Page 32 - A Hero of Liége

Anticipating dinner, Kenneth was not tempted to eat the coarse fare
provided. He was still not seriously alarmed, though his annoyance grew

with the passing minutes. Finkelstein never left his office until half-past
six; there was plenty of time for him to have received the note--unless there

had been delay in delivering it. This possibility was somewhat perturbing.

Kenneth began to wonder what had led to his arrest. He was quite unknown

to the police; nothing in his appearance was aggressively English. So far as
he knew he had no enemy in Cologne, so that it seemed unlikely that

anyone had put the police on his track out of sheer malice.

His thoughts reverted to the incident of the afternoon. The discovery that

Hellwig was in the German secret service, surprising as it was, made clear
certain things that had puzzled him. During his frequent visits to London,

Hellwig was accustomed to stay at the Amorys' house, and had many
callers who came to see him privately, on the firm's business, as Kenneth
had supposed. It seemed only too probable now that they were agents in the

work of espionage.

A sudden suspicion flashed into Kenneth's mind. Was it possible that his
arrest was due to Hellwig? From what he had overheard it was clear that
Hellwig was a man of considerable authority in the secret service. A word

from him would no doubt suffice. But what could his motive be? Kenneth
was under no illusion as to the man's character. He had always thoroughly

disliked and distrusted him, and felt instinctively that the dislike was
mutual. Could it be that Hellwig, knowing himself discovered, and fearing
that Kenneth, on his return to London, would inform the authorities, had

taken this step to save himself? It seemed an unnecessary precaution, for if
war broke out between Britain and Germany, Hellwig would make no more

journeys to London for some time to come.

The more Kenneth thought over the matter, the more convinced he became

that Hellwig, whatever his motive might be, had caused his arrest. The
conviction destroyed his confidence in an early release. The man would

stick at nothing. He would have foreseen an application to Finkelstein, and
taken steps to forestall it. What if the note should never reach Finkelstein?