‘Ha, ha!—Listen to that, Mr Inspector.—If you had asked me the distance from here to New York, now. Great Pyramid, eh?’
The inspector, pencil and notebook in hand, was examining the fastenings of the window. ‘Very insecure, Captain Bowood,’ he said; ‘very insecure indeed. A burglar would make short work of them.’
Miss Brandon was eying him furtively. There was a puzzled look on her face. ‘I could almost swear it was Charley’s voice; and yet’——
‘Come, come; you’ll frighten us out of our wits, if you talk like that,’ answered the Captain.
‘Many burglaries in this neighbourhood of late,’ remarked the inspector sententiously.
‘Just so, just so.’ This was said a little uneasily.
‘Best to warn you in time, sir.’
‘O Charley, you naughty, naughty boy!’ remarked Miss Brandon under her breath. ‘Even I did not know him at first.’
‘But if Mr Burglar chooses to pay us a visit, who’s to hinder him?’ asked the Captain.
The inspector shrugged his shoulders and smiled an inscrutable smile.