“She is. Well, now, if she should disappear, then suspicion might point to you. As it is—ahem—” Here Alan fancies that Mr. Grip is watching him furtively. “As it is—we will begin to investigate.”
“Stop, sir! How dare you—preposterous!”—[page 274].
Mr. Grip reseats himself, folds away his memoranda, and, reclining once more at his ease, looks up at Alan coolly.
“First, Mr. Warburton, I must see your sister-in-law.”
Alan cannot restrain his start of surprise, nor the look of anxiety that crosses his face.
“Not at present,” he says, after a moment’s hesitation. “She is ill; it would—”
“So much the better,” interrupts the detective. “Worn out, no doubt; nervous. May surprise something. I must see her, and every other member of this household, myself unseen.”
“Ah!” thinks Alan, his hands clenching themselves involuntarily, “if I dared throw you out of the window!”