The Rayner-Slade AmalgamationFletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)
General
The Rayner-Slade Amalgamation
Fletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)
Detective and mystery stories
As they got out of one cab at the police headquarters Celia Lennard
appeared in another. She made a little grimace as the two men
greeted her.
"Again!" she exclaimed, "What are we going to be treated to now? More old
women with vague stories, I suppose. What good is it at all? And when am
I going to hear something about my jewels?"
"You never know what you're going to hear when you visit these palatial
halls," answered Fullaway. "You may be going to have the biggest surprise
of your life, you know. They sent for you?"
"Rang me up in the middle of my breakfast," answered Celia. "Well--let's
find out what new sensation this is. Some extraordinary creature on view
again, of course."
The creature on view proved to be a little fat man, obviously French or
Swiss, who sat, his rotund figure tightly enveloped in a frock-coat, the
lapel of which was decorated with a bit of ribbon, on the edge of a chair
facing the chief's desk. He was a nervous, alert little man; his
carefully trimmed moustache and pointed beard quivered with excitement;
his dark eyes blazed. And at sight of the elegantly attired lady he
bounced out of his chair, swept his silk hat to the ground, and executed
a deep bow of the most extreme politeness.
"This," observed the chief, with a smile at his visitors, "is Monsieur
Aristide Bonnechose. M. Bonnechose believes that he can tell us
something. It is a supplement to what Mrs. Perrigo told us yesterday. It
relates, of course to the young man whom Mrs. Perrigo told us of--the
young man who led pugs in Kensington Gardens."
"The pogs of Madame, my spouse," said M. Bonnechose, with a bow and a
solemn expression. "Two pogs--Fifi and Chou-Chou."
"M. Bonnechose," continued the chief, regarding his company with yet
another smile, "is the proprietor of a--what is your establishment,
monsieur?"
"Cáfe-restaurant, monsieur," replied M. Bonnechose, promptly and
politely. "Small, but elegant. Of my name, monsieur--the Cafe Bonnechose,
Oxford Street. Established nine years--I succeeded to a former
proprietor, Monsieur Jules, on his lamented decease."
"I think M. Bonnechose had better tell us his history in his own
fashion," remarked the chief, looking around. "You are aware, Mr.
Allerdyke, and you, too, Mr. Fullaway, and so I suppose are you Miss
Lennard, that after hearing what Mrs. Perrigo had to tell us I put out a
bill asking for information about the young man Mrs. Perrigo described,
and the matter was also mentioned in last night's and this morning's
papers. M. Bonnechose read about it in his newspaper, and so he came here
at once. He tells me that he knew a young man who was good enough during
the early spring, to occasionally take out Madame Bonnechose's prize dogs
for an airing. That seems to have been the same man referred to by Mrs.
Perrigo. Now, M. Bonnechose, give us the details."
M. Bonnechose set down his tall, very Parisian hat on the edge of
the chief's desk, and proceeded to use his hands in conjunction with
his tongue.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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