"And you now live?"
"With Mr. Richard Gessner at Hampstead."
So it went—interminable question and answer, of the most trivial kind. It seemed an age before they came to the vital issue.
"And what do you know of this crime which has been committed?"
"I know nothing—how could I know anything."
"Pardon me, you were yesterday in company of the girl who is charged with its commission."
"The charge is absurd—I am sure of it."
"We shall decide that for ourselves. You visited her upon the barge of the German merchant, Petermann. He is now in custody and has confessed as much. What did she say to you when you were alone with her?"
"She asked me to help to set her father free."