"At present we don't propose to give any information to anybody whom it doesn't concern," replied Gabriel. "As regards the mere surface facts of Mr. John Horbury's disappearance, you know as much as we do."
"You don't propose to join in any search for him or any attempt to discover his whereabouts, sir?" inquired Starmidge, speaking for the first time.
Gabriel looked up from his paper, and slowly eyed his questioner.
"What we propose to do is a matter for ourselves," he answered coldly. "For no one else."
Starmidge bowed and turned away, and Polke, after hesitating a moment, said good-morning and followed him from the room. The two men nodded to Neale and went out into the Market-Place.
"Well?" said Polke.
"Queer couple!" remarked Starmidge.
Polke jerked his thumb at the poster in the bank window.
"Of course!" he said, "so long as they can satisfy their customers that all's right so far as they're concerned, we can't get at what is missing that belongs to the Chestermarkes."
"There are ways of finding that out," replied Starmidge quietly.