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'Oh! from Gollipeck, with a cynical smile, 'I see; let us say acquaintances. 'Won't make any difference, replied Vandeloup, airily; 'I turned my acquaintances into friends long ago, and then borrowed money off them; result: my social circle is nil. Friends, went on M. Vandeloup, reflectively, 'are excellent as friends, but damnable as bankers.
Then, again, he argued that she was too fond of him ever to tell anything likely to injure him, even though he had put a rope round her neck. If he could have settled the whole affair by running away, he would have done so, but Gollipeck was still in Melbourne, and Gaston knew he could not leave the town without the terrible old man finding it out, and bringing him back.
'Ah, my dear Monsieur, he said, in his musical voice, holding out both hands, 'how pleased I am to see you. Dr Gollipeck gurgled pleasantly in his throat at this and laughed, that is, something apparently went wrong in his inside and a rasping noise came out of his mouth.
He must have been a very clever man to have escaped the French police. 'Ah, hum! said the doctor, rubbing his nose, 'very interesting indeed; strange case! 'Very, assented M. Vandeloup, as he arose to go, 'I must say good- bye now, doctor; but I am coming up to Ballarat on a visit shortly. 'Ah, hum! of course, replied Gollipeck, also rising, 'and we can have another talk over this book.
Fortunately, however, for Gaston, these two gentlemen never met, and Gollipeck came to the conclusion that he could see nothing to blame in Vandeloup's conduct, though he certainly mistrusted him, and determined mentally to keep an eye on his movements.
Wearied of the dull routine of the office work, Vandeloup was taking a walk in the meadows which surrounded the Pactolus, when he saw Dr Gollipeck shuffling along the dusty white road from the railway station. 'Good day, Monsieur le Medecin, said Vandeloup, gaily, as he came up to the old man; 'are you going to see our mutual friend?
He found in Vandeloup a congenial spirit, for the young Frenchman had a wonderful liking for the uncanny subject; but there was a difference in the aims of both men, Gollipeck being drawn to the study of poisons from a pure love of the subject, whereas Vandeloup wanted to find out the secrets of toxicology for his own ends, which were anything but disinterested.
In this case, however, thanks to Dr Gollipeck, who had seen the similarity of the symptoms between the post-mortem appearance of the stomach of Adele Blondet and the present case, the usual tests for conia were applied, and as they had been told by the Government analyst, the result was conia was found. So they could be quite certain that the deceased had died of poison that poison being conia.
'Why not? asked Vandeloup, still keeping his finger on the trigger. 'Because the pistol-shot would alarm the house, said Gollipeck, serenely, 'and if I was found dead, you would be arrested for my murder. If I was only wounded I could tell a few facts about M. Octave Braulard that would have an unpleasant influence on the life of M. Gaston Vandeloup.
'So I think the best thing he can do is to go to Melbourne, and see if he can get back to France. 'And you, M. Vandeloup? asked Dr Gollipeck, who had been listening to the young Frenchman's remarks with great interest; 'do you not wish to go to France? Vandeloup rose coolly from his chair, and, picking up his book and hat, turned to the doctor.
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