"Rot! The twenty-fourth edition was all owing to the murder. Did you do that?"
"You take one up so sharply, Mr. Grodman," said Denzil, changing his tone.
"No—I've retired," laughed Grodman.
Denzil did not reprove the ex-detective's flippancy. He even laughed a little.
"Well, give me another fiver, and I'll cry 'quits.' I'm in debt."
"Not a penny. Why haven't you been to see me since the murder? I had to write that letter to the Pell Mell Press myself. You might have earned a crown."
"I've had writer's cramp, and couldn't do your last job. I was coming to tell you so on the morning of the—"
"Murder. So you said at the inquest."
"It's true."
"Of course. Weren't you on your oath? It was very zealous of you to get up so early to tell me. In which hand did you have this cramp?"