And I think you will be wasting your time

"Then I can understand your anxiety, but I can assure you that she has not eloped with me. It is not a matter in which I could assist you at all." "But I think you could. Superintendent Allenby is of the same opinion." "I cannot imagine how. And I think you will be wasting your time, as you are certainly wasting mine. But I will hear what you have to say." "Then it is soon said. The French waiter, Gustav, took a valise to Miss Thurlow, which he asked her to get through the Customs with her father's luggage. He said it was mine, and that the request was a message from me, which was a lie. He gave her a label to put on it, so that on its arrival in England it could be forwarded, as he said, to me. The label was addressed to Mrs. Collinson's house, of which I knew nothing. By a very natural error, it was put on the wrong case. When the mistake was discovered, after it had been delivered, Miss Thurlow took the right case to Mrs. Collinson's. She was just too late to prevent the man for whom it must have been really meant driving away with it. She followed him to correct the error. That was several hours ago, and she has not returned." "There may be one of a dozen simple explanations of that." "The taxi which she hired has been found on a cab rank, but the driver was not there." "Having, perhaps, gone for a drink?" "His absence was far too long for such an explanation." "It is certainly a queer tale. But, if the police have it in hand, it is hard to see what more you can do." "It was the police who suggested I should come to you." "But why, in the name of common sense, should they do that?" "Because they thought you would have influence with Mrs. Collinson to persuade her to give the address of the man to whom the suitcase belongs." "You mean that she has refused this information to them?" "I cannot say that. They may not have tried."