"They never do." There was an unaccustomed note of irascibility in Mr.
Llewellyn John"s voice. "These questions are a scandal."
"Except when one happens to be in opposition, sir," said Sage, apparently absorbed in examining the nails of his left hand.
Mr. Llewellyn John made no response, and Colonel Walton handed back to him the slip, which he tossed upon the table.
"Well," he demanded, looking from Colonel Walton to Sage, "what are we to reply?"
"The answer is in the affirmative, sir," said Malcolm Sage.
For a moment Mr. Llewellyn John looked at him, frowning, then he broke into a smile.
"That"s all very well, Sage, but it"s not sufficient."
"If I may venture a suggestion----" began Sage.
"Do--do, that"s why I sent for you--both," he added, as if in deference to Colonel Walton.
"I would say that for reasons not unconnected with the prosecution of the war, the discovery of Mr. John Dene"s whereabouts is imperative."
"But that would be giving us away more than ever."
"I think it would be desirable to temporise," said Sage.
Mr. Llewellyn John made a movement of impatience.
"You might reply that it is not in the public interest to answer the question," continued Sage.
"But that would be tantamount to acknowledging that we are offering the reward," said Mr. Llewellyn John with a suspicion of irritation in his voice.
Malcolm Sage looked at him steadily, but without speaking.
"There will inevitably be other questions arising out of this,"
continued Mr. Llewellyn John.
"I was going to suggest, sir, that if we could arrange for some newspaper to make a definite statement that the Government is offering the reward, we could prosecute it under D.O.R.A."
For fully a minute Mr. Llewellyn John gazed at Malcolm Sage, as if not quite sure of his sanity. "But," he began, and then broke off, looking helplessly across at Colonel Walton.
"Of course, sir, I"ll relinquish the enquiry if you wish it."
"This is not the time to talk of relinquishing anything, Sage," said Mr. Llewellyn John with some asperity in his tone. "What I want to know is what all this means."
"That"s exactly what I"m endeavouring to discover," said Sage evenly.
"If I were a stage detective, I should be down on my knees smelling your carpet, or examining Pall Mall with a strong lens; but I"m not. I never carry a magnifying-gla.s.s and I know nothing about finger-prints.
The solving of mysteries, like the detection of crime, is invariably due to a mistake on the part of somebody who ought not to have made a mistake."
"Then tell me how far you have got." Mr. Llewellyn John glanced across to Colonel Walton, and was conscious of a slight knitting of his brows, then he looked back again at Malcolm Sage, who for some moments remained silent.
"If you were uncertain of my sanity, sir," said Sage quietly, "would you discuss the matter with others, or would you first a.s.sure yourself of the accuracy of your suspicions?"
He looked up suddenly, straight into Mr. Llewellyn John"s eyes.
"We all know you are hopelessly and irretrievably mad, Sage," said Mr.
Llewellyn John with a smile.
"When I know definitely what has become of John Dene, I"ll tell you, sir," said Sage. "I"m not spectacular, sir. I can"t deduce bigamy from a bootlace, or murder from a meringue. I can tell you this, however"--he paused and both his listeners leaned forward eagerly--"that if my hypothesis is correct, the policy to pursue is to magnify the importance of John Dene"s disappearance. Incidentally," he added, "it might result in Mr. John Dene revising his opinion of the incapacity of British officialdom."
"Then you refuse to tell me?"
"It would be highly injudicious on my part to tell you of a mere suspicion which might----" Malcolm Sage lifted his eye from the nail of his left thumb, and looked straight at Mr. Llewellyn John--"which might dictate your policy, sir."
"But the time we are wasting," protested Mr. Llewellyn John, rising and pacing up and down impatiently.
"Nothing is lost that"s wrought with tears, sir," was the enigmatical response.
"Sage," said Mr. Llewellyn John, as he shook hands with Malcolm Sage, "you"re the most pig-headed official in the British Empire.
Chappeldale can be tiresome; but you"re nothing short of an inconvenience. Mind, Walton," he continued, turning to the chief of Department Z., "I shall hold you responsible for Sage. If he lets me down over this Dene business, I shall lose faith in Department Z." The smile that accompanied his words, however, robbed them of any sting they might have contained.
"Why don"t you take the Skipper into your confidence, Sage?" enquired Walton, as they walked towards the Duke of York"s steps.
"Vanity, chief, sheer vanity," was the response. "We have never failed him yet, and if I started barking up the wrong tree, he"d never again have confidence in Department Z. I suppose," he added irrelevantly, "that some day we shall be taken over altogether by the colonies. It would not be a bad thing for the British Empire, either. John Dene might be our first president."
There was one man who was deeply thankful for the disappearance of John Dene. Mr. Blair went about as if he had received a new lease of life.
He became almost sprightly in his demeanour, and no longer looked up apprehensively when the door of his room opened. Sir Bridgman North commented on the circ.u.mstance to Sir Lyster Grayne and, as he pa.s.sed through Mr. Blair"s room, openly taxed him with being responsible for the kidnapping of John Dene. Mr. Blair smiled a little wearily; for to him John Dene was no matter for joking.
When Mr. McShane"s question with regard to the disappearance of John Dene came up for answer, the Home Secretary replied that for the present at least it was not in the public interest to give the information required.
"That"s tantamount to an acknowledgment," cried Mr. McShane, springing to his feet. "It"s a scandal that public money----"
He got no further, as at this point he was called to order by the Speaker.
It was clear that the House was not satisfied. In the lobbies Mr.
McShane"s question and the answer given were discussed to an extent out of all proportion to their apparent importance. The feeling seemed to be that if John Dene were of such value to the Government, he should have been guarded with a care that would have prevented the possibility of his disappearance. If on the other hand the Government had no interest in the enormous reward offered for information concerning him, then a statement to that effect should have been made. Whatever the facts, the Government was obviously in the wrong. That was the general impression.
The next day several newspapers commented very strongly upon the incident. There seemed to be a determination on the part of the press to make an "affaire John Dene" out of the Canadian"s disappearance.
The Government was attacked for adopting German bureaucratic methods.
"A dark age of bureaucracy is settling down upon the country," said _The Morning Age_. "The real danger of Prussianism is not military, but bureaucratic."
The Government was called upon to lift the curtain of mystery with which it had surrounded itself. If it were responsible for the rewards offered, then let it say so. If, however, these rewards were in no way connected with the Government, then a denial should immediately be made. At the moment everybody regarded the Government as responsible for the tremendous press campaign resulting from John Dene"s disappearance.
Malcolm Sage read the newspapers with obvious relish. Mr. Llewellyn John, on the other hand, frowned heavily at finding his administration attacked. The Home Secretary rang up the Deputy-Commissioner at Scotland Yard, telling him that something must be done, and the Deputy-Commissioner had replied with some heat that if the Home Secretary would step across to the Yard, he would see what actually was being done. He further intimated that the whole work of the Yard had been disorganised.
The Prime Minister sent over for Colonel Walton. "Look here, Walton,"
he cried as the chief of Department Z. entered the room. "This affair is getting rather out of hand, and it looks dangerous. You"ve seen the papers?"
Colonel Walton nodded. He was a man to whom words came with difficulty.
"Well, I don"t like the look of it," continued Mr. Llewellyn John.