"I do! He probably has it, or rather Spencer has it. Also I think he
will submit it for a test with the letter. He knows his attempt to bribe
me failed, and that the only way he can have access to the letter is to
come with the key-word. And you need not fear that I shall let him copy
the letter until after I've tested the key-word and found it correct."
"Where is the letter?" Harleston asked.
"Locked in the burglar-proof safe in my office."
"Who knows the combination?"
"Spendel, my confidential clerk."
"Trustworthy?"
"I would as soon suspect myself."
"Very good! Now, another thing: do you know Fred Snodgrass, an
ex-Captain of the Army, who lives at the Boulogne?"
"Casually," said Carpenter.
"Ever suspect him of being in the German pay?"
"No. However, he is an intimate friend of Von Swinkle, the Second
Secretary--if that's any indication."
"Rather the reverse, I should say. However, he met Madeline Spencer
yesterday in Union Station. The meeting was apparently accidental, and
so far as his shadow could see or hear was entirely innocent."
"I distrust the apparently accidental and the entirely innocent--in
diplomacy," Carpenter remarked. "We should keep an eye on Snodgrass."
"Meanwhile what are _you_ doing as to the French key-word--trying for
it?" Harleston asked, going toward the door.
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