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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rome Express, by Arthur Griffiths
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Rome Express
+
+Author: Arthur Griffiths
+
+Release Date: March 5, 2004 [EBook #11451]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROME EXPRESS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Ted Garvin and PG Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "_M. Floçon interposed with uplifted hand_."]
+
+The ROME EXPRESS
+
+By Arthur Griffiths
+
+
+With a frontispiece in colours
+By Arthur O. Scott
+
+1907
+
+THE ROME EXPRESS
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+The Rome Express, the _direttissimo_, or most direct, was approaching
+Paris one morning in March, when it became known to the occupants of the
+sleeping-car that there was something amiss, very much amiss, in the
+car.
+
+The train was travelling the last stage, between Laroche and Paris, a
+run of a hundred miles without a stop. It had halted at Laroche for
+early breakfast, and many, if not all the passengers, had turned out. Of
+those in the sleeping-car, seven in number, six had been seen in the
+restaurant, or about the platform; the seventh, a lady, had not stirred.
+All had reëntered their berths to sleep or doze when the train went on,
+but several were on the move as it neared Paris, taking their turn at
+the lavatory, calling for water, towels, making the usual stir of
+preparation as the end of a journey was at hand.
+
+There were many calls for the porter, yet no porter appeared. At last
+the attendant was found--lazy villain!--asleep, snoring loudly,
+stertorously, in his little bunk at the end of the car. He was roused
+with difficulty, and set about his work in a dull, unwilling, lethargic
+way, which promised badly for his tips from those he was supposed to
+serve.
+
+By degrees all the passengers got dressed, all but two,--the lady in 9
+and 10, who had made no sign as yet; and the man who occupied alone a
+double berth next her, numbered 7 and 8.
+
+As it was the porter's duty to call every one, and as he was anxious,
+like the rest of his class, to get rid of his travellers as soon as
+possible after arrival, he rapped at each of the two closed doors behind
+which people presumably still slept.
+
+The lady cried "All right," but there was no answer from No. 7 and 8.
+
+Again and again the porter knocked and called loudly. Still meeting
+with no response, he opened the door of the compartment and went in.
+
+It was now broad daylight. No blind was down; indeed, the one narrow
+window was open, wide; and the whole of the interior of the compartment
+was plainly visible, all and everything in it.
+
+The occupant lay on his bed motionless. Sound asleep? No, not merely
+asleep--the twisted unnatural lie of the limbs, the contorted legs, the
+one arm drooping listlessly but stiffly over the side of the berth, told
+of a deeper, more eternal sleep.
+
+The man was dead. Dead--and not from natural causes.
+
+One glance at the blood-stained bedclothes, one look at the gaping wound
+in the breast, at the battered, mangled face, told the terrible story.
+
+It was murder! murder most foul! The victim had been stabbed to the
+heart.
+
+With a wild, affrighted, cry the porter rushed out of the compartment,
+and to the eager questioning of all who crowded round him, he could only
+mutter in confused and trembling accents:
+
+"There! there! in there!"
+
+Thus the fact of the murder became known to every one by personal
+inspection, for every one (even the lady had appeared for just a moment)
+had looked in where the body lay. The compartment was filled for some
+ten minutes or more by an excited, gesticulating, polyglot mob of half a
+dozen, all talking at once in French, English, and Italian.
+
+The first attempt to restore order was made by a tall man, middle-aged,
+but erect in his bearing, with bright eyes and alert manner, who took
+the porter aside, and said sharply in good French, but with a strong
+English accent:
+
+"Here! it's your business to do something. No one has any right to be in
+that compartment now. There may be reasons--traces--things to remove;
+never mind what. But get them all out. Be sharp about it; and lock the
+door. Remember you will be held responsible to justice."
+
+The porter shuddered, so did many of the passengers who had overheard
+the Englishman's last words.
+
+Justice! It is not to be trifled with anywhere, least of all in France,
+where the uncomfortable superstition prevails that every one who can be
+reasonably suspected of a crime is held to be guilty of that crime until
+his innocence is clearly proved.
+
+All those six passengers and the porter were now brought within the
+category of the accused. They were all open to suspicion; they, and they
+alone, for the murdered man had been seen alive at Laroche, and the fell
+deed must have been done since then, while the train was in transit,
+that is to say, going at express speed, when no one could leave it
+except at peril of his life.
+
+"Deuced awkward for us!" said the tall English general, Sir Charles
+Collingham by name, to his brother the parson, when he had reëntered
+their compartment and shut the door.
+
+"I can't see it. In what way?" asked the Reverend Silas Collingham, a
+typical English cleric, with a rubicund face and square-cut white
+whiskers, dressed in a suit of black serge, and wearing the professional
+white tie.
+
+"Why, we shall be detained, of course; arrested, probably--certainly
+detained. Examined, cross-examined, bully-ragged--I know something of
+the French police and their ways."
+
+"If they stop us, I shall write to the _Times_" cried his brother, by
+profession a man of peace, but with a choleric eye that told of an angry
+temperament.
+
+"By all means, my dear Silas, when you get the chance. That won't be
+just yet, for I tell you we're in a tight place, and may expect a good
+deal of worry." With that he took out his cigarette-case, and his
+match-box, lighted his cigarette, and calmly watched the smoke rising
+with all the coolness of an old campaigner accustomed to encounter and
+face the ups and downs of life. "I only hope to goodness they'll run
+straight on to Paris," he added in a fervent tone, not unmixed with
+apprehension. "No! By jingo, we're slackening speed--."
+
+"Why shouldn't we? It's right the conductor, or chief of the train, or
+whatever you call him, should know what has happened."
+
+"Why, man, can't you see? While the train is travelling express, every
+one must stay on board it; if it slows, it is possible to leave it."
+
+"Who would want to leave it?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said the General, rather testily. "Any way, the
+thing's done now."
+
+The train had pulled up in obedience to the signal of alarm given by
+some one in the sleeping-car, but by whom it was impossible to say. Not
+by the porter, for he seemed greatly surprised as the conductor came up
+to him.
+
+"How did you know?" he asked.
+
+"Know! Know what? You stopped me."
+
+"I didn't."
+
+"Who rang the bell, then?"
+
+"I did not. But I'm glad you've come. There has been a crime--murder."
+
+"Good Heavens!" cried the conductor, jumping up on to the car, and
+entering into the situation at once. His business was only to verify the
+fact, and take all necessary precautions. He was a burly, brusque,
+peremptory person, the despotic, self-important French official, who
+knew what to do--as he thought--and did it without hesitation or
+apology.
+
+"No one must leave the car," he said in a tone not to be misunderstood.
+"Neither now, nor on arrival at the station."
+
+There was a shout of protest and dismay, which he quickly cut short.
+
+"You will have to arrange it with the authorities in Paris; they can
+alone decide. My duty is plain: to detain you, place you under
+surveillance till then. Afterwards, we will see. Enough, gentlemen and
+madame"--
+
+He bowed with the instinctive gallantry of his nation to the female
+figure which now appeared at the door of her compartment. She stood for
+a moment listening, seemingly greatly agitated, and then, without a
+word, disappeared, retreating hastily into her own private room, where
+she shut herself in.
+
+Almost immediately, at a signal from the conductor, the train resumed
+its journey. The distance remaining to be traversed was short; half an
+hour more, and the Lyons station, at Paris, was reached, where the bulk
+of the passengers--all, indeed, but the occupants of the
+sleeper--descended and passed through the barriers. The latter were
+again desired to keep their places, while a posse of officials came and
+mounted guard. Presently they were told to leave the car one by one, but
+to take nothing with them. All their hand-bags, rugs, and belongings
+were to remain in the berths, just as they lay. One by one they were
+marched under escort to a large and bare waiting-room, which had, no
+doubt, been prepared for their reception.
+
+Here they took their seats on chairs placed at wide intervals apart, and
+were peremptorily forbidden to hold any communication with each other,
+by word or gesture. This order was enforced by a fierce-looking guard in
+blue and red uniform, who stood facing them with his arms folded,
+gnawing his moustache and frowning severely.
+
+Last of all, the porter was brought in and treated like the passengers,
+but more distinctly as a prisoner. He had a guard all to himself; and it
+seemed as though he was the object of peculiar suspicion. It had no
+great effect upon him, for, while the rest of the party were very
+plainly sad, and a prey to lively apprehension, the porter sat dull and
+unmoved, with the stolid, sluggish, unconcerned aspect of a man just
+roused from sound sleep and relapsing into slumber, who takes little
+notice of what is passing around.
+
+Meanwhile, the sleeping-car, with its contents, especially the corpse
+of the victim, was shunted into a siding, and sentries were placed on it
+at both ends. Seals had been affixed upon the entrance doors, so that
+the interior might be kept inviolate until it could be visited and
+examined by the Chef de la Sûreté, or Chief of the Detective Service.
+Every one and everything awaited the arrival of this all-important
+functionary.
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+M. Floçon, the Chief, was an early man, and he paid a first visit to his
+office about 7 A.M.
+
+He lived just round the corner in the Rue des Arcs, and had not far to
+go to the Prefecture. But even now, soon after daylight, he was
+correctly dressed, as became a responsible ministerial officer. He wore
+a tight frock coat and an immaculate white tie; under his arm he carried
+the regulation portfolio, or lawyer's bag, stuffed full of reports,
+dispositions, and documents dealing with cases in hand. He was
+altogether a very precise and natty little personage, quiet and
+unpretending in demeanour, with a mild, thoughtful face in which two
+small ferrety eyes blinked and twinkled behind gold-rimmed glasses. But
+when things went wrong, when he had to deal with fools, or when scent
+was keen, or the enemy near, he would become as fierce and eager as any
+terrier.
+
+He had just taken his place at his table and begun to arrange his
+papers, which, being a man of method, he kept carefully sorted by lots
+each in an old copy of the _Figaro_, when he was called to the
+telephone. His services were greatly needed, as we know, at the Lyons
+station and the summons was to the following effect:
+
+"Crime on train No. 45. A man murdered in the sleeper. All the
+passengers held. Please come at once. Most important."
+
+A fiacre was called instantly, and M. Floçon, accompanied by Galipaud
+and Block, the two first inspectors for duty, was driven with all
+possible speed across Paris.
+
+He was met outside the station, just under the wide verandah, by the
+officials, who gave him a brief outline of the facts, so far as they
+were known, and as they have already been put before the reader.
+
+"The passengers have been detained?" asked M. Floçon at once.
+
+"Those in the sleeping-car only--"
+
+"Tut, tut! they should have been all kept--at least until you had taken
+their names and addresses. Who knows what they might not have been able
+to tell?"
+
+It was suggested that as the crime was committed presumably while the
+train was in motion, only those in the one car could be implicated.
+
+"We should never jump to conclusions," said the Chief snappishly. "Well,
+show me the train card--the list of the travellers in the sleeper."
+
+"It cannot be found, sir."
+
+"Impossible! Why, it is the porter's business to deliver it at the end
+of the journey to his superiors, and under the law--to us. Where is the
+porter? In custody?"
+
+"Surely, sir, but there is something wrong with him."
+
+"So I should think! Nothing of this kind could well occur without his
+knowledge. If he was doing his duty--unless, of course, he--but let us
+avoid hasty conjectures."
+
+"He has also lost the passengers' tickets, which you know he retains
+till the end of the journey. After the catastrophe, however, he was
+unable to lay his hand upon his pocket-book. It contained all his
+papers."
+
+"Worse and worse. There is something behind all this. Take me to him.
+Stay, can I have a private room close to the other--where the prisoners,
+those held on suspicion, are? It will be necessary to hold
+investigations, take their depositions. M. le Juge will be here
+directly."
+
+M. Floçon was soon installed in a room actually communicating with the
+waiting-room, and as a preliminary of the first importance, taking
+precedence even of the examination of the sleeping-car, he ordered the
+porter to be brought in to answer certain questions.
+
+The man, Ludwig Groote, as he presently gave his name, thirty-two years
+of age, born at Amsterdam, looked such a sluggish, slouching,
+blear-eyed creature that M. Floçon began by a sharp rebuke.
+
+"Now. Sharp! Are you always like this?" cried the Chief.
+
+The porter still stared straight before him with lack-lustre eyes, and
+made no immediate reply.
+
+"Are you drunk? are you--Can it be possible?" he said, and in vague
+reply to a sudden strong suspicion, he went on:
+
+"What were you doing between Laroche and Paris? Sleeping?"
+
+The man roused himself a little. "I think I slept. I must have slept. I
+was very drowsy. I had been up two nights; but so it is always, and I am
+not like this generally. I do not understand."
+
+"Hah!" The Chief thought he understood. "Did you feel this drowsiness
+before leaving Laroche?"
+
+"No, monsieur, I did not. Certainly not. I was fresh till then--quite
+fresh."
+
+"Hum; exactly; I see;" and the little Chief jumped to his feet and ran
+round to where the porter stood sheepishly, and sniffed and smelt at
+him.
+
+"Yes, yes." Sniff, sniff, sniff, the little man danced round and round
+him, then took hold of the porter's head with one hand, and with the
+other turned down his lower eyelid so as to expose the eyeball, sniffed
+a little more, and then resumed his seat.
+
+"Exactly. And now, where is your train card?"
+
+"Pardon, monsieur, I cannot find it."
+
+"That is absurd. Where do you keep it? Look again--search--I must have
+it."
+
+The porter shook his head hopelessly.
+
+"It is gone, monsieur, and my pocket-book."
+
+"But your papers, the tickets--"
+
+"Everything was in it, monsieur. I must have dropped it."
+
+Strange, very strange. However--the fact was to be recorded, for the
+moment. He could of course return to it.
+
+"You can give me the names of the passengers?"
+
+"No, monsieur. Not exactly. I cannot remember, not enough to
+distinguish between them."
+
+"_Fichtre_! But this is most devilishly irritating. To think that I have
+to do with a man so stupid--such an idiot, such an ass!"
+
+"At least you know how the berths were occupied, how many in each, and
+which persons? Yes? You can tell me that? Well, go on. By and by we will
+have the passengers in, and you can fix their places, after I have
+ascertained their names. Now, please! For how many was the car?"
+
+"Sixteen. There were two compartments of four berths each, and four of
+two berths each."
+
+"Stay, let us make a plan. I will draw it. Here, now, is that right?"
+and the Chief held up the rough diagram, here shown--
+
+[Illustration: Diagram of railroad car.]
+
+"Here we have the six compartments. Now take _a_, with berths 1, 2, 3,
+and 4. Were they all occupied?"
+
+"No; only two, by Englishmen. I know that they talked English, which I
+understand a little. One was a soldier; the other, I think, a clergyman,
+or priest."
+
+"Good! we can verify that directly. Now, _b_, with berths 5 and 6. Who
+was there?"
+
+"One gentleman. I don't remember his name. But I shall know him by
+appearance."
+
+"Go on. In _c_, two berths, 7 and 8?"
+
+"Also one gentleman. It was he who--I mean, that is where the crime
+occurred."
+
+"Ah, indeed, in 7 and 8? Very well. And the next, 9 and 10?"
+
+"A lady. Our only lady. She came from Rome."
+
+"One moment. Where did the rest come from? Did any embark on the road?"
+
+"No, monsieur; all the passengers travelled through from Rome."
+
+"The dead man included? Was he Roman?"
+
+"That I cannot say, but he came on board at Rome."
+
+"Very well. This lady--she was alone?"
+
+"In the compartment, yes. But not altogether."
+
+"I do not understand!"
+
+"She had her servant with her."
+
+"In the car?"
+
+"No, not in the car. As a passenger by second class. But she came to her
+mistress sometimes, in the car."
+
+"For her service, I presume?"
+
+"Well, yes, monsieur, when I would permit it. But she came a little too
+often, and I was compelled to protest, to speak to Madame la Comtesse--"
+
+"She was a countess, then?"
+
+"The maid addressed her by that title. That is all I know. I heard her."
+
+"When did you see the lady's maid last?"
+
+"Last night. I think at Amberieux. about 8 p.m."
+
+"Not this morning?"
+
+"No, sir, I am quite sure of that."
+
+"Not at Laroche? She did not come on board to stay, for the last stage,
+when her mistress would be getting up, dressing, and likely to require
+her?"
+
+"No; I should not have permitted it."
+
+"And where is the maid now, d'you suppose?"
+
+The porter looked at him with an air of complete imbecility.
+
+"She is surely somewhere near, in or about the station. She would hardly
+desert her mistress now," he said, stupidly, at last.
+
+"At any rate we can soon settle that." The Chief turned to one of his
+assistants, both of whom had been standing behind him all the time, and
+said:
+
+"Step out, Galipaud, and see. No, wait. I am nearly as stupid as this
+simpleton. Describe this maid."
+
+"Tall and slight, dark-eyed, very black hair. Dressed all in black,
+plain black bonnet. I cannot remember more."
+
+"Find her, Galipaud--keep your eye on her. We may want her--why, I
+cannot say, as she seems disconnected with the event, but still she
+ought to be at hand." Then, turning to the porter, he went on. "Finish,
+please. You said 9 and 10 was the lady's. Well, 11 and 12?"
+
+"It was vacant all through the run."
+
+"And the last compartment, for four?"
+
+"There were two berths, occupied both by Frenchmen, at least so I judged
+them. They talked French to each other and to me."
+
+"Then now we have them all. Stand aside, please, and I will make the
+passengers come in. We will then determine their places and affix their
+names from their own admissions. Call them in, Block, one by one."
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+The questions put by M. Floçon were much the same in every case, and
+were limited in this early stage of the inquiry to the one point of
+identity.
+
+The first who entered was a Frenchman. He was a jovial, fat-faced,
+portly man, who answered to the name of Anatole Lafolay, and who
+described himself as a traveller in precious stones. The berth he had
+occupied was No. 13 in compartment _f_. His companion in the berth was a
+younger man, smaller, slighter, but of much the same stamp. His name was
+Jules Devaux, and he was a commission agent. His berth had been No. 15
+in the same compartment, _f_. Both these Frenchmen gave their addresses
+with the names of many people to whom they were well known, and
+established at once a reputation for respectability which was greatly
+in their favour.
+
+The third to appear was the tall, gray-headed Englishman, who had taken
+a certain lead at the first discovery of the crime. He called himself
+General Sir Charles Collingham, an officer of her Majesty's army; and
+the clergyman who shared the compartment was his brother, the Reverend
+Silas Collingham, rector of Theakstone-Lammas, in the county of Norfolk.
+Their berths were numbered 1 and 4 in _a_.
+
+Before the English General was dismissed, he asked whether he was likely
+to be detained.
+
+"For the present, yes," replied M. Floçon, briefly. He did not care to
+be asked questions. That, under the circumstances, was his business.
+
+"Because I should like to communicate with the British Embassy."
+
+"You are known there?" asked the detective, not choosing to believe the
+story at first. It might be a ruse of some sort.
+
+"I know Lord Dufferin personally; I was with him in India. Also Colonel
+Papillon, the military attaché; we were in the same regiment. If I sent
+to the Embassy, the latter would, no doubt, come himself."
+
+"How do you propose to send?"
+
+"That is for you to decide. All I wish is that it should be known that
+my brother and I are detained under suspicion, and incriminated."
+
+"Hardly that, Monsieur le General. But it shall be as you wish. We will
+telephone from here to the post nearest the Embassy to inform his
+Excellency--"
+
+"Certainly, Lord Dufferin, and my friend, Colonel Papillon."
+
+"Of what has occurred. And now, if you will permit me to proceed?"
+
+So the single occupant of the compartment _b_, that adjoining the
+Englishmen, was called in. He was an Italian, by name Natale Ripaldi; a
+dark-skinned man, with very black hair and a bristling black moustache.
+He wore a long dark cloak of the Inverness order, and, with the slouch
+hat he carried in his hand, and his downcast, secretive look, he had the
+rather conventional aspect of a conspirator.
+
+"If monsieur permits," he volunteered to say after the formal
+questioning was over, "I can throw some light on this catastrophe."
+
+"And how so, pray? Did you assist? Were you present? If so, why wait to
+speak till now?" said the detective, receiving the advance rather
+coldly. It behooved him to be very much on his guard.
+
+"I have had no opportunity till now of addressing any one in authority.
+You are in authority, I presume?"
+
+"I am the Chief of the Detective Service."
+
+"Then, monsieur, remember, please, that I can give some useful
+information when called upon. Now, indeed, if you will receive it."
+
+M. Floçon was so anxious to approach the inquiry without prejudice that
+he put up his hand.
+
+"We will wait, if you please. When M. le Juge arrives, then, perhaps;
+at any rate, at a later stage. That will do now, thank you."
+
+The Italian's lip curled with a slight indication of contempt at the
+French detective's methods, but he bowed without speaking, and went out.
+
+Last of all the lady appeared, in a long sealskin travelling cloak, and
+closely veiled. She answered M. Floçon's questions in a low, tremulous
+voice, as though greatly perturbed.
+
+She was the Contessa di Castagneto, she said, an Englishwoman by birth;
+but her husband had been an Italian, as the name implied, and they
+resided in Rome. He was dead--she had been a widow for two or three
+years, and was on her way now to London.
+
+"That will do, madame, thank you," said the detective, politely, "for
+the present at least."
+
+"Why, are we likely to be detained? I trust not." Her voice became
+appealing, almost piteous. Her hands, restlessly moving, showed how much
+she was distressed.
+
+"Indeed, Madame la Comtesse, it must be so. I regret it infinitely; but
+until we have gone further into this, have elicited some facts, arrived
+at some conclusions--But there, madame, I need not, must not say more."
+
+"Oh, monsieur, I was so anxious to continue my journey. Friends are
+awaiting me in London. I do hope--I most earnestly beg and entreat you
+to spare me. I am not very strong; my health is indifferent. Do, sir, be
+so good as to release me from--"
+
+As she spoke, she raised her veil, and showed what no woman wishes to
+hide, least of all when seeking the good-will of one of the opposite
+sex. She had a handsome face--strikingly so. Not even the long journey,
+the fatigue, the worries and anxieties which had supervened, could rob
+her of her marvellous beauty.
+
+She was a brilliant brunette, dark-skinned; but her complexion was of a
+clear, pale olive, and as soft, as lustrous as pure ivory. Her great
+eyes, of a deep velvety brown, were saddened by near tears. She had rich
+red lips, the only colour in her face, and these, habitually slightly
+apart, showed pearly-white glistening teeth.
+
+It was difficult to look at this charming woman without being affected
+by her beauty. M. Floçon was a Frenchman, gallant and impressionable;
+yet he steeled his heart. A detective must beware of sentiment, and he
+seemed to see something insidious in this appeal, which he resented.
+
+"Madame, it is useless," he answered gruffly. "I do not make the law; I
+have only to support it. Every good citizen is bound to that."
