"Well--to return," he went on at last. "Last night I received a telephone call in the name of the Apex, instructing me to proceed with all speed to Scandinavia House, Cockspur Street. My lord had need of me, so I went." Interval for the lo-and-behold mitt-flap. "Entering the office to which I had been directed to proceed, I found seated at a desk a masked man--that sounds a bit thick to you, I suppose, Mr. Teal, but you've got to take my word for it. Er--a masked man, as I said. Most extraordinary." He had a trick of affecting to have lost the thread of his discourse, and finding his place with an exaggerated effort of concentration. "This man--masked, as I told you--er--where was I? Oh, yes; this man explained to me that in his _rôle_ of Ezra Surcon--did I tell you that the Apex called himself Ezra Surcon?" "You did," assented Teal patiently. "He explained?" "That he was, of course, disguised when he appeared before us, and he had not had time to assume his disguise that night. Therefore, with a solicitude for my own safety which, I may say, touched me to the heart--therefore, he had donned a mask. And that was that. He indicated a safe, and invited me to open it. Which, reasonably enough--you understand--I did. And, when I got in"--lo-and-behold--"the cupboard was bare!" Storm tapped the ash from his cigarette. The revelation affected him less than it did Inspector Teal; for he had already deducted much of what he now heard, and the criminal's story came as little more than a confirmation. "Well, Mother Hubbard?" he prompted. "And that was all," Prester John concluded with an eloquent wave of his hand. "Shall I ask you to picture the scene? My masked friend, shaking with baffled rage--quite upset, you know. Some people take things to heart so. It's a thing I--er--as I was saying, shaking with baffled rage; myself, calm and serene, rather like a turf accountant's clerk as the horses pass the post, knowing that whoever may have lost money his own wages are secure. . . . There's an extraordinary attraction for me in gambling--I've always wanted----" He caught a murderous gleam in Inspector Teal's eye, and tactfully returned to the point. "So that was that. Shall I endeavour to picture for you the scene--to--to delineate, so to speak, the situation? Shall I----" "No," said Teal with determination. "What happened after the tableau?" John shrugged. "What would you? I went. My Lord's manner did not give me the assurance which every gentleman requires before he continues to inflict his company on a comrade, that he is welcome. You follow? The moment did not appear propitious for bringing up such sordid topics as my own remuneration. I folded up my wallet and silently stole away." He uncrossed his legs as though, his mission accomplished, he was about to repeat that man[oe]uvre, but Teal's curiosity was no more than whetted. "Did you see any Triangles that night?" "Er--no."