 police, and that sort of - of -
dogs. In my opinion they are a ghastly nuisance; also an element of danger. But
we can't very well seek them out individually. The only way is to make their
employment unpleasant to their employers. The thing's becoming indecent. And
dangerous, too, for us, here.«
    Mr. Vladimir stopped again for a moment.
    »What do you mean?«
    »The prosecution of this Verloc will demonstrate to the public both the
danger and the indecency.«
    »Nobody will believe what a man of that sort says,« said Mr. Vladimir,
contemptuously.
    »The wealth and precision of detail will carry conviction to the great mass
of the public,« advanced the Assistant Commissioner gently.
    »So that is seriously what you mean to do.«
    »We've got the man; we have no choice.«
    »You will be only feeding up the lying spirit of these revolutionary
scoundrels,« Mr. Vladimir protested. »What do you want to make a scandal for? -
from morality - or what?«
    Mr. Vladimir's anxiety was obvious. The Assistant Commissioner, having
ascertained in this way that there must be some truth in the summary statements
of Mr. Verloc, said indifferently:
    »There's a practical side, too. We have really enough to do to look after
the genuine article. You can't say we are not effective. But we don't intend to
let ourselves be bothered by shams under any pretext whatever.«
    Mr. Vladimir's tone became lofty.
    »For my part, I can't share your view. It is selfish. My sentiments for my
own country cannot be doubted; but I've always felt that we ought to be good
Europeans besides - I mean governments and men.«
    »Yes,« said the Assistant Commissioner simply. »Only you look at Europe from
its other end. But,« he went on in a good-natured tone, »the foreign governments
cannot complain of the inefficiency of our police. Look at this outrage; a case
specially difficult to trace inasmuch as it was a sham. In less than twelve
hours we have established the identity of a man literally blown to shreds, have
found the organizer of the attempt, and have had a glimpse of the inciter behind
him. And we could have gone further; only we stopped at the limits of our
territory.«
    »So this instructive crime was planned abroad,« Mr Vladimir said, quickly.
»You admit
