You say that he was found dead in a room at his house?"
"Yes, and death resulted from a small wound on the hand, into which
some very powerful poison had been injected."
"That is most curious. In what manner was such a wound made?"
"That we don't know. I had a theory...."
"Yes?" he questioned, his eyes gleaming with interest.
"A few hours previously, another man had been found in the same room,
killed in the same way."
"Another man?"
"A stranger who had called to see Mr. Vantine. My theory was that
both this stranger and Mr. Vantine had been killed while trying to
open a secret drawer in the Boule cabinet. Do you know anything of
the history of that cabinet, Monsieur Armand?"
"We believe it to have been made for Madame de Montespan by Monsieur
Boule himself," he answered. "It is the original of one now in the
Louvre which is known to have belonged to the Grand Louis."
"That was Mr. Vantine's belief," I said. "Why he should have arrived
at that conclusion, I don't know--"
"Mr. Vantine was a connoisseur," said M. Armand, quietly. "There are
certain indications which no connoisseur could mistake."
"It was his guess at the history of the cabinet," I explained, "which
gave me the basis for my theory.
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