“It is only that you asked me once whether I could tell you anything about my sister’s associates and I wondered if you would care to go through some papers of hers which have only just come into my possession. They have been in a dispatch-box at her bank all this time and were handed over to me yesterday. I went through them cursorily and they seem to consist mostly of business papers, but there are one or two letters and photographs which might give you some hint as to the set she was moving in. They convey nothing to me, but you may know something about these people.”
“It is more than good of you . . .” began Fayre.
“Nonsense, Mr. Fayre. I am as anxious to find out who killed my poor sister as you are to clear John Leslie and it struck me that two heads are better than one. Also, you may have arrived at certain conclusions already and these letters may throw some light on them. I warn you that there was nothing private, with the exception of certain letters which I have already destroyed or disposed of. They concerned only my sister and could have been of no use to you whatever, but I prefer to deal frankly with you.”
Fayre’s sharp eyes did not miss the sudden wave of colour that swept to the roots of her grey hair when she mentioned the letters and he made a shrewd guess as to the character of that portion of Mrs. Draycott’s correspondence that her sister had found it better to destroy.
He hastened to reassure her.
“Of course I understand. Show me only what you care for an outsider to see. As you say, you may have something that confirms certain suspicions of mine. In any case, I am very grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to see them.”
“Could you look at them to-morrow?” she suggested, coming to the point at once in her downright way. “I shall be in from four onwards.”
“Delighted, and if you are going to walk back to your hotel, perhaps you’ll let me take you to the door. You look as if, like myself, you were out for exercise.”
“I am, and to tell you the truth, I was bored to death! It’s a funny thing, but I can walk for miles alone in the country and enjoy every moment of it, but five minutes of it in London is enough to make me long for some one to grouse to. The crowds both worry and stifle me.”
“I know what you mean; I feel the same myself. I put it down to the years I have been away. London’s the one place where I feel really lonely nowadays.” She nodded.