But if she was cruel in other respects, she made a rare listener. Her eyes sparkled and her soft cheeks glowed with excitement as his tale unfolded. When the devilish workings of the blackmailing scheme were made clear to her, her indignation knew no bounds. "The wretches! The _beasts_!" she murmured. "Oh, they must not be allowed to go free. That poor, lonely old man! It is fine of you to pledge yourself to run them down. It's a crusade in a way, isn't it--and a dangerous one!" She gave him an extraordinary look through her lashes. "Come to me after you have done your work," she murmured, "and perhaps my answer will be different!" "Oh, Kate!" he said, reaching for her hand. She neatly evaded him. "Afterwards, I said. Now tell me what you mean to do." He told her. "I wish I could help!" she said involuntarily. Jack had a dazzling inspiration. It must have been his good fairy that sent him that lovely idea all complete and ready to work. "Why, you can help!" he cried. "How?" He made out, of course, that the idea had been in his head all the time. "Listen. As Jack Norman's secretary I'm bound to become a pretty well-known figure around town, and it stands to reason I can't do much sleuthing in that character. I've get to have a disguise. I've got to lead a double life. I'll work while Bobo sleeps." "Yes, but what has that got to do with me?" "Listen, I'm coming to that. I've told you about our suite at the Madagascar, and Silas Gyde's two little rooms, and the secret way into the house next door. Now, you see, I'll go to bed in the hotel as Jack Norman's secretary, and in the morning I'll come out of the house next door prepared for work in another character." "But what am I to do?" "That house belongs to me, you know, though the deed has never been transferred. You must appear to rent it, furnish it and open it as a first-class boarding-house--no, furnished apartments would be easier for you." "But"---- "Wait a minute. Then I can rent the second floor rear from you in my new character. I can pass back and forth through the vault as I like, and no one can possibly trace the connection between Jack Norman's secretary and the sober little business man who lives in your house. See?" "Oh, I couldn't!" "Why?" "Mother wouldn't like it. And I--I'm not fitted for that sort of thing." "You could make a bluff at it. You said you wanted to help." "But would it be helping? I think you're just trying to make an excuse to get us out of this place." "Nonsense! I had it in mind before I ever came to-night. It's absolutely necessary to the success of my plans!" "You're just trying to get around me." "I'm not! How could I trust anybody else with the secret of that vault?" Jack had struck the right line at last. She could not resist this subtle form of flattery, and in the end she gave in. "But I warn you I'll make that house pay," she said. "Oh, go as far as you like."