The reason of his present visit to Paris was in order to interview the father of one of his adopted daughters, but the man had not kept the appointment, and by waiting from day to day in hope of finding him, he had exhausted his slender finances, and he knew that his patient wife was in a similar condition of penury at home.
He was certainly a strikingly ugly man. His forehead was broad and bulgy, and his face narrowed to the point of the beard. His head seemed too large, his arms too long and ungainly, while his face was deeply furrowed by long years at sea. His mouth, too, was wide and ugly and when he laughed he displayed an uneven row of teeth much discoloured by tobacco.
With folded arms, he was standing by the dead stranger, silently contemplating the white upturned face which showed distinctly in the fading twilight.
I wonder who he was? he exclaimed aloud. Why did he refuse his name, and why was he so particular to burn those papers? He was a queer stick poor fellow! I suppose they have inquests in France, and Ill get something as a witness.
And he pulled the sheet tenderly across to hide the lifeless visage.
But, he added, perhaps Ive rendered myself liable because I didnt call in a French doctor!
Then, suddenly arousing himself, he walked softly across to the stove and, spreading his handkerchief on the floor, raked out all the tinder into it. To his satisfaction he saw, as he had anticipated, that some of the papers, closely folded as they were, had only been burned at the edges.
One of them he opened, and found it covered with typewriting.
These will, no doubt, prove interesting, he remarked to himself as he gathered every particle up into the handkerchief, and very carefully folded it over to protect it.
The lid of an old cardboard box which he found under the bed he broke up, and placing one piece above the handkerchief and the other below, he put the whole into the breast-pocket of his shabby frock-coat.
The strangers bag he next examined. It was old, and covered with labels of first-class hotels many of them in cities in the Near East and the Levant. The contents were disappointing, only a couple of shirts marked with the initials P.H., several dirty collars, a cravat or two, and a safety razor, together with a few unimportant odds and ends.
The proprietor must have these, in lieu of his bill, I suppose, Diamond said. I wonder what P.H. stands for? He was a well-read man without a doubt. By Jove! he took his blow as bravely as any fellow Ive seen go under. With a heart like that, its a marvel that he lived so long. If I knew who his relatives were, Id wire to them providing I had the money, he added with a bitter smile.
Then he shrugged his shoulders, and after striking a match to reassure himself that nothing had been left inside the stove to betray the fact that papers had been burned there, he turned upon his heel and left the room.
Below, in his dingy little back room on the first floor, he saw the proprietor, and told him what had occurred.
The old man grunted in his armchair and ordered the greasy-looking valet-de-chambre to inform the police, but to first go and search the dead mans effects and ascertain if he had left any money.
Monsieur Blanc was penniless, like myself, Diamond said. Neither of us had eaten all day yesterday.
No money to pay his bill! croaked the old Frenchman, who looked more like a concierge than a hotel proprietor. And you are also without money? he asked glaring.
I regret that such is the truth, was Diamonds answer with much politeness. Has not msieur noticed in life that honest men are mostly poor? Thieves and rogues are usually in funds.
Then I must ask you to leave my hotel at once, said the old man testily.
The Doctor grinned, and bowed.
If that is msieurs decision, I can do nothing else but obey, was his polite answer.
You will leave your luggage, of course.
Msieur is quite welcome to all he finds, was the Doctors response, and with another bow he turned and strode out.
His plan had worked admirably. He had no desire to remain there in the present circumstances. To be ordered out was certainly better than to flee.
So he walked gaily down the stairs, and a few minutes later was strolling airily down the Rue Lafayette, in the direction of the Opera.
The hotel proprietor and the valet-de-chambre quickly searched the dead mans room, but beyond the bag and its contents found nothing. Afterwards they informed the police.
Meanwhile Raymond Diamond walked on, undecided how to act. He had already reached the Place de lOpera, now bright beneath its many electric lamps, before he had made up his mind. He would go once again in search of little Aggies father, the man who owed him money.
Therefore he turned into the narrow Rue des Petit-Champs, and half-way down entered a house, passed the concierge, and ascended to a flat on the second floor.
Fully twenty times he had called there before, but the place was shut, as its owner, an Englishman, was absent somewhere in the Midi. When, however, he rang, he heard movement within.
His heart leapt for joy, for when the door opened there stood Mr Mullet, a tall, thin, red-haired man with a long pale face and a reddish, bristly moustache, who, the moment he recognised his visitor, stretched forth his hand in welcome.
Come in, Doctor, he cried cheerily. I got back only this morning, and the concierge gave me your card. I expected, however, youd grown tired of waiting, and returned to England. Hows my little Aggie?
She grows a bonnie girl, Mr Mullet quite a bonnie girl, answered the ugly little man. Gets on wonderfully well at school. And Lady Gavin, at the Manor, takes quite an interest in her.
Thats right. Im glad to hear it very glad. Though Im a bit of a rover, Doctor, Im always thinking of the child you know. Why she must be nearly thirteen now.
Nearly. Its fully six years since I took her off your hands.
Fully.
And the two men sat down in the rather comfortable room of the tall, cadaverous-looking man, a mining engineer, whose adventures would have filled a volume.
David Mullet, or Red Mullet as his friends called him on account of the colour of his hair, offered the Doctor a good cigar from his case, poured out two glasses of brandy and soda, and after a chat took out two notes of a thousand francs from the pocket-book he carried and handed them to his visitor, receiving a receipt in return.
Ive been a long time paying, Im afraid, Doctor, laughed the man airily. But you know what kind of fellow I am! Sometimes Im flush of money, and at others devilish hard up.
Im hard up, or I wouldnt press for this.
My dear Doctor, its been owing for two years. And Im very glad to get out of your debt.
Well, Mr Mullet, Diamond said, eighty pounds is a lot to me just now. I havent had a square meal for days, and to tell the truth Ive just been ordered out of my hotel.
My dear fellow, thats happened to me dozens of times, laughed the other. I never feel sorry for the proprietor. I only regret that I cant give tips to the servants. I suppose youll go back home eh?
To-night, or by the first service in the morning.
By Jove, Id like to see my little Aggie. I wonder, exclaimed the man, I wonder if I could manage to get across?