OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

THE LODGER 77
that the air was throbbing with the muffled stridence of a jazzband.
" Now then," the detective said, " let's hear what you have to
say."
" I'll answer your questions."
He looked reassuringly human and had already bestowed
appreciative glances on the low V of Sylvie's frock.
" Are you acquainted with a man called Elie or Elias Nagear? "
" You know I am. You'd only to look at the visitors' book at the
Palace^
" Where did you meet him first? "
" On board the Th&ophile-Gautier. He embarked at Constantinople."
" And you became his mistress? "
" His mistress? That's much too big a word for it. We happened
to be travelling together all the way to Brussels, and naturally we
palled up a bit."
" Do you mean to say you weren't his mistress? "
She shrugged her shoulders, and sighed:
" That's not the word for it, as I said just now. If you can't see
the difference ..."
" Did you know that Nagear was short of money? "
" He never talked to me about money matters."
" Did he ever tell you, or imply, that he was going to commit
a crime? "
She looked him in the eyes.
"Look here! What's the good of beating about the bush? I
wasn't born yesterday, and of course I can see what you're driving
at. If he's committed a crime I know nothing about it. All I know
is that when I left the hotel bedroom last Wednesday at about
eleven he was still in bed with a bad cold. I had my lunch outside,
and when I came back late in the afternoon I found him gone."
" What about his luggage? "
She thought quickly. Almost certainly he had learnt at the Palace
that she'd gone out next day with Elie's luggage.
" Oh, he left it at the hotel."
" Quite so. And when did Nagear return? "
She stood up—it was easier to think standing—and the detective
followed her with his eyes as she paced up and down the room.
" He rang me up from die station and asked me to bring his
luggage, as he had a train to catch,"