+
+"I trust I am a good citizen," said the Countess, with a wan smile, but
+very wearily. "Still, I should wish to be let off now. I have suffered
+greatly, terribly, by this horrible catastrophe. My nerves are quite
+shattered. It is too cruel. However, I can say no more, except to ask
+that you will let my maid come to me."
+
+M. Floçon, still obdurate, would not even consent to that.
+
+"I fear, madame, that for the present at least you cannot be allowed to
+communicate with any one, not even with your maid."
+
+"But she is not implicated; she was not in the car. I have not seen her
+since--"
+
+"Since?" repeated M. Floçon, after a pause.
+
+"Since last night, at Amberieux, about eight o'clock. She helped me to
+undress, and saw me to bed. I sent her away then, and said I should not
+need her till we reached Paris. But I want her now, indeed I do."
+
+"She did not come to you at Laroche?"
+
+"No. Have I not said so? The porter,"--here she pointed to the man, who
+stood staring at her from the other side of the table,--"he made
+difficulties about her being in the car, saying that she came too often,
+stayed too long, that I must pay for her berth, and so on. I did not
+see why I should do that; so she stayed away."
+
+"Except from time to time?"
+
+"Precisely."
+
+"And the last time was at Amberieux?"
+
+"As I have told you, and he will tell you the same."
+
+"Thank you, madame, that will do." The Chief rose from his chair,
+plainly intimating that the interview was at an end.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+He had other work to do, and was eager to get at it. So he left Block to
+show the Countess back to the waiting-room, and, motioning to the porter
+that he might also go, the Chief hastened to the sleeping-car, the
+examination of which, too long delayed, claimed his urgent attention.
+
+It is the first duty of a good detective to visit the actual theatre of
+a crime and overhaul it inch by inch,--seeking, searching,
+investigating, looking for any, even the most insignificant, traces of
+the murderer's hands.
+
+The sleeping-car, as I have said, had been side-tracked, its doors were
+sealed, and it was under strict watch and ward. But everything, of
+course, gave way before the detective, and, breaking through the seals,
+he walked in, making straight for the little room or compartment where
+the body of the victim still lay untended and absolutely untouched.
+
+It was a ghastly sight, although not new in M. Floçon's experience.
+There lay the corpse in the narrow berth, just as it had been stricken.
+It was partially undressed, wearing only shirt and drawers. The former
+lay open at the chest, and showed the gaping wound that had, no doubt,
+caused death, probably instantaneous death. But other blows had been
+struck; there must have been a struggle, fierce and embittered, as for
+dear life. The savage truculence of the murderer had triumphed, but not
+until he had battered in the face, destroying features and rendering
+recognition almost impossible.
+
+A knife had given the mortal wound; that was at once apparent from the
+shape of the wound. It was the knife, too, which had gashed and stabbed
+the face, almost wantonly; for some of these wounds had not bled, and
+the plain inference was that they had been inflicted after life had
+sped. M. Floçon examined the body closely, but without disturbing it.
+The police medical officer would wish to see it as it was found. The
+exact position, as well as the nature of the wounds, might afford
+evidence as to the manner of death.
+
+But the Chief looked long, and with absorbed, concentrated interest, at
+the murdered man, noting all he actually saw, and conjecturing a good
+deal more.
+
+The features of the mutilated face were all but unrecognizable, but the
+hair, which was abundant, was long, black, and inclined to curl; the
+black moustache was thick and drooping. The shirt was of fine linen, the
+drawers silk. On one finger were two good rings, the hands were clean,
+the nails well kept, and there was every evidence that the man did not
+live by manual labour. He was of the easy, cultured class, as distinct
+from the workman or operative.
+
+This conclusion was borne out by his light baggage, which still lay
+about the berth,--hat-box, rugs, umbrella, brown morocco hand-bag. All
+were the property of some one well to do, or at least possessed of
+decent belongings. One or two pieces bore a monogram, "F.Q.," the same
+as on the shirt and under-linen; but on the bag was a luggage label,
+with the name, "Francis Quadling, passenger to Paris," in full. Its
+owner had apparently no reason to conceal his name. More strangely,
+those who had done him to death had been at no pains to remove all
+traces of his identity.
+
+M. Floçon opened the hand-bag, seeking for further evidence; but found
+nothing of importance,--only loose collars, cuffs, a sponge and
+slippers, two Italian newspapers of an earlier date. No money,
+valuables, or papers. All these had been removed probably, and
+presumably, by the perpetrator of the crime.
+
+Having settled the first preliminary but essential points, he next
+surveyed the whole compartment critically. Now, for the first time, he
+was struck with the fact that the window was open to its full height.
+Since when was this? It was a question to be put presently to the porter
+and any others who had entered the car, but the discovery drew him to
+examine the window more closely, and with good results.
+
+At the ledge, caught on a projecting point on the far side, partly in,
+partly out of the car, was a morsel of white lace, a scrap of feminine
+apparel; although what part, or how it had come there, was not at once
+obvious to M. Floçon. A long and minute inspection of this bit of lace,
+which he was careful not to detach as yet from the place in which he
+found it, showed that it was ragged, and frayed, and fast caught where
+it hung. It could not have been blown there by any chance air; it must
+have been torn from the article to which it belonged, whatever that
+might be,--head-dress, nightcap, night-dress, or handkerchief. The lace
+was of a kind to serve any of these purposes.
+
+Inspecting further, M. Floçon made a second discovery. On the small
+table under the window was a short length of black jet beading, part of
+the trimming or ornamentation of a lady's dress.
+
+These two objects of feminine origin--one partly outside the car, the
+other near it, but quite inside--gave rise to many conjectures. It led,
+however, to the inevitable conclusion that a woman had been at some time
+or other in the berth. M. Floçon could not but connect these two finds
+with the fact of the open window. The latter might, of course, have been
+the work of the murdered man himself at an earlier hour. Yet it is
+unusual, as the detective imagined, for a passenger, and especially an
+Italian, to lie under an open window in a sleeping-berth when travelling
+by express train before daylight in March.
+
+Who opened that window, then, and why? Perhaps some further facts might
+be found on the outside of the car. With this idea, M. Floçon left it,
+and passed on to the line or permanent way.
+
+Here he found himself a good deal below the level of the car. These
+sleepers have no foot-boards like ordinary carriages; access to them is
+gained from a platform by the steps at each end. The Chief was short of
+stature, and he could only approach the window outside by calling one of
+the guards and ordering him to make the small ladder (_faire la petite
+echelle_). This meant stooping and giving a back, on which little M.
+Floçon climbed nimbly, and so was raised to the necessary height.
+
+A close scrutiny revealed nothing unusual. The exterior of the car was
+encrusted with the mud and dust gathered in the journey, none of which
+appeared to have been disturbed.
+
+M. Floçon reëntered the carriage neither disappointed nor pleased; his
+mind was in an open state, ready to receive any impressions, and as yet
+only one that was at all clear and distinct was borne in on him.
+
+This was the presence of the lace and the jet beads in the theatre of
+the crime. The inference was fair and simple. He came logically and
+surely to this:
+
+1. That some woman had entered the compartment.
+
+2. That whether or not she had come in before the crime, she was there
+after the window had been opened, which was not done by the murdered
+man.
+
+3. That she had leaned out, or partly passed out, of the window at some
+time or other, as the scrap of lace testified.
+
+4. Why had she leaned out? To seek some means of exit or escape, of
+course.
+
+But escape from whom? from what? The murderer? Then she must know him,
+and unless an accomplice (if so, why run from him?), she would give up
+her knowledge on compulsion, if not voluntarily, as seemed doubtful,
+seeing she (his suspicions were consolidating) had not done so already.
+
+But there might be another even stronger reason to attempt escape at
+such imminent risk as leaving an express train at full speed. To escape
+from her own act and the consequences it must entail--escape from
+horror first, from detection next, and then from arrest and punishment.
+
+All this would imperiously impel even a weak woman to face the worst
+peril, to look out, lean out, even try the terrible but impossible feat
+of climbing out of the car.
+
+So M. Floçon, by fair process of reasoning, reached a point which
+incriminated one woman, the only woman possible, and that was the
+titled, high-bred lady who called herself the Contessa di Castagneto.
+
+This conclusion gave a definite direction to further search. Consulting
+the rough plan which he had constructed to take the place of the missing
+train card, he entered the compartment which the Countess had occupied,
+and which was actually next door.
+
+It was in the tumbled, untidy condition of a sleeping-place but just
+vacated. The sex and quality of its recent occupant were plainly
+apparent in the goods and chattels lying about, the property and
+possessions of a delicate, well-bred woman of the world, things still
+left as she had used them last--rugs still unrolled, a pair of
+easy-slippers on the floor, the sponge in its waterproof bag on the bed,
+brushes, bottles, button-hook, hand-glass, many things belonging to the
+dressing-bag, not yet returned to that receptacle. The maid was no doubt
+to have attended to all these, but as she had not come, they remained
+unpacked and strewn about in some disorder.
+
+M. Floçon pounced down upon the contents of the berth, and commenced an
+immediate search for a lace scarf, or any wrap or cover with lace.
+
+He found nothing, and was hardly disappointed. It told more against the
+Countess, who, if innocent, would have no reason to conceal or make away
+with a possibly incriminating possession, the need for which she could
+not of course understand.
+
+Next, he handled the dressing-bag, and with deft fingers replaced
+everything.
+
+Everything was forthcoming but one glass bottle, a small one, the
+absence of which he noted, but thought of little consequence, till, by
+and by, he came upon it under peculiar circumstances.
+
+Before leaving the car, and after walking through the other
+compartments, M. Floçon made an especially strict search of the corner
+where the porter had his own small chair, his only resting-place,
+indeed, throughout the journey. He had not forgotten the attendant's
+condition when first examined, and he had even then been nearly
+satisfied that the man had been hocussed, narcotized, drugged.
+
+Any doubts were entirely removed by his picking up near the porter's
+seat a small silver-topped bottle and a handkerchief, both marked with
+coronet and monogram, the last of which, although the letters were much
+interlaced and involved, were decipherable as S.L.L.C.
+
+It was that of the Countess, and corresponded with the marks on her
+other belongings. He put it to his nostril, and recognized at once by
+its smell that it had contained tincture of laudanum, or some
+preparation of that drug.
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+M. Floçon was an experienced detective, and he knew so well that he
+ought to be on his guard against the most plausible suggestions, that he
+did not like to make too much of these discoveries. Still, he was
+distinctly satisfied, if not exactly exultant, and he went back towards
+the station with a strong predisposition against the Contessa di
+Castagneto.
+
+Just outside the waiting-room, however, his assistant, Galipaud, met him
+with news which rather dashed his hopes, and gave a new direction to his
+thoughts.
+
+The lady's maid was not to be found.
+
+"Impossible!" cried the Chief, and then at once suspicion followed
+surprise.
+
+"I have looked, monsieur, inquired everywhere; the maid has not been
+seen. She certainly is not here."
+
+"Did she go through the barrier with the other passengers?"
+
+"No one knows; no one remembers her; not even the conductor. But she has
+gone. That is positive."
+
+"Yet it was her duty to be here; to attend to her service. Her mistress
+would certainly want her--has asked for her! Why should she run away?"
+
+This question presented itself as one of infinite importance, to be
+pondered over seriously before he went further into the inquiry.
+
+Did the Countess know of this disappearance?
+
+She had asked imploringly for her maid. True, but might that not be a
+blind? Women are born actresses, and at need can assume any part, convey
+any impression. Might not the Countess have wished to be dissociated
+from the maid, and therefore have affected complete ignorance of her
+flight?
+
+"I will try her further," said M. Floçon to himself.
+
+But then, supposing that the maid had taken herself off of her own
+accord? Why was it? Why had she done so? Because--because she was afraid
+of something. If so, of what? No direct accusation could be brought
+against her on the face of it. She had not been in the sleeping-car at
+the time of the murder, while the Countess as certainly was; and,
+according to strong presumption, in the very compartment where the deed
+was done. If the maid was afraid, why was she afraid?
+
+Only on one possible hypothesis. That she was either in collusion with
+the Countess, or possessed of some guilty knowledge tending to
+incriminate the Countess and probably herself. She had run away to avoid
+any inconvenient questioning tending to get her mistress into trouble,
+which would react probably on herself.
+
+"We must press the Countess on this point closely; I will put it plainly
+to M. le Juge," said the detective, as he entered the private room set
+apart for the police authorities, where he found M. Beaumont le Hardi,
+the instructing judge, and the Commissary of the Quartier
+(arrondissement).
+
+A lengthy conference followed among the officials. M. Floçon told all he
+knew, all he had discovered, gave his views with all the force and
+fluency of a public prosecutor, and was congratulated warmly on the
+progress he had made.
+
+"I agree with you, sir," said the instructing judge: "we must have in
+the Countess first, and pursue the line indicated as regards the missing
+maid."
+
+"I will fetch her, then. Stay, what can be going on in there?" cried M.
+Floçon, rising from his seat and running into the outer waiting-room,
+which, to his surprise and indignation, he found in great confusion.
+
+The guard who was on duty was struggling, in personal conflict almost,
+with the English General. There was a great hubbub of voices, and the
+Countess was lying back half-fainting in her chair.
+
+"What's all this? How dare you, sir?"
+
+This to the General, who now had the man by the throat with one hand
+and with the other was preventing him from drawing his sword.
+"Desist--forbear! You are opposing legal authority; desist, or I will
+call in assistance and will have you secured and removed."
+
+The little Chief's blood was up; he spoke warmly, with all the force and
+dignity of an official who sees the law outraged.
+
+"It is entirely the fault of this ruffian of yours; he has behaved most
+brutally," replied Sir Charles, still holding him tight.
+
+"Let him go, monsieur; your behaviour is inexcusable. What! you, a
+military officer of the highest rank, to assault a sentinel! For shame!
+This is unworthy of you!"
+
+"He deserves to be scragged, the beast!" went on the General, as with
+one sharp turn of the wrist he threw the guard off, and sent him flying
+nearly across the room, where, being free at last, the Frenchman drew
+his sword and brandished it threateningly--from a distance.
+
+But M. Floçon interposed with uplifted hand and insisted upon an
+explanation.
+
+"It is just this," replied Sir Charles, speaking fast and with much
+fierceness: "that lady there--poor thing, she is ill, you can see that
+for yourself, suffering, overwrought; she asked for a glass of water,
+and this brute, triple brute, as you say in French, refused to bring
+it."
+
+"I could not leave the room," protested the guard. "My orders were
+precise."
+
+"So I was going to fetch the water," went on the General angrily, eying
+the guard as though he would like to make another grab at him, "and this
+fellow interfered."
+
+"Very properly," added M. Floçon.
+
+"Then why didn't he go himself, or call some one? Upon my word,
+monsieur, you are not to be complimented upon your people, nor your
+methods. I used to think that a Frenchman was gallant, courteous,
+especially to ladies."
+
+The Chief looked a little disconcerted, but remembering what he knew
+against this particular lady, he stiffened and said severely, "I am
+responsible for my conduct to my superiors, and not to you. Besides, you
+appear to forget your position. You are here, detained--all of you"--he
+spoke to the whole room--"under suspicion. A ghastly crime has been
+perpetrated--by some one among you--"
+
+"Do not be too sure of that," interposed the irrepressible General.
+
+"Who else could be concerned? The train never stopped after leaving
+Laroche," said the detective, allowing himself to be betrayed into
+argument.
+
+"Yes, it did," corrected Sir Charles, with a contemptuous laugh; "shows
+how much you know."
+
+Again the Chief looked unhappy. He was on dangerous ground, face to face
+with a new fact affecting all his theories,--if fact it was, not mere
+assertion, and that he must speedily verify. But nothing was to be
+gained--much, indeed, might be lost--by prolonging this discussion in
+the presence of the whole party. It was entirely opposed to the French
+practice of investigation, which works secretly, taking witnesses
+separately, one by one, and strictly preventing all intercommunication
+or collusion among them.
+
+"What I know or do not know is my affair," he said, with an indifference
+he did not feel. "I shall call upon you, M. le Général, for your
+statement in due course, and that of the others." He bowed stiffly to
+the whole room. "Every one must be interrogated. M. le Juge is now here,
+and he proposes to begin, madame, with you."
+
+The Countess gave a little start, shivered, and turned very pale.
+
+"Can't you see she is not equal to it?" cried the General, hotly. "She
+has not yet recovered. In the name of--I do not say chivalry, for that
+would be useless--but of common humanity, spare madame, at least for the
+present."
+
+"That is impossible, quite impossible. There are reasons why Madame la
+Comtesse should be examined first. I trust, therefore, she will make an
+effort."
+
+"I will try, if you wish it." She rose from her chair and walked a few
+steps rather feebly, then stopped.
+
+"No, no, Countess, do not go," said Sir Charles, hastily, in English, as
+he moved across to where she stood and gave her his hand. "This is sheer
+cruelty, sir, and cannot be permitted."
+
+"Stand aside!" shouted M. Floçon; "I forbid you to approach that lady,
+to address her, or communicate with her. Guard, advance, do your duty."
+
+But the guard, although his sword was still out of its sheath, showed
+great reluctance to move. He had no desire to try conclusions again with
+this very masterful person, who was, moreover, a general; as he had seen
+service, he had a deep respect for generals, even of foreign growth.
+
+Meanwhile the General held his ground and continued his conversation
+with the Countess, speaking still in English, thus exasperating M.
+Floçon, who did not understand the language, almost to madness.
+
+"This is not to be borne!" he cried. "Here, Galipaud, Block;" and when
+his two trusty assistants came rushing in, he pointed furiously to the
+General. "Seize him, remove him by force if necessary. He shall go to
+the _violon_--to the nearest lock-up."
+
+The noise attracted also the Judge and the Commissary, and there were
+now six officials in all, including the guard, all surrounding the
+General, a sufficiently imposing force to overawe even the most
+recalcitrant fire-eater.
+
+But now the General seemed to see only the comic side of the situation,
+and he burst out laughing.
+
+"What, all of you? How many more? Why not bring up cavalry and
+artillery, horse, foot, and guns?" he asked, derisively. "All to prevent
+one old man from offering his services to one weak woman! Gentlemen, my
+regards!"
+
+"Really, Charles, I fear you are going too far," said his brother the
+clergyman, who, however, had been manifestly enjoying the whole scene.
+
+"Indeed, yes. It is not necessary, I assure you," added the Countess,
+with tears of gratitude in her big brown eyes. "I am most touched, most
+thankful. You are a true soldier, a true English gentleman, and I shall
+never forget your kindness." Then she put her hand in his with a pretty,
+winning gesture that was reward enough for any man.
+
+Meanwhile, the Judge, the senior official present, had learned exactly
+what had happened, and he now addressed the General with a calm but
+stern rebuke.
+
+"Monsieur will not, I trust, oblige us to put in force the full power of
+the law. I might, if I chose, and as I am fully entitled, commit you at
+once to Mazas, to keep you in solitary confinement. Your conduct has
+been deplorable, well calculated to traverse and impede justice. But I
+am willing to believe that you were led away, not unnaturally, as a
+gallant gentleman,--it is the characteristic of your nation, of your
+cloth,--and that on more mature consideration you will acknowledge and
+not repeat your error."
+
+M. Beaumont le Hardi was a grave, florid, soft-voiced person, with a
+bald head and a comfortably-lined white waistcoat; one who sought his
+ends by persuasion, not force, but who had the instincts of a gentleman,
+and little sympathy with the peremptory methods of his more inflammable
+colleague.
+
+"Oh, with all my heart, monsieur," said Sir Charles, cordially. "You
+saw, or at least know, how this has occurred. I did not begin it, nor
+was I the most to blame. But I was in the wrong, I admit. What do you
+wish me to do now?"
+
+"Give me your promise to abide by our rules,--they may be irksome, but
+we think them necessary,--and hold no further converse with your
+companions."
+
+"Certainly, certainly, monsieur,--at least after I have said one word
+more to Madame la Comtesse."
+
+"No, no, I cannot permit even that--"
+
+But Sir Charles, in spite of the warning finger held up by the Judge,
+insisted upon crying out to her, as she was being led into the other
+room:
+
+"Courage, dear lady, courage. Don't let them bully you. You have nothing
+to fear."
+
+Any further defiance of authority was now prevented by her almost
+forcible removal from the room.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The stormy episode just ended had rather a disturbing effect on M.
+Floçon, who could scarcely give his full attention to all the points,
+old and new, that had now arisen in the investigation. But he would have
+time to go over them at his leisure, while the work of interrogation was
+undertaken by the Judge.
+
+The latter had taken his seat at a small table, and just opposite was
+his _greffier_, or clerk, who was to write down question and answer,
+_verbatim_. A little to one side, with the light full on the face, the
+witness was seated, bearing the scrutiny of three pairs of eyes--the
+Judge first, and behind him, those of the Chief Detective and the
+Commissary of Police.
+
+"I trust, madame, that you are equal to answering a few questions?"
+began M. le Hardi, blandly.
+
+"Oh, yes, I hope so. Indeed, I have no choice," replied the Countess,
+bravely resigned.
+
+"They will refer principally to your maid."
+
+"Ah!" said the Countess, quickly and in a troubled voice, yet she bore
+the gaze of the three officials without flinching.
+
+"I want to know a little more about her, if you please."
+
+"Of course. Anything I know I will tell you." She spoke now with perfect
+self-possession. "But if I might ask--why this interest?"
+
+"I will tell you frankly. You asked for her, we sent for her, and--"
+
+"Yes?"
+
+"She cannot be found. She is not in the station."
+
+The Countess all but jumped from her chair in her surprise--surprise
+that seemed too spontaneous to be feigned.
+
+"Impossible! it cannot be. She would not dare to leave me here like
+this, all alone."
+
+"_Parbleu_! she has dared. Most certainly she is not here."
+
+"But what can have become of her?"
+
+"Ah, madame, what indeed? Can you form any idea? We hoped you might have
+been able to enlighten us."
+
+"I cannot, monsieur, not in the least."
+
+"Perchance you sent her on to your hotel to warn your friends that you
+were detained? To fetch them, perhaps, to you in your trouble?"
+
+The trap was neatly contrived, but she was not deceived.
+
+"How could I? I knew of no trouble when I saw her last."
+
+"Oh, indeed? and when was that?"
+
+"Last night, at Amberieux, as I have already told that gentleman." She
+pointed to M. Floçon, who was obliged to nod his head.
+
+"Well, she has gone away somewhere. It does not much matter, still it is
+odd, and for your sake we should like to help you to find her, if you
+do wish to find her?"
+
+Another little trap which failed.
+
+"Indeed I hardly think she is worth keeping after this barefaced
+desertion."
+
+"No, indeed. And she must be held to strict account for it, must justify
+it, give her reasons. So we must find her for you--"
+
+"I am not at all anxious, really," the Countess said, quickly, and the
+remark told against her.
