“But why did you pay your fare a second time? You must have known that all you had to do was to give your name and address to the ticket collector.”
“I suppose I did,” she admitted, “but I preferred to pay rather than have the trouble of explanations and probably letters to the head office.”
Inspector French was chagrined. Instinctively he doubted the story, but Miss Duke had answered his question in a reasonable way, and if she stuck to the tale, he did not see how he could break her down. After this lapse of time it would be quite impossible to obtain confirmation or otherwise of the details, especially as Miss Duke’s hypothetical fellow-traveller could not be produced. He pointedly made no comment on the statement as he resumed his investigation.
“To whom did you telephone after breakfast on the morning after the murder?”
That Miss Duke was amazed at the extent of the Inspector’s knowledge was evident, but she answered immediately.
“To Mr. Harrington.”
“To say what?”
“If I must repeat my private conversations to my future husband, it was to ask him to meet me at once as I had something to say to him.”
“What was the nature of the communication?”
Miss Duke flushed again.