These the man brought out, saying, “Do not show yourself surprised, inspector. Look as if you were reading the papers through, and take me on to help the stoker on the engine. He is Sergeant Schmied, isn’t he?” “Yes, sir.... Well, all right, I’ll take you on,” said the inspector aloud. “We can give you some work. Come this way. Schmied,” he called out. He explained to Schmied in an undertone that the State Attorney was going to spend the day on the engine as stoker’s assistant. “What have you noticed now?” asked Wenk of Schmied, as the road-engine moved backwards and forwards. “While you were on the way, the inspector telephoned to you, but you had already started. Things seem very strange here. We saw the man go to the villa that night, and we thought he must be the one who had left the car standing in the road, but yet it doesn’t seem to tally with the rest, for when we came back to the car it had disappeared. Early this morning there was a woman in a rowing-boat on the lake near the villa, but we could not be sure whether she actually came from there. An hour later, Poldringer, the man we are watching, came from the highroad and went into the house; but we had never seen him leave it, and that is very curious.” “You have no idea whether the villa has some unknown exit?” “No, for hitherto our observations of Poldringer all tally. He used to return the same way he went out. He scarcely ever leaves the place, not once in three days.” “Is there no way of getting into the villa?” “Not without exciting attention. I see that by the way tramps are turned away. They have a well-trained bloodhound there.... It would not be possible to effect a secret entrance.” “Is Poldringer still there?” “Yes; I saw him at a window just now.” “Had the car a number-plate?” “Yes, the Constance district; here is the number.” “That, of course, is a false one. It came from the Lindau direction, I think you said?” “Yes, sir. I telephoned the number to Friedrichshafen, Ravensburg, Lindau, Wangen and Constance. From Constance they told me that the number I gave belonged to a car in use by the Sanitary Commissioners which never left Constance.” “Isn’t it possible that the car had been expected at the villa, but did not stop at it, either because they wanted to use it again shortly or because something had made them a bit suspicious--the steam-roller, for example?... and therefore Poldringer was told to wait for the car in the street and take it to some place of concealment? During that time the man who had brought it here arrived at the villa. He is either still there with Poldringer or else he was the woman in the rowing-boat, and he has driven to the place where the car is. We must find out where they keep it hidden.” “We often hear the sound of a motor-boat at night not far from the shore, but we are not able to keep an eye on it.”