“Aye, I have,” said Conley.
“Which way did it go?”
“Which one d’ye mean?”
“Which one?” echoed Nick, sharply eying the fellow. “I mean one that may have passed within five or ten minutes.”
It was then less than ten minutes since the robbery.
“Oh, if that’s what you mean, mister, I haven’t seen any,” Conley now vouchsafed, with a less steadfast scrutiny of Nick’s countenance.
“You haven’t, eh?”
“Not to-day.”
“Did you think I meant last week?”
“I didn’t think at all, mister,” said Conley, stooping to pick up a bit of cotton waste from the ground. “I only heard what you asked, and that was whether I’d seen an automobile pass along Laurel Road. I’ve seen hundreds of ’em, mister, but none this morning.”