"I know all about them," she said. "I won't ask you to count the notes, because it is only a question of getting the money off my own conscience, and the amount really doesn't matter." "So you came here alone to make this act of reparation?" sneered the colonel. "I came here to make this act of reparation," she replied steadily. "Not alone, eh? Surrounded entirely by police. Mr. Stafford King in the offing, waiting outside in a taxi, or probably waiting on the mat," said the colonel in the same tone. "Well, well, you're quite safe with us, Miss White." He took up the package and tore off the wrapping, revealing two wads of banknotes, and ran his finger along the edges. "And how are you going to live?" he asked. "By working," said the girl; "that's a strange way of earning a living, don't you think, colonel?" "You'll never work harder than I have worked," said Colonel Dan Boundary good-humouredly. And, looking down at the money: "So that's Solly White's share, is it? And I suppose it doesn't include the house he bought, or the car?" "I've sold everything," said the girl quietly; "every piece of property he owned has been realised, and that is the proceeds." With a little nod she was withdrawing, but Pinto barred her way. "One moment, Miss White," he said, and there was a dangerous glint in his eye, "if you choose to come here alone in the middle of the night----" The colonel stepped between them, and he swept the Portuguese backwards. Without a word he opened the door. "Good night, Miss White," he said. "My kind regards to Mr. Stafford King, who I suppose is somewhere on the premises, and to all the bright lads of the Criminal Intelligence Department who are at this moment watching the house." She smiled, but did not take his proffered hand. "Good-bye," she said. The colonel accompanied her to the outer door and switched on all the stair lights, as he could from the master-switch near the entrance to his flat, and waited until the echo of her footsteps had passed away before he came back to the man. "You're a clever fellow, you are, Pinto," he said quietly; "you have one of the brightest minds in the gang." "If she comes here alone----" began Pinto. "Alone!" snarled the colonel. "I hinted a dozen times, if I hinted once, that she'd come with a young army of police. The first shout she made would have been the signal for your arrest and mine. Haven't you had your lesson to-night? How long do you think it would take Stafford King to trump up a charge against you and put you where the dogs wouldn't bite, eh?" He walked to the window and watched the girl. There was a taxi-cab waiting at the entrance, and as he had suspected, a man was standing by the door and followed the girl into the cab before it drove away. "She timed her visit. I suppose she gave herself five minutes. If she'd been here any longer, they would have been up for her, make no mistake about that, Pinto."