"Morning, Mr. Lucek," said the large gentleman sedately. "May I come in?"
He took the permission for granted, and advanced into the sitting-room. The parcel on the table attracted his attention first, and he took up a couple of bundles from the stack and looked them over. Only the top notes in each bundle were genuine pound notes, as the four whole bundles which departed with Mr. Tombs had been: the rest of the thickness was made up with sheets of paper cut to the same size.
"Very interesting," remarked the large gentleman.
"Who the devil are you?" blustered Benny; and the round rosy face turned to him with a very sudden and authoritative directness.
"I am Chief Inspector Teal, of Scotland Yard, and I have information that you are in possession of quantities of forged banknotes."
Benny drew breath again hesitatingly.
"That's absurd, Mr. Teal. You won't find any phoney stuff here," he said; and then the detective's cherubic gaze fell on the sheaf of five-pound notes that Mr. Tombs had left behind in payment.
He picked them up and examined them casually, one by one.
"H'm — and not very good forgeries, either," he said, and called to the sergeant who was waiting in the corridor outside.