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"I have not been in my right mind for a month or more thanks to your deep plotting," I retorted sharply. "Further, I am telling the truth as I shall later on tell it before a court of law. I intend to solve the mystery of the death of Gabrielle Engledue." "Well I will not hinder you," he laughed grimly. "You mean that you will not assist me?"
At first my efforts were in vain, but at last I discovered what I sought, namely an entry that a young woman named Gabrielle Engledue, single, aged twenty-one, of unknown parentage, had died of heart trouble at No. 9 Stretton Street, Park Lane, on the night of November the Seventh, the body having been cremated five days later!
At last I could possess myself in patience no longer, and addressing the millionaire's butler, told him frankly that I was in search of information concerning the dark-haired young lady who had been guest up at the villa about three months ago. "Oh! I suppose you mean Miss Thurston the young American lady, don't you? But she's fair-haired!" "The lady I mean is named Engledue," I replied. "Oh!
I know a Gabrielle Gabrielle Tennison an old schoolfellow of mine." "A tall, dark-haired girl?" "Yes, she is rather tall, and dark-haired." "Isn't her real name Engledue?" I asked quickly. "Not to my knowledge." "Is she not Mr. De Gex's niece?" "He has no niece, has he? except, of course, Lady Shalford, whom I know quite well." "Where is Gabrielle Tennison?" "In London I believe."
"But all this is most bewildering," she exclaimed with a nervous little laugh. "Why should I be in any personal peril?" "Because you know something to the detriment of that wealthy and somewhat eccentric man," I replied. "Pardon me if I put another question to you. Are you acquainted with a girl named Gabrielle Engledue?" "Gabrielle Engledue?" she repeated. "No, I have never heard the name.
I mentioned that I had met him in London, and then asked in curiosity: "Do you happen to know anything of his niece, a tall, very handsome, dark-haired girl, Miss Engledue?" For a moment he reflected. Then he said: "I recollect when up at the villa just before he went to London that was about three months ago seeing a tall, dark-haired young lady.
That I had been the victim of some very carefully prepared and subtle plot was apparent, and it had become my own affair to investigate it and bring to justice those who were responsible for the poor girl's death. Time after time I questioned the caretaker regarding the existence of the millionaire's niece, Miss Engledue, but it was plain to me that he had no knowledge of any such person.
"The drug orosin in small doses destroys the memory; in large doses it produces an effect of death, and in still larger ones like that administered to your friend the Anglo-Spanish girl Miss Engledue causes instant death, with no symptoms that the post-mortem can distinguish other than the natural cause of sudden heart failure."
Henderson, the master's secretary, would know, of course." The point at issue now was whether the young American girl, who had been the millionaire's guest at the villa, and Gabrielle Engledue were actually one and the same person. If they were, then I had made one step towards the solution of the enigma. I confess to utter bewilderment. My brain was still confused.
That a girl named Gabrielle Engledue whoever she might have been had died, and that I had forged a certificate showing the cause of death were hard, solid facts. But the mystery of it all was complete.
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