He looked loweringly at the Coroner, at Mrs. Dallas and at Alma. But none of them called forth a varying expression to his grumpy face.
The audience began to disperse, and Ames came directly to Keeley Moore.
“Are you going to take this case?” he asked, in a threatening rather than an urgent manner.
Moore looked at him. Knowing Kee as I did, I could read his thoughts pretty well, and I realized that he was torn between his great desire to investigate this intriguing problem and his disinclination to do it at Ames’s behest.
Yet he couldn’t ignore Harper Ames and take up the case on his own.
“Yes,” he said, deciding quickly, “yes, Mr. Ames, I am most desirous of doing so.”
“Then, go ahead, in your own way,” and for almost the first time, I saw Harper Ames look pleased. “Conduct it as you like, and report to me at your convenience.”
“I understand, then,” Moore said, looking at him closely, “I am to have carte blanche in my manner of procedure, and I am to pursue my investigations no matter in what direction they may lead me?”
I saw a quick spasm of fear flash into Ames’s eyes, but it vanished as quickly, and he said, suavely:
“Yes, Mr. Moore. Stop at nothing to get at the truth.”