Part 17 (1/2)

”You think he stole the Laws?” she asked.

Courtney sent a smoke cloud shooting upward and watched it fade.

”I think,” said he, ”that if Adolph didn't steal them, he knows who did; his lie can bear no other construction.”

”And his death?” the Archduke asked.

Courtney watched another smoke ring and made no reply.

”Come,” insisted Armand; ”answer.”

The other shook his head.

”I stop with the lie,” he said. ”Indeed, I can't get beyond it. The valet would have but one reason for stealing the Book-to sell it to-Some-one, who would have every reason to conceal or even to destroy it. Every logical inference points to this Some-one; and yet, for once, logic seems to be at fault.”

”You mean the Duke of Lotzen?” said the Princess.

Courtney smiled, but made no answer.

”Your pardon,” she said, ”but at least you can tell us why the logic is at fault.”

”Because,” said he, ”the actual facts are otherwise. As Armand knows, I like to play with mystery, and when I may help a friend I like it all the more. The logical solution of the matter, in view of the decree, is a knowing valet, and a ready buyer; yet the latter was not in Dornlitz, when the Book was stolen, nor has my most careful investigation disclosed any communication, by Adolph, with him or his friends. On the contrary, the evidence is absolutely conclusive against it; and hence acquits the Some-one of having had any hand in the theft.”

”You knew, then, of Adolph's death?” Armand asked.

”Yes-though not all the details as you related them.”

The Archduke smiled; there were very few details missed when Courtney started an investigation.

”Your argument, Richard,” he said, ”is based upon the hypothesis that Adolph is the thief, which appears most probable; yet did your examination suggest no other solution?”

”Absolutely none-and, more peculiar still, I was unable to find the slightest trace of the valet outside the Palace, between the time he left the Council and the discovery of his dead body behind the hedge-though you and Her Highness saw him in the library after the Council adjourned.”

”And that is the last time I ever saw him,” said Dehra.

”And more than that,” Armand added, ”it's the last time any one saw him in the Palace; I had that matter looked into yesterday. The Council rose about noon and afterward not a servant nor soldier so much as laid eyes on him.”

”Isn't there something particularly significant in the place where Adolph was found?” the Princess asked. ”Mightn't he have been killed in the library and then, from the window, the body dropped behind the hedge?”

Courtney's hand went to his imperial reflectively.

”A very reasonable and a very likely explanation,” he said; ”and the nature of the wound supports it; it was a noiseless a.s.sa.s.sination;-but, again, that eliminates the Some-one.”

”Very true,” said the Archduke; ”he left the Council before it adjourned, to return at once to town.”

”But did he return at once?” Dehra persisted. ”Mightn't he have remained and killed Adolph-some how, some way-I don't know, but mightn't he?”

Armand shook his head. ”I think not,” he said. ”I looked into that too, and there seems to be no doubt Lotzen was in Dornlitz before one o'clock; and every moment of his time, until Adolph was found, has been accounted for; so, even a.s.suming he didn't leave the Palace immediately, he would have had to kill the valet within half an hour after we saw him in the library; and that, under all the conditions, is utterly incredible.”