Kerry chewed viciously, then:
"I think I'll 'phone the wife," he said abruptly. "She'll be
expecting me."
Almost before he had finished speaking the 'phone bell rang, and
a few moments later:
"Someone to speak to you, Chief Inspector," cried the officer in
charge.
"Ah!" exclaimed Kerry, his fierce eyes lighting up. "That will
be from home."
"I don't think so," was the reply. "But see who it is."
"Hello!" he called.
He was answered by an unfamiliar voice, a voice which had a
queer, guttural intonation. It was the sort of voice he had
learned to loathe.
"Is that Chief Inspector Kerry?"
"Yes," he snapped.
"May I take it that what I have to say will be treated in
confidence?"
"Certainly not."
"Think again, Chief Inspector," the voice continued. "You are a
man within sight of the ambition of years, and although you may
be unaware of the fact, you stand upon the edge of a disaster. I
appreciate your sense of duty and respect it. But there are
times when diplomacy is a more potent weapon than force."
Kerry, listening, became aware that the speaker was a man of
cultured intellect. He wondered greatly, but:
"My time is valuable," he said rapidly. "Come to the point.
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