“The note said ‘Mind your own business.’ “ “Why don’t you do that, bud?” The Saint was still patient. “Where were you after that?” Again that deliberate pause. This wasn’t a man who panicked. He thought all around what he was going to say before he said it. “I was with a friend. Playin’ cards.” “You were with a friend. But you weren’t playing cards. You were trying to kidnap Miss Gray. That was when we met again.” “You’ll have to prove that, bud.” “Both Miss Gray and I are ready to identify you.” “And my friend will say we were playin’ cards.” “Quite a while after that,” Simon continued unperturbed, “did you by any chance take a long shot at me through my window at the Shoreham?” “No.” Simon inhaled throughtfully. “No, maybe that wasn’t you. That was probably your chunky friend.” He glanced down at the Pullman stub for a moment. “You came up on the sleeper last night, so you’d have been headed for the station by that time.”
