“And you saw him come out?” he was asking.
“Yes,” Fox answered. “He came out sort of stealthy and looked around. I didn’t know who it was then, but I knew no one had any business in the cottage at that hour, so I followed him to Ferriby station. I saw his face by the lamps there.”
“And you knew him?”
“No, but I recognized him as having been around with that Excise inspector, and I guessed he was on to something.”
“Oui, oui. Yes?” the Frenchman interrogated.
“Well, naturally I told the chief. He knew who it was.”
“Bien! There is not—how do you say?—flies on Archer, n’est-ce pas? And then?”
“The chief guessed who it was from the captain’s description.”
Fox nodded his head at Beamish. “You met him, eh, captain?”
“He stood me a drink,” the big man answered, “but what he did it for I don’t know.”