“Then I hope that they have not been lost on you,” he replied, and thrusting his hands deep in his pockets walked from the room.

It was a minute or two before either woman spoke. Then Mrs. Gertstein flung the stub of her cigarette through the open window. “What a devil that man is,” she observed. “How did you come to get here, Pen?”

“Never mind about that,” said Penelope. “He may be back at any moment. Tell me, is it true what he said? Are you escaping from the police?”

The eyes of Mrs. Gertstein avoided her. “In a way⁠—yes,” she confessed in a low voice. “I’ve got into a mess, Pen.”

“And it is for attempted murder as well as for the forgery of that cheque?”