“Where's your father?” he questioned roughly.
“In bed, naturally,” was the answer. “I ask you again: What are you doing here at this time of night?”
Burke shook his shoulders ponderously in a movement of impatience over this prolonging of the farce.
“Oh, call your father,” he directed disgustedly.
Dick remonstrated with an excellent show of dignity.
“It's late,” he objected. “I'd rather not disturb him, if you don't mind. Really, the idea is absurd, you know.” Suddenly, he smiled very winningly, and spoke with a good assumption of ingenuousness.
“Inspector,” he said briskly, “I see, I'll have to tell you the truth. It's this: I've persuaded my wife to go away with me. She's going to give all that other sort of thing up. Yes, we're going away together.” There was genuine triumph in his voice now. “So, you see, we've got to talk it over. Now, then, Inspector, if you'll come back in the morning——”
The official grinned sardonically. He could not in the least guess just what had in very deed happened, but he was far too clever a man to be bamboozled by Dick's maunderings.
“Oh, that's it!” he exclaimed, with obvious incredulity.
“Of course,” Dick replied bravely, though he knew that the Inspector disbelieved his pretenses. Still, for his own part, he was inclined as yet to be angry rather than alarmed by this failure to impress the officer. “You see, I didn't know——”