She looked triumphantly at Carstairs. "And he won't give him up to the police. He's upstairs in Charlie's bed, and he wants me to nurse him and keep it dark. What do you think of it, Mr Carstairs?"
"Well, if the wound should prove serious——"
"Oh, there's no fear of that."
Carstairs smiled. "It's an interesting experiment," he remarked.
Darwen pushed back his chair and stood up. "I'll come down to the works with you," he said. He got his hat and they went out together.
"By the way," Carstairs remarked as the front door banged behind them, "I met my landlady's daughter as I came in."
"Yes. I know. Came to ask if it was anything serious. Jolly decent of her."
"That's so. I think Mrs Hughes took quite a motherly interest in you. The grub's not half as good since you left."
"Is that so? I used to give the girl a little instruction on the piano occasionally you know, perhaps that made the difference."
"Ah, I see. I didn't know that."