Although the detective's face remained impassive, a speck of light seemed all at once to come into his eyes. The pupils dilated. There was something in them which suggested that the whole man had become, upon a sudden, alert and eager.
"I would ask you, Mr. Haines, to consider carefully what you are saying. More may depend upon your words than you imagine. Do I understand you to say that you know the original of that photograph?"
"Know the original! Of course I do. It's my girl, my Loo!"
"Are you prepared to swear it?"
"I am, before God and man."
"May I ask if there is anything in particular in which the likeness consists?"
"Don't you think a father knows his daughter when he sees her in a picture? Don't talk back to me. I tell you it's my girl, my Loo! Where is she?"
"I will tell you everything in a moment, Mr. Haines. Look at those photographs closely. Don't you notice anything about them which is peculiar?"
Mr. Haines did as he was told. He peered closely at the portraits.
"She is looking pretty sick."