The Holly chieftain., 1914-01-09

Leastways not in Maiden Square,"
well. have you found the place!
Oh. that Is all right" for the man had
glanced at me with a brief suspicion.
This is Mr.. Phillips. who has been
of much service to me in our little
affair; let me introduce you to Ser
'eant Jackson. Mr.. Phillips"
l shook hands with the serjeant
who said that he would take a glass
OF beer
And the placer" asked Peace. when
We had seated ourselves on a corner
Dench out OF earshot of the man be-
nind the bar-a bottle-nosed ruffian.
who watched us furtively as he rinsed
tte dirty glasses.
That's the address. sir" said the
ser1eant. handing his superior a crum-
pied sheet Of paper.
"A club. is it," he said, glancing UP
In his quick. bird-like way. And what
sort Of club?"
Foreign. sir. They call themselves
social democrats. but our special
branch men tell me that a full half
OF the crowd are anarchists. and such
rats as that. think 1t must be so.
ior Nicolin and his Russians have had
the place under close observation for
weeks. And vou know what that
means, SIR"
yes. l know what that means"
Amaron was not a member. but
used to drop in there from time to
tlme. He was very thick with the
man who runs the place. Greatman.
as he calls himself. They tell me that
Greatman sa. as a model for some
statue he wa. doing. back in July. 1t
must have been funny sort of statue.
Tor Greatman's a weedy little Pole.
and drinks like fish,"
For some time the inspector sat in
silence, drawing circles on the floor
with the point of the light cane he
carried. The bartender dropped a
glass. swore, and then. with stare
at us, retreated into little cage he
had at the back of his domain Doubt
less the presence of detectives was no
incentive to trade in the bars of Mai
den Square.
This Greatman-what more do you
know OF htm?"
I'VE have had nothing against him
before; but all the same. It's his pri-
vate room that has the sanded floor"
The inspectors prophecy Of the pre-
vious night came back to me with
sudden remembrance: "Amaroff was
murdered in room with sanded
floor, probably at no great distance
from Leman street, seeing that they
carried him there in coster's bar
row." began to understand the NOR
bid significance of the private room
in this little foreign club.
We were drawing nearer to our
game: the scent was growing strong
er. Addington Peace leant a little for
ward, with twist in his jaw that
raised ripple of muscles under the
skin
Continue, II you please" he said.
"The room Is at the rear Of the club,
and there is back staircase to yard
rows when not In use. 1t fits In with
what you told US to inquire for. don't
1t, sir?"
"Yes"
The Inspectors stick recommended
it's interlacing circles on the floor;
and we sat and watched. as II thereby
he were disentangIing his sordid story.
poked his luminous nose from his cage
in the hope that we had gone. He
withdrew 1t with remarks on the po-
lice force which were distinctly audi
BILE. and opposed to the complimentary.
Suddenly the inspector turned to me
with a motion of half-apology. as il
at the neglect Of a guest
There are times, Mr.. Phillips" he
said, when evidence runs in absurd
contradictions. Observe the present
case, in which you are SO good as to
interest yourself We have 1t from the
Russian police that Amaroff is their
man, and that in their opinion-they
being we'll qualified to judge-he was
murdered by Nihilists. We now learn
that he was apparently on intimate
terms with Nihilists. and We have
good reason to believe that he was
strangled in one OF their clubs. What
do you gather from that?"
"They discovered his treachery. and
took an excusable revenge" said l.
"A sound conclusion. And now let
rs suppose that Amaroff was not q po-
lice spy at all; being, in fact, dan
gerous Nihilist What them"
why set yourself such a puzzle?"
Not for amusement" he said, with
his quiet smile. And now propose
a little experiment You must intro