“Very good, sir. I’m grateful to you for your understanding—and one thing at least I can claim to be, and that’s patient. Patience is the basis of sound detective work.”
“And of all other work for that matter. Now on Thursday evening I invited Mr. Carringford to dine with me for two reasons. First, he’d done a first-class piece of work for me in working out the history of the owners of that bureau you see over there. That piece has had a very interesting history. If you’d care to read about another sort of detective ‘shop’ I’ll lend you a copy of Carringford’s script when you go. When a man has worked well for me, I like to show my appreciation of what he’s done, apart from a professional fee. A good dinner is not to be despised these days—and I’d taken a lot of trouble to arrange as good