+
+"Well, now, Madame la Comtesse, as to her description. Will you tell us
+what was her height, figure, colour of eyes, hair, general appearance?"
+
+"She was tall, above the middle height, at least; slight, good figure,
+black hair and eyes."
+
+"Pretty?"
+
+"That depends upon what you mean by 'pretty.' Some people might think
+so, in her own class."
+
+"How was she dressed?"
+
+"In plain dark serge, bonnet of black straw and brown ribbons. I do not
+allow my maid to wear colours."
+
+"Exactly. And her name, age, place of birth?"
+
+"Hortense Petitpré, thirty-two, born, I believe, in Paris."
+
+The Judge, when these particulars had been given, looked over his
+shoulder towards the detective, but said nothing. It was quite
+unnecessary, for M. Floçon, who had been writing in his note-book, now
+rose and left the room. He called Galipaud to him, saying sharply:
+
+"Here is the more detailed description of the lady's maid, and in
+writing. Have it copied and circulate it at once. Give it to the
+station-master, and to the agents of police round about here. I have an
+idea--only an idea--that this woman has not gone far. It may be worth
+nothing, still there is the chance. People who are wanted often hang
+about the very place they would _not_ stay in if they were wise. Anyhow,
+set a watch for her and come back here."
+
+Meanwhile, the Judge had continued his questioning.
+
+"And where, madame, did you obtain your maid?"
+
+"In Rome. She was there, out of a place. I heard of her at an agency and
+registry office, when I was looking for a maid a month or two ago."
+
+"Then she has not been long in your service?"
+
+"No; as I tell you, she came to me in December last."
+
+"Well recommended?"
+
+"Strongly. She had lived with good families, French and English."
+
+"And with you, what was her character?"
+
+"Irreproachable."
+
+"Well, so much for Hortense Petitpré. She is not far off, I dare say.
+When we want her we shall be able to lay hands on her, I do not doubt,
+madame may rest assured."
+
+"Pray take no trouble in the matter. I certainly should not keep her."
+
+"Very well, very well. And now, another small matter. I see," he
+referred to the rough plan of the sleeping-car prepared by M.
+Floçon,--"I see that you occupied the compartment _d_, with berths Nos.
+9 and 10?"
+
+"I think 9 was the number of my berth."
+
+"It was. You may be certain of that. Now next door to your
+compartment--do you know who was next door? I mean in 7 and 8?"
+
+The Countess's lip quivered, and she was a prey to sudden emotion as she
+answered in a low voice:
+
+"It was where--where--"
+
+"There, there, madame," said the Judge, reassuring her as he would a
+little child. "You need not say. It is no doubt very distressing to you.
+Yet, you know?"
+
+She bent her head slowly, but uttered no word.
+
+"Now this man, this poor man, had you noticed him at all? No--no--not
+afterwards, of course. It would not be likely. But during the journey.
+Did you speak to him, or he to you?"
+
+"No, no--distinctly no."
+
+"Nor see him?"
+
+"Yes, I saw him, I believe, at Modane with the rest when we dined."
+
+"Ah! exactly so. He dined at Modane. Was that the only occasion on which
+you saw him? You had never met him previously in Rome, where you
+resided?"
+
+"Whom do you mean? The murdered man?"
+
+"Who else?"
+
+"No, not that I am aware of. At least I did not recognize him as a
+friend."
+
+"I presume, if he was among your friends--"
+
+"Pardon me, that he certainly was not," interrupted the Countess.
+
+"Well, among your acquaintances--he would probably have made himself
+known to you?"
+
+"I suppose so."
+
+"And he did not do so? He never spoke to you, nor you to him?"
+
+"I never saw him, the occupant of that compartment, except on that one
+occasion. I kept a good deal in my compartment during the journey."
+
+"Alone? It must have been very dull for you," said the Judge,
+pleasantly.
+
+"I was not always alone," said the Countess, hesitatingly, and with a
+slight flush. "I had friends in the car."
+
+"Oh--oh"--the exclamation was long-drawn and rather significant.
+
+"Who were they? You may as well tell us, madame, we should certainly
+find out."
+
+"I have no wish to withhold the information," she replied, now turning
+pale, possibly at the imputation conveyed. "Why should I?"
+
+"And these friends were--?"
+
+"Sir Charles Collingham and his brother. They came and sat with me
+occasionally; sometimes one, sometimes the other."
+
+"During the day?"
+
+"Of course, during the day." Her eyes flashed, as though the question
+was another offence.
+
+"Have you known them long?"
+
+"The General I met in Roman society last winter. It was he who
+introduced his brother."
+
+"Very good, so far. The General knew you, took an interest in you. That
+explains his strange, unjustifiable conduct just now--"
+
+"I do not think it was either strange or unjustifiable," interrupted the
+Countess, hotly. "_He_ is a gentleman."
+
+"Quite a _preux cavalier_, of course. But we will pass on. You are not a
+good sleeper, I believe, madame?"
+
+"Indeed no, I sleep badly, as a rule."
+
+"Then you would be easily disturbed. Now, last night, did you hear
+anything strange in the car, more particularly in the adjoining
+compartment?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"No sound of voices raised high, no noise of a conflict, a struggle?"
+
+"No, monsieur."
+
+"That is odd. I cannot understand it. We know, beyond all question,
+from the appearance of the body,--the corpse,--that there was a fight,
+an encounter. Yet you, a wretched sleeper, with only a thin plank of
+wood between you and the affray, hear nothing, absolutely nothing. It is
+_most_ extraordinary."
+
+"I was asleep. I must have been asleep."
+
+"A light sleeper would certainly be awakened. How can you explain--how
+can you reconcile that?" The question was blandly put, but the Judge's
+incredulity verged upon actual insolence.
+
+"Easily: I had taken a soporific. I always do, on a journey. I am
+obliged to keep something, sulphonal or chloral, by me, on purpose."
+
+"Then this, madame, is yours?" And the Judge, with an air of undisguised
+triumph, produced the small glass vial which M. Floçon had picked up in
+the sleeping-car near the conductor's seat.
+
+The Countess, with a quick gesture, put out her hand to take it.
+
+"No, I cannot give it up. Look as near as you like, and say is it
+yours?"
+
+"Of course it is mine. Where did you get it? Not in my berth?"
+
+"No, madame, not in your berth."
+
+"But where?"
+
+"Pardon me, we shall not tell you--not just now."
+
+"I missed it last night," went on the Countess, slightly confused.
+
+"After you had taken your dose of chloral?"
+
+"No, before."
+
+"And why did you want this? It is laudanum."
+
+"For my nerves. I have a toothache. I--I--really, sir, I need not tell
+you all my ailments."
+
+"And the maid had removed it?"
+
+"So I presume; she must have taken it out of the bag in the first
+instance."
+
+"And then kept it?"
+
+"That is what I can only suppose."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+When the Judge had brought down the interrogation of the Countess to the
+production of the small glass bottle, he paused, and with a long-drawn
+"Ah!" of satisfaction, looked round at his colleagues.
+
+Both M. Floçon and the Commissary nodded their heads approvingly,
+plainly sharing his triumph.
+
+Then they all put their heads together in close, whispered conference.
+
+"Admirable, M. le Juge!" said the detective. "You have been most adroit.
+It is a clear case."
+
+"No doubt," said the Commissary, who was a blunt, rather coarse person,
+believing that to take anybody and everybody into custody is always the
+safest and simplest course. "It looks black against her. I think she
+ought to be arrested at once."
+
+"We might, indeed we ought to have more evidence, more definite
+evidence, perhaps?" The Judge was musing over the facts as he knew them.
+"I should like, before going further, to look at the car," he said,
+suddenly coming to a conclusion.
+
+M. Floçon readily agreed. "We will go together," he said, adding,
+"Madame will remain here, please, until we return. It may not be for
+long."
+
+"And afterwards?" asked the Countess, whose nervousness had if anything
+increased during the whispered colloquy of the officials.
+
+"Ah, afterwards! Who knows?" was the reply, with a shrug of the
+shoulders, all most enigmatic and unsatisfactory.
+
+"What have we against her?" said the Judge, as soon as they had gained
+the absolute privacy of the sleeping-car.
+
+"The bottle of laudanum and the porter's condition. He was undoubtedly
+drugged," answered the detective; and the discussion which followed took
+the form of a dialogue between them, for the Commissary took no part in
+it.
+
+"Yes; but why by the Countess? How do we know that positively?"
+
+"It is her bottle," said M. Floçon.
+
+"Her story may be true--that she missed it, that the maid took it."
+
+"We have nothing whatever against the maid. We know nothing about her."
+
+"No. Except that she has disappeared. But that tells more against her
+mistress. It is all very vague. I do not see my way quite, as yet."
+
+"But the fragment of lace, the broken beading? Surely, M. le Juge, they
+are a woman's, and only one woman was in the car--"
+
+"So far as we know."
+
+"But if these could be proved to be hers?"
+
+"Ah! if you could prove that!"
+
+"Easy enough. Have her searched, here at once, in the station. There is
+a female searcher attached to the detention-room."
+
+"It is a strong measure. She is a lady."
+
+"Ladies who commit crimes must not expect to be handled with kid
+gloves."
+
+"She is an Englishwoman, or with English connections; titled, too. I
+hesitate, upon my word. Suppose we are wrong? It may lead to
+unpleasantness. M. le Prefet is anxious to avoid complications possibly
+international."
+
+As he spoke, he bent over, and, taking a magnifier from his pocket,
+examined the lace, which still fluttered where it was caught.
+
+"It is fine lace, I think. What say you, M. Floçon? You may be more
+experienced in such matters."
+
+"The finest, or nearly so; I believe it is Valenciennes--the trimming of
+some underclothing, I should think. That surely is sufficient, M. le
+Juge?"
+
+M. Beaumont le Hardi gave a reluctant consent, and the Chief went back
+himself to see that the searching was undertaken without loss of time.
+
+The Countess protested, but vainly, against this new indignity. What
+could she do? A prisoner, practically friendless,--for the General was
+not within reach,--to resist was out of the question. Indeed, she was
+plainly told that force would be employed unless she submitted with a
+good grace. There was nothing for it but to obey.
+
+Mother Tontaine, as the female searcher called herself, was an
+evil-visaged, corpulent old creature, with a sickly, soft, insinuating
+voice, and a greasy, familiar manner that was most offensive. They had
+given her the scrap of torn lace and the débris of the jet as a guide,
+with very particular directions to see if they corresponded with any
+part of the lady's apparel.
+
+She soon showed her quality.
+
+"Aha! oho! What is this, my pretty princess? How comes so great a lady
+into the hands of Mother Tontaine? But I will not harm you, my beauty,
+my pretty, my little one. Oh, no, no, I will not trouble you, dearie.
+No, trust to me;" and she held out one skinny claw, and looked the other
+way. The Countess did not or would not understand.
+
+"Madame has money?" went on the old hag in a half-threatening,
+half-coaxing whisper, as she came up quite close, and fastened on her
+victim like a bird of prey.
+
+"If you mean that I am to bribe you--"
+
+"Fie, the nasty word! But just a small present, a pretty gift, one or
+two yellow bits, twenty, thirty, forty francs--you'd better." She shook
+the soft arm she held roughly, and anything seemed preferable than to be
+touched by this horrible woman.
+
+"Wait, wait!" cried the Countess, shivering all over, and, feeling
+hastily for her purse, she took out several napoleons.
+
+"Aha! oho! One, two, three," said the searcher in a fat, wheedling
+voice. "Four, yes, four, five;" and she clinked the coins together in
+her palm, while a covetous light came into her faded eyes at the joyous
+sound. "Five--make it five at once, d'ye hear me?--or I'll call them in
+and tell them. That will go against you, my princess. What, try to
+bribe a poor old woman, Mother Tontaine, honest and incorruptible
+Tontaine? Five, then, five!"
+
+With trembling haste the Countess emptied the whole contents of her
+purse in the old hag's hand.
+
+"_Bon aubaine_. Nice pickings. It is a misery what they pay me here. I
+am, oh, so poor, and I have children, many babies. You will not tell
+them--the police--you dare not. No, no, no."
+
+Thus muttering to herself, she shambled across the room to a corner,
+where she stowed the money safely away. Then she came back, showed the
+bit of lace, and pressed it into the Countess's hands.
+
+"Do you know this, little one? Where it comes from, where there is much
+more? I was told to look for it, to search for it on you;" and with a
+quick gesture she lifted the edge of the Countess's skirt, dropping it
+next moment with a low, chuckling laugh.
+
+"Oho! aha! You were right, my pretty, to pay me, my pretty--right. And
+some day, to-day, to-morrow, whenever I ask you, you will remember
+Mother Tontaine."
+
+The Countess listened with dismay. What had she done? Put herself into
+the power of this greedy and unscrupulous old beldame?
+
+"And this, my princess? What have we here, aha?"
+
+Mère Tontaine held up next the broken bit of jet ornament for
+inspection, and as the Countess leaned forward to examine it more
+closely, gave it into her hand.
+
+"You recognize it, of course. But be careful, my pretty! Beware! If any
+one were looking, it would ruin you. I could not save you then. Sh! say
+nothing, only look, and quick, give it me back. I must have it to show."
+
+All this time the Countess was turning the jet over and over in her open
+palm, with a perplexed, disturbed, but hardly a terrified air.
+
+Yes, she knew it, or thought she knew it. It had been--But how had it
+come here, into the possession of this base myrmidon of the French
+police?
+
+"Give it me, quick!" There was a loud knock at the door. "They are
+coming. Remember!" Mother Tontaine put her long finger to her lip. "Not
+a word! I have found nothing, of course. Nothing, I can swear to that,
+and you will not forget Mother Tontaine?"
+
+Now M. Floçon stood at the open door awaiting the searcher's report. He
+looked much disconcerted when the old woman took him on one side and
+briefly explained that the search had been altogether fruitless.
+
+There was nothing to justify suspicion, nothing, so far as she could
+find.
+
+The detective looked from one to the other--from the hag he had employed
+in this unpleasant quest, to the lady on whom it had been tried. The
+Countess, to his surprise, did not complain. He had expected further and
+strong upbraidings. Strange to say, she took it very quietly. There was
+no indignation in her face. She was still pale, and her hands trembled,
+but she said nothing, made no reference, at least, to what she had just
+gone through.
+
+Again he took counsel with his colleague, while the Countess was kept
+apart.
+
+"What next, M. Floçon?" asked the Judge. "What shall we do with her?"
+
+"Let her go," answered the detective, briefly.
+
+"What! do you suggest this, sir," said the Judge, slyly. "After your
+strong and well-grounded suspicions?"
+
+"They are as strong as ever, stronger: and I feel sure I shall yet
+justify them. But what I wish now is to let her go at large, under
+surveillance."
+
+"Ah! you would shadow her?"
+
+"Precisely. By a good agent. Galipaud, for instance. He speaks English,
+and he can, if necessary, follow her anywhere, even to England."
+
+"She can be extradited," said the Commissary, with his one prominent
+idea of arrest.
+
+"Do you agree, M. le Juge? Then, if you will permit me, I will give the
+necessary orders, and perhaps you will inform the lady that she is free
+to leave the station?"
+
+The Countess now had reason to change her opinion of the French
+officials. Great politeness now replaced the first severity that had
+been so cruel. She was told, with many bows and apologies, that her
+regretted but unavoidable detention was at an end. Not only was she
+freely allowed to depart, but she was escorted by both M. Floçon and the
+Commissary outside, to where an omnibus was in waiting, and all her
+baggage piled on top, even to the dressing-bag, which had been neatly
+repacked for her.
+
+But the little silver-topped vial had not been restored to her, nor the
+handkerchief.
+
+In her joy at her deliverance, either she had not given these a second
+thought, or she did not wish to appear anxious to recover them.
+
+Nor did she notice that, as the bus passed through the gates at the
+bottom of the large slope that leads from the Lyons Station, it was
+followed at a discreet distance by a modest fiacre, which pulled up,
+eventually, outside the Hôtel Madagascar. Its occupant, M. Galipaud,
+kept the Countess in sight, and, entering the hotel at her heels, waited
+till she had left the office, when he held a long conference with the
+proprietor.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A first stage in the inquiry had now been reached, with results that
+seemed promising, and were yet contradictory.
+
+No doubt the watch to be set on the Countess might lead to something
+yet--something to bring first plausible suspicion to a triumphant issue;
+but the examination of the other occupants of the car should not be
+allowed to slacken on that account. The Countess might have some
+confederate among them--this pestilent English General, perhaps, who had
+made himself so conspicuous in her defence; or some one of them might
+throw light upon her movements, upon her conduct during the journey.
+
+Then, with a spasm of self-reproach, M. Floçon remembered that two
+distinct suggestions had been made to him by two of the travellers, and
+that, so far, he had neglected them. One was the significant hint from
+the Italian that he could materially help the inquiry. The other was the
+General's sneering assertion that the train had not continued its
+journey uninterruptedly between Laroche and Paris.
+
+Consulting the Judge, and laying these facts before him, it was agreed
+that the Italian's offer seemed the most important, and he was
+accordingly called in next.
+
+"Who and what are you?" asked the Judge, carelessly, but the answer
+roused him at once to intense interest, and he could not quite resist a
+glance of reproach at M. Floçon.
+
+"My name I have given you--Natale Ripaldi. I am a detective officer
+belonging to the Roman police."
+
+"What!" cried M. Floçon, colouring deeply. "This is unheard of. Why in
+the name of all the devils have you withheld this most astonishing
+statement until now?"
+
+"Monsieur surely remembers. I told him half an hour ago I had something
+important to communicate--"
+
+"Yes, yes, of course. But why were you so reticent. Good Heavens!"
+
+"Monsieur was not so encouraging that I felt disposed to force on him
+what I knew he would have to hear in due course."
+
+"It is monstrous--quite abominable, and shall not end here. Your
+superiors shall hear of your conduct," went on the Chief, hotly.
+
+"They will also hear, and, I think, listen to my version of the
+story,--that I offered you fairly, and at the first opportunity, all the
+information I had, and that you refused to accept it."
+
+"You should have persisted. It was your manifest duty. You are an
+officer of the law, or you say you are."
+
+"Pray telegraph at once, if you think fit, to Rome, to the police
+authorities, and you will find that Natale Ripaldi--your humble
+servant--travelled by the through express with their knowledge and
+authority. And here are my credentials, my official card, some official
+letters--"
+
+"And what, in a word, have you to tell us?"
+
+"I can tell you who the murdered man was."
+
+"We know that already."
+
+"Possibly; but only his name, I apprehend. I know his profession, his
+business, his object in travelling, for I was appointed to watch and
+follow him. That is why I am here."
+
+"Was he a suspicious character, then? A criminal?"
+
+"At any rate he was absconding from Rome, with valuables."
+
+"A thief, in fact?"
+
+The Italian put out the palms of his hands with a gesture of doubt and
+deprecation.
+
+"Thief is a hard, ugly word. That which he was removing was, or had
+been, his own property."
+
+"Tut, tut! do be more explicit and get on," interrupted the little
+Chief, testily.
+
+"I ask nothing better; but if questions are put to me--"
+
+The Judge interposed.
+
+"Give us your story. We can interrogate you afterwards."
+
+"The murdered man is Francis A. Quadling, of the firm of Correse &
+Quadling, bankers, in the Via Condotti, Rome. It was an old house, once
+of good, of the highest repute, but of late years it has fallen into
+difficulties. Its financial soundness was doubted in certain circles,
+and the Government was warned that a great scandal was imminent. So the
+matter was handed over to the police, and I was directed to make
+inquiries, and to keep my eye on this Quadling"--he jerked his thumb
+towards the platform, where the body might be supposed to be.
+
+"This Quadling was the only surviving partner. He was well known and
+liked in Rome, indeed, many who heard the adverse reports disbelieved
+them, I myself among the number. But my duty was plain--"
+
+"Naturally," echoed the fiery little detective.
+
+"I made it my business to place the banker under surveillance, to learn
+his habits, his ways of life, see who were his friends, the houses he
+visited. I soon knew much that I wanted to know, although not all. But
+one fact I discovered, and think it right to inform you of it at once.
+He was on intimate terms with La Castagneto--at least, he frequently
+called upon her."
+
+"La Castagneto! Do you mean the Countess of that name, who was a
+passenger in the sleeper?"
+
+"Beyond doubt! it is she I mean." The officials looked at each other
+eagerly, and M. Beaumont le Hardi quickly turned over the sheets on
+which the Countess's evidence was recorded.
+
+She had denied acquaintance with this murdered man, Quadling, and here
+was positive evidence that they were on intimate terms!
+
+"He was at her house on the very day we all left Rome--in the evening,
+towards dusk. The Countess had an apartment in the Via Margutta, and
+when he left her he returned to his own place in the Condotti, entered
+the bank, stayed half an hour, then came out with one hand-bag and rug,
+called a cab, and was driven straight to the railway station."
+
+"And you followed?"
+
+"Of course. When I saw him walk straight to the sleeping-car, and ask
+the conductor for 7 and 8, I knew that his plans had been laid, and that
+he was on the point of leaving Rome secretly. When, presently, La
+Castagneto also arrived, I concluded that she was in his confidence, and
+that possibly they were eloping together."
+
+"Why did you not arrest him?"
+
+"I had no authority, even if I had had the time. Although I was ordered
+to watch the Signor Quadling, I had no warrant for his arrest. But I
+decided on the spur of the moment what course I should take. It seemed
+to be the only one, and that was to embark in the same train and stick
+close to my man."
+
+"You informed your superiors, I suppose?"
+
+"Pardon me, monsieur," said the Italian blandly to the Chief, who asked
+the question, "but have you any right to inquire into my conduct towards
+my superiors? In all that affects the murder I am at your orders, but in
+this other matter it is between me and them."
+
+"Ta, ta, ta! They will tell us if you will not. And you had better be
+careful, lest you obstruct justice. Speak out, sir, and beware. What did
+you intend to do?"
+
+"To act according to circumstances. If my suspicions were confirmed--"
+
+"What suspicions?"
+
+"Why--that this banker was carrying off any large sum in cash, notes,
+securities, as in effect he was."
+
+"Ah! You know that? How?"
+
+"By my own eyes. I looked into his compartment once and saw him in the
+act of counting them over, a great quantity, in fact--"
+
+Again the officials looked at each other significantly. They had got at
+last to a motive for the crime.
+
+"And that, of course, would have justified his arrest?"
+
+"Exactly. I proposed, directly we arrived in Paris, to claim the
+assistance of your police and take him into custody. But his fate
+interposed."
+
+There was a pause, a long pause, for another important point had been
+reached in the inquiry: the motive for the murder had been made clear,
+and with it the presumption against the Countess gained terrible
+strength.
+
+But there was more, perhaps, to be got out of this dark-visaged Italian
+detective, who had already proved so useful an ally.
