He was not long getting to work, but it was not an easy job.

The lock was strong.

At the end of five minutes he said that he might spend an hour struggling with the lock itself; should he cut away a piece of the door round it?
"Cut away," said the Duke.
The locksmith changed his tools, and in less than three minutes he had cut away a square piece from the door, a square in which the lock was fixed, and taken it bodily away.
The door opened.

The inspector drew his revolver, and entered the house.

The Duke followed him.