CHAPTER TWENTY-TWOFerdie Paul was on the telephone when Mrs Fitch brought Campion in. The room was much tidier than usual and struck cold after the warmth of the summer streets, but Ferdie himself was slightly dishevelled in his anxiety.
“Well, do what you can, anyway, old boy, won’t you?” he said into the instrument, his thin voice carrying a world of nervous force and irritability behind it. “Yes, I know, but it’s not a pleasant experience for any of us, is it? You were an old friend, that was all.”
He hung up and glanced at Campion, the welcoming smile fading from his face as he saw him.
“Hullo, you all right?” he enquired.
“All right?” Mr Campion threw himself down in the armchair which Mrs Fitch pulled up for him. He barely remembered to thank her but she did not seem to notice th
