United States or British Indian Ocean Territory ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
With Gabrielle I had been a fellow-victim of a deeply laid and most foul plot. That I had been purposely marked down with the aid of De Gex's accomplice and sycophant, Gaston Suzor, was made more than plain as I pursued my inquiries.
"At De Gex's instigation? impossible!" "De Gex was the only person to profit by the Baron's death," I pointed out. "He owed a large sum to the Baron over a financial deal, and by the latter's death, and the destruction of certain papers, he now escapes payment." "But you surely do not allege that Mr.
De Gex is in Italy, sir." "Oh! When did he leave town?" "About a month ago, sir," the man answered. "You are, I suppose, the caretaker?" I asked. "Now, I wonder if you will do me a very great favour. You may think me a thief or a burglar," I laughed, "but the fact is I have a great desire to see Mr. De Gex's house. I've heard so much about its beauties.
De Gex's dark, sinister, half-Oriental countenance haunted me in my dreams. True, he was a man who swayed the finances of Europe, suave, smiling, and with an extremely polished and refined exterior. But why Suzor had purposely become acquainted with me, and why I had afterwards been enticed into that house of tragedy were, in themselves, two points, the motive of which I failed to grasp.
Oswald De Gex's denials were, in themselves, only thin, and yet they were all very clever and carefully prepared. The story of how his wife had left his little son in Westbourne Grove to be discovered by the police was no doubt well thought out. De Gex and his wife were actually on most affectionate terms, hence the tale he had told had been purposely concocted, in order to mislead me.
And Gabrielle, I could only surmise, was the girl I had seen stark and dead in that handsome room in Stretton Street. That night of watchfulness had borne fruit. I had learnt from De Gex's own lips that another deep and subtle trap was to be laid for me a trap baited with the tragic-faced girl herself.
Again, who was the pretty, dark-haired girl who had first uttered those hysterical screams, and then, while fully dressed, had died upon Mrs. De Gex's bed? Further, if the mysterious dead girl had been niece of the millionaire surely my friend the caretaker would have known her? I confess that I now became more bewildered than ever.
One night, after it had grown dark, I sauntered along Park Lane, as was my habit, and having turned into Stretton Street noticed a rather shabbily dressed man, evidently a foreigner, descending the steps from De Gex's door. He turned in my direction, and we came face to face. In an instant I recognized him as the Spaniard, Mateo Sanz!
When you made those curious allegations against Monsieur De Gex I confess that I laughed them to scorn, but I have to-day learned several facts which put an entirely fresh complexion upon the present circumstances. Last night Mateo Sanz visited De Gex again. The financier gave a musical evening, but after the departure of all the guests, Sanz called and was at once admitted to De Gex's library."
I had heard of cocaine, of opium, and of other drugs, and it occurred to me that I might be under the influence of one or the other of them. Yet the idea was absurd. I was Mr. De Gex's guest, and I could only suppose that my sudden seizure was due to natural causes to some complication of a mental nature which I had never suspected.
Word Of The Day