All the time she talked she went on beating the batter in a pudding basin held on her knees, and Macdonald wondered if she and her husband were ever still: he also wondered uneasily if a snake or a frog would suddenly pop out of the batter and make faces at him.
IV
It was a relief to Macdonald when he at last got out of the Rameses’ flat and stood in the little lobby contemplating his next call.
The first floor flats were inhabited by Mr. James Carringford and Miss Odette Grey, and just as he reached the door of B flat it was opened by a tall, thin elderly man who looked at Macdonald with enquiring eyes.
“Are you wanting anybody?” he inquired.
“Mr. Carringford? I am an Inspector from Scotland Yard.”
“Right. Come in. Case of Johnnie Ward? Poor old chap…an amusing fellow, what I call a
