However, from that angle of the case the hunt was up with a vengeance. Labar bit his lips as he reflected that it was necessary to act swiftly if he was to lay Larry Hughes by the heels. The other would be moving. If there was any precaution that he had failed to take beforehand to neutralise evidence against him, he would of a surety be looking into it now. The trouble was that there was nothing which could lead to immediate action.

It is conceivable that this would have been a matter of less concern to the inspector had it not been for Penelope Noelson. Spite of himself, spite of his attempts at strict concentration on the immediate aspects of the case, he was alarmed for her. It should have been no concern of his to view her other than as an item in the sum of the case. His business lay in bringing home a crime to those responsible. The possible peril of one or another of the people involved in the matter should not be allowed to affect the main issue. Human nature, however, being much the same at Scotland Yard as at other places, his judgment was swayed to some extent.