"Nor I," Arnold echoed. "I have been a constant visitor here, too, and I have never seen firearms of any sort before."
The inspector turned towards him.
"Are you a friend of Isaac Lalonde?" he asked.
"I am not," Arnold answered. "I am a friend of his niece here, Miss Ruth Lalonde. I know very little of Isaac, although I see him here sometimes."
"I should like to know your name, if you have no objection," the inspector remarked.
"My name is Chetwode," Arnold told him. "I occupy a room on the other side of the passage."
"When did you last see Isaac Lalonde?"
Arnold did not hesitate for a moment. What he had seen at Hampstead belonged to himself. He deliberately wiped out the memory of it from his thoughts.
"On Thursday evening here."
The inspector made a note in his pocket-book. Then he turned again to Ruth.