He looked at Harley as though he suspected the latter of possessing
private information.

"We should neglect no possible precaution," answered my friend. "That
agencies inimical to your safety are focussed upon the house your own
statement amply demonstrates."

Colonel Menendez seemed to be on the point of speaking again, but he
checked himself and in silence led the way through the ornate library
to a smaller room which opened out of it, and which was furnished as a
study.

Here the motif was distinctly one of officialdom. Although the Southern
element was not lacking, it was not so marked as in the library or in
the hall. The place was appointed for utility rather than ornament.
Everything was in perfect order. In the library, with the blinds drawn,
one might have supposed oneself in Trinidad; in the study, under
similar conditions, one might equally well have imagined Downing Street
to lie outside the windows. Essentially, this was the workroom of a man
of affairs.

Having settled ourselves comfortably, Paul Harley opened the
conversation.

"In several particulars," said he, "I find my information to be
incomplete."

He consulted the back of an envelope, upon which, I presumed during the
afternoon, he had made a number of pencilled notes.