“Well, you pack one at the back of your pocket now. It will be a whole lot healthier. If you can’t use it you can bluff with it. Take my advice.”

“You have gleams of inspiration,” said Labar. “I believe I will.”

He swung off whistling softly. That evening he contrived to find one who was willing to take him as a guest to one of the two great bookmakers’ clubs in London. The racecourse in some degree impinges on the work of all detectives, because it is a sport in which many of their clients are interested. Consequently, there were several of the men present who knew the detective, and he was able to hold unostentatious converse with some of the bigger operators⁠—men he knew who would answer his questions and keep their own counsel.

The inspector’s methods of approach varied with his man. Now he would plunge into a question point blank, and again he would lead up to his point through side issues. But mostly he drew blank.