George thought for a moment. He had not mentioned either of those facts to the Captain. It was promising.
“Did the informant see the Sergeant dead?”
“Yes.”
“Was he on the road?”
“He was where he fell when the truck was hit.”
“What happened to the body afterwards?”
He saw Madame Vassiotis shrug.
“Does she know that the body was not there when the German patrol came along afterwards?”
“Yes, but her informant can offer no explanation of this.”
George thought again. This was awkward. An experienced man would probably know that the N.C.O. in charge of a German column would ride in the leading truck; and certainly anyone who had taken any part at all in the ambush would know that the leading truck had hit a mine. The informant might well have been farther down the road, firing on the other trucks. With the prospect of earning a few dollars for his trouble, however, he would be ready to oblige with a reasonable guess.