"I had no idea that you ever saw the Ack-Emma " Robert said, surprised.
"God love you, I feed on the Ack-Emma. No crime, no causes celebres. No causes celebres, no Kevin Macdermott. Or only a piece of him." He lapsed into utter silence. For four minutes his absorption was so complete that Robert felt alone in the room, as if his host had gone away. "Humph!" he said, coming out of it.
"Well?"
"I take it that your clients are the two women in the case, and not this girl?"
"Of course."
"Now you tell me your end," Kevin said, and listened.
Robert gave him the whole story. His reluctant visit, his growing partisanship as it became clear that it was a choice between Betty Kane and the two women, Scotland Yard's decision not to move on the available evidence, and Leslie Wynn's rash visit to the offices of the Ack-Emma.
"So tonight," Macdermott said, "the Yard is moving heaven and earth to find corroborative evidence that will back up the girl's story."
"I suppose so," said Robert, depressed. "But what I want to know is: Do you or do you not believe the girl's story?"
"I never believe anyone's story," Kevin pointed out with gentle malice. "What you want to know is: Do I find the girl's story believable? And of course I do."