A policeman, glistening in cape and overalls, stood at the corner, near a pillar box.
The tall man, who topped the burly constable by some inches, halted for a moment to post a letter.

Whether by accident or design he held his umbrella so that the other could not see his face.

Then he disappeared.
Bates came into view.

He dropped Theydon's letters into the box, but he and the policeman exchanged a few words, which, his employer guessed, must surely have dealt with the vagaries of the weather.
For an author of repute Theydon's surmises had been wide of the mark several times that night.

The policeman had seen the unknown coming out from the doorway of Nos.