+
+"One or two words more," said the Judge to Ripaldi. "During the journey,
+now, did you have any conversation with this Quadling?"
+
+"None. He kept very much to himself."
+
+"You saw him, I suppose, at the restaurants?"
+
+"Yes, at Modane and Laroche."
+
+"But did not speak to him?"
+
+"Not a word."
+
+"Had he any suspicion, do you think, as to who you were?"
+
+"Why should he? He did not know me. I had taken pains he should never
+see me."
+
+"Did he speak to any other passenger?"
+
+"Very little. To the Countess. Yes, once or twice, I think, to her
+maid."
+
+"Ah! that maid. Did you notice her at all? She has not been seen. It is
+strange. She seems to have disappeared."
+
+"To have run away, in fact?" suggested Ripaldi, with a queer smile.
+
+"Well, at least she is not here with her mistress. Can you offer any
+explanation of that?"
+
+"She was perhaps afraid. The Countess and she were very good friends, I
+think. On better, more familiar terms, than is usual between mistress
+and maid."
+
+"The maid knew something?"
+
+"Ah, monsieur, it is only an idea. But I give it you for what it is
+worth."
+
+"Well, well, this maid--what was she like?"
+
+"Tall, dark, good-looking, not too reserved. She made other friends--the
+porter and the English Colonel. I saw the last speaking to her. I spoke
+to her myself."
+
+"What can have become of her?" said the Judge.
+
+"Would M. le Juge like me to go in search of her? That is, if you have
+no more questions to ask, no wish to detain me further?"
+
+"We will consider that, and let you know in a moment, if you will wait
+outside."
+
+And then, when alone, the officials deliberated.
+
+It was a good offer, the man knew her appearance, he was in possession
+of all the facts, he could be trusted--
+
+"Ah, but can he, though?" queried the detective. "How do we know he has
+told us truth? What guarantee have we of his loyalty, his good faith?
+What if he is also concerned in the crime--has some guilty knowledge?
+What if he killed Quadling himself, or was an accomplice before or after
+the fact?"
+
+"All these are possibilities, of course, but--pardon me, dear
+colleague--a little far-fetched, eh?" said the Judge. "Why not utilize
+this man? If he betrays us--serves us ill--if we had reason to lay hands
+on him again, he could hardly escape us."
+
+"Let him go, and send some one with him," said the Commissary, the first
+practical suggestion he had yet made.
+
+"Excellent!" cried the Judge. "You have another man here, Chief; let him
+go with this Italian."
+
+They called in Ripaldi and told him, "We will accept your services,
+monsieur, and you can begin your search at once. In what direction do
+you propose to begin?"
+
+"Where has her mistress gone?"
+
+"How do you know she has gone?"
+
+"At least, she is no longer with us out there. Have you arrested her--or
+what?"
+
+"No, she is still at large, but we have our eye upon her. She has gone
+to her hotel--the Madagascar, off the Grands Boulevards."
+
+"Then it is there that I shall look for the maid. No doubt she preceded
+her mistress to the hotel, or she will join her there very shortly."
+
+"You would not make yourself known, of course? They might give you the
+slip. You have no authority to detain them, not in France."
+
+"I should take my precautions, and I can always appeal to the police."
+
+"Exactly. That would be your proper course. But you might lose valuable
+time, a great opportunity, and we wish to guard against that, so we
+shall associate one of our own people with you in your proceedings."
+
+"Oh! very well, if you wish. It will, no doubt, be best." The Italian
+readily assented, but a shrewd listener might have guessed from the tone
+of his voice that the proposal was not exactly pleasing to him.
+
+"I will call in Block," said the Chief, and the second detective
+inspector appeared to take his instructions.
+
+He was a stout, stumpy little man, with a barrel-like figure, greatly
+emphasized by the short frock coat he wore; he had smallish pig's eyes
+buried deep in a fat face, and his round, chubby cheeks hung low over
+his turned-down collar.
+
+"This gentleman," went on the Chief, indicating Ripaldi, "is a member of
+the Roman police, and has been so obliging as to offer us his services.
+You will accompany him, in the first instance, to the Hôtel Madagascar.
+Put yourself in communication with Galipaud, who is there on duty."
+
+"Would it not be sufficient if I made myself known to M. Galipaud?"
+suggested the Italian. "I have seen him here, I should recognize him--"
+
+"That is not so certain; he may have changed his appearance. Besides,
+he does not know the latest developments, and might not be very
+cordial."
+
+"You might write me a few lines to take to him."
+
+"I think not. We prefer to send Block," replied the Chief, briefly and
+decidedly. He did not like this pertinacity, and looked at his
+colleagues as though he sought their concurrence in altering the
+arrangements for the Italian's mission. It might be wiser to detain him
+still.
+
+"It was only to save trouble that I made the suggestion," hastily put in
+Ripaldi. "Naturally I am in your hands. And if I do not meet with the
+maid at the hotel, I may have to look further, in which case
+Monsieur--Block? thank you--would no doubt render valuable assistance."
+
+This speech restored confidence, and a few minutes later the two
+detectives, already excellent friends from the freemasonry of a common
+craft, left the station in a closed cab.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+"What next?" asked the Judge.
+
+"That pestilent English officer, if you please, M. le Juge," said the
+detective. "That fire-eating, swashbuckling soldier, with his blustering
+barrack-room ways. I long to come to close quarters with him. He
+ridiculed me, taunted me, said I knew nothing--we will see, we will
+see."
+
+"In fact, you wish to interrogate him yourself. Very well. Let us have
+him in."
+
+When Sir Charles Collingham entered, he included the three officials in
+one cold, stiff bow, waited a moment, and then, finding he was not
+offered a chair, said with studied politeness:
+
+"I presume I may sit down?"
+
+"Pardon. Of course; pray be seated," said the Judge, hastily, and
+evidently a little ashamed of himself.
+
+"Ah! thanks. Do you object?" went on the General, taking out a silver
+cigarette-case. "May I offer one?" He handed round the box affably.
+
+"We do not smoke on duty," answered the Chief, rudely. "Nor is smoking
+permitted in a court of justice."
+
+"Come, come, I wish to show no disrespect. But I cannot recognize this
+as a court of justice, and I think, if you will forgive me, that I shall
+take three whiffs. It may help me keep my temper."
+
+He was evidently making game of them. There was no symptom remaining of
+the recent effervescence when he was acting as the Countess's champion,
+and he was perfectly--nay, insolently calm and self-possessed.
+
+"You call yourself General Collingham?" went on the Chief.
+
+"I do not call myself. I am General Sir Charles Collingham, of the
+British Army."
+
+"Retired?"
+
+"No, I am still on the active list."
+
+"These points will have to be verified."
+
+"With all my heart. You have already sent to the British Embassy?"
+
+"Yes, but no one has come," answered the detective, contemptuously.
+
+"If you disbelieve me, why do you question me?"
+
+"It is our duty to question you, and yours to answer. If not, we have
+means to make you. You are suspected, inculpated in a terrible crime,
+and your whole attitude is--is--objectionable--unworthy--disgr--"
+
+"Gently, gently, my dear colleague," interposed the Judge. "If you will
+permit me, I will take up this. And you, M. le Général, I am sure you
+cannot wish to impede or obstruct us; we represent the law of this
+country."
+
+"Have I done so, M. le Juge?" answered the General, with the utmost
+courtesy, as he threw away his half-burned cigarette.
+
+"No, no. I do not imply that in the least. I only entreat you, as a good
+and gallant gentleman, to meet us in a proper spirit and give us your
+best help."
+
+"Indeed, I am quite ready. If there has been any unpleasantness, it has
+surely not been of my making, but rather of that little man there." The
+General pointed to M. Floçon rather contemptuously, and nearly started a
+fresh disturbance.
+
+"Well, well, let us say no more of that, and proceed to business. I
+understand," said the Judge, after fingering a few pages of the
+dispositions in front of him, "that you are a friend of the Contessa di
+Castagneto? Indeed, she has told us so herself."
+
+"It was very good of her to call me her friend. I am proud to hear she
+so considers me."
+
+"How long have you known her?"
+
+"Four or five months. Since the beginning of the last winter season in
+Rome."
+
+"Did you frequent her house?"
+
+"If you mean, was I permitted to call on her on friendly terms, yes."
+
+"Did you know all her friends?"
+
+"How can I answer that? I know whom I met there from time to time."
+
+"Exactly. Did you often meet among them a Signor--Quadling?"
+
+"Quadling--Quadling? I cannot say that I have. The name is familiar
+somehow, but I cannot recall the man."
+
+"Have you never heard of the Roman bankers, Correse & Quadling?"
+
+"Ah, of course. Although I have had no dealing with them. Certainly I
+have never met Mr. Quadling."
+
+"Not at the Countess's?"
+
+"Never--of that I am quite sure."
+
+"And yet we have had positive evidence that he was a constant visitor
+there."
+
+"It is perfectly incomprehensible to me. Not only have I never met him,
+but I have never heard the Countess mention his name."
+
+"It will surprise you, then, to be told that he called at her apartment
+in the Via Margutta on the very evening of her departure from Rome.
+Called, was admitted, was closeted with her for more than an hour."
+
+"I am surprised, astounded. I called there myself about four in the
+afternoon to offer my services for the journey, and I too stayed till
+after five. I can hardly believe it."
+
+"I have more surprises for you, General. What will you think when I tell
+you that this very Quadling--this friend, acquaintance, call him what
+you please, but at least intimate enough to pay her a visit on the eve
+of a long journey--was the man found murdered in the sleeping-car?"
+
+"Can it be possible? Are you sure?" cried Sir Charles, almost starting
+from his chair. "And what do you deduce from all this? What do you
+imply? An accusation against that lady? Absurd!"
+
+"I respect your chivalrous desire to stand up for a lady who calls you
+her friend, but we are officials first, and sentiment cannot be
+permitted to influence us. We have good reasons for suspecting that
+lady. I tell you that frankly, and trust to you as a soldier and man of
+honour not to abuse the confidence reposed in you."
+
+"May I not know those reasons?"
+
+"Because she was in the car--the only woman, you understand--between
+Laroche and Paris."
+
+"Do you suspect a female hand, then?" asked the General, evidently much
+interested and impressed.
+
+"That is so, although I am exceeding my duty in revealing this."
+
+"And you are satisfied that this lady, a refined, delicate person in the
+best society, of the highest character,--believe me, I know that to be
+the case,--whom you yet suspect of an atrocious crime, was the only
+female in the car?"
+
+"Obviously. Who else? What other woman could possibly have been in the
+car? No one got in at Laroche; the train never stopped till it reached
+Paris."
+
+"On that last point at least you are quite mistaken, I assure you. Why
+not upon the other also?"
+
+"The train stopped?" interjected the detective. "Why has no one told us
+that?"
+
+"Possibly because you never asked. But it is nevertheless the fact.
+Verify it. Every one will tell you the same."
+
+The detective himself hurried to the door and called in the porter. He
+was within his rights, of course, but the action showed distrust, at
+which the General only smiled, but he laughed outright when the still
+stupid and half-dazed porter, of course, corroborated the statement at
+once.
+
+"At whose instance was the train pulled up?" asked the detective, and
+the Judge nodded his head approvingly.
+
+To know that would fix fresh suspicion.
+
+But the porter could not answer the question.
+
+Some one had rung the alarm-bell--so at least the conductor had
+declared; otherwise they should not have stopped. Yet he, the porter,
+had not done so, nor did any passenger come forward to admit giving the
+signal. But there had been a halt. Yes, assuredly.
+
+"This is a new light," the Judge confessed. "Do you draw any conclusion
+from it?" he went on to ask the General.
+
+"That is surely your business. I have only elicited the fact to disprove
+your theory. But if you wish, I will tell you how it strikes me."
+
+The Judge bowed assent.
+
+"The bare fact that the train was halted would mean little. That would
+be the natural act of a timid or excitable person involved indirectly in
+such a catastrophe. But to disavow the act starts suspicion. The fair
+inference is that there was some reason, an unavowable reason, for
+halting the train."
+
+"And that reason would be--"
+
+"You must see it without my assistance, surely! Why, what else but to
+afford some one an opportunity to leave the car."
+
+"But how could that be? You would have seen that person, some of you,
+especially at such a critical time. The aisle would be full of people,
+both exits were thus practically overlooked."
+
+"My idea is--it is only an idea, understand--that the person had
+already left the car--that is to say, the interior of the car."
+
+"Escaped how? Where? What do you mean?"
+
+"Escaped through the open window of the compartment where you found the
+murdered man."
+
+"You noticed the open window, then?" quickly asked the detective. "When
+was that?"
+
+"Directly I entered the compartment at the first alarm. It occurred to
+me at once that some one might have gone through it."
+
+"But no woman could have done it. To climb out of an express train going
+at top speed would be an impossible feat for a woman," said the
+detective, doggedly.
+
+"Why, in God's name, do you still harp upon the woman? Why should it be
+a woman more than a man?"
+
+"Because"--it was the Judge who spoke, but he paused a moment in
+deference to a gesture of protest from M. Floçon. The little detective
+was much concerned at the utter want of reticence displayed by his
+colleague.
+
+"Because," went on the Judge with decision--"because this was found in
+the compartment;" and he held out the piece of lace and the scrap of
+beading for the General's inspection, adding quickly, "You have seen
+these, or one of them, or something like them before. I am sure of it; I
+call upon you; I demand--no, I appeal to your sense of honour, Sir
+Collingham. Tell me, please, exactly what you know."
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+The General sat for a time staring hard at the bit of torn lace and the
+broken beads. Then he spoke out firmly:
+
+"It is my duty to withhold nothing. It is not the lace. That I could not
+swear to; for me--and probably for most men--two pieces of lace are very
+much the same. But I think I have seen these beads, or something exactly
+like them, before."
+
+"Where? When?"
+
+"They formed part of the trimming of a mantle worn by the Contessa di
+Castagneto."
+
+"Ah!" it was the same interjection uttered simultaneously by the three
+Frenchmen, but each had a very different note; in the Judge it was deep
+interest, in the detective triumph, in the Commissary indignation, as
+when he caught a criminal red-handed.
+
+"Did she wear it on the journey?" continued the Judge.
+
+"As to that I cannot say."
+
+"Come, come, General, you were with her constantly; you must be able to
+tell us. We insist on being told." This fiercely, from the now jubilant
+M. Floçon.
+
+"I repeat that I cannot say. To the best of my recollection, the
+Countess wore a long travelling cloak--an ulster, as we call them. The
+jacket with those bead ornaments may have been underneath. But if I have
+seen them,--as I believe I have,--it was not during this journey."
+
+Here the Judge whispered to M. Floçon, "The searcher did not discover
+any second mantle."
+
+"How do we know the woman examined thoroughly?" he replied. "Here, at
+least, is direct evidence as to the beads. At last the net is drawing
+round this fine Countess."
+
+"Well, at any rate," said the detective aloud, returning to the General,
+"these beads were found in the compartment of the murdered man. I
+should like that explained, please."
+
+"By me? How can I explain it? And the fact does not bear upon what we
+were considering, as to whether any one had left the car."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"The Countess, as we know, never left the car. As to her entering this
+particular compartment,--at any previous time,--it is highly improbable.
+Indeed, it is rather insulting her to suggest it."
+
+"She and this Quadling were close friends."
+
+"So you say. On what evidence I do not know, but I dispute it."
+
+"Then how could the beads get there? They were her property, worn by
+her."
+
+"Once, I admit, but not necessarily on this journey. Suppose she had
+given the mantle away--to her maid, for instance; I believe ladies often
+pass on their things to their maids."
+
+"It is all pure presumption, a mere theory. This maid--she has not as
+yet been imported into the discussion."
+
+"Then I would suggest that you do so without delay. She is to my mind
+a--well, rather a curious person."
+
+"You know her--spoke to her?"
+
+"I know her, in a way. I had seen her in the Via Margutta, and I nodded
+to her when she came first into the car."
+
+"And on the journey--you spoke to her frequently?"
+
+"I? Oh, dear, no, not at all. I noticed her, certainly; I could not help
+it, and perhaps I ought to tell her mistress. She seemed to make friends
+a little too readily with people."
+
+"As for instance--?"
+
+"With the porter to begin with. I saw them together at Laroche, in the
+buffet at the bar; and that Italian, the man who was in here before me;
+indeed, with the murdered man. She seemed to know them all."
+
+"Do you imply that the maid might be of use in this inquiry?"
+
+"Most assuredly I do. As I tell you, she was constantly in and out of
+the car, and more or less intimate with several of the passengers."
+
+"Including her mistress, the Countess," put in M. Floçon.
+
+The General laughed pleasantly.
+
+"Most ladies are, I presume, on intimate terms with their maids. They
+say no man is a hero to his valet. It is the same, I suppose, with the
+other sex."
+
+"So intimate," went on the little detective, with much malicious
+emphasis, "that now the maid has disappeared lest she might be asked
+inconvenient questions about her mistress."
+
+"Disappeared? You are sure?"
+
+"She cannot be found, that is all we know."
+
+"It is as I thought, then. She it was who left the car!" cried Sir
+Charles, with so much vehemence that the officials were startled out of
+their dignified reserve, and shouted back almost in a breath: "Explain
+yourself. Quick, quick. What in God's name do you mean?"
+
+"I had my suspicions from the first, and I will tell you why. At Laroche
+the car emptied, as you may have heard; every one except the Countess,
+at least, went over to the restaurant for early coffee; I with the rest.
+I was one of the first to finish, and I strolled back to the platform to
+get a few whiffs of a cigarette. At that moment I saw, or thought I saw,
+the end of a skirt disappearing into the sleeping-car. I concluded it
+was this maid, Hortense, who was taking her mistress a cup of coffee.
+Then my brother came up, we exchanged a few words, and entered the car
+together."
+
+"By the same door as that through which you had seen the skirt pass?"
+
+"No, by the other. My brother went back to his berth, but I paused in
+the corridor to finish my cigarette after the train had gone on. By this
+time every one but myself had returned to his berth, and I was on the
+point of lying down again for half an hour, when I distinctly heard the
+handle turned of the compartment I knew to be vacant all through the
+run."
+
+"That was the one with berths 11 and 12?"
+
+"Probably. It was next to the Countess. Not only was the handle turned,
+but the door partly opened--"
+
+"It was not the porter?"
+
+"Oh, no, he was in his seat,--you know it, at the end of the car,--sound
+asleep, snoring; I could hear him."
+
+"Did any one come out of the vacant compartment?"
+
+"No; but I was almost certain, I believe I could swear that I saw the
+same skirt, just the hem of it, a black skirt, sway forward beyond the
+door, just for a second. Then all at once the door was closed again
+fast."
+
+"What did you conclude from this? Or did you think nothing of it?"
+
+"I thought very little. I supposed it was that the maid wished to be
+near her mistress as we were approaching Paris, and I had heard from
+the Countess that the porter had made many difficulties. But you see,
+after what has happened, that there was a reason for stopping the
+train."
+
+"Quite so," M. Floçon readily admitted, with a scarcely concealed sneer.
+
+He had quite made up his mind now that it was the Countess who had rung
+the alarm-bell, in order to allow of the escape of the maid, her
+confederate and accomplice.
+
+"And you still have an impression that some one--presumably this
+woman--got off the car, somehow, during the stoppage?" he asked.
+
+"I suggest it, certainly. Whether it was or could be so, I must leave to
+your superior judgment."
+
+"What! A woman climb out like that? Bah! Tell that to some one else!"
+
+"You have, of course, examined the exterior of the car, dear colleague?"
+now said the Judge.
+
+"Assuredly, once, but I will do it again. Still, the outside is quite
+smooth, there is no foot-board. Only an acrobat could succeed in thus
+escaping, and then only at the peril of his life. But a woman--oh, no!
+it is too absurd."
+
+"With help she might, I think, get up on to the roof," quickly remarked
+Sir Charles. "I have looked out of the window of my compartment. It
+would be nothing for a man, nor much for a woman if assisted."
+
+"That we will see for ourselves," said the detective, ungraciously.
+
+"The sooner the better," added the Judge, and the whole party rose from
+their chairs, intending to go straight to the car, when the policeman on
+guard appeared at the door, followed close by an English military
+officer in uniform, whom he was trying to keep back, but with no great
+success. It was Colonel Papillon of the Embassy.
+
+"Halloa, Jack! you are a good chap," cried the General, quickly going
+forward to shake hands. "I was sure you would come."
+
+"Come, sir! Of course I came. I was just going to an official function,
+as you see, but his Excellency insisted, my horse was at the door, and
+here I am."
+
+All this was in English, but the attaché turned now to the officials,
+and, with many apologies for his intrusion, suggested that they should
+allow his friend, the General, to return with him to the Embassy when
+they had done with him.
+
+"Of course we will answer for him. He shall remain at your disposal, and
+will appear whenever called upon." He returned to Sir Charles, asking,
+"You will promise that, sir?"
+
+"Oh, willingly. I had always meant to stay on a bit in Paris. And really
+I should like to see the end of this. But my brother? He must get home
+for next Sunday's duty. He has nothing to tell, but he would come back
+to Paris at any time if his evidence was wanted."
+
+The French Judge very obligingly agreed to all these proposals, and two
+more of the detained passengers, making four in all, now left the
+station.
+
+Then the officials proceeded to the car, which still remained as the
+Chief Detective had left it.
+
+Here they soon found how just were the General's previsions.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+The three officials went straight to where the still open window showed
+the particular spot to be examined. The exterior of the car was a little
+smirched and stained with the dust of the journey, lying thick in parts,
+and in others there were a few great splotches of mud plastered on.
+
+The detective paused for a moment to get a general view, looking, in the
+light of the General's suggestion, for either hand or foot marks,
+anything like a trace of the passage of a feminine skirt, across the
+dusty surface.
+
+But nothing was to be seen, nothing definite or conclusive at least.
+Only here and there a few lines and scratches that might be encouraging,
+but proved little.
+
+Then the Commissary, drawing nearer, called attention to some
+suspicious spots sprinkled about the window, but above it towards the
+roof.
+
+"What is it?" asked the detective, as his colleague with the point of
+his long fore-finger nail picked at the thin crust on the top of one of
+these spots, disclosing a dark, viscous core.
+
+"I could not swear to it, but I believe it is blood."
+
+"Blood! Good Heavens!" cried the detective, as he dragged his powerful
+magnifying glass out of his pocket and applied it to the spot. "Look, M.
+le Juge," he added, after a long and minute examination. "What say you?"
+
+"It has that appearance. Only medical evidence can positively decide,
+but I believe it is blood."
+
+"Now we are on the right track, I feel convinced. Some one fetch a
+ladder."
+
+One of these curious French ladders, narrow at the top, splayed out at
+the base, was quickly leaned against the car, and the detective ran up,
+using his magnifier as he climbed.
