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"I know Ralph Vanner pretty well. He's been my partner for some time. If he'd been sober he wouldn't have indulged in any sort of dramatics like that. If he'd been drunk he'd have tried to set about me without assistance from anybody."
Dougal thought for a little while; then: "I see.... So you think, Mr. O'Day...."
O'Day interrupted. "I think an awful lot of things. I realise I'm in a jam. Your story's something like this: That Vanner and I had been at loggerheads; that I went to this club the night before last and got a beating-up at the hands of Vanner and a friend, or from a couple of toughs he'd employed to do it. I went back again to see him last night, and this morning he's found murdered. That's the story as you see it. What you're doing at the moment, Inspector, is looking for motive and opportunity." He grinned. "It looks as if you have them."
Dougal asked: "What are you trying to tell me, Mr. O'Day?"
" I'm not trying to tell you anything. What I'm trying to do is to get you to talk." O'Day finished his whisky and soda; got up; stood on the rug in front of the fireplace, smiling amiably at the police officer. "I'm not trying to be funny or withhold information or anything like that. In point of fact if I were a wise man I might refuse to say anything at all. I'm not even doing that. You'll find I can be very frank. I propose to be. But I'd like to hear you talk first of all. You tell me what you think and I'll tell you if you're right or wrong."
Dougal looked even more glum. "Actually, Mr. O'Day, I don't think anything at all. I never do much