I was thinking of closing."
"Ah!" said Prydale, with a glance at Byner, who had already told him of
Parrawhite's presence at the _Green Man_ on the other side of the town,
a good two miles away, at the hour which Murgatroyd mentioned. "Ah!--he
was here in your shop at half-past eight on the evening of November 23rd
last? Asking about a ticket to America?"
"New York," muttered Murgatroyd.
"And he came next morning and bought one?" asked the detective.
"I told Mr. Eldrick that," said Murgatroyd, a little sullenly.
"How much did it cost?" inquired Byner.
"Eight pound ten," replied Murgatroyd. "Usual price."
"What did he pay for it in?" continued Prydale.
"He gave me a ten-pound note and I gave him thirty shillings change,"
answered Murgatroyd.
"Just so," assented Prydale. "Now what line might that be by?"
Murgatroyd was becoming uneasy under all these questions, and his
uneasiness was deepened by the way in which both his visitors watched
him. He was a man who would have been a bad witness in any
case--nervous, ill at ease, suspicious, inclined to boggle--and in this
instance he was being forced to invent answers.
"It was--oh, the Royal Atlantic!" he answered at last. "I've an agency
for them."
"So I noticed from the bills and placards in your window," observed the
detective. "And of course you issue these tickets on their paper--I've
seen 'em before.
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