Page:The Viaduct Murder (1926).pdf/26

"I agree with you about inference," said Marryatt, disregarding Carmichael's last remark—one always did disregard Carmichael's last remark. "But think how much of one's knowledge of other people is really inference. What do we really know about one another down here? Fellow-passengers on the stream of life, that's all we are. Take old Brotherhood, whom you were mentioning just now. We know that he has some sort of business in London, but we've no idea what. We know that he comes down here every night in the week from Monday onwards, and then from Saturday to Monday he disappears—how do you know what he does with himself during the week-ends? Or take young Davenant down at the Hatcheries; he turns up there every Saturday evening, and does his two rounds on the Sunday, and then on Monday he's off again into the Ewigkeit. What do we really know about him?"

"I should have thought you knew all you wanted to about Brotherhood," chuckled Reeves. "Hasn't he taken to disproving the existence of God on Wednesday evenings on the village green?"

Marryatt flushed slightly. "After all," he said, "what does that amount to? You might as well say I know Davenant's a Roman Catholic. But all I know is that once in a way he goes over on a Sunday to Paston Bridge-the priest there knows something about him, I suppose, but he wouldn't tell you."

"I had a very extraordinary experience once," said Carmichael, "in Albania. I had to translate