"You might substitute a story that would hold a little more water."
"I am afraid I am not naturally inventive."
"Since when?"
His tone told me that I had definitely lost Arthur as a friend—which was regrettable, but if I could play the part of whetstone to his repartee I was content to see him draw profit from the débris of our friendship.
"It is only fair to say that you and Aintree are regarded with a good deal of suspicion," he went on. "Apart from the question of the flat...."
"Not again!" I begged.
"I have not mentioned the report of the officers who watched Miss Davenant's house in...."
"Nigel has," I interrupted. "Ad nauseam. My interview was apparently very different from their report. Suppose we have them in?"
"They are not in the house."
"Then hadn't we better leave them out of the discussion? What else are we suspected of?"