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 thatwould 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 theplot, and plot there certainly was; everything points to it. Thedrugging, the open window, the maid's escape."
"A plot, no doubt, but organized by whom? These two women only? Couldeither of them have struck the fatal blow? Hardly. Women have the wit toconceive, but neither courage nor brute force to execute. There was aman in this, rest assured."
"Granted. But who? That fire-eating Sir Collingham?" quickly asked thedetective, 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 andinjudicious, but he is not of the stuff that makes criminals."
"Who, then? The porter? No? The clergyman? No? The Frenchgentlemen?--well, we have not examined them yet; but from what I saw atthe 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 wasvery 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 desireto stifle an unpleasant misgiving. "We have touch of him if we wanthim, as we may."
How much they might want him they only realized when they got further intheir inquiry!
CHAPTER XII
Only the two Frenchmen remained for examination. They had beenleft to the last by pure accident. The exigencies of the inquiryhad led to the preference of others, but these two well-broken andsubmissive gentlemen made no visible protest. However much theymay have chafed inwardly at the delay, they knew better than toobject; any outburst of discontent would, they knew, recoil onthemselves. Not only were they perfectly patient now when summonedbefore the officers of justice, they were most eager to give everyassistance to the law, to go beyond the mere letter, and, if needsbe, volunteer information.
The first called in was the elder, M. Anatole Lafolay, a trueParisian _bourgeois_, fat and comfortable, unctuous in speech,and exceedingly deferential.
The story he told was in its main outlines that which we alreadyknow, but he was further questioned, by the light of the latestfacts and ideas as now elicited.
The line adroitly taken by the Judge was to get some evidence ofcollusion and combination among the passengers, especially withreference to two of them, the two women of the party. On thisimportant point M. Lafolay had something to say.
Asked if he had seen or noticed the lady's maid on the journey, heanswered "yes" very decisively and with a smack of the lips, asthough the sight of this pretty and attractive person had givenhim 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 inthe corner of the car with one of them."
"And that was--?"
"I think the Italian gentleman; I am almost sure I recognized hisclothes. I did not see his face, it was turned from me--towardshers, and very close, I may be permitted to say."
"And they were friendly?"
"More than friendly, I should say. Very intimate indeed. I shouldnot have been surprised if--when I turned away as a matter offact--if he did not touch, just touch, her red lips. It would havebeen excusable--forgive me, messieurs."
"Aha! They were so intimate as that? Indeed! And did she reserveher favours exclusively for him? Did no one else address her, payher 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 allsee."
"And her mistress too?"
"That I will not say. The lady I saw but little during thejourney."
A few more questions, mainly personal, as to his address,business, probable presence in Paris for the next few weeks, andM. Lafolay was permitted to depart.
The examination of the younger Frenchman, a smart, alert youngman, of pleasant, insinuating address, with a quick, inquisitiveeye, followed the same lines, and was distinctly corroborative onall the points to which M. Lafolay spoke. But M. Jules Devaux hadsomething 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 butlittle, 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 notthe 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 wasafterwards; this morning, in fact, that I came to the conclusionthat 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 isof the utmost, of the very first, importance."
"Well, gentlemen, I will tell you. As you are well aware, onarrival at this station we were all ordered to leave the car, andmarched to the waiting-room, out there. As a matter of course, thelady entered first, and she was seated when I went in. There was astrong light on her face."
"Was her veil down?"
"Not then. I saw her lower it later, and, as I think, for reasonsI will presently put before you. Madame has a beautiful face, andI gazed at it with sympathy, grieving for her, in fact, in such atrying situation; when suddenly I saw a great and remarkablechange come over it."
"Of what character?"
"It was a look of horror, disgust, surprise,--a little perhaps ofall three; I could not quite say which, it faded so quickly andwas followed by a cold, deathlike pallor. Then almost immediatelyshe lowered her veil."
"Could you form any explanation for what you saw in her face? Whatcaused it?"
"Something unexpected, I believe, some shock, or the sight ofsomething shocking. That was how it struck me, and so forciblythat I turned to look over my shoulder, expecting to find thereason there. And it was."
"That reason--?"
"Was the entrance of the Italian, who came just behind me. I amcertain of this; he almost told me so himself, not in words, butthe mistakable leer he gave her in reply. It was wicked, sardonic,devilish, and proved beyond doubt that there was some secret, someguilty secret perhaps, between them."
"And was that all?" cried both the Judge and M. Flocon in abreath, leaning forward in their eagerness to hear more.
"For the moment, yes. But I was made so interested, so suspiciousby this, that I watched the Italian closely, awaiting, expectingfurther developments. They were long in coming; indeed, I am onlyat 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 lookedround, and did not at first see our Italian. At last I discoveredhe had taken a back seat, through modesty perhaps, or to be out ofobservation--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 thebackground, rather out of the way, but I could see his eyesglittering in that far-off corner, and they were turned in ourdirection, always fixed upon the lady, you understand. She wasnext me, the whole time.
"Then, as you will remember, monsieur, you called us in one byone, 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 ti
me to timehis eyes wandered towards a table near which he sat, and which wasjust in the gangway or passage by which people must pass into yourpresence.
"There was some reason for this, I felt sure, although I did notunderstand it immediately.
"Presently I got at the hidden meaning There was a small piece ofpaper, rolled up or crumpled up into a ball, lying upon thistable, and the Italian wished, nay, was desperately anxious, tocall 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 significantlyand nodded very slightly, but still perceptibly, at the ball ofpaper.
"Well, gentlemen, I was now satisfied in my own mind that this