-House
people would have been enough to get some of these packages he gets from Paris
and Brussels opened in Dover, with confiscation to follow for certain, and
perhaps a prosecution as well at the end of it.«
    »That's a very precarious trade,« murmured the Assistant Commissioner. »Why
did he go in for that?«
    The Chief Inspector raised scornful eyebrows dispassionately.
    »Most likely got a connection - friends on the Continent - amongst people
who deal in such wares. They would be just the sort he would consort with. He's
a lazy dog, too - like the rest of them.«
    »What do you get from him in exchange for your protection?«
    The Chief Inspector was not inclined to enlarge on the value of Mr. Verloc's
services.
    »He would not be much good to anybody but myself. One has got to know a good
deal beforehand to make use of a man like that. I can understand the sort of
hint he can give. And when I want a hint he can generally furnish it to me.«
    The Chief Inspector lost himself suddenly in a discreet reflective mood; and
the Assistant Commissioner repressed a smile at the fleeting thought that the
reputation of Chief Inspector Heat might possibly have been made in a great part
by the Secret Agent Verloc.
    »In a more general way of being of use, all our men of the Special Crimes
section on duty at Charing Cross and Victoria have orders to take careful notice
of anybody they may see with him. He meets the new arrivals frequently, and
afterwards keeps track of them. He seems to have been told off for that sort of
duty. When I want an address in a hurry, I can always get it from him. Of
course, I know how to manage our relations. I haven't seen him to speak to three
times in the last two years. I drop him a line, unsigned, and he answers me in
the same way at my private address.«
    From time to time the Assistant Commissioner gave an almost imperceptible
nod. The Chief Inspector added that he did not suppose Mr. Verloc to be deep in
the confidence of the prominent members of the Revolutionary International
Council, but that he was generally trusted of that there could be no doubt.
»Whenever I've had reason to think there was something in the wind,« he
concluded, »I've always found he could tell me something worth knowing.«
    The Assistant Commissioner made a significant remark.
    »He failed you this time.«
    »Neither had