'What was he doing here?' asked Athelstan.
The Scholar's door stood open. The Scholar himself was for once perfectly sober, and welcomed them joyously and boisterously.
'We are here on business, Freddy,' said Athelstan.
'You are here to sit and talk and drink whisky-and-soda till midnight, till two o'clock in the morning. It is not until two in the morning that you can get the full flavour of the Inn. It is like a college then, monastic, shut off from the world, peaceful——'
'Business first, then. You know your neighbour, Mr. Edmund Gray?'
'Certainly. We exchange the compliments of the season and the news of the weather when we meet on the stairs. He has been in here, but not often. A man who drinks nothing is your true damper. That, believe me, and no other, was the veritable skeleton at the Feast.'
'Our business concerns your neighbour, Mr. Edmund Gray. We want you to tell us what you know about him.'
'Go on, then. Question, and I will answer, if I can.'
'Does Mr. Edmund Gray live at these Chambers?'
'No. He may sometimes sleep in them, but I should say not often. He calls at irregular intervals. Sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes in the morning, sometimes not for several weeks together. He is most uncertain.'