“Perhaps he was impertinent about it.”
“Possibly. The point is that the prospective purchase was cyanide of potassium, a deadly and instantaneous poison.”
“Are you sure?” asked the girl, in a low voice.
“I’ve just come from the store. How long have you been here at your uncle’s?”
“A week.”
“Then just about the time of your coming with the dog, your uncle undertook to obtain a swift and sure poison. Have I gone far enough?”
“I—I don’t know.”
“Well, am I still ordered out of the house?”
“N-n-no.”
“Thank you for your enthusiastic hospitality,” said Average Jones so dryly that a smile relaxed the girl’s troubled face. “With that encouragement we’ll go on. What is your uncle’s attitude toward the dog?”