"Yes," replied Mapperley. "But of what value is it? None--for practical purposes! He couldn't even tell the shape of the man's nose, nor the colour of his eyes! All he could tell was that he saw a man muffled in such a fashion that he saw next to nothing of his face, and that he was tall and smartly dressed. There are a few tens of thousands--scores, perhaps--of tall, smartly-dressed men in London!"
"Never mind--inquire," said Hetherwick, "and particularly if such a man has ever been seen in Baseverie's company there."
He finished his breakfast, and then, instead of going down to the Central Criminal Court, after his usual habit, he hung about in his chambers, expecting Matherfield. But Matherfield did not come, and at noon Hetherwick, impelled by a new idea, left a message for him in case he called, and went out. In pursuance of the idea, he journeyed once more to the regions of Paddington and knocked at the door of the house wherein he and Matherfield had kept watch on the flats opposite.
The lodging-house keeper opened the door himself and grinned on seeing Hetherwick. Hetherwick stepped inside and nodded at the door of the room which he had left only a few hours before.
"I want a word or two with you," he said. "In private."
"Nobody in here, sir," replied the man. "Come in."
He closed the door on himself and his visitor, and offered Hetherwick a chair.
"I expected you'd be back during the day," he said, with a sly smile. "Either you or Matherfield, or both!"
"You haven't seen him again?" asked Hetherwick.
"No; he's not been here," replied the man.
"Well, I wanted to ask you a question," continued Hetherwick. "Perhaps two or three. To begin with, have you lived here long?"
"Been here since before these flats were built--and that's a good many years ago; I can't say exactly how many," said the other, glancing at the big block opposite his window. "Twenty-two or three, anyway."
"Then I dare say you know most of the people hereabouts?" suggested Hetherwick. "By sight, at any rate."
The lodging-house keeper smiled and shook his head.
"That would be a tall order, mister!" he answered. "There's a few thousand of people packed into this bit of London. Of course, I do know a good many, close at hand. But if you're a Londoner you'll know that Londoners keep themselves to themselves. May seem queer, but it's a fact that I don't know the names of my next-door neighbours on either side--though to be sure they've only been here a few years in either case."