“You’re very much interested in this affair, aren’t you?” she said with sudden malicious meaning.
For the first time in the interview he was slightly taken aback. Her face held a reserve of knowledge with which she seemed to be silently taunting him.
“Naturally,” he said with an air of simple frankness, “as an old family friend would be.”
“And that’s the only reason?”
“What other could there be?”
“Oh, I don’t know”—she turned and dropped the blotter on the desk with a nonchalant movement—“I was just wondering.”
He eyed her for a second without speaking, and in this one moment of scrutiny allowed a look of dislike and menace to creep into his face. Then he said genially,
“Well, I guess this brings our interview to an end. It’s not been just what you’d call a pleasant one, but I for one can say it’s left no hard feelings. I hope you’ll admit as much.”
She shrugged her shoulders and turned to the desk.
“I’m not a good one at lies,” she said. “I leave that to the Ryans and their old family friends.”