第52章

”WillyoukindlyseethatMrs。Heronhasthisnote?””MadameHeronleftto-day，Monsieur——suddenly，aboutthreeo’clock。Therewasillnessinherfamily。”

Soamescompressedhislips。”Oh！”hesaid；”doyouknowheraddress?””Non，Monsieur。England，Ithink。”

Soamesputthenotebackintohispocketandwentout。Hehailedanopenhorse-cabwhichwaspassing。”Drivemeanywhere！”

Theman，who，obviously，didnotunderstand，smiled，andwavedhiswhip。AndSoameswasbornealonginthatlittleyellow-wheeledVictoriaalloverstar-shapedParis，withhereandthereapause，andthequestion，”C’estparici，Monsieur?””No，goon，”tillthemangaveitupindespair，andtheyellow-wheeledchariotcontinuedtorollbetweenthetall，flat-frontedshutteredhousesandplane-

treeavenues——alittleFlyingDutchmanofacab。

’Likemylife，’thoughtSoames，’withoutobject，onandon！’

CHAPTERII

INTHEWEB

SoamesreturnedtoEnglandthefollowingday，andonthethirdmorningreceivedavisitfromMr。Polteed，whoworeaflowerandcarriedabrownbillycockhat。Soamesmotionedhimtoaseat。”Thenewsfromthewarisnotsobad，isit?”saidMr。Polteed。”I

hopeIseeyouwell，sir。””Thanks！quite。”

Mr。Polteedleanedforward，smiled，openedhishand，lookedintoit，andsaidsoftly：”Ithinkwe’vedoneyourbusinessforyouatlast。””What?”ejaculatedSoames。”NineteenreportsquitesuddenlywhatIthinkweshallbejustifiedincallingconclusiveevidence，”andMr。Polteedpaused。”Well?””Onthe10thinstant，afterwitnessinganinterviewbetween17andaparty，earlierintheday，19cansweartohavingseenhimcomingoutofherbedroominthehotelaboutteno’clockintheevening。

Withalittlecareinthegivingoftheevidencethatwillbeenough，especiallyas17hasleftParis——nodoubtwiththepartyinquestion。Infact，theybothslippedoff，andwehaven’tgotontothemagain，yet；butweshall——weshall。She’sworkedhardunderverydifficultcircumstances，andI’mgladshe’sbroughtitoffatlast。”Mr。Polteedtookoutacigarette，tappeditsendagainstthetable，lookedatSoames，andputitback。Theexpressiononhisclient’sfacewasnotencouraging。”Whoisthisnewperson?”saidSoamesabruptly。”Thatwedon’tknow。She’llsweartothefact，andshe’sgothisappearancepat。”

Mr。Polteedtookoutaletter，andbeganreading：”’Middle-aged，mediumheight，bluedittoesinafternoon，eveningdressatnight，pale，darkhair，smalld

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节