Although it would have pleased Harry Labar to tumble into the fastest motor car he could find and engage in swift and melodramatic chase of Larry Hughes and Penelope, he was deterred by many considerations. Chief among them was the fact that they had a start that made pursuit in such a manner impracticable. Then, again, the whole thing might prove a wild goose chase. It might be just a pleasant comedy staged by Larry for reasons of his own. Labar forced himself to reason coldly on the matter, although there was a tinge of apprehension in his mind so far as Penelope was concerned. But he dare not take his own personal feelings into account. He was surprised, but then Larry had a habit of doing the unexpected thing. Larry would appreciate the construction that must be put upon the episode--that Penelope's evidence was of such importance, that he was compelled to this seemingly reckless method of ensuring her silence. But he must realise that he could not hold her indefinitely. Do not imagine that the detective inspector sat idle while he balanced these things in his mind. He had to adjust the machinery to meet the case. As soon as he was perfectly clear on the facts, he had begun to work. "All station" messages to the two hundred or so police stations in London were being sent out over the private wires. To those county and borough forces that held sway over certain strategic points on the roads leading from the metropolis, requests were broadcast to "stop and detain" Larry's car and its passengers. Thus thousands of men would be on the look out for the fugitives, although Labar feared it would be too late. Before instructions could reach the men on their patrols the car would in all likelihood be far away. But there was more than a chance that the route would be picked up, although Labar was too old a hand to rely confidently even upon this. Men were on their way to Larry's house at Hampstead, and Malone was even then swearing out a search warrant. All this was more or less an ordinary adaptation of the Scotland Yard organisation to meet an emergency. Labar considered the advisability of getting on to the Yard and obtaining permission to use the newspapers. It was a resort of which the authorities were not too fond, for there is still a certain suspicion of the Press at Scotland Yard. The inspector resolved that the step might well wait till all else failed. As his grip on the work before him tightened, a flash of inspiration came to Labar. He nodded grimly in confirmation of his own reasoning. There was only one way in which Larry Hughes could make certain that Penelope could be for ever prevented from giving evidence. A married woman, so the law runs, cannot be compelled to give evidence against her husband.