“We want to talk to you,” continued the big man, in a growling voice. “Before we begin, we want you to understand one thing. You’re to keep your mouth shut about this! Is that plain?”
Harkness nodded.
“We don’t want questions from you,” the man went on. “No monkey business, either. We mean business and it’s our business. Keep that in your head.
“Don’t try anything after we go away. No calling the cops. If you do — well, we’ve heard that you don’t look for trouble. But you’ll find it if you try to double-cross us! Get me?”
“Your meaning is quite evident,” returned Harkness. “It appears that you require information. Under the circumstances, I am inclined to furnish you with it — provided that I know what it is—”
“And you don’t blab about it! Understand?”
“You may consider this a confidential interview,” replied Harkness, with a wry smile. “I am at a loss to understand why you have come here—”
“We’ll tell you that,” interrupted the big man. “Let me do the talking. You do the answering.”
He paused to shift his position. He found a chair and sat down close to Richard Harkness, thrusting the gun forward until it was uncomfortably close to the architect’s body.
The smaller man did not move. He had been standing like a statue, his automatic constantly in readiness. He remained in the same position.