Labar thrust an arm through that of a frowning young detective sergeant whose discoloured eye told Teddy’s prowess and led him upstairs.

“You’ve helped a whole lot on this job, Down,” he said. “Don’t you worry about Teddy. We’ll get our hooks on him when we want. I’m using him as bait. What I want you to do is to watch when the big fish bites.”

He expounded at greater length when he was back at his desk. “This joker’s in the game up to the neck, but you can bet Larry’s only trusted him as far as he had to. How much he knows I can’t say. He’s scared to death to say anything, now. But it’s odds, now that we’re on to him, that he’ll try to give the office to Larry either direct, or through someone else. You’ve got to tail him closer than a brother. Take Heath to help you⁠—he doesn’t know Heath. And be particularly careful when he’s stewed. He may drop something that we’d like to know. See if you can get a line through what channels his money comes, though Larry’s likely to have seen that you don’t get back to him that way. If you do get hold of anything burn the wires in getting it to me.”