‘I should have been very pleased, monsieur, to tell you all I knew without any payment, had I known anything to tell. But I am afraid I don’t.’ ‘I think, mademoiselle, you can help us if you will. May I ask you a few questions?’ ‘Certainly.’ ‘The first is, can you describe the machine you used prior to the purchase of the new one?’ ‘Yes, it was a No. 7 Remington.’ ‘I did not mean that,’ answered La Touche, eagerly noting this information, ‘I knew that, of course, as it is this No. 7 machine I am inquiring about. What I meant to ask was, had it any special marks or peculiarities by which it could be distinguished from other No. 7’s?’ ‘Why, no, I don’t think so,’ the girl answered thoughtfully. ‘And yet there were. The letter S on the S-key had got twisted round to the right and there were three scratches here’--she indicated the side plate of an imaginary typewriter. ‘You would then be able to identify the machine if you saw it again?’ ‘Yes, I certainly should.’ ‘Now, mademoiselle, had it any other peculiarities--defective letters or alignment or anything of that kind?’ ‘No, nothing really bad. It was old and out of date, but quite good enough. M. Boirac, of course, thought otherwise, but I maintain my opinion.’ ‘What did M. Boirac say exactly?’ ‘He blamed me for it. But there wasn’t anything wrong, and if there had been it wasn’t my fault.’ ‘I am sure of that, mademoiselle. But perhaps you would tell me about it from the beginning?’ ‘There’s not much to tell. I had a big job to do--typing a long specification of a pumping plant for the Argentine, and when I had finished I left it as usual on M. Boirac’s desk. A few minutes later he sent for me and asked how I came to put such an untidy document before him. I didn’t see anything wrong with it and I asked him what he complained of. He pointed out some very small defects--principally uneven alignment, and one or two letters just a trifle blurred. You really would hardly have seen it. I said that wasn’t my fault, and that the machine wanted adjustment. He said I had been striking while the shift key was partly moved, but, M. Faneuil, I had been doing nothing of the kind. I told M. Boirac so, and he then apologised and said I must have a new machine. He telephoned there and then to the Remington people, and a No. 10 came that afternoon.’ ‘And what happened to the old No. 7?’ ‘The man that brought the new one took the old away.’ ‘And was that all that was said?’ ‘That was all, monsieur.’ ‘But, pardon me, I understood you left owing to some misunderstanding with M. Boirac?’ The girl shook her head.