Labar had hoped, but scarcely expected, more than he had got from Stebbins. There was certainly nothing in what Stebbins had said that could implicate Larry Hughes directly. Larry as usual had been remote, aloof from his lesser helpers. It was characteristic of his methods that he should have used this drug-sodden crook as a blind tool. He must have foreseen the possibility of Stebbins being traced, although he had taken every precaution against it. True, Stebbins knew that Billy Bungey was in the business, but Billy had not been known as an associate of the master criminal. If it had not been for the episode at “Maid’s Retreat,” Labar would never have considered the two together. There was no likelihood that inquiries which would have to be undertaken about the “ Mr. Blake” of the Bruges poste restante would lead anywhere. No, the trail that might have led from Stebbins to Larry Hughes had been cleverly smothered. But for the coincidence of the intervention of Penelope Noelson and Mrs. Gertstein, the C.I.D. men might well have come to the conclusion that there was no hope of linking Hughes with the crime.