“Must have got a bad smash?” he ventured, indicating the other’s bandaged head. “Heard all about it at th’ Post.”
“Oh,” replied Ellis indifferently, “did you?”
His tone was anything but encouraging. Churchill licked his lips and essayed another attempt.
“What verdicts did the coroner’s jury bring in on those cases?” he inquired, with a forced carelessness in his tone that did not deceive Benton in the least. “I haven’t seen th’ paper.”
Ellis, with his foot on a chair, paused and turned, brush in hand.
“Eh?” he returned irritably.
Churchill, avoiding the other’s eyes and fumbling with his pipe, repeated the question.
Benton reached for a memorandum form that lay on the desk, and tossed it over unceremoniously.
“There’s a copy of the wording of the findings,” he said shortly. “Condensed, it practically amounts to ‘death, caused by an act of justifiable homicide,’ in the one case, ‘manslaughter,’ in the other....”
He finished his cleaning operations and proceeded to pull on his serge. Churchill fidgeted uneasily.