At The Villa Rose

"Yes," said Mr. Ricardo.

"Yes; but there was also another question. Suppose that Mlle.

Celie was, after all, the victim, not the accomplice; suppose she

had been flung tied upon the sofa; suppose that somehow the

imprint of her shoes upon the ground had been made, and that she

had afterwards been carried away, so that the maid might be

cleared of all complicity--in that case it became intelligible why

the other footprints were scored out and hers left. The

presumption of guilt would fall upon her. There would be proof

that she ran hurriedly from the room and sprang into a motor-car

of her own free will. But, again, if that theory were true, then

Helene Vauquier was the accomplice and not Mlle. Celie."

"I follow that."

"Then I found an interesting piece of evidence with regard to the

strange woman who came: I picked up a long red hair--a very

important piece of evidence about which I thought it best to say

nothing at all. It was not Mlle. Celie's hair, which is fair; nor

Vauquier's, which is black; nor Mme. Dauvray's, which is dyed

brown; nor the charwoman's, which is grey. It was, therefore, the

visitor's. Well, we went upstairs to Mile. Celie's room."

"Yes," said Mr. Ricardo eagerly. "We are coming to the pot of

cream."

"In that room we learnt that Helene Vauquier, at her own request,

had already paid it a visit. It is true the Commissaire said that

he had kept his eye on her the whole time. But none the less from

the window he saw me coming down the road, and that he could not

have done, as I made sure, unless he had turned his back upon

Vauquier and leaned out of the window. Now at the time I had an

open mind about Vauquier. On the whole I was inclined to think she

had no share in the affair. But either she or Mlle. Celie had, and

perhaps both. But one of them--yes. That was sure. Therefore I

asked what drawers she touched after the Commissaire had leaned

out of the window. For if she had any motive in wishing to visit

the room she would have satisfied it when the Commissaire's back

was turned. He pointed to a drawer, and I took out a dress and

shook it, thinking that she may have wished to hide something. But

nothing fell out. On the other hand, however, I saw some quite

fresh grease-marks, made by fingers, and the marks were wet. I

began to ask myself how it was that Helene Vauquier, who had just

been helped to dress by the nurse, had grease upon her fingers.

Then I looked at a drawer which she had examined first of all.

There were no grease-marks on the clothes she had turned over

before the Commissaire leaned out of the window. Therefore it

followed that during the few seconds when he was watching me she

had touched grease. I looked about the room, and there on the

dressing-table close by the chest of drawers was a pot of cold

cream. That was the grease Helene Vauquier had touched. And why--

if not to hide some small thing in it which, firstly, she dared

not keep in her own room; which, secondly, she wished to hide in

the room of Mlle. Celie; and which, thirdly, she had not had an

opportunity to hide before? Now bear those three conditions in

mind, and tell me what the small thing was."