You
are free to speak or to keep silence. Do one or the other. Tell me
what you think, and I will tell you what I know. That surely will
be a fair exchange. You shall have my facts for your surmises."
Passmore's thin lips curled into a smile. "You know that I have
left Scotland Yard then, sir?"
"Quite well! You are employed by them often, I believe, but you
are not on the staff, not since the affair of Nerman and the code
book."
If Passmore had been capable of reverence, his eyes looked it at
that moment.
"You knew this last night, sir?"
"Certainly!"
"Five years ago, sir," he said, "I told my chief that in you the
detective police of the world had lost one who must have been their
king. More and more you convince me of it. I cannot believe that
you are ignorant of the salient points concerning Duson's death."
"Treat me as being so, at any rate," Mr. Sabin said.
"I am pardoned," Passmore said, "for speaking plainly of family
matters--my concern in which is of course purely professional?"
Mr. Sabin looked up for a moment, but he signified his assent.
"You left America," Passmore said, "in search of your wife, formerly
Countess of Radantz, who had left you unexpectedly."
"It is true!" Mr. Sabin answered.
"Madame la Duchesse on reaching London became the guest of the
Duchess of Dorset, where she has been staying since.
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