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Updated: June 21, 2025
"It ain't that though I never saw a murdered man before." "What?" demanded Grady, sharply. "Didn't you see that fellow this afternoon?" "That was different," Rogers moaned. "I didn't know him. Besides, I thought he'd killed himself. We all thought so." "And you don't think Vantine did?" "I know he didn't," and Rogers's voice rose to a shrill scream. "It was that woman done it! Damn her!
Of course Vantine had been merely jesting when he named that limit. The cabinet could be bought for a tenth of it, at the most. And, still smiling, I left the cab, paid the driver, and mounted to my rooms. It was about eight o'clock that evening that Godfrey tapped at my door, and when I let him in, I could tell by the way his eyes were shining that he had some news. "I can't stay long," he said.
"Three," and Pigot checked them off upon his fingers. "First the man who gave his name as d'Aurelle, but who was really a blackmailer named Drouet; second, M. Vantine, the connoisseur; and third, the creature Morel. Of these, the only one that really matters is M. Vantine; his death was most unfortunate, and I am sure that Crochard regrets it exceedingly.
That, of course, it would be impossible to do; the last barrier to the commercial invasion of the Avenue would be removed; that heroic rear-guard of the old order of things would be destroyed; in a year or two, a monster of steel and stone would rise on the spot where three generations of Vantines had lived their lives; and the collection, so unified and coherent, to which the last Vantine had devoted his life, would be merged and lost in the vast collections of the museum.
But if anybody can see through it, Jim Godfrey can." Vantine seemed deeply perturbed. He took a turn or two up and down the room, then stopped in front of me and looked me earnestly in the eye. "Tell me, Lester," he said, "do you believe that theory of Godfrey's that that insignificant wound on the hand caused death?" "It seems absurd, doesn't it?
But even if we discover the identity of Théophile d'Aurelle, it won't help us any." "Why not?" I demanded. "Because it is evident that that isn't his name." "Go ahead and tell me, Godfrey," I said, as he looked at me, smiling. "I don't see it." "Why, it's plain enough. He had five cards in his pocket, no two alike. The sixth, selected probably at random, he had sent up to Vantine."
But no policeman interfered, and five minutes later we drew up before the Vantine place. Parks must have been on the front steps looking for me, for he came running down them almost before the car had stopped. I caught a glimpse of his face under the street lights, as I thrust a bill into the driver's hand, and it fairly startled me. "Is it you, Mr. Lester?" he gasped.
Godfrey's theory held together perfectly, so far as I could see, but it led nowhere. How had Drouet and Vantine been killed? Why had they been killed? What was the secret of the cabinet? In a word, what was all this mystery about? Not one of these questions could I answer; and the solutions I guessed at seemed so absurd that I dismissed them in disgust.
I decided that, at the first moment, I would hasten to this house; I would explain the matter to M. Vantine, I would persuade him to restore to me the letters, with which I would fly to madame. I knew, also, that I could rely upon her gratitude," added the girl. "After all, one must provide for oneself." She paused and glanced around the room, smiling at the interest in our faces.
There is a legend, you know, that the cabinet was made for Madame de Montespan." She was talking more freely now; evidently a great load had been lifted from her perhaps I did not guess how great! "Mr. Vantine suspected as much," I said. "He was a connoisseur of furniture, and there was something about this cabinet which told him it had belonged to the Montespan.
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