It is well that I should say a word or two in reference to these
assistants of mine, in passing.
O'Malley was an Irishman of the finest type of bluff and honest
manhood. I have known him and tried him through many a difficulty where
his sterling qualities of character, his rugged honesty of purpose, his
unfailing loyalty and devotion to me and his uncanny qualities as an
investigator had endeared him to me both professionally and personally
beyond the expression of mere words to describe it. I knew that I could
rely upon him absolutely in all emergencies and that he was utterly
fearless in the face of any danger that might present itself. By
opening the café described, patronized by the elite of the Russian
capital he merely followed out a plan long before undertaken in Paris
for a like purpose and through the workings of his waiters and other
employees he possessed sources of information and facilities for
investigation unprecedented in their far reaching possibilities. There
is many a whispered word and undertoned conversation carried on at a
supper table over the coffee or a bottle of wine which finds its way
into the ears of servitors and O'Malley's duties consisted not alone in
piecing together after they were supplied to him these scraps of
conversation, but in having his workers spy upon certain personages
when they appeared at the café and so anticipate secrets which they
might have to unfold. Even he had lesser men in authority under him and
many of those who were almost directly under his employ believed that
they were allied to the regular secret police and did not know of their
employer's official capacity.
Tom Coyle, a huge rough bearded Irishman who in outward appearance
might have passed anywhere for a Russian, was not less efficient or
less loved and trusted by me than O'Malley. As a proprietor of a cab
stand every driver was a minion of his and served him precisely as
O'Malley's waiters did their chief; and it may readily be determined
that the power thus exerted for making reports, for knowing the
distinction and the engagements of certain individuals was far reaching
indeed. Coyle also had served me in the execution of many delicate
missions of the past and I could depend upon him almost as absolutely
as I could upon myself.
The two St. Cyrs, husband and wife, were equally important factors in
my work; indeed they provided the most far reaching assistance I had,
for if you will stop to consider a moment and will realize how
absolutely at the mercy of house servants the ordinary citizen is
compelled to be, you will understand how an employment agency operated
for the purposes of espionage can discover and reveal secrets which
otherwise might never find their way outside the family circle. There
is no written document, no locked bureau drawer, no hidden pocket, no
secret hiding place into which the prying eyes and fingers of maid or
valet, house maid and general servitor cannot penetrate. These people
did their work for the St. Cyrs and reported to them, knowing nothing
whatever of why they made those reports or to whom they ultimately
found their way.