Page:Arthur Stringer - The Door of Dread.djvu/55

 officer with a military cloak thrown over his arm.

"Lieutenant Diehms?" Wllsnach could hear his fellow-operative say. He could also see the officer's curt head-movement of assent.

"There's a matter I'd like to talk to you about," announced Kestner.

"Why?"

"Because in this hotel, not an hour ago, Madame Garnier stole a number of Navy secrets from an officer named Keays." The two men confronted each other. Their stares seemed to meet and lock, like the antlers of embattled stags.

"Who are you?"

"I'm from the Secret Service at Washington, and I am here investigating Navy leaks—Navy leaks in which you are involved."

"In which I am involved?" repeater the officer.

"Do you know who Madame Garnier is, and where she comes from?"

"She is a confidential agent of our own government," was the officer's reply. "And she comes from Washington for the same work that you pretend to be doing."