At last he went out. No one paid attention
to him. Only the clerk behind the counter said :

"Two calls, sir."

"All right," said Coche.
And he paid the second fee without remon-
strance, though he had not spoken at all.
It did occur to him to ring up the World;



164 THE GRIP OF FEAR

but he reflected that by now any move on his
part was superfluous; and so he went oflF, try-
ing to imagine what could have put the Police
so soon on his track, and feeling, on the whole,
rather annoyed that he had needed no greater
ingenuity to attract their attention to himself.
After his conversation over the telephone,
the Commissioner went at once to the inspec-
tors' ofiice. One of the men, seated at a table,
seemed engrossed in important research.
The Commissioner addressed him:

"Are you doing something very urgent?"

The man smiled.
"Urgent? No • • . but the sooner it's done
the better. I am looking in the directory for
the streets beginning with ^ds' about that
paper we found this morning. . . . It's always
worth trying. . . ."

"Well, please leave that alone for a minute.
Take a cab, and see if Mr. Onesimus Coche is
at home — 16, Rue de Douai."

"Rue del . . ." repeated the inspector, with
a start.
"Rue de Douai, 16. . . . You know where it

IS: • • »



"NOT KNOWN AT No. 22'* 165

"Yes, yes; that's not it . . . it's that No.
16, and then Rue de . . /^

It was the Commissioner's turn to start now.
