Sir Jee coughed once more.
'Sit down,' said Sir Jee.
And William Smith sat down opposite to him at the table, and put his shiny elbows on the table precisely in the manner of Sir Jee's elbows.
'Well?' he cheerfully encouraged Sir Jee.
'How would you like to commit a burglary that was not a crime?' said Sir Jee, his shifty eyes wandering around the room. 'A perfectly lawful burglary?'
'What ARE you getting at?' William Smith was genuinely astonished.
'At my residence, Sneyd Castle,' Sir Jee proceeded, 'there's a large portrait of myself in the dining-room that I want to have stolen. You understand?'
'Stolen?'
'Yes. I want to get rid of it. And I want—er—people to think that it has been stolen.'
'Well, why don't you stop up one night and steal it yourself, and then burn it?' William Smith suggested.