Then Staffer turned to him.
"By the way, what about the message Sanders gave you?"
"Oh," said Dick, "he didn't give it to me."
Staffer looked round as far as he was able, but dared not neglect his driving, and so missed Dick's grin.
"But you saw him!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, yes; but he had nothing to say. He didn't know what you wanted, because he hadn't heard from you. Anyway, that's what I understood."
The car had swung toward the edge of the road, and Staffer was occupied by the wheel for the next few moments, but Dick imagined that he and Williamson exchanged glances.
"Can you remember his exact remarks?" Staffer asked when he could turn again.
"I'm afraid not. Still, I think he expected you to send him something that hadn't come."
Staffer said nothing more, but Williamson put his hand into his pocket, and took out what appeared to be a time-table. A thin spire with a few white houses below it now stood out from the hillside two or three miles away, but Dick thought Williamson would not get out there. It would look significant after hearing his report, and he could get a train to Edinburgh farther on. Staffer said something that Dick could not hear, and the car raced through the village without slackening speed.