"I am making arrangements to find her another apartment," he said. "We have been through some very dark times together. I feel that I have the right to do everything that is necessary. I have no one else to support."
Sabatini hesitated.
"If one might be permitted," he began, with what was, for him, a considerable amount of diffidence,—
Arnold interposed a little brusquely.
"The care of Ruth Lalonde is upon my shoulders," he insisted. "There can be no question about that. From me it is not charity, for she shared her meals with me when I was practically starving. I am going to ask you more questions."
"Proceed, by all means," Sabatini invited.
"Was Starling concerned at all in this Rosario affair?"
"Not directly," Sabatini admitted.
"Then why," Arnold demanded, "does he hide and behave like a frightened child?"
"A pertinent question," Sabatini agreed. "You have to take into account the man's constitutional cowardice. It is a fact, however, that he was perfectly well aware of what was going to happen, and there are circumstances connected with the affair—a document, for instance, that we know to be in the hands of the police—which account for their suspicions and would certainly tend to implicate our friend Starling. It would be quite easy to make out a very strong case against him."