He gave the required information, and went on:
“Had Mr. Jiro any other friends in Ipswich to your knowledge?”
“He didn’t know a soul. He was here for the Assizes, about some case, I think. Oh, I remember—the ‘Stowmarket Mystery’—and he stayed at the hotel where Flossie was engaged. How she ever came to take notice of him, I can’t imagine. She was a queer sort of girl—used to wear bloomers, and get off her bike to clout the small boys who chi-iked at her.”
“Do her people live here?”
“Yes, and a rare old row they made about her marriage—for she is married, I will say that for her. But why are you so interested in her?”
The fair Hebe glanced in a mirror to confirm her personal opinion that there were much nicer girls than Flossie Bird left in Ipswich.
“Not in her,” said Brett; “in the example she set.”
“What do you mean?”
“If a little Japanese can come to this town and carry off a lady of her size and appearance, what may not a six-foot Englishman hope to accomplish?”
“Oh, go on!”