As soon as we were outside the door I said, 'Whatever induced you to produce that murder idea?'
'Well, it wasn't a bad idea,' he said, grinning up at me as we mounted the stairs.
'No,' I said. 'It wasn't at all a bad idea. In fact, it's exactly what happened. Mayne tried to murder me.'
'Yes, I guessed as much.'
'How could you?' I said. We were in my room now.
'Your unwillingness to talk on the phone. And what I know of Mayne.'
I shut the door and switched on the electric heater. It was very cold and the snow was piling up against the window, so that it was almost impossible to see out.
'What do you know of Mayne?' I asked.
He gave me a quick glance as he seated himself on the bed and produced a packet of cigarettes. 'That can wait for the moment, Neil. Let's hear what's been happening up here. The last message I got from you was the cable giving details of the auction. It was that and the photograph of the bunch downstairs that brought me over here. Let's start with the auction.'
When I had given him a full description, of the sale, he asked me to give him all the information on Mayne, Keramikos, Valdini and Carla. I started with Carla. I told him all that she had told me about herself. 'And you believed her?' he cut in.