“As ineffectual.”

“Can you make up your mind to tell me where you saw Mr. Fledgeby, Mr. Twemlow?”

“I beg your pardon. I fully intended to have done so. The reservation was not intentional. I encountered Mr. Fledgeby, quite by accident, on the spot.⁠—By the expression, on the spot, I mean at Mr. Riah’s in Saint Mary Axe.”

“Have you the misfortune to be in Mr. Riah’s hands then?”