Hilliard's eyes glistened.

"Quite a good little mystery," he said. "I suppose the man couldn't
have been a relation, or even her fiancee?"

"That occurred to me, and it is possible. But I don't think so.
I believe she wanted to try to account for his manner, so as to
prevent my smelling a rat."

"And she did not account for it?"

"Perhaps she did, but again I don't think so. I have a pretty good
knowledge of shell-shock, as you know, and it didn't look like it
to me. I don't suggest she wasn't speaking the truth. I mean that
this particular action didn't seem to be so caused."

There was silence for a moment, and then Merriman continued:

"There was another thing which might bear in the same direction, or
again it may only be my imagination - I'm not sure of it. I told
you the manager appeared just in the middle of the little scene,
but I forgot to tell you that the driver went up to him and said
something in a low tone, and the manager started and looked at me
and seemed annoyed. But it was very slight and only for a second;
I would have noticed nothing only for what went before. He was
quite polite and friendly immediately after, and I may have been
mistaken and imagined the whole thing."

"But it works in," Hilliard commented. "If the driver saw what you
were looking at and your expression, he would naturally guess what