+
+"There is more here, much more, and something like--yes, beyond question
+it is--the print of two hands upon the roof. It was here she climbed."
+
+"No doubt. I can see it now exactly. She would sit on the window ledge,
+the lower limbs inside the car here and held there. Then with her hands
+she would draw herself up to the roof," said the Judge.
+
+"But what nerve! what strength of arm!"
+
+"It was life and death. Within the car was more terrible danger. Fear
+will do much in such a case. We all know that. Well! what more?"
+
+By this time the detective had stepped on to the roof of the car.
+
+"More, more, much more! Footprints, as plain as a picture. A woman's
+feet. Wait, let me follow them to the end," said he, cautiously creeping
+forward to the end of the car.
+
+A minute or two more, and he rejoined his colleagues on the ground
+level, and, rubbing his hands, declared joyously that it was all
+perfectly clear.
+
+"Dangerous or not, difficult or not, she did it. I have traced her; have
+seen where she must have lain crouching ever so long, followed her all
+along the top of the car, to the end where she got down above the little
+platform exit. Beyond doubt she left the car when it stopped, and by
+arrangement with her confederate."
+
+"The Countess?"
+
+"Who else?"
+
+"And at a point near Paris. The English General said the halt was within
+twenty minutes' run of the station."
+
+"Then it is from that point we must commence our search for her. The
+Italian has gone on the wrong scent."
+
+"Not necessarily. The maid, we may be sure, will try to communicate with
+her mistress."
+
+"Still, it would be well to secure her before she can do that," said the
+Judge. "With all we know now, a sharp interrogation might extract some
+very damaging admissions from her," went on the detective, eagerly. "Who
+is to go? I have sent away both my assistants. Of course I can telephone
+for another man, or I might go myself."
+
+"No, no, dear colleague, we cannot spare you just yet. Telephone by all
+means. I presume you would wish to be present at the rest of the
+interrogatories?"
+
+"Certainly, you are right. We may elicit more about this maid. Let us
+call in the porter now. He is said to have had relations with her.
+Something more may be got out of him."
+
+The more did not amount to much. Groote, the porter, came in, cringing
+and wretched, in the abject state of a man who has lately been drugged
+and is now slowly recovering. Although sharply questioned, he had
+nothing to add to his first story.
+
+"Speak out," said the Judge, harshly. "Tell us everything plainly and
+promptly, or I shall send you straight to gaol. The order is already
+made out;" and as he spoke, he waved a flimsy bit of paper before him.
+
+"I know nothing," the porter protested, piteously.
+
+"That is false. We are fully informed and no fools. We are certain that
+no such catastrophe could have occurred without your knowledge or
+connivance."
+
+"Indeed, gentlemen, indeed--"
+
+"You were drinking with this maid at the buffet at Laroche. You had more
+drink with her, or from her hands, afterwards in the car."
+
+"No, gentlemen, that is not so. I could not--she was not in the car."
+
+"We know better. You cannot deceive us. You were her accomplice, and the
+accomplice of her mistress, also, I have no doubt."
+
+"I declare solemnly that I am quite innocent of all this. I hardly
+remember what happened at Laroche or after. I do not deny the drink at
+the buffet. It was very nasty, I thought, and could not tell why, nor
+why I could not hold my head up when I got back to the car."
+
+"You went off to sleep at once? Is that what you pretend?"
+
+"It must have been so. Yes. Then I know nothing more, not till I was
+aroused."
+
+And beyond this, a tale to which he stuck with undeviating persistence,
+they could elicit nothing.
+
+"He is either too clever for us or an absolute idiot and fool," said the
+Judge, wearily, at last, when Groote had gone out. "We had better commit
+him to Mazas and hold him there in solitary confinement under our hands.
+After a day or two of that he may be less difficult."
+
+"It is quite clear he was drugged, that the maid put opium or laudanum
+into his drink at Laroche."
+
+"And enough of it apparently, for he says he went off to sleep directly
+he returned to the car," the Judge remarked.
+
+"He says so. But he must have had a second dose, or why was the vial
+found on the ground by his seat?" asked the Chief, thoughtfully, as much
+of himself as of the others.
+
+"I cannot believe in a second dose. How was it administered--by whom? It
+was laudanum, and could only be given in a drink. He says he had no
+second drink. And by whom? The maid? He says he did not see the maid
+again."
+
+"Pardon me, M. le Juge, but do you not give too much credibility to the
+porter? For me, his evidence is tainted, and I hardly believe a word of
+it. Did he not tell me at first he had not seen this maid after
+Amberieux at 8 P.M.? Now he admits that he was drinking with her at the
+buffet at Laroche. It is all a tissue of lies, his losing the
+pocket-book and his papers too. There is something to conceal. Even his
+sleepiness, his stupidity, are likely to have been assumed."
+
+"I do not think he is acting; he has not the ability to deceive us like
+that."
+
+"Well, then, what if the Countess took him the second drink?"
+
+"Oh! oh! That is the purest conjecture. There is nothing whatever to
+suggest or support that."
+
+"Then how explain the finding of the vial near the porter's seat?"
+
+"May it not have been dropped there on purpose?" put in the Commissary,
+with another flash of intelligence.
+
+"On purpose?" queried the detective, crossly, foreseeing an answer that
+would not please him.
+
+"On purpose to bring suspicion on the lady?"
+
+"I don't see it in that light. That would imply that she was not in the
+plot, and plot there certainly was; everything points to it. The
+drugging, the open window, the maid's escape."
+
+"A plot, no doubt, but organized by whom? These two women only? Could
+either of them have struck the fatal blow? Hardly. Women have the wit to
+conceive, but neither courage nor brute force to execute. There was a
+man in this, rest assured."
+
+"Granted. But who? That fire-eating Sir Collingham?" quickly asked the
+detective, giving rein once more to his hatred.
+
+"That is not a solution that commends itself to me, I must confess,"
+declared the Judge. "The General's conduct has been blameworthy and
+injudicious, but he is not of the stuff that makes criminals."
+
+"Who, then? The porter? No? The clergyman? No? The French
+gentlemen?--well, we have not examined them yet; but from what I saw at
+the first cursory glance, I am not disposed to suspect them."
+
+"What of that Italian?" asked the Commissary.
+
+"Are you sure of him? His looks did not please me greatly, and he was
+very eager to get away from here. What if he takes to his heels?"
+
+"Block is with him," the Chief put in hastily, with the evident desire
+to stifle an unpleasant misgiving. "We have touch of him if we want
+him, as we may."
+
+How much they might want him they only realized when they got further in
+their inquiry!
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+Only the two Frenchmen remained for examination. They had been
+left to the last by pure accident. The exigencies of the inquiry
+had led to the preference of others, but these two well-broken and
+submissive gentlemen made no visible protest. However much they
+may have chafed inwardly at the delay, they knew better than to
+object; any outburst of discontent would, they knew, recoil on
+themselves. Not only were they perfectly patient now when summoned
+before the officers of justice, they were most eager to give every
+assistance to the law, to go beyond the mere letter, and, if needs
+be, volunteer information.
+
+The first called in was the elder, M. Anatole Lafolay, a true
+Parisian _bourgeois_, fat and comfortable, unctuous in speech,
+and exceedingly deferential.
+
+The story he told was in its main outlines that which we already
+know, but he was further questioned, by the light of the latest
+facts and ideas as now elicited.
+
+The line adroitly taken by the Judge was to get some evidence of
+collusion and combination among the passengers, especially with
+reference to two of them, the two women of the party. On this
+important point M. Lafolay had something to say.
+
+Asked if he had seen or noticed the lady's maid on the journey, he
+answered "yes" very decisively and with a smack of the lips, as
+though the sight of this pretty and attractive person had given
+him considerable satisfaction.
+
+"Did you speak to her?"
+
+"Oh, no. I had no opportunity. Besides, she had her own friends--
+great friends, I fancy. I caught her more than once whispering in
+the corner of the car with one of them."
+
+"And that was--?"
+
+"I think the Italian gentleman; I am almost sure I recognized his
+clothes. I did not see his face, it was turned from me--towards
+hers, and very close, I may be permitted to say."
+
+"And they were friendly?"
+
+"More than friendly, I should say. Very intimate indeed. I should
+not have been surprised if--when I turned away as a matter of
+fact--if he did not touch, just touch, her red lips. It would have
+been excusable--forgive me, messieurs."
+
+"Aha! They were so intimate as that? Indeed! And did she reserve
+her favours exclusively for him? Did no one else address her, pay
+her court on the quiet--you understand?"
+
+"I saw her with the porter, I believe, at Laroche, but only then.
+No, the Italian was her chief companion."
+
+"Did any one else notice the flirtation, do you think?"
+
+"Possibly. There was no secrecy. It was very marked. We could all
+see."
+
+"And her mistress too?"
+
+"That I will not say. The lady I saw but little during the
+journey."
+
+A few more questions, mainly personal, as to his address,
+business, probable presence in Paris for the next few weeks, and
+M. Lafolay was permitted to depart.
+
+The examination of the younger Frenchman, a smart, alert young
+man, of pleasant, insinuating address, with a quick, inquisitive
+eye, followed the same lines, and was distinctly corroborative on
+all the points to which M. Lafolay spoke. But M. Jules Devaux had
+something startling to impart concerning the Countess.
+
+When asked if he had seen her or spoken to her, he shook his head.
+
+"No; she kept very much to herself," he said. "I saw her but
+little, hardly at all, except at Modane. She kept her own berth."
+
+"Where she received her own friends?"
+
+"Oh, beyond doubt. The Englishmen both visited her there, but not
+the Italian."
+
+"The Italian? Are we to infer that she knew the Italian?"
+
+"That is what I wish to convey. Not on the journey, though.
+Between Rome and Paris she did not seem to know him. It was
+afterwards; this morning, in fact, that I came to the conclusion
+that there was some secret understanding between them."
+
+"Why do you say that, M. Devaux?" cried the detective, excitedly.
+"Let me urge you and implore you to speak out, and fully. This is
+of the utmost, of the very first, importance."
+
+"Well, gentlemen, I will tell you. As you are well aware, on
+arrival at this station we were all ordered to leave the car, and
+marched to the waiting-room, out there. As a matter of course, the
+lady entered first, and she was seated when I went in. There was a
+strong light on her face."
+
+"Was her veil down?"
+
+"Not then. I saw her lower it later, and, as I think, for reasons
+I will presently put before you. Madame has a beautiful face, and
+I gazed at it with sympathy, grieving for her, in fact, in such a
+trying situation; when suddenly I saw a great and remarkable
+change come over it."
+
+"Of what character?"
+
+"It was a look of horror, disgust, surprise,--a little perhaps of
+all three; I could not quite say which, it faded so quickly and
+was followed by a cold, deathlike pallor. Then almost immediately
+she lowered her veil."
+
+"Could you form any explanation for what you saw in her face? What
+caused it?"
+
+"Something unexpected, I believe, some shock, or the sight of
+something shocking. That was how it struck me, and so forcibly
+that I turned to look over my shoulder, expecting to find the
+reason there. And it was."
+
+"That reason--?"
+
+"Was the entrance of the Italian, who came just behind me. I am
+certain of this; he almost told me so himself, not in words, but
+the mistakable leer he gave her in reply. It was wicked, sardonic,
+devilish, and proved beyond doubt that there was some secret, some
+guilty secret perhaps, between them."
+
+"And was that all?" cried both the Judge and M. Floçon in a
+breath, leaning forward in their eagerness to hear more.
+
+"For the moment, yes. But I was made so interested, so suspicious
+by this, that I watched the Italian closely, awaiting, expecting
+further developments. They were long in coming; indeed, I am only
+at the end now."
+
+"Explain, pray, as quickly as possible, and in your own words."
+
+"It was like this, monsieur. When we were all seated, I looked
+round, and did not at first see our Italian. At last I discovered
+he had taken a back seat, through modesty perhaps, or to be out of
+observation--how was I to know? He sat in the shadow by a door,
+that, in fact, which leads into this room. He was thus in the
+background, rather out of the way, but I could see his eyes
+glittering in that far-off corner, and they were turned in our
+direction, always fixed upon the lady, you understand. She was
+next me, the whole time.
+
+"Then, as you will remember, monsieur, you called us in one by
+one, and I, with M. Lafolay, was the first to appear before you.
+When I returned to the outer room, the Italian was still staring,
+but not so fixedly or continuously, at the lady. From time to time
+his eyes wandered towards a table near which he sat, and which was
+just in the gangway or passage by which people must pass into your
+presence.
+
+"There was some reason for this, I felt sure, although I did not
+understand it immediately.
+
+"Presently I got at the hidden meaning There was a small piece of
+paper, rolled up or crumpled up into a ball, lying upon this
+table, and the Italian wished, nay, was desperately anxious, to
+call the lady's attention to it. If I had had any doubt of this,
+it was quite removed after the man had gone into the inner room.
+As he left us, he turned his head over his shoulder significantly
+and nodded very slightly, but still perceptibly, at the ball of
+paper.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, I was now satisfied in my own mind that this was
+some artful attempt of his to communicate with the lady, and had
+she fallen in with it, I should have immediately informed you,
+the proper authorities. But whether from stupidity, dread,
+disinclination, a direct, definite refusal to have any dealings
+with this man, the lady would not--at any rate did not--pick up
+the ball, as she might have done easily when she in her turn
+passed the table on her way to your presence.
+
+"I have no doubt it was thrown there for her, and probably you
+will agree with me. But it takes two to make a game of this sort,
+and the lady would not join. Neither on leaving the room nor on
+returning would she take up the missive."
+
+"And what became of it, then?" asked the detective in breathless
+excitement. "I have it here." M. Devaux opened the palm of his
+hand and displayed the scrap of paper in the hollow rolled up into
+a small tight ball.
+
+"When and how did you become possessed of it?"
+
+"I got it only just now, when I was called in here. Before that I
+could not move. I was tied to my chair, practically, and ordered
+strictly not to move."
+
+"Perfectly. Monsieur's conduct has been admirable. And now tell
+us--what does it contain? Have you looked at it?"
+
+"By no means. It is just as I picked it up. Will you gentlemen
+take it, and if you think fit, tell me what is there? Some
+writing--a message of some sort, or I am greatly mistaken."
+
+"Yes, here are words written in pencil," said the detective,
+unrolling the paper, which he handed on to the Judge, who read the
+contents aloud--
+
+"Be careful. Say nothing. If you betray me, you will be lost too."
+
+A long silence followed, broken first by the Judge, who said at
+last solemnly to Devaux:
+
+"Monsieur, in the name of justice I beg to thank you most warmly.
+You have acted with admirable tact and judgment, and have rendered
+us invaluable assistance. Have you anything further to tell us?"
+
+"No, gentlemen. That is all. And you--you have no more questions
+to ask? Then I presume I may withdraw?"
+
+Beyond doubt it had been reserved for the last witness to produce
+facts that constituted the very essence of the inquiry.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+The examination was now over, and, the dispositions having been
+drawn up and signed, the investigating officials remained for some
+time in conference.
+
+"It lies with those three, of course--the two women and the
+Italian. They are jointly, conjointly concerned, although the
+exact degrees of guilt cannot quite be apportioned," said the
+detective.
+
+"And all three are at large!" added the Judge.
+
+"If you will issue warrants for arrest, M. le Juge, we can take
+them--two of them at any rate--when we choose."
+
+"That should be at once," remarked the Commissary, eager, as
+usual, for decisive action.
+
+"Very well. Let us proceed in that way. Prepare the warrants," said
+the Judge, turning to his clerk. "And you," he went on, addressing
+M. Floçon, "dear colleague, will you see to their execution? Madame
+is at the Hôtel Madagascar; that will be easy. The Italian Ripaldi
+we shall hear of through your inspector Block. As for the maid,
+Hortense Petitpré, we must search for her. That too, sir, you will
+of course undertake?"
+
+"I will charge myself with it, certainly. My man should be here by
+now, and I will instruct him at once. Ask for him," said M. Floçon
+to the guard whom he called in.
+
+"The inspector is there," said the guard, pointing to the outer
+room. "He has just returned."
+
+"Returned? You mean arrived."
+
+"No, monsieur, returned. It is Block, who left an hour or more
+ago."
+
+"Block? Then something has happened--he has some special
+information, some great news! Shall we see him, M. le Juge?"
+
+When Block appeared, it was evident that something had gone wrong
+with him. His face wore a look of hot, flurried excitement, and
+his manner was one of abject, cringing self-abasement.
+
+"What is it?" asked the little Chief, sharply. "You are alone.
+Where is your man?"
+
+"Alas, monsieur! how shall I tell you? He has gone--disappeared! I
+have lost him!"
+
+"Impossible! You cannot mean it! Gone, now, just when we most want
+him? Never!"
+
+"It is so, unhappily."
+
+"Idiot! _Triple_ idiot! You shall be dismissed, discharged from
+this hour. You are a disgrace to the force." M. Floçon raved
+furiously at his abashed subordinate, blaming him a little too
+harshly and unfairly, forgetting that until quite recently there
+had been no strong suspicion against the Italian. We are apt at
+times to expect others to be intuitively possessed of knowledge
+that has only come to us at a much later date.
+
+"How was it? Explain. Of course you have been drinking. It is
+that, or your great gluttony. You were beguiled into some
+eating-house."
+
+"Monsieur, you shall hear the exact truth. When we started more
+than an hour ago, our fiacre took the usual route, by the Quais
+and along the riverside. My gentleman made himself most pleasant"
+
+"No doubt," growled the Chief.
+
+"Offered me an excellent cigar, and talked--not about the affair,
+you understand--but of Paris, the theatres, the races, Longchamps,
+Auteuil, the grand restaurants. He knew everything, all Paris,
+like his pocket. I was much surprised, but he told me his business
+often brought him here. He had been employed to follow up several
+great Italian criminals, and had made a number of important
+arrests in Paris."
+
+"Get on, get on! come to the essential."
+
+"Well, in the middle of the journey, when we were about the Pont
+Henri Quatre, he said, 'Figure to yourself, my friend, that it is
+now near noon, that nothing has passed my lips since before
+daylight at Laroche. What say you? Could you eat a mouthful, just
+a scrap on the thumb-nail? Could you?'"
+
+"And you--greedy, gormandizing beast!--you agreed?"
+
+"My faith, monsieur, I too was hungry. It was my regular hour.
+Well--at any rate, for my sins I accepted. We entered the first
+restaurant, that of the 'Reunited Friends,' you know it, perhaps,
+monsieur? A good house, especially noted for tripe _à la mode de
+Caen_." In spite of his anguish, Block smacked his fat lips at
+the thought of this most succulent but very greasy dish.
+
+"How often must I tell you to get on?"
+
+"Forgive me, monsieur, but it is all part of my story. We had
+oysters, two dozen Marennes, and a glass or two of Chablis; then a
+good portion of tripe, and with them a bottle, only one, monsieur,
+of Pontet Canet; after that a beefsteak with potatoes and a little
+Burgundy, then a rum omelet."
+
+"Great Heavens! you should be the fat man in a fair, not an agent
+of the Detective Bureau."
+
+"It was all this that helped me to my destruction. He ate, this
+devilish Italian, like three, and I too, I was so hungry,--forgive
+me, sir,--I did my share. But by the time we reached the cheese, a
+fine, ripe Camembert, had our coffee, and one thimbleful of green
+Chartreuse, I was _plein jusqu'au bec_, gorged up to the beak."
+
+"And what of your duty, your service, pray?"
+
+"I did think of it, monsieur, but then, he, the Italian, was just
+the same as myself. He was a colleague. I had no fear of him, not
+till the very last, when he played me this evil turn. I suspected
+nothing when he brought out his pocketbook,--it was stuffed full,
+monsieur; I saw that and my confidence increased,--called for the
+reckoning, and paid with an Italian bank-note. The waiter looked
+doubtful at the foreign money, and went out to consult the
+manager. A minute after, my man got up, saying:
+
+"'There may be some trouble about changing that bank-note. Excuse
+me one moment, pray.' He went out, monsieur, and piff-paff, he was
+no more to be seen."
+
+"Ah, _nigaud_ (ass), you are too foolish to live! Why did you
+not follow him? Why let him out of your sight?"
+
+"But, monsieur, I was not to know, was I? I was to accompany him,
+not to watch him. I have done wrong, I confess. But then, who was
+to tell he meant to run away?"
+
+M. Floçon could not deny the justice of this defence. It was only
+now, at the eleventh hour, that the Italian had become inculpated,
+and the question of his possible anxiety to escape had never been
+considered.
+
+"He was so artful," went on Block in further extenuation of his
+offence. "He left everything behind. His overcoat, stick, this
+book--his own private memorandum-book seemingly--"
+
+"Book? Hand it me," said the Chief, and when it came into his
+hands he began to turn over the leaves hurriedly.
+
+It was a small brass-bound note-book or diary, and was full of
+close writing in pencil.
+
+"I do not understand, not more than a word here and there. It is
+no doubt Italian. Do you know that language, M. le Juge?"
+
+"Not perfectly, but I can read it. Allow me."
+
+He also turned over the pages, pausing to read a passage here and
+there, and nodding his head from time to time, evidently struck
+with the importance of the matter recorded.
+
+Meanwhile, M. Floçon continued an angry conversation with his
+offending subordinate.
+
+"You will have to find him, Block, and that speedily, within
+twenty-four hours,--to-day, indeed,--or I will break you like a
+stick, and send you into the gutter. Of course, such a consummate
+ass as you have proved yourself would not think of searching the
+restaurant or the immediate neighbourhood, or of making inquiries
+as to whether he had been seen, or as to which way he had gone?"
+
+"Pardon me, monsieur is too hard on me. I have been unfortunate, a
+victim to circumstances, still I believe I know my duty. Yes, I made
+inquiries, and, what is more, I heard of him."
+
+"Where? how?" asked the Chief, gruffly, but obviously much
+interested.
+
+"He never spoke to the manager, but walked out and let the change
+go. It was a note for a hundred _lire_, a hundred francs, and
+the restaurant bill was no more than seventeen francs."
+
+"Hah! that is greatly against him indeed."
+
+"He was much pressed, in a great hurry. Directly he crossed the
+threshold he called the first cab and was driving away, but he was
+stopped--"
+
+"The devil! Why did they not keep him, then?"
+
+"Stopped, but only for a moment, and accosted by a woman."
+
+"A woman?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur. They exchanged but three words. He wished to pass
+on, to leave her, she would not consent, then they both got into
+the cab and were driven away together."
+
+The officials were now listening with all ears.
+
+"Tell me," said the Chief, "quick, this woman--what was she like?
+Did you get her description?"
+
+"Tall, slight, well formed, dressed all in black. Her face--it was
+a policeman who saw her, and he said she was good-looking, dark,
+brunette, black hair."
