was Mr. Rodwell speaking. He told me who he was, and then asked if Mr. Trustram was with the doctor. I said he was, and at once went and called him." "Did Mr. Trustram appear to be on friendly terms with Mr. Rodwell?" asked the young man eagerly. "Oh! quite. I heard Mr. Trustram laughing over the 'phone, and saying `All right--yes, I quite understand. It's awfully good of you to make the suggestion. I think it excellent. I'll propose it tomorrow--yes, at the club tomorrow at four.'"

Suggestion? What suggestion had Lewin Rodwell made to that official of the Transport Department--Lewin Rodwell, of all men! Jack Sainsbury stood before that locked door, for the moment unable to think. He was utterly dumbfounded. Those words he had heard in the boardroom in the City that afternoon had burned themselves deeply into his brain. Lewin Rodwell was, it seemed, a personal friend of Charles Trustram, the well-known and trusted official to whose push-and-go the nation had been so deeply indebted-- the man who had transported so many hundreds of thousands of our Expeditionary Force across the Channel, with all their guns, ammunition and equipment, without a single mishap. It was both curious and startling. What could it all mean? Thomasson again hammered upon the stout old-fashioned door of polished mahogany. "Speak, sir! Do speak!" he implored. "Are you all right?" Still there was no reply. "He may have fainted!" Jack suggested. "Something may have happened to him!" "I hope not, sir," replied the man very anxiously. "I'll just run outside and see whether the window is open. If so, we might get a ladder." The man dashed downstairs and out into the street, but a moment later he returned breathlessly, saying--"No. Both windows are closed, just as I closed them at dusk. And the curtains are drawn; not a chink of light is showing through. All we can do, I fear, is to force the door."

"You are quite sure he's in the room?"

"Positive, sir."

"Did you see him after Mr Trustram left?"

"No, I didn't. I let Mr Trustram out, and as he wished me good-night he hailed a passing taxi, and then I went down and read the evening paper. I always have it after the doctor's finished with it."

"Well, Thomasson, what is to be done?" asked Sainsbury, essentially a young man of action. "We must get into this room--and at once. I don't like the present aspect of things a bit."

"Neither do I, sir. Below, I've got the jemmy we use for opening packing-cases. We may be able to force the door with that."

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