Page:Fletcher - The Mortover Grange Affair.pdf/97



Wedgwood took the local superintendent into his confidence. Sizing him up as a man of intelligence and discretion, he set forth the whole story of his investigations from the moment of his call to Miss Tandy's flat in Handel Street to the conclusion of his brief visit to Mortover Grange. And when he had made an end he put a direct question. Could the superintendent help him?

The superintendent, whose interest and curiosity had waxed mighty during the telling of the tale, shook his head almost sadly.

"The fact is," he answered, "I've only been here fifteen months. I came from quite another part of the county, and this neighbourhood was all strange to me. Of course, I've picked up a bit of knowledge since I came here. Got to know who people are and so on. And I've heard, to be sure, what everybody else has heard about this Mortover Grange business."

"And that's—what?" asked Wedgwood.

"Just the common gossip of the place. About this colliery they're starting there. That began