+
+"It is the maid herself!" cried the little Chief, springing up and
+slapping his thigh in exuberant glee. "The maid! the missing
+maid!"
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+The joy of the Chief of Detectives at having thus come, as he
+supposed, upon the track of the missing maid, Hortense Petitpré,
+was somewhat dashed by the doubts freely expressed by the Judge as
+to the result of any search. Since Block's return, M. Beaumont le
+Hardi had developed strong symptoms of discontent and disapproval
+at his colleague's proceedings.
+
+"But if it was this Hortense Petitpré how did she get there, by
+the bridge Henri Quatre, when we thought to find her somewhere
+down the line? It cannot be the same woman."
+
+"I beg your pardon, gentlemen," interposed Block. "May I say one
+word? I believe I can supply some interesting information about
+Hortense Petitpré. I understand that some one like her was seen
+here in the station not more than an hour ago."
+
+"_ Peste!_ Why were we not told this sooner?" cried the Chief,
+impetuously.
+
+"Who saw her? Did he speak to her? Call him in; let us see how
+much he knows."
+
+The man was summoned, one of the subordinate railway officials,
+who made a specific report.
+
+Yes, he had seen a tall, slight, neat-looking woman, dressed
+entirely in black, who, according to her account, had arrived at
+10.30 by the slow local train from Dijon.
+
+"_ Fichtre!_" said the Chief, angrily; "and this is the first we
+have heard of it."
+
+"Monsieur was much occupied at the time, and, indeed, then we had
+not heard of your inquiry."
+
+"I notified the station-master quite early, two or three hours
+since, about 9 A.M. This is most exasperating!"
+
+"Instructions to look out for this woman have only just reached
+us, monsieur. There were certain formalities, I suppose."
+
+For once the detective cursed in his heart the red-tape,
+roundabout ways of French officialism.
+
+"Well, well! Tell me about her," he said, with a resignation he
+did not feel. "Who saw her?"
+
+"I, monsieur. I spoke to her myself. She was on the outside of the
+station, alone, unprotected, in a state of agitation and alarm. I
+went up and offered my services. Then she told me she had come
+from Dijon, that friends who were to have met her had not
+appeared. I suggested that I should put her into a cab and send
+her to her destination. But she was afraid of losing her friends,
+and preferred to wait."
+
+"A fine story! Did she appear to know what had happened? Had she
+heard of the murder?"
+
+"Something, monsieur."
+
+"Who could have told her? Did you?"
+
+"No, not I. But she knew."
+
+"Was not that in itself suspicious? The fact has not yet been made
+public."
+
+"It was in the air, monsieur. There was a general impression that
+something had happened. That was to be seen on every face, in the
+whispered talk, the movement to and fro of the police and the
+guards."
+
+"Did she speak of it, or refer to it?"
+
+"Only to ask if the murderer was known; whether the passengers had
+been detained; whether there was any inquiry in progress; and
+then--"
+
+"What then?"
+
+"This gentleman," pointing to Block, "came out, accompanied by
+another. They passed pretty close to us, and I noticed that the
+lady slipped quickly on one side."
+
+"She recognized her confederate, of course, but did not wish to be
+seen just then. Did he, the person with Block here, see her?"
+
+"Hardly, I think; it was all so quick, and they were gone, in a
+minute, to the cab-stand."
+
+"What did your woman do?"
+
+"She seemed to have changed her mind all at once, and declared she
+would not wait for her friends. Now she was in quite a hurry to
+go."
+
+"Of course! and left you like a fool planted there. I suppose she
+took a cab and followed the others, Block here and his companion."
+
+"I believe she did. I saw her cab close behind theirs."
+
+"It is too late to lament this now," said the Chief, after a short
+pause, looking at his colleagues. "At least it confirms our ideas,
+and brings us to certain definite conclusions. We must lay hands
+on these two. Their guilt is all but established. Their own acts
+condemn them. They must be arrested without a moment's delay."
+
+"If you can find them!" suggested the Judge, with a very
+perceptible sneer.
+
+"That we shall certainly do. Trust to Block, who is very nearly
+concerned. His future depends on his success. You quite understand
+that, my man?"
+
+Block made a gesture half-deprecating, half-confident.
+
+"I do not despair, gentlemen; and if I might make so bold, sir, I
+will ask you to assist? If you would give orders direct from the
+Prefecture to make the round of the cab-stands, to ask of all the
+agents in charge the information we need? Before night we shall
+have heard from the cabman who drove them what became of this
+couple, and so get our birds themselves, or a point of fresh
+departure."
+
+"And you, Block, where shall you go?"
+
+"Where I left him, or rather where he left me," replied the
+inspector, with an attempt at wit, which fell quite flat, being
+extinguished by a frigid look from the Judge.
+
+"Go," said M. Floçon, briefly and severely, to his subordinate;
+"and remember that you have now to justify your retention on the
+force."
+
+Then, turning to M. Beaumont le Hardi, the Chief went on
+pleasantly:
+
+"Well, M. le Juge, it promises, I think; it is all fairly
+satisfactory, eh?"
+
+"I am sorry I cannot agree with you," replied the Judge, harshly.
+"On the contrary, I consider that we--or more exactly you, for
+neither I nor M. Garraud accept any share in it--you have so far
+failed, and miserably."
+
+"Your pardon, M. le Juge, you are too severe," protested M.
+Floçon, quite humbly.
+
+"Well! Look at it from all points of view. What have we got? What
+have we gained? Nothing, or, if anything, it is of the smallest,
+and it is already jeopardized, if not absolutely lost."
+
+"We have at least gained the positive assurance of the guilt of
+certain individuals."
+
+"Whom you have allowed to slip through your fingers."
+
+"Ah, not so, M. le Juge! We have one under surveillance. My man
+Galipaud is there at the hotel watching the Countess."
+
+"Do not talk to me of your men, M. Floçon," angrily interposed the
+Judge. "One of them has given us a touch of his quality. Why
+should not the other be equally foolish? I quite expect to hear
+that the Countess also has gone, that would be the climax!"
+
+"It shall not happen. I will take the warrant and arrest her now,
+at once, myself," cried M. Floçon.
+
+"Well, that will be something, yet not much. Yes, she is only one,
+and not to my mind the most criminal. We do not know as yet the
+exact responsibility of each, the exact measure of their guilt;
+but I do not myself believe that the Countess was a prime mover,
+or, indeed, more than an accessory. She was drawn into it, perhaps
+involved, how or why we cannot know, but possibly by fortuitous
+circumstances that put an unavoidable pressure upon her; a
+consenting party, but under protest. That is my view of the lady."
+
+M. Floçon shook his head. Prepossessions with him were tenacious,
+and he had made up his mind about the Countess's guilt.
+
+"When you again interrogate her, M. le Juge, by the light of your
+present knowledge, I believe you will think otherwise. She will
+confess,--you will make her, your skill is unrivalled,--and you
+will then admit, M. le Juge, that I was right in my suspicions."
+
+"Ah, well, produce her! We shall see," said the Judge, somewhat
+mollified by M. Floçon's fulsome flattery.
+
+"I will bring her to your chamber of instruction within an hour,
+M. le Juge," said the detective, very confidently.
+
+But he was doomed to disappointment in this as he was in other
+respects.
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Let us go back a little in point of time, and follow the movements
+of Sir Charles Collingham.
+
+It was barely 11 A.M. when he left the Lyons Station with his
+brother, the Reverend Silas, and the military attaché, Colonel
+Papillon. They paused for a moment outside the station while the
+baggage was being got together.
+
+"See, Silas," said the General, pointing to the clock, "you will
+have plenty of time for the 11.50 train to Calais for London, but
+you must hurry up and drive straight across Paris to the Nord. I
+suppose he can go, Jack?"
+
+"Certainly, as he has promised to return if called upon."
+
+And Mr. Collingham promptly took advantage of the permission.
+
+"But you, General, what are your plans?" went on the attaché.
+
+"I shall go to the club first, get a room, dress, and all that.
+Then call at the Hôtel Madagascar. There is a lady there,--one of
+our party, in fact,--and I should like to ask after her. She may
+be glad of my services."
+
+"English? Is there anything we can do for her?"
+
+"Yes, she is an Englishwoman, but the widow of an Italian--the
+Contessa di Castagneto."
+
+"Oh, but I know her!" said Papillon. "I remember her in Rome two
+or three years ago. A deuced pretty woman, very much admired, but
+she was in deep mourning then, and went out very little. I wished
+she had gone out more. There were lots of men ready to fall at her
+feet."
+
+"You were in Rome, then, some time back? Did you ever come across
+a man there, Quadling, the banker?"
+
+"Of course I did. Constantly. He was a good deal about--a rather
+free-living, self-indulgent sort of chap. And now you mention his
+name, I recollect they said he was much smitten by this particular
+lady, the Contessa di Castagneto."
+
+"And did she encourage him?" "Lord! how can I tell? Who shall say
+how a woman's fancy falls? It might have suited her too. They said
+she was not in very good circumstances, and he was thought to be a
+rich man. Of course we know better than that now."
+
+"Why _now?_"
+
+"Haven't you heard? It was in the _Figaro_ yesterday, and in all
+the Paris papers. Quadling's bank has gone to smash; he has bolted
+with all the 'ready' he could lay hands upon."
+
+"He didn't get far, then!" cried Sir Charles. "You look surprised,
+Jack. Didn't they tell you? This Quadling was the man murdered in
+the sleeping-car. It was no doubt for the money he carried with
+him."
+
+"Was it Quadling? My word! what a terrible Nemesis. Well, _nil
+nisi bonum_, but I never thought much of the chap, and your
+friend the Countess has had an escape. But now, sir, I must be
+moving. My engagement is for twelve noon. If you want me, mind you
+send--207 Rue Miromesnil, or to the Embassy; but let us arrange to
+meet this evening, eh? Dinner and a theatre--what do you say?"
+
+Then Colonel Papillon rode off, and the General was driven to the
+Boulevard des Capucines, having much to occupy his thoughts by the
+way.
+
+It did not greatly please him to have this story of the Countess's
+relations with Quadling, as first hinted at by the police,
+endorsed now by his friend Papillon. Clearly she had kept up her
+acquaintance, her intimacy to the very last: why otherwise should
+she have received him, alone, been closeted with him for an hour
+or more on the very eve of his flight? It was a clandestine
+acquaintance too, or seemed so, for Sir Charles, although a
+frequent visitor at her house, had never met Quadling there.
+
+What did it all mean? And yet, what, after all, did it matter to
+him?
+
+A good deal really more than he chose to admit to himself, even
+now, when closely questioning his secret heart. The fact was, the
+Countess had made a very strong impression on him from the first.
+He had admired her greatly during the past winter at Rome, but
+then it was only a passing fancy, as he thought,--the pleasant
+platonic flirtation of a middle-aged man, who never expected to
+inspire or feel a great love. Only now, when he had shared a
+serious trouble with her, had passed through common difficulties
+and dangers, he was finding what accident may do--how it may fan a
+first liking into a stronger flame. It was absurd, of course. He
+was fifty-one, he had weathered many trifling affairs of the
+heart, and here he was, bowled over at last, and by a woman he was
+not certain was entitled to his respect.
+
+What was he to do?
+
+The answer came at once and unhesitatingly, as it would to any
+other honest, chivalrous gentleman.
+
+"By George, I'll stick to her through thick and thin! I'll trust
+her whatever happens or has happened, come what may. Such a woman
+as that is above suspicion. She _must_ be straight. I should be
+a beast and a blackguard double distilled to think anything else.
+I am sure she can put all right with a word, can explain
+everything when she chooses. I will wait till she does."
+
+Thus fortified and decided, Sir Charles took his way to the Hôtel
+Madagascar about noon. At the desk he inquired for the Countess,
+and begged that his card might be sent up to her. The man looked
+at it, then at the visitor, as he stood there waiting rather
+impatiently, then again at the card. At last he walked out and
+across the inner courtyard of the hotel to the office. Presently
+the manager came back, bowing low, and, holding the card in his
+hand, began a desultory conversation.
+
+"Yes, yes," cried the General, angrily cutting short all
+references to the weather and the number of English visitors in
+Paris. "But be so good as to let Madame la Comtesse know that I
+have called."
+
+"Ah, to be sure! I came to tell Monsieur le Général that madame
+will hardly be able to see him. She is indisposed, I believe. At
+any rate, she does not receive to-day."
+
+"As to that, we shall see. I will take no answer except direct
+from her. Take or send up my card without further delay. I insist!
+Do you hear?" said the General, so fiercely that the manager
+turned tail and fled up-stairs.
+
+Perhaps he yielded his ground the more readily that he saw over
+the General's shoulder the figure of Galipaud the detective
+looming in the archway. It had been arranged that, as it was not
+advisable to have the inspector hanging about the courtyard of the
+hotel, the clerk or the manager should keep watch over the
+Countess and detain any visitors who might call upon her. Galipaud
+had taken post at a wine-shop over the way, and was to be summoned
+whenever his presence was thought necessary.
+
+There he was now, standing just behind the General, and for the
+present unseen by him.
+
+But then a telegraph messenger came in and up to the desk. He held
+the usual blue envelope in his hand, and called out the name on
+the address:
+
+"Castagneto. Contessa Castagneto."
+
+At sound of which the General turned sharply, to find Galipaud
+advancing and stretching out his hand to take the message.
+
+"Pardon me," cried Sir Charles, promptly interposing and
+understanding the situation at a glance. "I am just going up to
+see that lady. Give me the telegram."
+
+Galipaud would have disputed the point, when the General, who had
+already recognized him, said quietly:
+
+"No, no, Inspector, you have no earthly right to it. I guess why
+you are here, but you are not entitled to interfere with private
+correspondence. Stand back;" and seeing the detective hesitate, he
+added peremptorily:
+
+"Enough of this. I order you to get out of the way. And be quick
+about it!"
+
+The manager now returned, and admitted that Madame la Comtesse
+would receive her visitor. A few seconds more, and the General was
+admitted into her presence.
+
+"How truly kind of you to call!" she said at once, coming up to
+him with both hands outstretched and frank gladness in her eyes.
+
+Yes, she was very attractive in her plain, dark travelling dress
+draping her tall, graceful figure; her beautiful, pale face was
+enhanced by the rich tones of her dark brown, wavy hair, while
+just a narrow band of white muslin at her wrists and neck set off
+the dazzling clearness of her skin.
+
+"Of course I came. I thought you might want me, or might like to
+know the latest news," he answered, as he held her hands in his
+for a few seconds longer than was perhaps absolutely necessary.
+
+"Oh, do tell me! Is there anything fresh?" There was a flash of
+crimson colour in her cheek, which faded almost instantly.
+
+"This much. They have found out who the man was."
+
+"Really? Positively? Whom do they say now?"
+
+"Perhaps I had better not tell you. It may surprise you, shock you
+to hear. I think you knew him--"
+
+"Nothing can well shock me now. I have had too many shocks
+already. Who do they think it is?"
+
+"A Mr. Quadling, a banker, who is supposed to have absconded from
+Rome."
+
+She received the news so impassively, with such strange self-possession,
+that for a moment he was disappointed in her. But then, quick to excuse,
+he suggested:
+
+"You may have already heard?"
+
+"Yes; the police people at the railway station told me they
+thought it was Mr. Quadling."
+
+"But you knew him?"
+
+"Certainly. They were my bankers, much to my sorrow. I shall lose
+heavily by their failure."
+
+"That also has reached you, then?" interrupted the General,
+hastily and somewhat uneasily.
+
+"To be sure. The man told me of it himself. Indeed, he came to me
+the very day I was leaving Rome, and made me an offer--a most
+obliging offer."
+
+"To share his fallen fortunes?"
+
+"Sir Charles Collingham! How can you? That creature!" The contempt
+in her tone was immeasurable.
+
+"I had heard--well, some one said that--"
+
+"Speak out, General; I shall not be offended. I know what you
+mean. It is perfectly true that the man once presumed to pester me
+with his attentions. But I would as soon have looked at a courier
+or a cook. And now--"
+
+There was a pause. The General felt on delicate ground. He could
+ask no questions--anything more must come from the Countess
+herself.
+
+"But let me tell you what his offer was. I don't know why I
+listened to it. I ought to have at once informed the police. I
+wish I had."
+
+"It might have saved him from his fate."
+
+"Every villain gets his deserts in the long run," she said, with
+bitter sententiousness. "And this Mr. Quadling is--But wait, you
+shall know him better. He came to me to propose--what do you
+think?--that he--his bank, I mean--should secretly repay me the
+amount of my deposit, all the money I had in it. To join me in his
+fraud, in fact--"
+
+"The scoundrel! Upon my word, he has been well served. And that
+was the last you saw of him?"
+
+"I saw him on the journey, at Turin, at Modane, at--Oh, Sir
+Charles, do not ask me any more about him!" she cried, with a
+sudden outburst, half-grief, half-dread. "I cannot tell you--I am
+obliged to--I--I--"
+
+"Then do not say another word," he said, promptly.
+
+"There are other things. But my lips are sealed--at least for the
+present. You do not--will not think any worse of me?"
+
+She laid her hand gently on his arm, and his closed over it with
+such evident good-will that a blush crimsoned her cheek. It still
+hung there, and deepened when he said, warmly:
+
+"As if anything could make me do that! Don't you know--you may
+not, but let me assure you, Countess--that nothing could happen to
+shake me in the high opinion I have of you. Come what may, I shall
+trust you, believe in you, think well of you--always."
+
+"How sweet of you to say that! and now, of all times," she
+murmured quite softly, and looking up for the first time, shyly,
+to meet his eyes.
+
+Her hand was still on his arm, covered by his, and she nestled so
+close to him that it was easy, natural, indeed, for him to slip
+his other arm around her waist and draw her to him.
+
+"And now--of all times--may I say one word more?" he whispered in
+her ear. "Will you give me the right to shelter and protect you,
+to stand by you, share your troubles, or keep them from you--?"
+
+"No, no, no, indeed, not now!" She looked up appealingly, the
+tears brimming up in her bright eyes. "I cannot, will not accept
+this sacrifice. You are only speaking out of your true-hearted
+chivalry. You must not join yourself to me, you must not involve
+yourself--"
+
+He stopped her protests by the oldest and most effectual method
+known in such cases. That first sweet kiss sealed the compact so
+quickly entered into between them.
+
+And after that she surrendered at discretion. There was no more
+hesitation or reluctance; she accepted his love as he had offered
+it, freely, with whole heart and soul, crept up under his
+sheltering wing like a storm-beaten dove reëntering the nest, and
+there, cooing softly, "My knight--my own true knight and lord,"
+yielded herself willingly and unquestioningly to his tender
+caresses.
+
+Such moments snatched from the heart of pressing anxieties are
+made doubly sweet by their sharp contrast with a background of
+trouble.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+They sat there, these two, hand locked in hand, saying little,
+satisfied now to be with each other and their new-found love. The
+time flew by far too fast, till at last Sir Charles, with a
+half-laugh, suggested:
+
+"Do you know, dearest Countess--"
+
+She corrected him in a soft, low voice.
+
+"My name is Sabine--Charles."
+
+"Sabine, darling. It is very prosaic of me, perhaps, but do you
+know that I am nearly starved? I came on here at once. I have had
+no breakfast."
+
+"Nor have I," she answered, smiling. "I was thinking of it
+when--when you appeared like a whirlwind, and since then, events
+have moved so fast."
+
+"Are you sorry, Sabine? Would you rather go back to--to--before?"
+She made a pretty gesture of closing his traitor lips with her
+small hand.
+
+"Not for worlds. But you soldiers--you are terrible men! Who can
+resist you?"
+
+"Bah! It is you who are irresistible. But there, why not put on
+your jacket and let us go out to lunch somewhere--Durand's,
+Voisin's, the Café de le Paix? Which do you prefer?"
+
+"I suppose they will not try to stop us?"
+
+"Who should try?" he asked.
+
+"The people of the hotel--the police--I cannot exactly say whom;
+but I dread something of the sort. I don't quite understand that
+manager. He has been up to see me several times, and he spoke
+rather oddly, rather rudely."
+
+"Then he shall answer for it," snorted Sir Charles, hotly. "It is
+the fault of that brute of a detective, I suppose. Still they
+would hardly dare--"
+
+"A detective? What? Here? Are you sure?"
+
+"Perfectly sure. It is one of those from the Lyons Station. I knew
+him again directly, and he was inclined to be interfering. Why, I
+caught him trying--but that reminds me--I rescued this telegram
+from his clutches."
+
+He took the little blue envelope from his breast pocket and handed
+it to her, kissing the tips of her fingers as she took it from
+him.
+
+"Ah!"
+
+A sudden ejaculation of dismay escaped her, when, after rather
+carelessly tearing the message open, she had glanced at it.
+
+"What is the matter?" he asked in eager solicitude. "May I not
+know?"
+
+She made no offer to give him the telegram, and said in a
+faltering voice, and with much hesitation of manner, "I do not
+know. I hardly think--of course I do not like to withhold
+anything, not now. And yet, this is a business which concerns me
+only, I am afraid. I ought not to drag you into it."
+
+"What concerns you is very much my business, too. I do not wish to
+force your confidence, still--"
+
+She gave him the telegram quite obediently, with a little sigh of
+relief, glad to realize now, for the first time after many years,
+that there was some one to give her orders and take the burden of
+trouble off her shoulders.
+
+He read it, but did not understand it in the least. It ran: "I
+must see you immediately, and beg you will come. You will find
+Hortense here. She is giving trouble. You only can deal with her.
+Do not delay. Come at once, or we must go to you.--Ripaldi, Hôtel
+Ivoire, Rue Bellechasse."
+
+"What does this mean? Who sends it? Who is Ripaldi?" asked Sir
+Charles, rather brusquely.
+
+"He--he--oh, Charles, I shall have to go. Anything would be better
+than his coming here."
+
+"Ripaldi? Haven't I heard the name? He was one of those in the
+sleeping-car, I think? The Chief of the Detective Police called it
+out once or twice. Am I not right? Please tell me--am I not
+right?"
+
+"Yes, yes; this man was there with the rest of us. A dark man, who
+sat near the door--"
+
+"Ah, to be sure. But what--what in Heaven's name has he to do with
+you? How does he dare to send you such an impudent message as
+this? Surely, Sabine, you will tell me? You will admit that I have
+a right to ask?"
+
+"Yes, of course. I will tell you, Charles, everything; but not
+here--not now. It must be on the way. I have been very wrong, very
+foolish--but oh, come, come, do let us be going. I am so afraid he
+might--"
+
+"Then I may go with you? You do not object to that?"
+
+"I much prefer it--much. Do let us make haste!"
+
+She snatched up her sealskin jacket, and held it to him prettily,
+that he might help her into it, which he did neatly and cleverly,
+smoothing her great puffed-out sleeves under each shoulder of the
+coat, still talking eagerly and taking no toll for his trouble as
+she stood patiently, passively before him.
