At The Villa Rose

This is the story as Mr. Ricardo wrote it out from the statement

of Celia herself and the confession of Adele Rossignol.

Obscurities which had puzzled him were made clear. But he was

still unaware how Hanaud had worked out the solution.

"You promised me that you would explain," he said, when they were

both together after the trial was over at Aix. The two men had

just finished luncheon at the Cercle and were sitting over their

coffee. Hanaud lighted a cigar.

"There were difficulties, of course," he said; "the crime was so

carefully planned. The little details, such as the footprints, the

absence of any mud from the girl's shoes in the carriage of the

motor-car, the dinner at Annecy, the purchase of the cord, the

want of any sign of a struggle in the little salon, were all

carefully thought out. Had not one little accident happened, and

one little mistake been made in consequence, I doubt if we should

have laid our hands upon one of the gang. We might have suspected

Wethermill; we should hardly have secured him, and we should very

likely never have known of the Tace family. That mistake was, as

you no doubt are fully aware--"

"The failure of Wethermill to discover Mme. Dauvray's jewels,"

said Ricardo at once.

"No, my friend," answered Hanaud. "That made them keep Mlle. Celie

alive. It enabled us to save her when we had discovered the

whereabouts of the gang. It did not help us very much to lay our

hands upon them. No; the little accident which happened was the

entrance of our friend Perrichet into the garden while the

murderers were still in the room. Imagine that scene, M. Ricardo.

The rage of the murderers at their inability to discover the

plunder for which they had risked their necks, the old woman

crumpled up on the floor against the wall, the girl writing

laboriously with fettered arms 'I do not know' under threats of

torture, and then in the stillness of the night the clear, tiny

click of the gate and the measured, relentless footsteps. No

wonder they were terrified in that dark room. What would be their

one thought? Why, to get away--to come back perhaps later, when

Mlle. Celie should have told them what, by the way, she did not

know, but in any case to get away now. So they made their little

mistake, and in their hurry they left the light burning in the

room of Helene Vauquier, and the murder was discovered seven hours

too soon for them."

"Seven hours!" said Mr. Ricardo.

"Yes. The household did not rise early. It was not until seven

that the charwoman came. It was she who was meant to discover the

crime. By that time the motor-car would have been back three hours

ago in its garage. Servettaz, the chauffeur, would have returned

from Chambery some time in the morning, he would have cleaned the

car, he would have noticed that there was very little petrol in

the tank, as there had been when he had left it on the day before.

He would not have noticed that some of his many tins which had

been full yesterday were empty to-day. We should not have

discovered that about four in the morning the car was close to the

Villa Rose and that it had travelled, between midnight and five in

the morning, a hundred and fifty kilometres."