“I'm not asking for your assistance now, Dr. Markfield,” he pointed out, chillingly. “I want to know what Dr. Silverdale knows about the matter. You can hardly speak as an authority on that point, can you?”
Markfield made no reply; but his smile was a comment in itself and did nothing to soothe the Inspector's ruffled feelings.
“I'll have to take this coat, Dr. Silverdale,” Flamborough explained in an official tone. “It's a piece of evidence which we must have in our charge.”
Then, as an afterthought, he added:
“A man Whalley has been murdered. The case didn't get into the morning newspapers. You'll see it in the evening news.”
His voice took on a sub-tinge of warning:
“If you think the better of your attitude, you'd be well advised to come to us at once and tell us what you can. It's hardly necessary to tell you that your silence on these points is bound to raise suspicions; and if you can clear things up, you may save yourself a good deal of trouble.”
Markfield seemed to take a cynical pleasure in destroying the Inspector's effects. Instead of leaving him the last word, he closed the interview himself.
“They used to say a man was innocent until he was proved guilty, Inspector,” he remarked ironically, “but I see you've interchanged the adjectives nowadays. It must save a lot of trouble to the police.”