Page:Arthur Stringer - The Door of Dread.djvu/194

 And Kestner watched him in silence until he left the room. It was not until the waiter followed, carrying away a trayful of empty dishes, that Sadie spoke up.

"That man's a fake," she promptly announced.

It was Wilsnach, still watching the door, who made a sudden hissing sound for silence.

"Why do you say that?" Kestner quietly inquired.

"B'cause I know it," was her quick retort.

"I am equally aware of the fact," was Kestner's even-toned reply.

Wilsnach paused in the act of lighting a cigarette to stare at his chief.

"How do you know it?" he demanded.

"For the last two days I find my private telephone wire has been tapped. My steps have been dogged, and a decoy message which I sent out was intercepted. Such incidents, naturally, point only to one thing!"

"But why couldn't we have been given a tip?" demanded Wilsnach.

"I wanted to be sure of my ground. And it was only an hour before sitting down to this table I verified my suspicion that Andelman was in no way officially connected with any Washington