'Where did you go?'
Bigwig swallowed his annoyance. No doubt Woundwort knew perfectly well where he had been.
'I went to the Left Flank Mark, sir. I was in their burrows.'
'Why did you go?'
'To pass the time and learn something from listening to the officers.'
'Did you go anywhere else?'
'No, sir.'
'You met one of the Left Flank Owsla - a rabbit named Groundsel.'
'Very likely, I didn't learn all their names.'
'Have you ever seen that rabbit before?'
'No, sir. How could I?'
There was a pause.
'May I ask what this is all about, sir?' said Bigwig.
'I'll ask the questions,' said Woundwort. 'Groundsel has seen you before. He knew you by the fur on your head. Where do you think he saw you?'
'I've no idea.'
'Have you ever run from a fox?'
'Yes, sir, a few days ago, while I was coming here.'
'You led it on to some other rabbits and it killed one of them. Is that correct?'
'I didn't intend to lead it on to them. I didn't know they were there.'
'You didn't tell us anything about this?'
'It never occurred to me. There's nothing wrong in running from a fox.'
'You've caused the death of an Efrafan officer.'
'Quite by accident. And the fox might have got him anyway, even if I'd not been there.'
'It wouldn't,' said Woundwort. 'Mallow wasn't the rabbit to run on to a fox. Foxes aren't dangerous, to rabbits who know their business.'
'I'm sorry the fox got him, sir. It was a stroke of very bad luck.'
Woundwort stared at him out of his great, pale eyes.
'Then one more question, Thlayli. That patrol was on the track of a band of rabbits - strangers. What do you know about them?'
'I saw their tracks too, about that time. I can't tell you any more than that.'
'You weren't with them?'
'If I'd been with them, sir, would I have come to Efrafa?'