Things were blowing up for a showdown and no mistake. I waited a moment or two until I heard Beryl’s footsteps move away from the hall, followed by Hilton’s heavier tread. They’d gone into the lounge. I crept up the cellar steps, let myself out into the hall and closed the door again softly. Silently I moved across the hall, paused outside the door of the lounge and listened. Hilton was speaking. “—and so naturally, Mrs. Shaw, I felt it necessary to ask you a question or two. Why should Mr. Harkness, a complete stranger to you, send you a parcel?” “You have taken rather a lot for granted, Inspector,” Beryl’s cold voice retorted. “When I said neither my husband nor I had ever seen Harkness I did not mean he was a stranger. I have corresponded with him, even telephoned him, many a time. But we never met.” Lies! Absolute lies! “No letters were found from you, Mrs.
