speedily, withintwenty-four hours,--to-day, indeed,--or I will break you like astick, and send you into the gutter. Of course, such a consummateass as you have proved yourself would not think of searching therestaurant or the immediate neighbourhood, or of making inquiriesas 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, avictim to circumstances, still I believe I know my duty. Yes, I madeinquiries, and, what is more, I heard of him."
"Where? how?" asked the Chief, gruffly, but obviously muchinterested.
"He never spoke to the manager, but walked out and let the changego. It was a note for a hundred _lire_, a hundred francs, andthe 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 thethreshold he called the first cab and was driving away, but he wasstopped--"
"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 passon, to leave her, she would not consent, then they both got intothe 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 wasa 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 andslapping his thigh in exuberant glee. "The maid! the missingmaid!"
CHAPTER XIV
The joy of the Chief of Detectives at having thus come, as hesupposed, upon the track of the missing maid, Hortense Petitpre,was somewhat dashed by the doubts freely expressed by the Judge asto the result of any search. Since Block's return, M. Beaumont leHardi had developed strong symptoms of discontent and disapprovalat his colleague's proceedings.
"But if it was this Hortense Petitpre how did she get there, bythe bridge Henri Quatre, when we thought to find her somewheredown the line? It cannot be the same woman."
"I beg your pardon, gentlemen," interposed Block. "May I say oneword? I believe I can supply some interesting information aboutHortense Petitpre. I understand that some one like her was seenhere 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 howmuch 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, dressedentirely in black, who, according to her account, had arrived at10.30 by the slow local train from Dijon.
"_ Fichtre!_" said the Chief, angrily; "and this is the first wehave heard of it."
"Monsieur was much occupied at the time, and, indeed, then we hadnot heard of your inquiry."
"I notified the station-master quite early, two or three hourssince, about 9 A.M. This is most exasperating!"
"Instructions to look out for this woman have only just reachedus, 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 hedid not feel. "Who saw her?"
"I, monsieur. I spoke to her myself. She was on the outside of thestation, alone, unprotected, in a state of agitation and alarm. Iwent up and offered my services. Then she told me she had comefrom Dijon, that friends who were to have met her had notappeared. I suggested that I should put her into a cab and sendher 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 sheheard 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 madepublic."
"It was in the air, monsieur. There was a general impression thatsomething had happened. That was to be seen on every face, in thewhispered talk, the movement to and fro of the police and theguards."
"Did she speak of it, or refer to it?"
"Only to ask if the murderer was known; whether the passengers hadbeen detained; whether there was any inquiry in progress; andthen--"
"What then?"
"This gentleman," pointing to Block, "came out, accompanied byanother. They passed pretty close to us, and I noticed that thelady slipped quickly on one side."
"She recognized her confederate, of course, but did not wish to beseen just then. Did he, the person with Block here, see her?"
"Hardly, I think; it was all so quick, and they were gone, in aminute, to the cab-stand."
"What did your woman do?"
"She seemed to have changed her mind all at once, and declared shewould not wait for her friends. Now she was in quite a hurry togo."
"Of course! and left you like a fool planted there. I suppose shetook 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 shortpause, looking at his colleagues. "At least it confirms our ideas,and brings us to certain definite conclusions. We must lay handson these two. Their guilt is all but established. Their own actscondemn them. They must be arrested without a moment's delay."
"If you can find them!" suggested the Judge, with a veryperceptible sneer.
"That we shall certainly do. Trust to Block, who is very nearlyconcerned. His future depends on his success. You quite understandthat, my man?"
Block made a gesture half-deprecating, half-confident.
"I do not despair, gentlemen; and if I might make so bold, sir, Iwill ask you to assist? If you would give orders direct from thePrefecture to make the round of the cab-stands, to ask of all theagents in charge the information we need? Before night we shallhave heard from the cabman who drove them what became of thiscouple, and so get our birds themselves, or a point of freshdeparture."
"And you, Block, where shall you go?"
"Where I left him, or rather where he left me," replied theinspector, with an attempt at wit, which fell quite flat, beingextinguished by a frigid look from the Judge.
"Go," said M. Flocon, briefly and severely, to his subordinate;"and remember that you have now to justify your retention on theforce."
Then, turning to M. Beaumont le Hardi, the Chief went onpleasantly:
"Well, M. le Juge, it promises, I think; it is all fairlysatisfactory, eh?"
"I am sorry I cannot agree with you," replied the Judge, harshly."On the contrary, I consider that we--or more exactly you, forneither I nor M. Garraud accept any share in it--you have so farfailed, and miserably."
"Your pardon, M. le Juge, you are too severe," protested M.Flocon, quite humbly.
"Well! Look at it from all points of view. What have we got? Whathave 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 ofcertain individuals."
"Whom you have allowed to slip through your fingers."
"Ah, not so, M. le Juge! We have one under surveillance. My manGalipaud is there at the hotel watching the Countess."
"Do not talk to me of your men, M. Flocon," angrily interposed theJudge. "One of them has given us a touch of his quality. Whyshould not the other be equally foolish? I quite expect to hearthat 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. Flocon.
"Well, that will be something, yet no
t much. Yes, she is only one,and not to my mind the most criminal. We do not know as yet theexact 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, perhapsinvolved, how or why we cannot know, but possibly by fortuitouscircumstances that put an unavoidable pressure upon her; aconsenting party, but under protest. That is my view of the lady."
M. Flocon 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 yourpresent