The surgeon beckoned to a nurse. Then he and Inspector McLaughlin went into a small adjoining room.
“Why did you do that, Nick?” asked the inspector, when they were alone.
Nick was removing the disguise in which he had appeared as the surgeon.
“For two reasons,” he replied. “The first is that Mrs. Parks really ought not to be removed. But if Parks had been told so less firmly he might have insisted.
“My second reason for keeping her here is that while she will almost certainly die, she will, perhaps, have a few minutes of consciousness. We must know what she says.”
“That is true.”
“And Parks would naturally conceal it.”
“He would, since it would be a confession tending to degrade her.”
Nick said nothing.
“You can’t blame him for wanting to keep this affair quiet,” continued the inspector.