On the way to Scotland Yard they chatted on general subjects till Stafford asked:
"Have you had another visitation from your friend?"
"The Jack o' Judgment?" asked the colonel. "Yes, we met him the other night. He's rather amusing. By the way, have you had complaints from anywhere else?"
Stafford shook his head.
"No, he seems to have specialised on you, colonel. You have certainly the monopoly of his attentions."
"What is going to happen supposing he makes an appearance when I happen to have a lethal weapon ready?" asked the colonel. "I have never killed a person in my life, and I hope the sad experience will not be mine. But from the police point of view, how do I stand suppose—there is an accident?"
Stafford shrugged his shoulders.
"That is his look out," he said. "If you are threatened, I dare say a jury of your fellow countrymen will decide that you acted in self-defence."
"He came the other night," the colonel said reminiscently, "when we were fixing up a particularly difficult—er—business negotiation."
"Bad luck!" said Stafford. "I suppose the mug was scared?"