The girl did not reply for a moment. Then she answered with another question.
‘Just let me understand you, if you please, Mr Inspector. Do you doubt Mr Ponson’s story, and are you looking for confirmation?’
Inspector Tanner hesitated in his turn.
‘I think, Miss Drew,’ he said quietly, ‘that you would probably prefer me to tell you the exact truth.’
She nodded and he went on.
‘The answer to your question is Yes and No. In the ordinary routine way I asked Mr Ponson where he himself was on Wednesday night. Such a question is always asked under such circumstances, and it has no unpleasant significance. In answer to it he told me about the hoax. The story seemed to me probable, and I saw no reason for doubting it. But that did not absolve me from trying in every way I could to test its truth. You must see that I was bound to do so. And I may be allowed to say that all the inquiries I have made up to the present confirm what Mr Ponson told me.’
‘But why does it matter whether or not his story is true?’
Tanner felt very uncomfortable. Though hardened by a life of contact with crime, he was a good fellow at heart, and he disliked intensely giving pain, especially to women. But as he looked into the steady, truthful eyes of the girl before him, he felt he could not prevaricate.
‘I would rather not tell you,’ he answered, ‘but if you insist, I will.’
‘I insist.’