+
+"And this Hortense? It is your maid, is it not--the woman who had
+taken herself off? How comes it that she is with that Italian
+fellow? Upon my soul, I don't understand--not a little bit."
+
+"I cannot explain that, either. It is most strange, most
+incomprehensible, but we shall soon know. Please, Charles, please
+do not get impatient."
+
+They passed together down into the hotel courtyard and across it,
+under the archway which led past the clerk's desk into the street.
+
+On seeing them, he came out hastily and placed himself in front,
+quite plainly barring their egress.
+
+"Oh, madame, one moment," he said in a tone that was by no means
+conciliatory. "The manager wants to speak to you; he told me to
+tell you, and stop you if you went out."
+
+"The manager can speak to madame when she returns," interposed the
+General angrily, answering for the Countess.
+
+"I have had my orders, and I cannot allow her--"
+
+"Stand aside, you scoundrel!" cried the General, blazing up; "or
+upon my soul I shall give you such a lesson you will be sorry you
+were ever born."
+
+At this moment the manager himself appeared in reinforcement, and
+the clerk turned to him for protection and support.
+
+"I was merely giving madame your message, M. Auguste, when this
+gentleman interposed, threatened me, maltreated me--"
+
+"Oh, surely not; it is some mistake;" the manager spoke most
+suavely. "But certainly I did wish to speak to madame. I wished to
+ask her whether she was satisfied with her apartment. I find that
+the rooms she has generally occupied have fallen vacant, in the
+nick of time. Perhaps madame would like to look at them, and
+move?"
+
+"Thank you, M. Auguste, you are very good; but at another time. I
+am very much pressed just now. When I return in an hour or two,
+not now."
+
+The manager was profuse in his apologies, and made no further
+difficulty.
+
+"Oh, as you please, madame. Perfectly. By and by, later, when you
+choose."
+
+The fact was, the desired result had been obtained. For now, on
+the far side from where he had been watching, Galipaud appeared,
+no doubt in reply to some secret signal, and the detective with a
+short nod in acknowledgment had evidently removed his embargo.
+
+A cab was called, and Sir Charles, having put the Countess in, was
+turning to give the driver his instructions, when a fresh
+complication arose.
+
+Some one coming round the corner had caught a glimpse of the lady
+disappearing into the fiacre, and cried out from afar.
+
+"Stay! Stop! I want to speak to that lady; detain her." It was the
+sharp voice of little M. Floçon, whom most of those present,
+certainly the Countess and Sir Charles, immediately recognized.
+
+"No, no, no--don't let them keep me--I cannot wait now," she
+whispered in earnest, urgent appeal. It was not lost on her loyal
+and devoted friend.
+
+"Go on!" he shouted to the cabman, with all the peremptory
+insistence of one trained to give words of command. "Forward! As
+fast as you can drive. I'll pay you double fare. Tell him where to
+go, Sabine. I'll follow--in less than no time."
+
+The fiacre rattled off at top speed, and the General turned to
+confront M. Floçon.
+
+The little detective was white to the lips with rage and
+disappointment; but he also was a man of promptitude, and before
+falling foul of this pestilent Englishman, who had again marred
+his plans, he shouted to Galipaud--
+
+"Quick! After them! Follow her wherever she goes. Take this,"--he
+thrust a paper into his subordinate's hand. "It is a warrant for
+her arrest. Seize her wherever you find her, and bring her to the
+Quai l'Horloge," the euphemistic title of the headquarters of the
+French police.
+
+The pursuit was started at once, and then the Chief turned upon
+Sir Charles. "Now it is between us," he said, fiercely. "You must
+account to me for what you have done."
+
+"Must I?" answered the General, mockingly and with a little laugh.
+"It is perfectly easy. Madame was in a hurry, so I helped her to
+get away. That was all."
+
+"You have traversed and opposed the action of the law. You have
+impeded me, the Chief of the Detective Service, in the execution
+of my duty. It is not the first time, but now you must answer for
+it."
+
+"Dear me!" said the General in the same flippant, irritating tone.
+
+"You will have to accompany me now to the Prefecture."
+
+"And if it does not suit me to go?"
+
+"I will have you carried there, bound, tied hand and foot, by the
+police, like any common rapscallion taken in the act who resists
+the authority of an officer."
+
+"Oho, you talk very big, sir. Perhaps you will be so obliging as
+to tell me what I have done."
+
+"You have connived at the escape of a criminal from justice--"
+
+"That lady? Psha!"
+
+"She is charged with a heinous crime--that in which you yourself
+were implicated--the murder of that man on the train."
+
+"Bah! You must be a stupid goose, to hint at such a thing! A lady
+of birth, breeding, the highest respectability--impossible!"
+
+"All that has not prevented her from allying herself with base,
+common wretches. I do not say she struck the blow, but I believe
+she inspired, concerted, approved it, leaving her confederates to
+do the actual deed."
+
+"Confederates?"
+
+"The man Ripaldi, your Italian fellow traveller; her maid,
+Hortense Petitpré, who was missing this morning."
+
+The General was fairly staggered at this unexpected blow. Half an
+hour ago he would have scouted the very thought, indignantly
+repelled the spoken words that even hinted a suspicion of Sabine
+Castagneto. But that telegram, signed Ripaldi, the introduction of
+the maid's name, and the suggestion that she was troublesome, the
+threat that if the Countess did not go, they would come to her,
+and her marked uneasiness thereat--all this implied plainly the
+existence of collusion, of some secret relations, some secret
+understanding between her and the others.
+
+He could not entirely conceal the trouble that now overcame him;
+it certainly did not escape so shrewd an observer as M. Floçon,
+who promptly tried to turn it to good account.
+
+"Come, M. le Général," he said, with much assumed _bonhomie_. "I
+can see how it is with you, and you have my sincere sympathy. We
+are all of us liable to be carried away, and there is much excuse
+for you in this. But now--believe me, I am justified in saying it
+--now I tell you that our case is strong against her, that it is
+not mere speculation, but supported by facts. Now surely you will
+come over to our side?"
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"Tell us frankly all you know--where that lady has gone, help us
+to lay our hands on her."
+
+"Your own people will do that. I heard you order that man to
+follow her."
+
+"Probably; still I would rather have the information from you. It
+would satisfy me of your good-will. I need not then proceed to
+extremities--"
+
+"I certainly shall not give it you," said the General, hotly.
+"Anything I know about or have heard from the Contessa Castagneto
+is sacred; besides, I still believe in her--thoroughly. Nothing
+you have said can shake me."
+
+"Then I must ask you to accompany me to the Prefecture. You will
+come, I trust, on my invitation." The Chief spoke quietly, but
+with considerable dignity, and he laid a slight stress upon the
+last word.
+
+"Meaning that if I do not, you will have resort to something
+stronger?"
+
+"That will be quite unnecessary, I am sure,--at least I hope so.
+Still--"
+
+"I will go where you like, only I will tell you nothing more, not
+a single word; and before I start, I must let my friends at the
+Embassy know where to find me."
+
+"Oh, with all my heart," said the little detective, shrugging his
+shoulders. "We will call there on our way, and you can tell the
+porter. They will know where to find us."
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+Sir Charles Collingham and his escort, M. Floçon, entered a cab
+together and were driven first to the Faubourg St. Honoré. The
+General tried hard to maintain his nonchalance, but he was yet a
+little crestfallen at the turn things had taken, and M. Floçon,
+who, on the other hand, was elated and triumphant, saw it. But no
+words passed between them until they arrived at the portals of the
+British Embassy, and the General handed out his card to the
+magnificent porter who received them.
+
+"Kindly let Colonel Papillon have that without delay." The General
+had written a few words: "I have got into fresh trouble. Come on
+to me at the Police Prefecture if you can spare the time."
+
+"The Colonel is now in the Chancery: will not monsieur wait?"
+asked the porter, with superb civility.
+
+But the detective would not suffer this, and interposed, answering
+abruptly for Sir Charles:
+
+"No. It is impossible. We are going to the Quai l'Horloge. It is
+an urgent matter."
+
+The porter knew what the Quai l'Horloge meant, and he guessed
+intuitively who was speaking. Every Frenchman can recognize a
+police officer, and has, as a rule, no great opinion of him.
+
+"Very well!" now said the porter, curtly, as he banged the
+wicket-gate on the retreating cab, and he did not hurry himself
+in giving the card to Colonel Papillon.
+
+"Does this mean that I am a prisoner?" asked Sir Charles, his
+gorge rising, as it did easily.
+
+"It means, monsieur, that you are in the hands of justice until
+your recent conduct has been fully explained," said the detective,
+with the air of a despot.
+
+"But I protest--"
+
+"I wish to hear no further observations, monsieur. You may reserve
+them till you can give them to the right person."
+
+The General's temper was sorely ruffled. He did not like it at
+all; yet what could he do? Prudence gained the day, and after a
+struggle he decided to submit, lest worse might befall him.
+
+There was, in truth, worse to be encountered. It was very irksome
+to be in the power of this now domineering little man on his own
+ground, and eager to show his power. It was with a very bad grace
+that Sir Charles obeyed the curt orders he received, to leave the
+cab, to enter at a side door of the Prefecture, to follow this
+pompous conductor along the long vaulted passages of this rambling
+building, up many flights of stone stairs, to halt obediently at
+his command when at length they reached a closed door on an upper
+story.
+
+"It is here!" said M. Floçon, as he turned the handle
+unceremoniously without knocking. "Enter."
+
+A man was seated at a small desk in the centre of a big bare room,
+who rose at once at the sight of M. Floçon, and bowed deferentially
+without speaking.
+
+"Baume," said the Chief, shortly, "I wish to leave this gentleman
+with you. Make him at home,"--the words were spoken in manifest
+irony,--"and when I call you, bring him at once to my cabinet.
+You, monsieur, you will oblige me by staying here."
+
+Sir Charles nodded carelessly, took the first chair that offered,
+and sat down by the fire.
+
+He was to all intents and purposes in custody, and he examined his
+gaoler at first wrathfully, then curiously, struck with his rather
+strange figure and appearance. Baume, as the Chief had called him,
+was a short, thick-set man with a great shock head sunk in low
+between a pair of enormous shoulders, betokening great physical
+strength; he stood on very thin but greatly twisted bow legs, and
+the quaintness of his figure was emphasized by the short black
+blouse or smock-frock he wore over his other clothes like a French
+artisan.
+
+He was a man of few words, and those not the most polite in tone,
+for when the General began with a banal remark about the weather,
+M. Baume replied, shortly:
+
+"I wish to have no talk;" and when Sir Charles pulled out his
+cigarette-case, as he did almost automatically from time to time
+when in any situation of annoyance or perplexity, Baume raised his
+hand warningly and grunted:
+
+"Not allowed."
+
+"Then I'll be hanged if I don't smoke in spite of every man jack
+of you!" cried the General, hotly, rising from his seat and
+speaking unconsciously in English.
+
+"What's that?" asked Baume, gruffly. He was one of the detective
+staff, and was only doing his duty according to his lights, and he
+said so with such an injured air that the General was pacified,
+laughed, and relapsed into silence without lighting his cigarette.
+
+The time ran on, from minutes into nearly an hour, a very trying
+wait for Sir Charles. There is always something irritating in
+doing antechamber work, in kicking one's heels in the waiting-room
+of any functionary or official, high or low, and the General found
+it hard to possess himself in patience, when he thought he was
+being thus ignominiously treated by a man like M. Floçon. All the
+time, too, he was worrying himself about the Countess, wondering
+first how she had fared; next, where she was just then; last of
+all, and longest, whether it was possible for her to be mixed up
+in anything compromising or criminal.
+
+Suddenly an electric bell struck in the room. There was a table
+telephone at Baume's elbow; he took up the handle, put the tube to
+his mouth and ear, got his message answered, and then, rising,
+said abruptly to Sir Charles:
+
+"Come."
+
+When the General was at last ushered into the presence of the
+Chief of the Detective Police, he found to his satisfaction that
+Colonel Papillon was also there, and at M. Floçon's side sat the
+instructing judge, M. Beaumont le Hardi, who, after waiting
+politely until the two Englishmen had exchanged greetings, was the
+first to speak, and in apology.
+
+"You will, I trust, pardon us, M. le Général, for having detained
+you here and so long. But there were, as we thought, good and
+sufficient reasons. If those have now lost some of their cogency,
+we still stand by our action as having been justifiable in the
+execution of our duty. We are now willing to let you go free,
+because--because--"
+
+"We have caught the person, the lady you helped to escape,"
+blurted out the detective, unable to resist making the point.
+
+"The Countess? Is she here, in custody? Never!"
+
+"Undoubtedly she is in custody, and in very close custody too,"
+went on M. Floçon, gleefully. "_ Au secret_, if you know what
+that means--in a cell separate and apart, where no one is
+permitted to see or speak to her."
+
+"Surely not that? Jack--Papillon--this must not be. I beg of you,
+implore, insist, that you will get his lordship to interpose."
+
+"But, sir, how can I? You must not ask impossibilities. The
+Contessa Castagneto is really an Italian subject now."
+
+"She is English by birth, and whether or no, she is a woman, a
+high-bred lady; and it is abominable, unheard-of, to subject her
+to such monstrous treatment," said the General.
+
+"But these gentlemen declare that they are fully warranted, that
+she has put herself in the wrong--greatly, culpably in the wrong."
+
+"I don't believe it!" cried the General, indignantly. "Not from
+these chaps, a pack of idiots, always on the wrong tack! I don't
+believe a word, not if they swear."
+
+"But they have documentary evidence--papers of the most damaging
+kind against her."
+
+"Where? How?"
+
+"He--M. le Juge--has been showing me a note-book;" and the
+General's eyes, following Jack Papillon's, were directed to a
+small _carnet_, or memorandum-book, which the Judge, interpreting
+the glance, was tapping significantly with his finger.
+
+Then the Judge said blandly, "It is easy to perceive that you
+protest, M. le Général, against that lady's arrest. Is it so?
+Well, we are not called upon to justify it to you, not in the very
+least. But we are dealing with a brave man, a gentleman, an
+officer of high rank and consideration, and you shall know things
+that we are not bound to tell, to you or to any one."
+
+"First," he continued, holding up the note-book, "do you know what
+this is? Have you ever seen it before?"
+
+"I am dimly conscious of the fact, and yet I cannot say when or
+where."
+
+"It is the property of one of your fellow travellers--an Italian
+called Ripaldi."
+
+"Ripaldi?" said the General, remembering with some uneasiness that
+he had seen the name at the bottom of the Countess's telegram.
+"Ah! now I understand."
+
+"You had heard of it, then? In what connection?" asked the Judge,
+a little carelessly, but it was a suddenly planned pitfall.
+
+"I now understand," replied the General, perfectly on his guard,
+"why the note-book was familiar to me. I had seen it in that man's
+hands in the waiting-room. He was writing in it."
+
+"Indeed? A favourite occupation evidently. He was fond of
+confiding in that note-book, and committed to it much that he
+never expected would see the light--his movements, intentions,
+ideas, even his inmost thoughts. The book--which he no doubt lost
+inadvertently is very incriminating to himself and his friends."
+
+"What do you imply?" hastily inquired Sir Charles.
+
+"Simply that it is on that which is written here that we base one
+part, perhaps the strongest, of our case against the Countess.
+It is strangely but convincingly corroborative of our suspicions
+against her."
+
+"May I look at it for myself?" went on the General in a tone of
+contemptuous disbelief.
+
+"It is in Italian. Perhaps you can read that language? If not, I
+have translated the most important passages," said the Judge,
+offering some other papers.
+
+"Thank you; if you will permit me, I should prefer to look at the
+original;" and the General, without more ado, stretched out his
+hand and took the note-book.
+
+What he read there, as he quickly scanned its pages, shall be told
+in the next chapter. It will be seen that there were things
+written that looked very damaging to his dear friend, Sabine
+Castagneto.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+Ripaldi's diary--its ownership plainly shown by the record of his
+name in full, Natale Ripaldi, inside the cover--was a commonplace
+note-book bound in shabby drab cloth, its edges and corners
+strengthened with some sort of white metal. The pages were of
+coarse paper, lined blue and red, and they were dog-eared and
+smirched as though they had been constantly turned over and used.
+
+The earlier entries were little more than a record of work to do
+or done.
+
+"Jan. 11. To call at Café di Roma, 12.30. Beppo will meet me.
+
+"Jan. 13. Traced M. L. Last employed as a model at S.'s studio,
+Palazzo B.
+
+"Jan. 15. There is trouble brewing at the Circulo Bonafede;
+Louvaih, Malatesta, and the Englishman Sprot, have joined it. All
+are noted Anarchists.
+
+"Jan. 20. Mem., pay Trattore. The Bestia will not wait. X. is also
+pressing, and Mariuccia. Situation tightens.
+
+"Jan. 23. Ordered to watch Q. Could I work him? No. Strong doubts
+of his solvency.
+
+"Feb. 10, 11, 12. After Q. No grounds yet.
+
+"Feb. 27. Q. keeps up good appearance. Any mistake? Shall I try
+him? Sorely pressed. X. threatens me with Prefettura.
+
+"March 1. Q. in difficulties. Out late every night. Is playing
+high; poor luck.
+
+"March 3. Q. means mischief. Preparing for a start?
+
+"March 10. Saw Q. about, here, there, everywhere."
+
+Then followed a brief account of Quadling's movements on the day
+before his departure from Rome, very much as they have been
+described in a previous chapter. These were made mostly in the
+form of reflections, conjectures, hopes, and fears; hurry-scurry
+of pursuit had no doubt broken the immediate record of events, and
+these had been entered next day in the train.
+
+"March 17 (the day previous). He has not shown up. I thought to
+see him at the buffet at Genoa. The conductor took him his coffee
+to the car. I hoped to have begun an acquaintance.
+
+"12.30. Breakfasted at Turin. Q. did not come to table. Found him
+hanging about outside restaurant. Spoke; got short reply. Wishes
+to avoid observation, I suppose.
+
+"But he speaks to others. He has claimed acquaintance with
+madame's lady's maid, and he wants to speak to the mistress. 'Tell
+her I must speak to her,' I heard him say, as I passed close to
+them. Then they separated hurriedly.
+
+"At Modane he came to the Douane, and afterwards into the
+restaurant. He bowed across the table to the lady. She hardly
+recognized him, which is odd. Of course she must know him; then
+why--? There is something between them, and the maid is in it.
+
+"What shall _I_ do? I could spoil any game of theirs if I
+stepped in. What are they after? His money, no doubt.
+
+"So am I; I have the best right to it, for I can do most for him.
+He is absolutely in my power, and he'll see that--he's no fool--
+directly he knows who I am, and why I'm here. It will be worth his
+while to buy me off, if I'm ready to sell myself, and my duty, and
+the Prefettura--and why shouldn't I? What better can I do? Shall I
+ever have such a chance again? Twenty, thirty, forty thousand
+lire, more, even, at one stroke; why, it's a fortune! I could go
+to the Republic, to America, North or South, send for Mariuccia--
+no, _cos petto!_ I will continue free! I will spend the money on
+myself, as I alone will have earned it, and at such risk.
+
+"I have worked it out thus:
+
+"I will go to him at the very last, just before we are reaching
+Paris. Tell him, threaten him with arrest, then give him his
+chance of escape. No fear that he won't accept it; he _must_,
+whatever he may have settled with the others. _Altro!_ I snap my
+fingers at them. He has most to fear from me."
+
+The next entries were made after some interval, a long interval,
+--no doubt, after the terrible deed had been done,--and the words
+were traced with trembling fingers, so that the writing was most
+irregular and scarcely legible.
+
+"Ugh! I am still trembling with horror and fear. I cannot get it
+out of my mind; I never shall. Why, what tempted me? How could I
+bring myself to do it?
+
+"But for these two women--they are fiends, furies--it would never
+have been necessary. Now one of them has escaped, and the other--
+she is here, so cold-blooded, so self-possessed and quiet--who
+would have thought it of her? That she, a lady of rank and high
+breeding, gentle, delicate, tender-hearted. Tender? the fiend! Oh,
+shall I ever forget her?
+
+"And now she has me in her power! But have I not her also? We are
+in the same boat--we must sink or swim, together. We are equally
+bound, I to her, she to me. What are we to do? How shall we meet
+inquiry? _Santissima Donna!_ why did I not risk it, and climb
+out like the maid? It was terrible for the moment, but the worst
+would have been over, and now--"
+
+There was yet more, scribbled in the same faltering, agitated
+handwriting, and from the context the entries had been made in the
+waiting-room of the railroad station.
+
+"I must attract her attention. She will not look my way. I want
+her to understand that I have something special to say to her, and
+that, as we are forbidden to speak, I am writing it herein--that
+she must contrive to take the book from me and read unobserved.
+
+"_ Cos petto!_ she is stupid! Has fear dazed her entirely? No
+matter, I will set it all down."
+
+Now followed what the police deemed such damaging evidence.
+
+"Countess. Remember. Silence--absolute silence. Not a word as to
+who I am, or what is common knowledge to us both. It is done. That
+cannot be undone. Be brave, resolute; admit nothing. Stick to it
+that you know nothing, heard nothing. Deny that you knew _him_,
+or me. Swear you slept soundly the night through, make some
+excuse, say you were drugged, anything, only be on your guard, and
+say nothing about me. I warn you. Leave me alone. Or--but your
+interests are my interests; we must stand or fall together.
+Afterwards I will meet you--I _must_ meet you somewhere. If we
+miss at the station front, write to me Poste Restante, Grand
+Hôtel, and give me an address. This is imperative. Once more,
+silence and discretion."
+
+This ended the writing in the note-book, and the whole perusal
+occupied Sir Charles from fifteen to twenty minutes, during which
+the French officials watched his face closely, and his friend
+Colonel Papillon anxiously.
+
+But the General's mask was impenetrable, and at the end of his
+reading he turned back to read and re-read many pages, holding the
+book to the light, and seeming to examine the contents very
+curiously.
+
+"Well?" said the Judge at last, when he met the General's eye.
+
+"Do you lay great store by this evidence?" asked the General in a
+calm, dispassionate voice.
+
+"Is it not natural that we should? Is it not strongly,
+conclusively incriminating?"
+
+"It would be so, of course, if it were to be depended upon. But as
+to that I have my doubts, and grave doubts."
+
+"Bah!" interposed the detective; "that is mere conjecture, mere
+assertion. Why should not the book be believed? It is perfectly
+genuine--"
+
+"Wait, sir," said the General, raising his hand. "Have you not
+noticed--surely it cannot have escaped so astute a police
+functionary--that the entries are not all in the same handwriting?"
+
+"What! Oh, that is too absurd!" cried both the officials in a
+breath.
