CHAPTER 9An hour later all the persons in the house gathered around the table in the big room. When Brinklow sat down with his back to the wall, and McNab beside him with a notebook on the table, the scene took on the aspect of a trial. Eeliper stood facing Brinklow with his manacled hands resting on the table, and a face as expressionless as wood. Opposite McNab stood the comely brother and sister, so alike in features, so different in expression. Ken, feeling perhaps that he no longer had any direct interest in the scene, kept unhappily in the background.
“There’s one thing that has never been brought out,” said Brinklow in his deceitfully mild voice, “Tasker was a drinking man.”
His words created a sensation. Michel and Ken exclaimed in astonishment. Sophie kept her head down.
Brinkl
