"Very well; let us get on," said the captain of detectives. "You say that you first met Rufus Shepley aboard the Manatee?"
"Never saw him in my life until I met him in the smoking room on the ship, and never had heard his name before."
"That is peculiar. Mr. Shepley was a man of large affairs."
"But I had been in Honduras for ten years, out of touch with men of affairs in the United States," Prale replied. "I did the most of my business with firms in South America."
"Just how did you happen to meet Mr. Shepley?"
"In the smoking room. We spoke, as passengers are liable to speak to each other on a boat or a train. We talked of ordinary things and exchanged cards."
"Did you happen to play cards?"
"One evening, for a short time. But the game did not amount to anything, and we quit early. Are you trying to insinuate that I killed the man as the outcome of a gambling quarrel?"
"Nothing of the sort," said the captain, "Let us get on. You had no trouble with Mr. Shepley on the ship—no trouble of any sort?"
"Not the slightest. We parted good friends just before the ship docked. I went to my stateroom for my things and I suppose that he did the same."