Next, while
Mareno went for the car, Mrs. Sin rifled the safe, bureaus and desks
in Sir Lucien's flat, so that we had the devil's own work, as you
know, to find out even the more simple facts of his everyday life.
"Not a soul ever came forward who noticed the big car being driven
into Albemarle Street or who observed it outside the flat. The chances
run by the pair in conveying their several strange burdens from the
top floor, down the stairs and out into the street were extraordinary.
Yet they succeeded unobserved. Of course, the street was imperfectly
lighted, and is but little frequented after dusk.
"The journey to Limehouse was performed without discovery--aided, no
doubt, by the mistiness of the night; and Mareno, returning to the
West End, ingeniously inquired for Sir Lucien at his club. Learning,
although he knew it already, that Sir Lucien had not been to the club
that night, he returned the car to the garage and calmly went back to
the flat.
"His reason for taking this dangerous step is by no means clear.
According to his own account, he did it to gain time for the fugitive
Mrs. Sin. You see, there was really only one witness of the crime
(Mrs. Irvin) and she could not have sworn to the identity of the
assassin.
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