Chapter 2 Summary

Hannay is shaken by the sight of the body, but he quickly pulls himself together and reasons out his situation. Scudder's enemies must assume Scudder confided in Hannay, and thus Hannay is a likely target for murder. These enemies are in fact probably waiting outside to nab him. On the other hand, Hannay could call the police, but in all likelihood they would not believe his fantastic story about international intrigue, and in fact try him for Scudder's murder, based on strong circumstantial evidence. Cornered, Hannay decides to carry on Scudder's work, that is, lay low for the twenty days before the tea party, and then somehow warn the British government of the impending assassination attempt on Karolides.

Hannay searches Scudder's body, finding nothing of worth, especially not the valuable black book full of information. That the murderer ransacked the apartment tells Hannay...