The Hansa Protocol by Norman Russell Page B

often sniff out explosives by the smell. Nitro-glycerine. Porous silica …. The bouquet, Mr Box.’
    Mr Mack laughed again, and then began to cough, as there was a lot of pungent smoke in the shed. He stooped down, and with a poker opened the small iron door at the stove’s base. The air rushed in and presently there was a cheerful blaze, and a little shower of sparks shot out from the rim of the lid on top of the stove.
    ‘Oh, Lord, Mr Mack,’ said Box, ‘you must be inspired! Did you see those sparks? That stove. It’s like a little Belvedere. Open the door at the bottom and the fire rushes out at the top. Didn’t this McColl realize that? Or maybe—’
    Inspector Box was silent for a moment. His mind was on the edge of a discovery, but its exact nature eluded him. If only he could think more clearly!
    Mr Mack lumbered to his feet.
    ‘Well, Mr Box,’ he said, ‘I’ll leave all that to you, as is right and proper. Now, I’m not given to offering advice where it’s not my business to do so, but I’ve already had a quiet word with PC Kenwright here, and he agrees with what I’ve suggested. He and I have worked together before, as you know, which is why I took the liberty of speaking to him.’
    ‘And what have you suggested, Mr Mack?’
    ‘I suggest that you sift through every piece of dust and debris left in that Belvedere, and in these gardens, until you’ve found everything that might be of relevance to this crime – this murder, for murder it is. There’s bits of all sorts in there – fragments of paper, and leather, bits of china and clockwork. All kinds of shattered things. Let PC Kenwright here sift through the lot, and take his finds back to that drill hall of yours at King James’s Rents – if you’re agreeable, that is, Mr Box.’
    ‘I am, Mr Mack. PC Kenwright’s a giant of a man, but he’s got sensitive hands.’
    ‘Good. I’ll send a Home Office van down here late this afternoon, and you can beg some empty ammunition boxes from Chelsea Barracks, or the Duke of York’s. I’ll leave three of my men here to help. I’ll have to go now: I’m wanted back in Whitehall. Goodbye, Mr Box. I’ll send you a written report later today. Meanwhile, take my advice. Sift.’

5
A House of Cards
    Dr Seligmann’s study was at the front of the house, and had thus been largely unaffected by the previous night’s destruction. The long room, with an ancient window looking out on to Lavender Walk, seemed agreeably comfortable. An ample mahogany desk stood to the left of the fireplace, and near it was a small, baize-covered card-table , upon which a deck of playing-cards had been carelessly thrown down.
    ‘Mr Lodge,’ said Box to the elderly butler, ‘my sergeant and I will need to talk to those members of the family and household who were here last night. We need to see them now, you understand. The secretary – Mr Schneider, isn’t it? – can you send him along to see us straight away?’
    ‘I will ask Mr Schneider to come along at once, sir. Count Czerny has just expressed a desire to speak to you. He returned just over half an hour ago—’
    ‘Returned?’
    ‘Yes, sir. Count Czerny was not here last night. He fulfilled a dinner engagement at his club, and stayed the night there.’
    ‘Did he, now? Well, we’ll be happy to see Count Czerny when we’ve finished talking to Mr Schneider, and to the lady of the house. I take it that she’s still on the premises?’
    ‘Miss Ottilie is upstairs in her private sitting-room. I will inform her that you wish to see her.’
    While Lodge was speaking, Inspector Box’s eyes had been drawn to a painted heraldic shield hanging above the fireplace. The shield depicted a black eagle on a white ground, edged with red. The eagle’shead bore a royal crown, its wings were spread wide, and its talons grasped an orb and sceptre.
    ‘The arms of the old Kingdom of Prussia,’ said Box. ‘Presumably it reminded Dr Seligmann of happier days. I must confess,