This is the housemaid's afternoon
out."
The coroner paused. Godfrey and Simmonds had both listened to this
interrogation, but neither had been idle. They had walked softly
about the room, had looked through a door opening into another room
beyond, had examined the fastenings of the windows, and had ended by
looking minutely over the carpet.
"What is the room yonder used for?" asked Godfrey, pointing to the
connecting door.
"It's a sort of store-room just now, sir," said Parks. "Mr. Vantine
is just back from Europe, and we've been unpacking in there some of
the things he bought while abroad."
"I guess that's all," said Goldberger, after a moment. "Send in Mr.
Vantine, please."
Parks went out, and Vantine came in a moment later. He corroborated
exactly the story told by Parks and myself, but he added one detail.
"Here is the man's card," he said, and held out a square of
pasteboard.
Goldberger took the card, glanced at it, and passed it on to
Simmonds.
"That don't tell us much," said the latter, and gave the card to
Godfrey. I looked over his shoulder and saw that it contained a
single engraved line:
M. THEOPHILE D'AURELLE
"Except that he's French, as Parks suggested," said Godfrey.
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