Richards looked first at the watch and then at his questioner.
“It would be just as well if you first explained how it came into your possession,” he remarked quietly, and John Hale crimsoned.
“Don’t take that tone with me,” he exclaimed. “I have the law behind me.”
“If the law is represented in the person of Detective Ferguson, it is loitering directly back of you,” broke in his brother who, with Mrs. Hale, had drawn closer to the two angry men. “Come in, Ferguson, don’t stand on the outskirts. My brother is not really so formidable as he appears.”
Ferguson, who had purposely remained in the background, an interested spectator of the scene, flushed at Hale’s mocking tone and entered the library with some precipitancy. Hale watched him in open amusement, then he turned to his brother.
“Continue your remarks, John,” he directed. “We are waiting.”
“I am addressing Major Richards and not you,” retorted his brother. “Well, sir, what about the watch?”
“I am waiting for an answer to my question, Mr. Hale,” responded Richards.
“How I got the watch doesn’t concern you.” John Hale spoke with more deliberation. “How you obtained possession of Austin’s watch does concern—the police.”
“Austin’s watch!” gasped Mrs. Hale. “Good heavens!” She leaned nearer and inspected it, taking care not to touch the watch. “Where did it come from?”