“Yes,” she said doubtfully. “If it’s not about——”
“It’s not about myself in the first place,” said Ned. “It is about Steve Knight.”
“I have no wish to discuss him,” she said, drawing herself up slightly.
“Neither have I,” he returned. “But I suppose you will admit you are a friend of his, and don’t wish him to come to harm. So,” he added significantly, “you will listen to what I want to say.”
Ess shivered a little at something sinister she fancied she detected in the man’s voice.
“I don’t suppose you know just where Steve is, or why he hasn’t cleared well away by now?” He paused, but as she made no sign of answering, he went on, “I do, and I can tell you both. But before I go further, Miss Ess, I’d like you to understand that I’m not working solely for my own ends in speaking to you about this business. I could have gone straight to the police with my information. I prefer to come to you.”
“Why do you come to me?” she asked, her heart turning cold within her.
“I’ll answer that by asking you a question,” he said. “Would you do anything you could to save him from the police? Anything?”
She groped for his meaning a moment, and began to fancy she could see it, and that he meant to demand herself as the price of his silence.
“I would do anything which I was sure he would wish me to do,” she answered.