“Who do you think knows about it now?”

“I don’t care,” she said. “It was only a joke on him. He couldn’t have used the stuff.”

“Do you think the birds whose secrets you sold will see anything funny in it? Noonan’s trying to hang the killing on you and Thaler. That means he found the stuff in Donald Willsson’s pocket. They all thought old Elihu was using his son to break them, didn’t they?”

“Yes, sir,” she said, “and I’m one who thinks the same thing.”

“You’re probably wrong, but that doesn’t matter. If Noonan found the things you sold Donald Willsson in his pocket, and learned you had sold them to him, why shouldn’t he add that up to mean that you and your friend Thaler had gone over to old Elihu’s side?”

“He can see that old Elihu would be hurt as much as anybody else.”

“What was this junk you sold him?”