CHAPTER 23Inspector Bull closed the door quietly and came on into the room.
“Asleep?” he asked.
“No.” Mr. Pinkerton said weakly.
Bull did not switch on the light. He moved over to the fire and sat down on the settle. As he took out his pipe, Mr. Pinkerton could see his heavy face in the flickering firelight. He looked tired and very low in his mind. A sharp blade of guilt pricked and slashed at Mr. Pinkerton’s uneasy conscience.
“Has . . . has Mr. Ross been found?” he asked.
Bull shook his head.
“Or Mr. McPherson?”
Bull shook his head again.
Mr. Pinkerton hesitated. “Did Harry Ogle kill Sir Lionel Atwater? He didn’t, did he?”
“No,” Inspector Bull said slowly. “He didn’t. He knew who did. That’s plain enough. It’s my fault, in a way, about him. I hadn’t thought he’d be as reckless.
