“That’s a long while ago,” said the detective. “Unless you admit your complicity there is no evidence against you.”

“Half a minute. Larry had put up that job for us, and naturally, he saw that everything was done for Dave that could be done. Of course Dave told him everything. In any case he knew that I was there. Apart from that there were others in the business who knew and whom he undertook to keep quiet. When Dave was sentenced Larry undertook to look after me. I was useful in many ways. It was only when he found that I was trying to get out of the game that he cracked the whip over me by threatening to have me put away. He would have done it, too. Larry has never made a threat that he hasn’t been prepared to carry out.”

“But you haven’t been at Mope’s Bottom all this time?”

“Oh, Lord, no. There were other ways in which I was useful. Larry has not often dealt direct with crooks. I have been down here for the last few years.”

“Looking after the embarkation of stolen property?”