
remembered something which made it necessary for me to reenter the
house. When I came out again, just a few seconds before the explosion,
the prince and Miss Thorne had gone."
The secretary's lips curled down in disapproval.
"Wasn't it rather unusual, to put it mildly, to leave your prisoners to
their own devices that way?" he asked.
"Well, yes," Mr. Grimm admitted. "But the circumstances were unusual.
When I entered the house I had locked a man in the cellar. I had to go
back to save his life, otherwise--"
"Oh, the guard at the door, you mean?" came the interruption. "Who was
it?"
Mr. Grimm glanced at his chief, who nodded.
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