“Can you recall any friend of yours or of hers who had the initial B? Either in the Christian name or the surname, I mean. It might be either a man or a woman.”
This question evidently surprised Silverdale.
“The initial B?” he repeated. “No. I can't recall anyone to fit that.”
He seemed to be running over a list of people in his mind, but at the end of half-a-minute he shook his head decidedly.
“No. I can't think of anyone with that initial.”
Flamborough's face betrayed his dissatisfaction. He had evidently built some hopes on getting the information.
“Now, another point, Dr. Silverdale. Have you any reason to suppose that Mrs. Silverdale was addicted to drugs?”
This time, Silverdale's surprise at the question was quite unfeigned:
“Drugs? Of course not! Unless you count cocktails as drugs. What on earth put that into your mind?”
The Inspector rather shamefacedly abandoned this line of inquiry, and turned to something else.