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 bly be true. The real reason for the delivery of the message to Herr Hammersley Excellenz well knows. And Herr Maxwell would hardly send men to follow Herr Hammersley at my request if he disbelieved in my loyalty.”

“Quite so. He would not and did not,” said Hammersley. “The men were not Herr Maxwell’s. They were men of Scotland Yard. It is quite obvious by the way they bungled matters.”

The General smiled delightedly. It was the sort of joke he liked. “That is one point in your favor, Hammersley.”

Rizzio shrugged.

“Excellenz well knows,” he said, “why those men were sent. They had instructions to get the papers for Maxwell.”

“That is strange,” said Hammersley. “If Maxwell had asked me personally for the papers, I should have given them to him. Maxwell would have known better than to intrust those papers to a third person. It is not likely that I should have given them up to any man, even if Maxwell had sent him.”

“It is unfortunate that Herr Maxwell is not here to”

“One moment, Herr Rizzio,” broke in the General. Then to Hammersley, “What was the nature of the letter which you say was sent by Herr Rizzio to a high official of the War Office?”

“It was a statement in regard to the case of Carl Hüber, who, as you know, was shot last week in the Tower of London.”

“Ach!” Von Stromberg frowned. “We are killing our evidence too fast, mein herr, a little too fast for convenience. Bitte, we will kill no more German agents