And so am I, Hugh said. I have a strong reason to be.
Cannot you tell me that reason? inquired the officer of the Surete, still looking at him very shrewdly. Why fence with me?
Henfrey hesitated. Then he replied:
It is a purely personal matter.
And yet, you have said that you were not acquainted with Mademoiselle! remarked Ogier suspiciously.
That is quite true. The first time I have spoken to her was this evening, a few minutes before the attempt was made upon her life.
Then your theory is that while you stood in conversation with her somebody crept along the veranda and shot hereh?
Yes.
Ogier smiled sarcastically, and turning to his colleague, ordered him to search the room. The inspector evidently suspected the young Englishman of having shot Mademoiselle, and the search was in order to try and discover the weapon.
Meanwhile the brown-bearded officer called the Italian manservant, who gave his name as Giulio Cataldi, and who stated that he had been in Mademoiselle Ferads service a little over five years.
Have you ever seen this Englishman before? Ogier asked, indicating Hugh.
Never, until to-night, msieur, was the reply. He called about twenty minutes after Mademoiselles return from the Rooms.
Has Mademoiselle quarrelled with anybody of late?
Not to my knowledge, msieur. She is of a very quiet and even disposition.
Is there anyone you know who might possess a motive to shoot her? asked Ogier. The crime has not been committed with a motive of robbery, but either out of jealousy or revenge.
I know of nobody, declared the highly respectable Italian, whose moustache was tinged with grey. He shrugged his shoulders and showed his palms as he spoke.
Mademoiselle arrived here two months ago, I believe? queried the police official.
Yes, msieur. She spent the autumn in Paris, and during the summer she was at Deauville. She also went to London for a brief time, I believe.
Did she ever live in London? asked Hugh eagerly, interrupting Ogiers interrogation.
Yesonce. She had a furnished house on the Cromwell Road for about six months.
How long ago? asked Henfrey.
Please allow me to make my inquiries, monsieur! exclaimed the detective angrily.
But the question I ask is of greatest importance to me in my own inquiries, Hugh persisted.
I am here to discover the identity of Mademoiselles assailant, Ogier asserted. And I will not brook your interference.
Mademoiselle has been shot, and it is for you to discover who fired at her, snapped the young Englishman. I consider that I have just as much right to put a question to this man as you have, that ishe added with sarcasmthat is, of course, if you dont suspect him of shooting his mistress.
Well, I certainly do not suspect that, the Frenchman said. But, to tell you candidly, your story of the affair strikes me as a very improbable one.
Ah! laughed Hugh, I thought so! You suspect meeh? Very well. Where is the weapon?
Perhaps you have hidden it, suggested the other meaningly. We shall, no doubt, find it somewhere.
I hope you will, and that will lead to the arrest of the guilty person, Hugh laughed. Then he was about to put further questions to the man Cataldi when Doctor Leneveu entered the room.
How is she? demanded Hugh breathlessly.
The countenance of the fussy little doctor fell.
Monsieur, he said in a low earnest voice, I much fear that Mademoiselle will not recover. My colleague Duponteil concurs with that view. We have done our best, but neither of us entertain any hope that she will live! Then turning to Ogier, the doctor exclaimed: This is an amazing affairespecially in face of what is whispered concerning the unfortunate lady. What do you make of it?
The officer of the Surete knit his brows, and with frankness replied:
At present I am entirely mystifiedentirely mystified!
FOURTH CHAPTER
WHAT THE DOSSIER CONTAINED
Walter Brock was awakened at four oclock that morning by Hugh touching him upon the shoulder.
He started up in bed and staring at his friends pale, haggard face exclaimed:
Good Heavens!why, whats the matter?
Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo has been shot! the other replied in a hard voice.
Shot! gasped Brock, startled. What do you mean?
Briefly Hugh who had only just entered the hotel, explained the curious circumstanceshow, just at the moment she had been about to reveal the secret of his fathers death she was shot.
Most extraordinary! declared his friend. Surely, we have not been followed here by someone who is determined to prevent you from knowing the truth!
It seems much like it, Walter, replied the younger man very seriously. There must be some strong motive or no person would dare to shoot her right before my eyes.
Agreed. Somebody who is concerned in your fathers death has adopted this desperate measure in order to prevent Mademoiselle from telling you the truth.
Thats exactly my opinion, my dear Walter. If it was a crime for gain, or through motives of either jealousy or revenge, Mademoiselle would certainly have been attacked on her way home. The road is quite deserted towards the crest of the hill.
What do the police say?
They do not appear to trouble to track Mademoiselles assailant. They say they will wait until daylight before searching for footprints on the gravel outside.
Ah! They are not very fond of making arrests within the Principality. Its such a bad advertisement for the Rooms. The Administration like to show a clean sheet as regards serious crime. Our friends here leave it to the French or Italian police to deal with the criminals so that the Principality shall prove itself the most honest State in Europe, Brock said.
The police, I believe, suspect me of shooting her, said Hugh bluntly.
Thats very awkward. Why?
Wellthey dont know the true reason I went to see her, or they would never believe me to be guilty of a crime so much against my own interests.
Brock, who was still sitting up in bed in his pale blue silk pyjamas, reflected a few moments.
Well, Hugh, he said at last, after all it is only natural that they should believe that you had a hand in the matter. Even though she told you the truth, it is quite within reason that you should have suddenly become incensed against her for the part she must have played in your fathers mysterious death, and in a frenzy of anger you shot her.
Hugh drew a long breath, and his eyebrows narrowed.
By Jove! I had never regarded it in that light before! he gasped. But what about the weapon?
You might easily have hidden it before the arrival of the police. You admit that you went out on the veranda. Therefore if they do chance to find the weapon in the garden then their suspicions will, no doubt, be considerably increased. Its a pity, old man, that you didnt make a clean breast of the motive of your visit.
I now see my horrible mistake, Henfrey admitted. I thought myself wise to preserve silence, to know nothing, and now I see quite plainly that I have only brought suspicion unduly upon myself. The police, however, know Yvonne Ferad to be a somewhat mysterious person.
Which renders the situation only worse, Brock said. Then, after a pause, he added: Now that you have declined to tell the police why you visited the Villa Amette and have, in a way, defied them, it will be best to maintain that attitude. Tell them nothing, no matter what happens.