“Don’t be pessimistic, Miller,” said Thorndyke with a quiet chuckle. “He isn’t such a slippery worm as that. I suppose you want to know something of the programme?”
“Naturally, I do, and so, I suppose, does Dr. Gray.”
“Well,” said Thorndyke, “I am not going to tell you much⸺”
“I knew it,” groaned Miller.
“Because it will be better for every one to have an open mind⸺”
“Well,” interposed Miller, “mine is open enough. Wide open, and nothing inside.”
“And then,” pursued Thorndyke, “there is the possibility that we shall not get the result we hoped for, and in that case the less you expect the less you will be disappointed.”
“But,” persisted Miller, “in general terms, what are we here for? I understand that those two ladies, the witnesses to Bendelow’s will, are coming presently. What are they coming for? Do you expect to get any information out of them?”
“I have some hopes,” he replied, “of learning something from them. In particular, I want to test them in respect of their identification of Bendelow.”
“Ha! Then you have got a photograph of him?”