"But am I bound to appear and answer?"
"Yes, you are! I hope you have no objection."
There was something in the young man's manner which caused me to pay the greatest attention to his words and behaviour.
"But can the matter come before the court before you have found the thief?"
"As soon as we have got sufficient evidence against some person, that person will be charged and brought before the court."
"But before this happens it is not necessary for me to reply to any questions about the affair?"
"When the police, who are conducting the inquiries into the matter, ask you, you should certainly answer. To refuse to answer would be considered somewhat strange, and might even lead to unpleasantnesses for you."
"Many thanks for your information," answered Mr. Howell; he had got up and was walking restlessly up and down the room. "It is not pleasant for a man to contribute to the ruin of some wretched creature, but perhaps it is impossible to avoid it."
From the words which bad been exchanged between us, I felt sure the young Englishman did not know of Evelina's arrest. As you remember, I had requested old Frick and Sigrid not to speak to him about the affair. I could also see that my answers to the questions he put to me had not told him anything which he did not know before; he was not altogether so ignorant about the matter. He must have put these questions to me as a feint, for some purpose or another. I was almost certain that he knew something of importance to the discovery of the robbery.
I decided at once to inform him of Evelina's arrest but not of her confession. It would, indeed, be strange if he did not betray how far the knowledge he had of the matter did not point in the same direction.