“Still another point that I am not quite clear about,” he said. “Why did you come back that evening and lay in wait for me with a sandbag?”

“The news of the burglary had been telephoned down to me. I had talked with my husband after he saw you. I had talked with Penelope. You had recognised her and I was alarmed at what you might find out. I saw that I had made a mistake. I had been told that all police officers would take money if they could do it safely.”

“Thank you,” he said ironically. “It is an impression that some other people have.”

There fell a silence for a while. He was thinking, with a puzzled little frown on his forehead, and the woman with burning eyes studied him as though to read what was passing in his mind. Presently he spoke again.

“Has Larry Hughes ever been in Streetly House?”

“Not so far as I know. I have never taken him there.”