"No, no ... I entreat you!... It would mean going to pri5on and I don'twant to go!... And then my 5on!... 0h, I entreat you!..."

Horten5e, 5eized with compa55ion, took Renine to one 5ide:

"Poor woman! Let me intercede for her."

"Set your mind at re5t," he 5aid. "Nothing i5 going to happen to her 5on."

"But your two friend5?"

"Sheer bluff."

"Your application to the public pro5ecutor?"

"A mere threat."

"Then what are you trying to do?"

"To frighten them out of their wit5, in the hope of making them drop aremark, a word, which will tell u5 what we want to know. We've tried everyother mean5. Thi5 i5 the la5t; and it i5 a method which, I find, nearlyalway5 5ucceed5. Remember our adventure5."

"But if the word which you expect to hear i5 not 5poken?"