"The deuce!" he exclaimed, hotly. "Sometimes I feel as though I could fight the whole crowd of them, Kennedy included. It's an outrage, this constant suspicion of you."
"But, Vance," she murmured, "you know you must be careful for yourself, too."
"And you, Honora?" he replied. "Have you no need of help, no need of a friend?"
It was evident that each feared for the other, recognizing the suspicion under which both labored. More than that, there was genuine regard between them, it was evident, tempered with restraint.
"I suppose you've heard that they've found a Calabar bean down in Vail's office, on the floor?" asked Shattuck, hesitating, but finally coming to a remark which evidently had been on his mind and cost him something to make.
I was all ears, in hope that he would betray something about having some of the beans in his own possession, or that Honora would betray something about having Chase search Shattuck's apartment, if, indeed, she had ordered the young detective to do it. But neither of them said a word. Was it because they knew nothing, or was there a tacit understanding between them never to mention some mutual secret?
"So I've been told," was the simple reply Honora made to Shattuck's inquiry.
"Who told you?"
"Mr. Doyle, himself," she replied.
"Has Kennedy done anything?" he asked, quickly.