"The murder," Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes,
"was accomplished only a stone's throw from your office."

Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away.

"Horrible affair it was," he remarked.

Bellamy glanced toward the door, - a man had looked in and departed.

"Enough of this fencing, Laverick," he said. "A theft was committed
from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public
knows nothing. A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty
thousand pounds and a sealed document. As to who murdered the man,
I want you to understand that that is not my affair. As to what has
become of that twenty thousand pounds, I have not the slightest
curiosity. I want the document."

"What claim have you to it?" Laverick asked quickly.

"I might retort, but I will not," Bellamy replied. "Time is too
short. I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what
that document consists of. The man's name was Von Behrling, and he
was a trusted agent of the Austrian Secret Service. The document
of which he was robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference
which recently took place at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany,
the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar of Russia. It contains the
details of a plot against this country and the undertakings entered
into by those several Powers. I want that document, Laverick. Have
I established my claim?"