“Could and did,” Sergeant Ackley said.
Leith lit a cigarette, then looked up at Sergeant Ackley with a disarming smile.
“Clever of you, Sergeant,” he said. “Isn’t it a shame you didn’t think of it before?”
Leith said musingly, “And to think I pitched that gun overboard. Do you really think there was any chance the guns could have been substituted, Sergeant?”
Sergeant Ackley fumed.
“Tut, tut,” Leith said. “You mustn’t be that way, Sergeant. In your profession, it’s easy to make mistakes. You must figure things on a give-and-take basis.”
Sergeant Ackley’s face was twisted with emotion. “Yes,” he said, “and you do all the taking.”
Following which, he left, slamming the door behind him with great violence.