Part 45 (2/2)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
A CONTRETEMPS
The stout, round-faced Frenchman rose, and, bowing with his irritating politeness, answered--
”I wish to consult you, Monsieur Biddulph, upon a confidential matter concerning your wife.”
”What does my wife concern you, pray, sir?” I asked angrily.
”Ah! calm yourself, m'sieur,” he said suddenly, dropping into French; ”I am here as your friend.”
”I hardly believe that,” I replied incredulously. ”My friend cannot be the accomplice of my enemies. You are acquainted with Reckitt and with Pennington--the men implicated in the recent theft of the diamonds of the Archd.u.c.h.ess Marie Louise!”
He started and looked at me quickly.
”What do you know of that?” he inquired, with rather undue eagerness.
”I know more concerning you than you think,” was my firm reply. ”And I give you an alternative, Monsieur Guertin. Either you will reveal to me the whole truth concerning those men Reckitt and Forbes and my wife's connection with them, or I shall telephone to the police, and have you arrested as a member of the gang.”
”My dear monsieur,” he replied, with a good-humoured smile, ”I can't tell you facts of which I possess no knowledge. I am here to make inquiry of you--to----”
”To mislead me further!” I cried angrily. ”You and your friends may be extremely clever--you have succeeded in enticing my wife away from her home, and you expect to befool me further. Remember that I nearly lost my life in that grim house in Bayswater. Therefore at least I can secure the arrest of one member of the gang.”
”And you would arrest me--eh?” he asked, looking me straight in the face, suddenly growing serious.
”Yes, I intend to,” I replied, whipping out my revolver from my hip pocket.
”Put that thing away,” he urged. ”Be reasonable. What would you profit by arresting me?”
”You shall either speak--tell me the truth, or I will hand you over to the police. I have only to touch this bell”--and I raised my hand to the electric b.u.t.ton beside the fireplace--”and a telephone message will call a constable.”
”And you really would give me in charge--eh?” laughed my visitor.
”I certainly intend doing so,” I answered angrily.
”Well, before this is done, let us speak frankly for a few moments,”
suggested the Frenchman. ”You tell me that you nearly lost your life in some house in Bayswater. Where was that?”
”In Porchester Terrace. What is the use of affecting ignorance?”
”I do not affect ignorance,” he said, and I saw that a change had completely overspread his countenance. ”I only wish to know the extent of your knowledge of Reckitt and Forbes.”
”I have but little knowledge of your friends, I'm pleased to say,” was my quick rejoinder. ”Let us leave them out of the question. What I desire to know is the whereabouts of my wife.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders.
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