"You tell me things which are interesting and very new to me," he said warmly. "I am grateful, Monsieur."
"On the other hand," Jim answered dryly, "you, Monsieur, tell me very little. Even what you brought me to this café to say, you are going to keep to yourself. But for my part I shall not be so churlish. I am going to tell you what I think."
"Yes?"
"I think we have missed the way."
"Oh?"
Hanaud selected a cigarette from his bundle in its bright blue wrapping.
"You will perhaps think me presumptuous in saying so."
"Not the least little bit in the world," Hanaud replied seriously. "We of the Police are liable in searching widely to overlook the truth under our noses. That is our danger. Another angle of view—there is nothing more precious. I am all attention."
Jim Frobisher drew his chair closer to the round table of iron and leaned his elbows upon it.
"I think there is one question in particular which we must answer if we are to discover whether Mrs. Harlowe was murdered, and if so by whom."