Detective and mystery stories; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction; Police -- England -- Fiction
The Inspector lit another cigar, as he continued his train of
thought. If the motive was what he suspected, who would be a likely
person to feel jealousy in reference to Madame? A former lover, he
thought. So far they knew of none, and Burnley took a mental note
that inquiries must be made to ascertain if such existed. Failing a
former lover, the husband immediately came into his mind, and here he
seemed on firmer ground. If Madame had had an understanding with
Felix, and Boirac had come to know of it, there was the motive at
once. Jealousy was what one would naturally expect Boirac to feel
under such circumstances. There was no doubt that, so far as the
facts had as yet come to light, Boirac’s guilt was a possibility they
must not overlook.
The Inspector then turned his thoughts to a general review of the
whole case. He was a great believer in getting things on paper.
Taking out his notebook, he proceeded to make a list of the facts so
far as they were known, in the order of their occurrence,
irrespective of when they were discovered.
First of all was the dinner party at M. Boirac’s, which took place on
Saturday evening, the 27th of March. At this Felix was present, and,
when Boirac was called away to his works, he remained behind, alone
with Madame Boirac, after the other guests had left. He was alone
with her from 11.00 p.m. till at least 11.30, on the evidence of
François. About one in the morning, François heard the front door
close, and, coming down, found that both Felix and Madame had
disappeared. Madame had changed her shoes and taken a coat and hat.
On Boirac’s return, a few minutes later, he found a note from his
wife stating that she had eloped with Felix. Felix was believed to
have gone to London next day, this having been stated by the manager
of the Hotel Continental, as well as by Felix to his friend Martin
outside the house when Constable Walker was listening in the lane. On
that Sunday or the Monday following, a letter, apparently written by
Felix, was posted in London. It contained an order on Messrs.
Dupierre to send a certain group of statuary to that city. This
letter was received by the firm on Tuesday. On the same day, Tuesday,
the statue was packed in a cask and despatched to London via Havre
and Southampton. It reached Waterloo on the following morning, and
was removed from there by a man who claimed to be Felix, and probably
was. The next morning, Thursday, a similar cask was despatched from
Charing Cross to the Gare du Nord in Paris, being met by a man giving
his name as Jaques de Belleville, but who was probably Felix. The
same evening, some fifty minutes later, a similar cask was delivered
at the goods station of the State Railway in the rue Cardinet, for
despatch to London via Rouen and long sea. Next day, Friday, Felix
stated he received a typewritten letter purporting to be from Le
Gautier, telling about the lottery and the bet, stating the cask was
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account