"But all the worst criminals look innocent and harmless, don't they?"
Robert let that pass. He wanted to know about the bruises on the girl's body. Were they fresh bruises?
"Oh, quite fresh. Most of them had not begun to 'turn' even."
This surprised Robert a little.
"But there were older bruises as well, I take it."
"If there were they had faded so much as to be unnoticeable among all the bad new ones."
"What did the new ones look like? A whipping?"
"Oh, no. She had actually been knocked about. Even her poor little face. One jaw was swollen, and there was a big bruise on the other temple."
"The police say that she grew hysterical when it was suggested that she should tell them her story."
"That was when she was still ill. Once we had got the story out of her and she had had a long rest, it was easy enough to persuade her to repeat it to the police."