"You seem to have done me the honour of thinking me a very
complete rascal," said Roger.
Aubrey's lips trembled with irritable retort, but he checked
himself heroically.
"What was your particular interest in the Cromwell book?"
he asked after a pause.
"Oh, I read somewhere--two or three years ago--that it was
one of Woodrow Wilson's favourite books. That interested me,
and I looked it up."
"By the way," cried Aubrey excitedly, "I forgot to show you
those numbers that were written in the cover." He pulled
out his memorandum book, and showed the transcript he had made.
"Well, one of these is perfectly understandable," said Roger.
"Here, where it says 329 ff. cf. W. W. That simply means `pages
329 and following, compare Woodrow Wilson.' I remember jotting
that down not long ago, because that passage in the book reminded
me of some of Wilson's ideas. I generally note down in the back
of a book the numbers of any pages that interest me specially.
These other page numbers convey nothing unless I had the book
before me."
"The first bunch of numbers was in your handwriting, then; but underneath
were these others, in Weintraub's--or at any rate in his ink.
When I saw that he was jotting down what I took to be code stuff
in the backs of your books I naturally assumed you and he were
working together----"
"And you found the cover in his drug store?"
"Yes."
Roger scowled. "I don't make it out," he said. "Well, there's nothing
we can do till we get there. Do you want to look at the paper?
There's the text of Wilson's speech to Congress this morning."
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