“But I know,” said Tom.
If that was the extent of young Tom’s cleverness it seemed to be leading him in the direction of the gallows.
“You think it is about this murder?” suggested Gillett.
There was a long silence. Gillett kept his eyes steadily on his man, determined not to help him out by substituting another question for the plain one that Tom found it so difficult to answer.
“I’ll come with you to the police station,” said Tom at length. “But you go first and I’ll follow you behind.”
It was obvious to Detective Gillett that Tom wanted to avoid giving the village cause for gossip by his being taken to the police station by a detective. The detective was not disposed to consider Tom’s feelings, but he reflected that his main purpose was to get Tom to the station, and that since he was not prepared to arrest Tom at present it was desirable to get him there as quietly as possible.
“No,” he said. “You go on ahead and I’ll follow.”
Tom accepted this plan and walked up the village street to the police station with the detective about forty yards behind. Constable Heather was in charge of the station, and when he saw Tom he greeted him affably. When Heather was made to realize by Tom’s awkwardness that Detective Gillett was responsible for his visit, he whistled in a significant manner.
When Gillett entered the building Tom rolled up the sleeve of his left arm and displayed a bandage round the upper part.
“Do you want to see this?” he asked doggedly.