Willard struck a match angrily, but he applied it to the cigarette in his mouth before he answered:
“Red Farrell must pay you a good fee, Mr. Gordon, to make this worth your while.”
For a moment Gordon was the cooler man of the two.
“Is it not the duty of the District Attorney to ascertain the truth?” he asked as though the other had not spoken. “Are you, a public officer, interested in withholding any part of the truth? Have you anything to conceal?”
“Mr. Gordon, I do not propose to listen to these insinuations——”
“Let us cease bantering then, Mr. Willard. I am ready to talk plainly. Must I?”
“You must indeed, unless you wish me to interpret for myself.”
He flicked the ashes from his cigarette and glanced with a bored expression toward the clock.
But Gordon did not speak until Willard’s eyes met his again.