Her black eyes flashed suddenly hard like jet. “You ask more questions than the police! Are you insulting me?”
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I was only trying to help. If we knew what was in that briefcase, we might have a clue to the people who stole it.”
She looked down at the twisting of her hands, and made a visible effort to hold them still.
“Forgive me,” she said in a lowered voice. “I am on edge. It has been such a shock... You are right. The briefcase is important. And that’s really what I wanted to talk to you about. Those men — they did get it, didn’t they?”
“Why, yes. I was chasing the man who had it. I brought him down, but he kicked me in the face and got away.”
“I thought, perhaps, he might have dropped it.”
“I didn’t see it again.”
“Did the police search for it?”
“I don’t think anyone would have. Even if the man dropped it, he had plenty of time to pick it up again while I was knocked half silly. Anyway, it wasn’t around. And if the police had found it, they’d certainly have returned it to you.”
Her eyes examined him uncertainly.