“Er? Let me see, let me see. Do I remember? Yes—it was sometime before we got to that place where we stopped for refreshments. Isn’t that right? I remember the dear old governor telling us about it. Poor old governor! It’s hard to realise—”

“Frightfully hard, isn’t it! Now before we reached that station—Ohakune—the guard came through the train chanting an announcement.”

“So he did.”

“Were you awake or did he wake you?”

“He woke me.”

“Had you been asleep for long?”

“Ages. I dropped off soon after Val went along to her sleeper.”

“Do you remember that you were disturbed by anyone getting up and leaving the carriage before the guard went through?”

“Didn’t Court Broadhead go out to the platform? I seem to remember—good God, old man, I don’t mean—you can’t mean—”

“I don’t mean anything at all, Mr. Liversidge,” said Alleyn. “Nobody else?”

“I don’t think so. No.”

“Thank you. Now about the greenstone tiki. We are anxious to trace it if possible. Miss Dacres has lost it.”

“Is it valuable?”

“It is rather, I imagine.”

“Well, you ought to know,” said Liversidge.

“Quite so. Do you remember handling it?”

“Certainly,” said Liversidge with huffy dignity. “I also remember returning it.”

“To whom?”

“To—to Branny, I think. Yes, it was to Branny. And he gave it to Carolyn and she put it on the table. I remember that quite well.”

“Whereabouts on the table?”

“At the end on the O.P. side. It was before we sat down. Funny me remembering.”

“Do you remember anyone picking it up from the table?”

“No. No, I don’t.”

“Have you any theory,” asked Alleyn abruptly, “about the disappearance of Miss Gaynes’s money?”

“I? Lord, no! I should think very likely a steward pinched it.”

“It’s happened before,” agreed Alleyn. “She seems to have been pretty casual about her cash.”

“Casual! God, she’s hopeless. Fancy leaving a packet of tenners in an open suit-case. Well, of course!”

“All in tenners, was it?” asked Alleyn absently.

“I think so. She told me so.”

Wade cleared his throat.

“I seem to remember,” continued Alleyn vaguely, “that she said something about paying you a tenner she’d lost at poker. When did she do that?”

“On the last night we were in the ship. After we’d finished playing. Actually it was about one o’clock in the morning.”

“She still had her money then, evidently.”

“Yes.”

“She got this tenner from the hoard in the suitcase, did she?”

“I—I think so. Yes, she did.”

“You saw her, did you, Mr. Liversidge?”

“Well—not exactly. I walked along to her cabin and waited outside in the corridor. She came out and gave me the tenner. I didn’t know, then, where she got it from.”

“You couldn’t see her?”

“No, I couldn’t. Damn’ it all, Alleyn, what’s the idea of all this?”