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"I am afraid," he said, "that I can be of no use to you no practical use, that is. I can only give you one little piece of advice." "Well, what is it?" Richard asked eagerly. "If you are in earnest," Hunterleys continued, "and I will do you the credit to believe that you are, you had better pack up your things, return to your yacht and take a cruise somewhere." "Take a cruise somewhere!"
Draconmeyer glanced at the hotel and back again at his companion. "In where?" he demanded. "In the hotel? I left Lady Hunterleys there a short time ago. I have been up to the bank since." "You don't know yet, then?" "Know what?" There was a momentary silence. Draconmeyer suddenly gripped his companion by the arm. "Go on," he insisted. "Tell me?" "It's all over!" Selingman exclaimed hoarsely.
"I saw the Commissioner of Police arrive in a great hurry." The man hesitated. It was obvious then that he was disturbed. He looked to the right and to the left. Finally, with a sigh of resignation, he seemed to make up his mind to tell the truth. "It is the English gentleman, Sir Henry Hunterleys," he whispered. "He has been found stabbed to death in his room." "Dead?"
I suppose you know everybody?" he added, warming up as he approached his subject. "On the contrary," Hunterleys answered, "I am almost a stranger here. I have been staying further down the coast." "Happen to know any one of the name of Grex?" Lane asked, with elaborate carelessness. Hunterleys made no immediate reply. He seemed to be considering the name.
"The thing is impossible," the Commissioner declared. "Beyond which it is ridiculous!" Monsieur Picard added. Hunterleys sat quite silent for a moment. "Monsieur the Commissioner," he said presently, "and Monsieur Picard, I recognise your point of view. Believe me that I appreciate it and that I am willing, to a certain extent, to acquiesce in it.
"I only hope that if he stays, we shall find the means to make him regret it!" Hunterleys stood for several minutes, watching his wife's play from a new point of view. She was certainly playing high and with continued ill-fortune. For the first time, too, he noticed symptoms which disturbed him.
"Monsieur the Commissioner is on the premises, without a doubt. I will instruct him of Monsieur Sir Henry's desire." "I shall be glad if you will do so at once," Hunterleys said firmly. "I will wait for him here." The manager made his escape and his relief was obvious. Hunterleys sat on the edge of the bed. "Do you know anything about this affair?" he asked the nearer of the two valets.
"Say, where are you off to, Sir Henry?" he inquired. Hunterleys laughed a little shortly. "Really, I scarcely know," he replied. "Back to London, if I am wise, I suppose." "Come into the Club," Richard begged. "I have just left," Hunterleys told him. "Besides, I hate the place." "Did you happen to notice whether Mr. Grex was in there?" Richard enquired. "I didn't see him," Hunterleys answered.
The manager shook his head. "Not a chance," he replied. "It was brought in, unfortunately, before I arrived. Young Parsons, who was the only one in the bank, explained that letters were never delivered to an order, and turned away to attend to some one else who was in a hurry. He simply remembers that it was a man, and that is all." "Then the document is useless to you," Hunterleys pointed out.
"You left London," he remarked tersely, "on December first. It is to-day February twentieth. Do you wish me to understand that you have been at Bordighera and San Remo all that time?" "How did you know when I left London?" Hunterleys demanded. Mr. Draconmeyer pursed his lips. "I heard of your departure from London entirely by accident," he said.
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