“Come,” he said, “I have made my effort and failed. You have twenty thousand pounds. That’s a fair price, but I’ll add another twenty thousand for that document unopened.”
“It is possible that we might deal,” Laverick remarked, kicking the revolver a little further away. “Unfortunately, I am too much in the dark. Tell me the real position of the murdered man? Tell me why he was murdered? Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in his possession? Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you.”
“You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick,” his visitor declared, “or you’re too subtle for me. You do not expect me to believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded? You do not expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that sealed envelope? Bah! It is a child’s game, that, and we play as men with men.”
Laverick shook his head.
“Your offer,” he asked, “what is it exactly?”
“Twenty thousand pounds,” the man answered. “The document is worth no more than that to you. How you came into this thing is a mystery, but you are in and, what is more, you have possession. Twenty thousand pounds, Mr. Laverick. It is a large sum of money. You find it interesting?”
“I find it interesting,” Laverick answered dryly, “but I am not a seller.”
The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes. His expression was full of wonder.
“Consider for a moment,” he said. “While that document remains in your possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a thread. Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares. Heaven knows how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner you are out of them the better. What do you say now to my offer?”
“It is refused,” Laverick declared. “I regret to add,” he continued, “that I have already spared you all the time I have at my disposal. Forgive me.”