“Oh, I don’t know.”
She picked up her papers then, and we said no more.
As the train was running into Paddington—
“I don’t talk,” she said, “but I study women and men and put two and two together rather as you do yourself. And when I’ve done my addition I like turning up the answer to see if I’m right.”
“Well,” said I, wondering what was afoot.
“Well, I’ve done a sum,” she said, “and you’ve got the answer. If I tell you my result, will you tell me whether it’s right?”
“It depends on the sum,” said I. “I don’t talk either, you know.”
“It’s nothing to do with your job. It’s a purely personal matter.”
“In that case I’ll say ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ ”
“Right,” said Sarah Roach, “and remember—I don’t talk. Did you kill Berwick Perowne?”