Once he had put things in train he hired a car, and with Malone and a couple of local officers he started for the marsh, having arranged a rendezvous for the larger part of his forces at the inn where he had breakfasted the preceding day. Guides had been promised from various sources and it was anticipated that from the description that had been furnished by Penelope it would not be a matter of great difficulty to locate the house where she had been held. A body of police were to start from Lydd to patrol the shore as far as Dungeness. On every road over which a car might pass from the district, armed patrols of Kent police were to be established.

Labar’s scheme was to make a wide sweep over the marsh and if Larry was still in the trap he had little doubt of success. But it was some little time before the police, who had to be collected from a wide area of country, could be brought together to put his full plan into operation.