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Updated: May 13, 2025
To me, all this argued a man whose moral forces were undergoing a slow but certain deterioration; and with a man in Alfred Fluette's position, and with his responsibilities, the possibilities were manifold and ominous. His conscience still had a voice to raise in protest against meddling with his niece's heritage; but he remained deaf to the voice.
Here, now, I had two motives for the murder: Fluette's mad desire for the ruby and, since the ashes of old romance had been so ruthlessly stirred, the most powerful of all human motives jealousy. It was possible, too, that a third person had been in the house last night; but if so, one of the two men had lied.
Slowly the dull look died out in Alfred Fluette's eyes, and in spite of his distress, his face flushed darkly with anger. "The hound!" he muttered through his clenched teeth. "What a dupe I 've been. But," he added, with kindling interest, "where is the ruby, then?" "Ah, precisely. That's what I would like to know myself.
Fluette, confident that he was within a step of securing the stone, blamed me with being the cause of his disappointment." The fellow's demeanor angered me beyond endurance. "Burke," I cried heatedly, "do you think you can make me believe that a man of Alfred Fluette's calibre would purchase the Paternoster ruby from you, knowing that it was not yours to sell? Bah!" I was filled with disgust.
It is needless to dwell upon the scene in Alfred Fluette's study; I shall take up merely such details as constitute an integral part of this memoir, and hurry along. After Genevieve had led Belle away, Mr. Fluette quickly mastered himself. The bitter moment of the confession once passed, it seemed as if his mind had been relieved of a great burden, and he talked to me with comparative unreserve.
And, if I might judge by the consternation and anger reflected in the faces of his two auditors, his message was anything but welcome. That is to say, Alfred Fluette's strong features showed these emotions, while, as always, it was difficult to read what was going on behind Burke's impassive mask. Still it was pretty plain that the secretary was utterly at his wits'-end.
Swift?" Then she too rose; she passed round to her cousin's side of the table, drew a chair close up to her and sat down. She took Miss Fluette's hand into her own, and sought to draw her back into her seat, just as Maillot spoke up with a confidence and assurance for which I could not help but admire him. "Suspect me!" he cried amazedly, dashing the remnant of his cigarette into the fire.
"It is chiefly for Belle Fluette's sake, however," she pursued, "that I want to learn oh, everything about this dreadful affair all the little details. I want to enlist your sympathies for Royal; not against him." It was a relief when she grouped her desire for information into this vague generalization; I could see my way as long as she was not too specific.
He responded to this appeal with a slight gesture and a rather wistful smile; they reflected a certain hopelessness. "Swift," he bluntly asked me, "have you ever heard of that confounded ruby?" I told him that I was pretty well acquainted with its history; but did not tell him that I was cognizant of Alfred Fluette's association with it.
While the bids mounted, I was given ample satisfaction for the weight of whatever financial obligations I was incurring by Fluette's increasing worry and chagrin. He was like a pup that does n't know whether the bone is going into the soup-kettle or the garbage-can. I swore to have that bit of red glass if it took every cent that I could rake and scrape together and I had a few of them.
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