“How?” shouted Freyberger, “By your d—d silly attempt to follow him this morning, that is how.”
“If I had not seen him, should we have known of his connexion with this house?”
“A thousand times better never to have known, considering the price we have paid for our knowledge. He was unsuspecting, now he suspects. So long as he was unsuspecting, all the chances were in our favour. Now they are all against us. Go, tell your young lady that. Say Inspector Freyberger told you to tell her, and say anything else you please.”
Hellier did not reply. He felt deeply mortified, for he felt there was truth in the words.
He re-entered the verandah and opened the door leading to the garden.
“Are you going to remain?” he asked.
“I am.”
“Well, all I can say is I am very sorry. What I did was for the best.”
“It will be a lesson to you in future,” replied the other, “to trust people who are to be trusted, and let the police do their own work.”
“Good night,” said Hellier. Freyberger grumbled some reply and the young man departed.