★ XVII ★
The crowd was still hanging around the store when Neill passed in, talking over what had happened in low voices. He saw Eyster among them with the top of his pajamas tucked in his pants. Eyster grinned at him in his crazy fashion, and nodded his head to assure Neill that he could depend on him.
Neill entered the little office at the back. Bonniger was there with Sergeant Wilson, Kettering, and the hulking Buckless. Bonniger’s greeting was unchanged. So nothing serious could have happened yet. Buckless, on the other hand, was sweating and uneasy. Kettering’s face wore its usual pleasant mask. The soiled gloves lay on the desk. Bonniger said:
“I picked up this fellow on suspicion of having broken into the yacht. He swears he has never been aboard her.”
Neill coolly looked Bu
