"Don't worry about that!" he said. "One of my chaps will deal with it."
She began to write. She was slipping the folded note into an envelope when a man in plain clothes came quietly in, and handed the Chief Inspector a scrap of paper torn from a notebook. He read it, and said: "All right, I'll take it in here, Snettisham. I want you to go to this address -" He handed the Sergeant Beulah's letter -"and give this to the landlady. No need to say you're a police-officer. She's to take you into Miss Birtley's room, and allow you to bring away with you a pile of bills and household books, in Mrs. Haddington's name, which you'll find in the bureau. It isn't locked, Miss Birtley?"
"No. The key is in it. He'll see the bills as soon as he opens the front. Could he - would he mind turning out the gas-fire? I left it on, and as I put a shilling in only this morning it'll still be burning."
"And turn out the fire!" said Hemingway. "I want you to go by the tube - Green Park station, and to come back the same way. Time it! That's all." He nodded dismissal, and turned to Beulah, "Do they have to switch the telephone through to this room, or can I get straight on?"
"Straight on. If Miss Pickhill arrives - can I go, or must I wait till that man gets back?"
"No, I'll trust Mr.. Harte to keep an eye on you," he replied, opening the door.
She lingered for a moment. "Thanks! I - I'm sorry I was rude to you before!"
"That's all right," he said. "You've been quite helpful."
He shut both her and Timothy out, and went to sit down at the desk, picking up the telephone. "Hallo?"
"Is it yourself, sir?" asked the voice of Inspector Grant.