+
+They saw at once that if this discovery were admitted to be an
+absolute fact, the whole drift of their conclusions must be
+changed.
+
+"Examine the book for yourselves. To my mind it is perfectly clear
+and beyond all question," insisted Sir Charles. "I am quite
+positive that the last pages were written by a different hand from
+the first."
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+For several minutes both the Judge and the detective pored over
+the note-book, examining page after page, shaking their heads, and
+declining to accept the evidence of their eyes.
+
+"I cannot see it," said the Judge at last; adding reluctantly, "No
+doubt there is a difference, but it is to be explained."
+
+"Quite so," put in M. Floçon. "When he wrote the early part, he
+was calm and collected; the last entries, so straggling, so
+ragged, and so badly written, were made when he was fresh from the
+crime, excited, upset, little master of himself. Naturally he
+would use a different hand."
+
+"Or he would wish to disguise it. It was likely he would so wish,"
+further remarked the Judge.
+
+"You admit, then, that there is a difference?" argued the General,
+shrewdly. "But there is more than a disguise. The best disguise
+leaves certain unchangeable features. Some letters, capital G's,
+H's, and others, will betray themselves through the best
+disguise. I know what I am saying. I have studied the subject of
+handwriting; it interests me. These are the work of two different
+hands. Call in an expert; you will find I am right."
+
+"Well, well," said the Judge, after a pause, "let us grant your
+position for the moment. What do you deduce? What do you infer
+therefrom?"
+
+"Surely you can see what follows--what this leads us to?" said Sir
+Charles, rather disdainfully.
+
+"I have formed an opinion--yes, but I should like to see if it
+coincides with yours. You think--"
+
+"I know," corrected the General. "I know that, as two persons
+wrote in that book, either it is not Ripaldi's book, or the last
+of them was not Ripaldi. I saw the last writer at his work, saw
+him with my own eyes. Yet he did not write with Ripaldi's hand--
+this is incontestable, I am sure of it, I will swear it--ergo, he
+is not Ripaldi."
+
+"But you should have known this at the time," interjected M.
+Floçon, fiercely. "Why did you not discover the change of
+identity? You should have seen that this was not Ripaldi."
+
+"Pardon me. I did not know the man. I had not noticed him
+particularly on the journey. There was no reason why I should. I
+had no communication, no dealings, with any of my fellow
+passengers except my brother and the Countess."
+
+"But some of the others would surely have remarked the change?"
+went on the Judge, greatly puzzled. "That alone seems enough to
+condemn your theory, M. le General."
+
+"I take my stand on fact, not theory," stoutly maintained Sir
+Charles, "and I am satisfied I am right."
+
+"But if that was not Ripaldi, who was it? Who would wish to
+masquerade in his dress and character, to make entries of that
+sort, as if under his hand?"
+
+"Some one determined to divert suspicion from himself to others--"
+
+"But stay--does he not plainly confess his own guilt?"
+
+"What matter if he is not Ripaldi? Directly the inquiry was over,
+he could steal away and resume his own personality--that of a man
+supposed to be dead, and therefore safe from all interference and
+future pursuit."
+
+"You mean--Upon my word, I compliment you, M. le Général. It is
+really ingenious! remarkable, indeed! superb!" cried the Judge,
+and only professional jealousy prevented M. Floçon from conceding
+the same praise.
+
+"But how--what--I do not understand," asked Colonel Papillon in
+amazement. His wits did not travel quite so fast as those of his
+companions.
+
+"Simply this, my dear Jack," explained the General: "Ripaldi must
+have tried to blackmail Quadling, as he proposed, and Quadling
+turned the tables on him. They fought, no doubt, and Quadling
+killed him, possibly in self-defence. He would have said so, but
+in his peculiar position as an absconding defaulter he did not
+dare. That is how I read it, and I believe that now these
+gentlemen are disposed to agree with me."
+
+"In theory, certainly," said the Judge, heartily. "But oh! for
+some more positive proof of this change of character! If we could
+only identify the corpse, prove clearly that it is not Quadling.
+And still more, if we had not let this so-called Ripaldi slip
+through our fingers! You will never find him, M. Floçon, never."
+
+The detective hung his head in guilty admission of this reproach.
+
+"We may help you in both these difficulties, gentlemen," said Sir
+Charles, pleasantly. "My friend here, Colonel Papillon, can speak
+as to the man Quadling. He knew him well in Rome, a year or two
+ago."
+
+"Please wait one moment only;" the detective touched a bell, and
+briefly ordered two fiacres to the door at once.
+
+"That is right, M. Floçon," said the Judge. "We will all go to the
+Morgue. The body is there by now. You will not refuse your
+assistance, monsieur?"
+
+"One moment. As to the other matter, M. le General?" went on M.
+Floçon. "Can you help us to find this miscreant, whoever he may
+be?"
+
+"Yes. The man who calls himself Ripaldi is to be found--or, at
+least, you would have found him an hour or so ago--at the Hotel
+Ivoire, Rue Bellechasse. But time has been lost, I fear."
+
+"Nevertheless, we will send there."
+
+"The woman Hortense was also with him when last I heard of them."
+
+"How do you know?" began the detective, suspiciously.
+
+"Psha!" interrupted the Judge; "that will keep. This is the time
+for action, and we owe too much to the General to distrust him
+now."
+
+"Thank you; I am pleased to hear you say that," went on Sir
+Charles. "But if I have been of some service to you, perhaps you
+owe me a little in return. That poor lady! Think what she is
+suffering. Surely, to oblige me, you will now set her free?"
+
+"Indeed, monsieur, I fear--I do not see how, consistently with my
+duty"--protested the Judge.
+
+"At least allow her to return to her hotel. She can remain there
+at your disposal. I will promise you that."
+
+"How can you answer for her?"
+
+"She will do what I ask, I think, if I may send her just two or
+three lines."
+
+The Judge yielded, smiling at the General's urgency, and shrewdly
+guessing what it implied.
+
+Then the three departures from the Prefecture took place within a
+short time of each other.
+
+A posse of police went to arrest Ripaldi; the Countess returned to
+the Hotel Madagascar; and the Judge's party started for the
+Morgue,--only a short journey,--where they were presently received
+with every mark of respect and consideration.
+
+The keeper, or officer in charge, was summoned, and came out
+bareheaded to the fiacre, bowing low before his distinguished
+visitors.
+
+"Good morning, La Pêche," said M. Floçon in a sharp voice. "We
+have come for an identification. The body from the Lyons Station
+--he of the murder in the sleeping-car--is it yet arrived?"
+
+"But surely, at your service, Chief," replied the old man,
+obsequiously. "If the gentlemen will give themselves the trouble
+to enter the office, I will lead them behind, direct into the
+mortuary chamber. There are many people in yonder."
+
+It was the usual crowd of sightseers passing slowly before the
+plate glass of this, the most terrible shop-front in the world,
+where the goods exposed, the merchandise, are hideous corpses laid
+out in rows upon the marble slabs, the battered, tattered remnants
+of outraged humanity, insulted by the most terrible indignities in
+death.
+
+Who make up this curious throng, and what strange morbid motives
+drag them there? Those fat, comfortable-looking women, with their
+baskets on their arms; the decent workmen in dusty blouses, idling
+between the hours of work; the riffraff of the streets, male or
+female, in various stages of wretchedness and degradation? A few,
+no doubt, are impelled by motives we cannot challenge--they are
+torn and tortured by suspense, trembling lest they may recognize
+missing dear ones among the exposed; others stare carelessly at
+the day's "take," wondering, perhaps, if they may come to the same
+fate; one or two are idle sightseers, not always French, for the
+Morgue is a favourite haunt with the irrepressible tourist doing
+Paris. Strangest of all, the murderer himself, the doer of the
+fell deed, comes here, to the very spot where his victim lies
+stark and reproachful, and stares at it spellbound, fascinated,
+filled more with remorse, perchance, than fear at the risk he
+runs. So common is this trait, that in mysterious murder cases the
+police of Paris keep a disguised officer among the crowd at the
+Morgue, and have thereby made many memorable arrests.
+
+"This way, gentlemen, this way;" and the keeper of the Morgue led
+the party through one or two rooms into the inner and back
+recesses of the buildings. It was behind the scenes of the Morgue,
+and they were made free of its most gruesome secrets as they
+passed along.
+
+The temperature had suddenly fallen far below freezing-point, and
+the icy cold chilled to the very marrow. Still worse was an
+all-pervading, acrid odour of artificially suspended animal decay. The
+cold-air process, that latest of scientific contrivances to arrest
+the waste of tissue, has now been applied at the Morgue to
+preserve and keep the bodies fresh, and allow them to be for a
+longer time exposed than when running water was the only aid.
+There are, moreover, many specially contrived refrigerating
+chests, in which those still unrecognized corpses are laid by for
+months, to be dragged out, if needs be, like carcasses of meat.
+
+"What a loathsome place!" cried Sir Charles. "Hurry up, Jack! let
+us get out of this, in Heaven's name!"
+
+"Where's my man?" quickly asked Colonel Papillon in response to
+this appeal.
+
+"There, the third from the left," whispered M. Floçon. "We hoped
+you would recognize the corpse at once."
+
+"That? Impossible! You do not expect it, surely? Why, the face is
+too much mangled for any one to say who it is."
+
+"Are there no indications, no marks or signs, to say whether it is
+Quadling or not?" asked the Judge in a greatly disappointed tone.
+
+"Absolutely nothing. And yet I am quite satisfied it is not him.
+For the simple reason that--"
+
+"Yes, yes, go on."
+
+"That Quadling in person is standing out there among the crowd."
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+M. Floçon was the first to realize the full meaning of Colonel
+Papillon's surprising statement.
+
+"Run, run, La Pêche! Have the outer doors closed; let no one leave
+the place."
+
+"Draw back, gentlemen!" he went on, and he hustled his companions
+with frantic haste out at the back of the mortuary chamber. "Pray
+Heaven he has not seen us! He would know us, even if we do not
+him."
+
+Then with no less haste he seized Colonel Papillon by the arm and
+hurried him by the back passages through the office into the
+outer, public chamber, where the astonished crowd stood, silent
+and perturbed, awaiting explanation of their detention.
+
+"Quick, monsieur!" whispered the Chief; "point him out to me."
+
+The request was not unnecessary, for when Colonel Papillon went
+forward, and, putting his hand on a man's shoulder, saying, "Mr.
+Quadling, I think," the police officer was scarcely able to
+restrain his surprise.
+
+The person thus challenged was very unlike any one he had seen
+before that day, Ripaldi most of all. The moustache was gone, the
+clothes were entirely changed; a pair of dark green spectacles
+helped the disguise. It was strange indeed that Papillon had known
+him; but at the moment of recognition Quadling had removed his
+glasses, no doubt that he might the better examine the object of
+his visit to the Morgue, that gruesome record of his own fell
+handiwork.
+
+Naturally he drew back with well-feigned indignation, muttering
+half-unintelligible words in French, denying stoutly both in voice
+and gesture all acquaintance with the person who thus abruptly
+addressed him.
+
+"This is not to be borne," he cried. "Who are you that dares--"
+
+"Ta! ta!" quietly put in M. Floçon; "we will discuss that fully,
+but not here. Come into the office; come, I say, or must we use
+force?"
+
+There was no escaping now, and with a poor attempt at bravado the
+stranger was led away.
+
+"Now, Colonel Papillon, look at him well. Do you know him? Are you
+satisfied it is--"
+
+"Mr. Quadling, late banker, of Rome. I have not the slightest
+doubt of it. I recognize him beyond all question."
+
+"That will do. Silence, sir!" This to Quadling. "No observations.
+I too can recognize you now as the person who called himself
+Ripaldi an hour or two ago. Denial is useless. Let him be
+searched; thoroughly, you understand, La Pêche? Call in your other
+men; he may resist."
+
+They gave the wretched man but scant consideration, and in less
+than three minutes had visited every pocket, examined every secret
+receptacle, and practically turned him inside out.
+
+After this there could no longer be any doubt of his identity,
+still less of his complicity in the crime.
+
+First among the many damning evidences of his guilt was the
+missing pocketbook of the porter of the sleeping-car. Within was
+the train card and the passengers' tickets, all the papers which
+the man Groote had lost so unaccountably. They had, of course,
+been stolen from his person with the obvious intention of impeding
+the inquiry into the murder. Next, in another inner pocket was
+Quadling's own wallet, with his own visiting-cards, several
+letters addressed to him by name; above all, a thick sheaf of
+bank-notes of all nationalities--English, French, Italian, and
+amounting in total value to several thousands of pounds.
+
+"Well, do you still deny? Bah! it is childish, useless, mere waste
+of breath. At last we have penetrated the mystery. You may as well
+confess. Whether or no, we have enough to convict you by
+independent testimony," said the Judge, severely. "Come, what have
+you to say?"
+
+But Quadling, with pale, averted face, stood obstinately mute. He
+was in the toils, the net had closed round him, they should have
+no assistance from him.
+
+"Come, speak out; it will be best. Remember, we have means to make
+you--"
+
+"Will you interrogate him further, M. Beaumont le Hardi? Here, at
+once?"
+
+"No, let him be removed to the Prefecture; it will be more
+convenient; to my private office."
+
+Without more ado a fiacre was called, and the prisoner was taken
+off under escort, M. Floçon seated by his side, one policeman in
+front, another on the box, and lodged in a secret cell at the Quai
+l'Horloge.
+
+"And you, gentlemen?" said the Judge to Sir Charles and Colonel
+Papillon. "I do not wish to detain you further, although there may
+be points you might help us to elucidate if I might venture to
+still trespass on your time?"
+
+Sir Charles was eager to return to the Hôtel Madagascar, and yet
+he felt that he should best serve his dear Countess by seeing this
+to the end. So he readily assented to accompany the Judge, and
+Colonel Papillon, who was no less curious, agreed to go too.
+
+"I sincerely trust," said the Judge on the way, "that our people
+have laid hands on that woman Petitpré. I believe that she holds
+the key to the situation, that when we hear her story we shall
+have a clear case against Quadling; and--who knows?--she may
+completely exonerate Madame la Comtesse."
+
+During the events just recorded, which occupied a good hour, the
+police agents had time to go and come from the Rue Bellechasse.
+They did not return empty-handed, although at first it seemed as
+if they had made a fruitless journey. The Hôtel Ivoire was a very
+second-class place, a lodging-house, or hotel with furnished rooms
+let out by the week to lodgers with whom the proprietor had no
+very close acquaintance. His clerk did all the business, and this
+functionary produced the register, as he is bound by law, for the
+inspection of the police officers, but afforded little information
+as to the day's arrivals.
+
+"Yes, a man calling himself Dufour had taken rooms about midday,
+one for himself, one for madame who was with him, also named
+Dufour--his sister, he said;" and he went on at the request of the
+police officers to describe them.
+
+"Our birds," said the senior agent, briefly. "They are wanted. We
+belong to the detective police."
+
+"All right." Such visits were not new to the clerk.
+
+"But you will not find monsieur; he is out; there hangs his key.
+Madame? No, she is within. Yes, that is certain, for not long
+since she rang her bell. There, it goes again."
+
+He looked up at the furiously oscillating bell, but made no move.
+
+"Bah! they do not pay for service; let her come and say what she
+needs."
+
+"Exactly; and we will bring her," said the officer, making for the
+stairs and the room indicated.
+
+But on reaching the door, they found it locked. From within?
+Hardly, for as they stood there in doubt, a voice inside cried
+vehemently:
+
+"Let me out! Help! Help! Send for the police. I have much to tell
+them. Quick! Let me out."
+
+"We are here, my dear, just as you require us. But wait; step
+down, Gaston, and see if the clerk has a second key. If not, call
+in a locksmith--the nearest. A little patience only, my beauty. Do
+not fear."
+
+The key was quickly produced, and an entrance effected.
+
+A woman stood there in a defiant attitude, with arms akimbo;
+she, no doubt, of whom they were in search. A tall, rather
+masculine-looking creature, with a dark, handsome face, bold black
+eyes just now flashing fiercely, rage in every feature.
+
+"Madame Dufour?" began the police officer.
+
+"Dufour! Rot! My name is Hortense Petitpré; who are you? _La
+Rousse_?" (Police.)
+
+"At your service. Have you anything to say to us? We have come on
+purpose to take you to the Prefecture quietly, if you will let us;
+or--"
+
+"I will go quietly. I ask nothing better. I have to lay
+information against a miscreant--a murderer--the vile assassin
+who would have made me his accomplice--the banker, Quadling, of
+Rome!"
+
+In the fiacre Hortense Petitpré talked on with such incessant
+abuse, virulent and violent, of Quadling, that her charges were
+neither precise nor intelligible.
+
+It was not until she appeared before M. Beaumont le Hardi, and was
+handled with great dexterity by that practised examiner, that her
+story took definite form.
+
+What she had to say will be best told in the clear, formal
+language of the official disposition.
+
+The witness inculpated stated:
+
+"She was named Aglaé Hortense Petitpré, thirty-four years of age,
+a Frenchwoman, born in Paris, Rue de Vincennes No. 374. Was
+engaged by the Contessa Castagneto, November 19, 189--, in Rome,
+as lady's maid, and there, at her mistress's domicile, became
+acquainted with the Sieur Francis Quadling, a banker of the Via
+Condotti, Rome.
+
+"Quadling had pretensions to the hand of the Countess, and sought,
+by bribes and entreaties, to interest witness in his suit. Witness
+often spoke of him in complimentary terms to her mistress, who was
+not very favourably disposed towards him.
+
+"One afternoon (two days before the murder) Quadling paid a
+lengthened visit to the Countess. Witness did not hear what
+occurred, but Quadling came out much distressed, and again urged
+her to speak to the Countess. He had heard of the approaching
+departure of the lady from Rome, but said nothing of his own
+intentions.
+
+"Witness was much surprised to find him in the sleeping-car, but
+had no talk to him till the following morning, when he asked her
+to obtain an interview for him with the Countess, and promised a
+large reward. In making this offer he produced a wallet and
+exhibited a very large number of notes.
+
+"Witness was unable to persuade the Countess, although she
+returned to the subject frequently. Witness so informed Quadling,
+who then spoke to the lady, but was coldly received.
+
+"During the journey witness thought much over the situation.
+Admitted that the sight of Quadling's money had greatly disturbed
+her, but, although pressed, would not say when the first idea of
+robbing him took possession of her. (Note by Judge--That she had
+resolved to do so is, however, perfectly clear, and the conclusion
+is borne out by her acts. It was she who secured the Countess's
+medicine bottle; she, beyond doubt, who drugged the porter at
+Laroche. In no other way can her presence in the sleeping-car
+between Laroche and Paris be accounted for-presence which she does
+not deny.)
+
+"Witness at last reluctantly confessed that she entered the
+compartment where the murder was committed, and at a critical
+moment. An affray was actually in progress between the Italian
+Ripaldi and the incriminated man Quadling, but the witness arrived
+as the last fatal blow was struck by the latter.
+
+"She saw it struck, and saw the victim fall lifeless on the floor.
+
+"Witness declared she was so terrified she could at first utter no
+cry, nor call for help, and before she could recover herself the
+murderer threatened her with the ensanguined knife. She threw
+herself on her knees, imploring pity, but the man Quadling told
+her that she was an eye-witness, and could take him to the
+guillotine,--she also must die.
+
+"Witness at last prevailed on him to spare her life, but only on
+condition that she would leave the car. He indicated the window as
+the only way of escape; but on this for a long time she refused to
+venture, declaring that it was only to exchange one form of death
+for another. Then, as Quadling again threatened to stab her, she
+was compelled to accept this last chance, never hoping to win out
+alive.
+
+"With Quadling's assistance, however, she succeeded in climbing
+out through the window and in gaining the roof. He had told her to
+wait for the first occasion when the train slackened speed to
+leave it and shift for herself. With this intention he gave her a
+thousand francs, and bade her never show herself again.
+
+"Witness descended from the train not far from the small station
+of Villeneuve on the line, and there took the local train for
+Paris. Landed at the Lyons Station, she heard of the inquiry in
+progress, and then, waiting outside, saw Quadling disguised as the
+Italian leave in company with another man. She followed and marked
+Quadling down, meaning to denounce him on the first opportunity.
+Quadling, however, on issuing from the restaurant, had accosted
+her, and at once offered her a further sum of five thousand francs
+as the price of silence, and she had gone with him to the Hôtel
+Ivoire, where she was to receive the sum. Quadling had paid it,
+but on one condition, that she would remain at the Hotel Ivoire
+until the following day. Apparently he had distrusted her, for he
+had contrived to lock her into her compartment. As she did not
+choose to be so imprisoned, she summoned assistance, and was at
+length released by the police."
+
+This was the substance of Hortense Petitpré's deposition, and it
+was corroborated in many small details.
+
+When she appeared before the Judge, with whom Sir Charles
+Collingham and Colonel Papillon were seated, the former at once
+pointed out that she was wearing a dark mantle trimmed with the
+same sort of passementerie as that picked up in the sleeping-car.
+
+L'Envoi
+
+Quadling was in due course brought before the Court of Assize and
+tried for his life. There was no sort of doubt of his guilt, and
+the jury so found, but, having regard to certain extenuating
+circumstances, they recommended him to mercy. The chief of these
+was Quadling's positive assurance that he had been first attacked
+by Ripaldi; he declared that the Italian detective had in the
+first instance tried to come to terms with him, demanding 50,000
+francs as his price for allowing him to go at large; that when
+Quadling distinctly refused to be black-mailed, Ripaldi struck at
+him with a knife, but that the blow failed to take effect.
+
+Then Quadling closed with him and took the knife from him. It was
+a fierce encounter, and might have ended either way, but the
+unexpected entrance of the woman Petitpré took off Ripaldi's
+attention, and then he, Quadling, maddened and reckless, stabbed
+him to the heart.
+
+It was not until after the deed was done that Quadling realized
+the full measure of his crime and its inevitable consequences.
+Then, in a daring effort to extricate himself, he intimidated the
+woman Petitpré, and forced her to escape through the sleeping-car
+window.
+
+It was he who had rung the signal-bell to stop the train and give
+her a chance of leaving it. It was after the murder, too, that he
+conceived the idea of personating Ripaldi, and, having disfigured
+him beyond recognition, as he hoped, he had changed clothes and
+compartments.
+
+On the strength of this confession Quadling escaped the
+guillotine, but he was transported to New Caledonia for life.
+
+The money taken on him was forwarded to Rome, and was usefully
+employed in reducing his liabilities to the depositors in the
+bank.
+
+The other word.
+
+Some time in June the following announcement appeared in all the
+Paris papers:
+
+"Yesterday, at the British Embassy, General Sir Charles
+Collingham, K. C. B., was married to Sabine, Contessa di
+Castagneto, widow of the Italian Count of that name."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rome Express, by Arthur Griffiths
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