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This must have been the test pilot's office," he said softly, as he tried the handle. The door opened and he went in. There was little to see. It was evident that the room was no longer used. Only the furniture remained. The cupboard was empty, as was the locker. Biggles tried the desk. That, too, had been thoroughly cleared. The only paper in the room was in the waste-paper basket. Biggles emptied it on the desk and ran through the contents—one or two old newspapers, some blank forms, and a few odds and ends.

Biggles put down his napkin. "That'll be Schneider," he said softly to Ginger, and followed the waiter to the instrument. He was away about twenty minutes. When he came back his manner was alert. " Schneider," he said quietly, in reply to Ginger's questioning glance, as he dropped into his chair. "Things are moving fast. Preuss has had his machine pulled out and filled up for a long trip. He hasn't left the ground yet, but he's all set to go. If it were daylight I'd try to shadow him, but it's no use trying to follow him in the dark.

The run from Basra to India, in the Rajah, which is quite a small vessel, and very old—she has been doing the trip for years—takes ten days. When the Rajah docked at Bombay it was discovered that the back of the purser's safe—an old-fashioned affair not much better than a tin box—had been cut out. " Ginger whistled softly. " murmured Bertie. " muttered Biggles. " "In the ordinary way, yes," agreed the Air Commodore. "But not in this case. Not only were the pearls—except the outstanding ones—disposed of before the theft was discovered, but a check-up reveals the almost incredible fact that the pearls, without going through customs, were offered for sale in the United States a week before the Rajah docked.