you? It is absolutely essential that we should without delay map out a plan of campaign.â
âHear, hear!â
âWell, letâs do it.â
Tommy laid his paper finally aside. âThereâs something of the simplicity of the truly great mind about you, Tuppence. Fire ahead. Iâm listening.â
âTo begin with,â said Tuppence, âwhat have we to go upon?â
âAbsolutely nothing,â said Tommy cheerily.
âWrong!â Tuppence wagged an energetic finger. âWe have two distinct clues.â
âWhat are they?â
âFirst clue, we know one of the gang.â
âWhittington?â
âYes. Iâd recognize him anywhere.â
âHum,â said Tommy doubtfully. âI donât call that much of a clue. You donât know where to look for him, and itâs about a thousand to one against your running against him by accident.â
âIâm not so sure about that,â replied Tuppence thoughtfully. âIâve often noticed that once coincidences start happening they go on happening in the most extraordinary way. I daresay itâs some natural law that we havenât found out. Still, as you say, we canât rely on that. But there are places in London where simply everyone is bound to turn up sooner or later. Piccadilly Circus, for instance. One of my ideas was to take up my stand there every day with a tray of flags.â
âWhat about meals?â inquired the practical Tommy.
âHow like a man! What does mere food matter?â
âThatâs all very well. Youâve just had a thundering good breakfast. No oneâs got a better appetite than you have, Tuppence, and by teatime youâd be eating the flags, pins and all. But, honestly, I donât think much of the idea. Whittington maynât be in London at all.â
âThatâs true. Anyway, I think clue No. 2 is more promising.â
âLetâs hear it.â
âItâs nothing much. Only a Christian nameâRita. Whittington mentioned it that day.â
âAre you proposing a third advertisement: Wanted, female crook, answering to the name of Rita?â
âI am not. I propose to reason in a logical manner. That man, Danvers, was shadowed on the way over, wasnât he? And itâs more likely to have been a woman than a manââ
âI donât see that at all.â
âI am absolutely certain that it would be a woman, and a good-looking one,â replied Tuppence calmly.
âOn these technical points I bow to your decision,â murmured Mr. Beresford.
âNow, obviously, this woman, whoever she was, was saved.â
âHow do you make that out?â
âIf she wasnât, how would they have known Jane Finn had got the papers?â
âCorrect. Proceed, O Sherlock!â
âNow thereâs just a chance, I admit itâs only a chance, that this woman may have been âRita.â â
âAnd if so?â
âIf so, weâve got to hunt through the survivors of the Lusitania till we find her.â
âThen the first thing is to get a list of the survivors.â
âIâve got it. I wrote a long list of things I wanted to know, and sent it to Mr. Carter. I got his reply this morning, and among other things it encloses the official statement of those saved from the Lusitania. Howâs that for clever little Tuppence?â
âFull marks for industry, zero for modesty. But the great point is, is there a âRitaâ on the list?â
âThatâs just what I donât know,â confessed Tuppence.
âDonât know?â
âYes, look here.â Together they bent over the list. âYou see, very few Christian names are given. Theyâre nearly all Mrs. or Miss.â
Tommy nodded.
âThat complicates matters,â he murmured thoughtfully.
Tuppence gave her characteristic âterrierâ