I wouldn't say for certain--it looked as though I might have had a reason." "And were they satisfied ?" "I don't think they were," Shepherd admitted.

"Not altogether, that is to say." "Did they mention any names ?" asked Laverick--"Morrison's, for instance?
Did they want to know whether he was a regular customer ?" "They didn't mention no names at all, sir," the man answered, "but they did begin to ask questions about my regular clients.

Fortunate like, the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not paying any too much attention to them.

It was all I could do to keep on getting orders attended to." "What sort of men were they ?" Laverick asked.

"Do you think that they came from the police ?" "I shouldn't have said so," Shepherd replied, "but one can't tell, and these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up so sometimes on purpose to deceive.