“What do you make of her?” he said.
“She seemed quite straightforward; I think she’s told us the truth.”
Collins gave a laugh. “Yes,” he said. “The truth, but not the whole truth. She’s a clever old woman.”
“What do you mean?”
“When a simple soul tells the tale, and tries to conceal something, she gives herself away. She will not look straight at you. When you are dealing with the cunning type, she will look at you with a particularly open face and innocent look. All the time she was telling her narratives she was confused and upset, as was natural. But when I asked her if she had anything else to say her manner altered, and she became collected and looked me straight in the face.”
“Oh, you imagine these things. I didn’t see any difference.”
“Very good,” said Collins, “we shall see.”
“Now for the next move,” said Sinclair, who always got irritated when his colleague assumed this superior manner. “I must go to the Yard and make a full report. We cannot keep this thing secret. It will make a great stir. Will you come with me?”
“I will run you down in my car, and then must get off at once.”
“Where to?” said the other in surprise.