"But you do suspect him?" said Mr. Smith.
"For that matter, so does he suspect me," I retorted.
"You think so," the detective amended.
"Don't you?"
"No, Princess, I do not."
"What do you think, then? Or don't you think anything?"
"I do think something." He tried to justify his earning capacity.
"What, if I may ask?"
He—a Smith, a mere Smith!—dared to grin.
"Of course you may ask, Princess," he replied. "But it's too early yet for me to answer your question in fairness to myself. About the theft I have not formed a firm theory, but I have about Sir James Courtenaye. I would not have ventured even to mention it, however, if you had not drawn me out, for it is indirectly concerned with the case."