"You are the workman," he said astonished.
"Yes, Mr. Beecot, I am. I hear that you have not taken my warning regarding your friend, Mr. Grexon Hay."
"Ah! Then you knew his name all the time!"
"Of course I did. I merely spoke to you to set you on your guard against him. He'll do you no good."
"But he was at school with me," said Beecot, angrily.
"That doesn't make him any the better companion," replied Hurd; "see here, Mr. Beecot, we can talk of this matter another time. At present, as I am allowed to converse with you only for a short time, I wish to ask you about the opal serpent."
Paul sat up, although Hurd tried to keep him down. "What do you know of that?—why do you come to me?"
"I know very little and want to know more. As I told you, my name is Billy Hurd, and, as I did not tell you, I am the detective whom the Treasury has placed in charge of this case."
"Norman's murder?"