“Humph!” said old Gabe. “Detecting ain’t very good right now?”
“It ain’t, for a fact,” said Philo.
“Well, if that’s so,” said old Gabe, “maybe you and me could do business. If you want to do a little detective work to sort of keep your hand in, maybe we can do business.”
“I ought to git paid something,” said Philo doubtfully.
“Pay!” exclaimed old Gabe. “Pay for bein’ allowed to sharpen up and keep bright? Why, you’d ought to pay me for lettin’ you have the practice. It ain’t goin’ to do me no good, is it?”
“I don’t know what you want me to detect yet,” said Philo. “I might pay some if it was a case that would do me good to practice on. I might pay a little.”
“I knew it,” said old Gabe. “Now, this case of mine—What sort of a case would you pay to work on?”
“Well,” said Philo thoughtfully, “if I was to have a chance at a real tough murder case, for instance.”
“Humph!” said old Gabe. “How much might you pay to be let work on a case like that?”