He laid down the receiver, left the pay booth and walked over to where Anita and the patrolman were waiting.
‘The Lieutenant says this woman can go,’ Dal as said to the patrolman. ‘He wants you upstairs.’
‘Okay,’ the patrolman said. ‘That lets you out,’ he went on to Anita. ‘You’d better take a walk until they’ve got him out of here.’
As he went up the stairs, he gave Dallas a slow wink.
‘Just a minute, Miss Jackson,’ Dal as said as Anita began to move away. ‘I’m Ed Dal as of the International Detective Agency. We’ve been trying to find the Chittabad collection since it was stolen.
I’ve been authorised to pay you ten thousand dol ars if you can give me any information that’l lead to the recovery of the jewels.’
She looked up at him, her face expressionless.
‘It’s only fair to warn you,’ he went on, ‘that if you do know what’s happened to them and you tell me, you run the risk of being prosecuted as an accessory.’
‘But you shouldn’t tel me that, should you?’ she said.
‘Maybe not, but I don’t like the way my boss is handling this case. Al he thinks about is what he’s going to get out of it. It’s up to you. If you think ten grand is worth the risk, and you know something, now’s the time to spil it.’