Blowing her a kiss he retired to his own room. His mask of nonchalance dropped from him as soon as he was away from her sight, to be replaced by determined thought. It was not likely that what remained to be done would be so simple as he would have her believe. Spite of everything, he had no notion within some miles of the house where Larry and his gang were located--and, if he found the place, it was nothing more than an assumption that they would still be there. He had first to find them and, supposing that to be successful, he had somehow to recruit a sufficient force to deal with them. That would take time. He was his usual neat self when he emerged to seek Malone. The sergeant was standing at the door of one of the less fashionable inns puffing at a disreputable briar pipe, and making non-helpful suggestions to a lad who was perspiring over the bonnet of an old Ford car. Malone moved along the cobbled street to meet the inspector. "Bit late last night, weren't you, guv'nor? I waited till twelve o'clock for you and then turned in. Just thinking about another start when Barney there has coaxed the old Lizzie into a reasonable frame of mind. The places I took her over yesterday were worse than a toothache." Labar caught him by the arm. "Let's walk a little way, Bill. I want you to go to the local police station with me. You can do some talking while I get on to the phone to the Yard." Briefly he narrated the happenings of the day and night. "What I propose to do is this," he added. "We must stop every bolt hole in sight. All the ports must be notified, and particularly those seaside towns on the south-east coast. I expect Larry has seen to passports, but, even if he hasn't, it is simple to leave on some of these day excursions to France without them. We must borrow as many men from the local forces as we can, and throw a drag-net over the marsh. I am going to ask the Yard to send down a dozen or so Flying Squad men by car. They ought to get here in a couple of hours with luck. There's just an off-chance that we may find our birds still in their nest. Larry was away yesterday, and the fog no doubt prevented him from getting back. He'll have a lot to do, when he does arrive." Malone quickened his step. "You know something else, guv'nor," he commented. "You're keeping something up your sleeve." The inspector nodded and glanced over his shoulder. "You've hit it," he agreed. "It's only a guess, mind you, but some facts told me by Miss Noelson rather bear it out. The sea is, she told me, about a mile away from the house. Larry as you know has his own yacht. I'm not much of a sailor, but if it was possible to bring that yacht reasonably near inshore, it would explain how a lot of the stuff that has passed through Larry's hands got out of the country without our people getting a smell of it." "You mean that the house is a depot for stolen goods." "Exactly." "Then why shouldn't Larry use the yacht to get away?"