"Yes, here; at the post office--at the telephone exchange. Suppose that the man is in Aix, as he may well be; some time he will wish to send a letter, or a telegram, or a message over the telephone. That, I tell you, is our chance. But here is news for us." Hanaud pointed to a messenger who was walking towards them. The man handed Hanaud an envelope. "From M. le Commissaire," he said; and he saluted and retired. "From M. le Commissaire?" cried Ricardo excitedly. But before Hanaud could open the envelope Harry Wethermill laid a hand upon his sleeve. "Before we pass to something new, M. Hanaud," he said, "I should be very glad if you would tell me what made you shiver in the salon this morning. It has distressed me ever since. What was it that those two cushions had to tell you?" There was a note of anguish in his voice difficult to resist. But Hanaud resisted it. He shook his head. "Again," he said gravely, "I am to remind you that I am captain of the ship and do not show my observation." He tore open the envelope and sprang up from his seat. "Mme. Dauvray's motor-car has been found," he cried. "Let us go!" Hanaud called for the bill and paid it. The three men left the Villa des Fleurs together. CHAPTER IX MME. DAUVRAY'S MOTOR-CAR They got into a cab outside the door. Perrichet mounted the box, and the cab was driven along the upward-winding road past the Hotel Bernascon. A hundred yards beyond the hotel the cab stopped opposite to a villa. A hedge separated the garden of the villa from the road, and above the hedge rose a board with the words "To Let" upon it. At the gate a gendarme was standing, and just within the gate Ricardo saw Louis Besnard, the Commissaire, and Servettaz, Mme. Dauvray's chauffeur. "It is here," said Besnard, as the party descended from the cab, "in the coach-house of this empty villa." "Here?" cried Ricardo in amazement. The discovery upset all his theories. He had expected to hear that it had been found fifty leagues away; but here, within a couple of miles of the Villa Rose itself--the idea seemed absurd! Why take it away at all--unless it was taken away as a blind? That supposition found its way into Ricardo's mind, and gathered strength as he thought upon it; for Hanaud had seemed to lean to the belief that one of the murderers might be still in Aix. Indeed, a glance at him showed that he was not discomposed by their discovery. "When was it found?" Hanaud asked. "This morning. A gardener comes to the villa on two days a week to keep the grounds in order. Fortunately Wednesday is one of his days. Fortunately, too, there was rain yesterday evening. He noticed the tracks of the wheels which you can see on the gravel, and since the villa is empty he was surprised. He found the coach-house door forced and the motor-car inside it. When he went to his luncheon he brought the news of his discovery to the depot." The party followed the Commissaire along the drive to the coach-house.