At the Villa Rose | Page 6

broad-shouldered, with a full and almost heavy face. In his morning
suit at his breakfast-table he looked like a prosperous comedian.
He came forward with a smile of welcome, extending both his hands to
Mr. Ricardo.
"Ah, my good friend," he said, "it is pleasant to see you. And Mr.
Wethermill," he exclaimed, holding a hand out to the young inventor.
"You remember me, then?" said Wethermill gladly.
"It is my profession to remember people," said Hanaud, with a laugh.
"You were at that amusing dinner-party of Mr. Ricardo's in Grosvenor
Square."
"Monsieur," said Wethermill, "I have come to ask your help."
The note of appeal in his voice was loud. M. Hanaud drew up a chair
by the window and motioned to Wethermill to take it. He pointed to
another, with a bow of invitation to Mr. Ricardo.
"Let me hear," he said gravely.
"It is the murder of Mme. Dauvray," said Wethermill.
Hanaud started.
"And in what way, monsieur," he asked, "are you interested in the
murder of Mme. Dauvray?"
"Her companion," said Wethermill, "the young English girl--she is a
great friend of mine."
Hanaud's face grew stern. Then came a sparkle of anger in his eyes.
"And what do you wish me to do, monsieur?" he asked coldly.

"You are upon your holiday, M. Hanaud. I wish you--no, I implore
you," Wethermill cried, his voice ringing with passion, "to take up this
case, to discover the truth, to find out what has become of Celia."
Hanaud leaned back in his chair with his hands upon the arms. He did
not take his eyes from Harry Wethermill, but the anger died out of
them.
"Monsieur," he said, "I do not know what your procedure is in England.
But in France a detective does not take up a case or leave it alone
according to his pleasure. We are only servants. This affair is in the
hands of M. Fleuriot, the Juge d'lnstruction of Aix."
"But if you offered him your help it would be welcomed," cried
Wethermill. "And to me that would mean so much. There would be no
bungling. There would be no waste of time. Of that one would be sure."
Hanaud shook his head gently. His eyes were softened now by a look
of pity. Suddenly he stretched out a forefinger.
"You have, perhaps, a photograph of the young lady in that card- case
in your breast-pocket."
Wethermill flushed red, and, drawing out the card-case, handed the
portrait to Hanaud. Hanaud looked at it carefully for a few moments.
"It was taken lately, here?" he asked.
"Yes; for me," replied Wethermill quietly.
"And it is a good likeness?"
"Very."
"How long have you known this Mlle. Celie?" he asked.
Wethermill looked at Hanaud with a certain defiance.
"For a fortnight."

Hanaud raised his eyebrows.
"You met her here?"
"Yes."
"In the rooms, I suppose? Not at the house of one of your friends?"
"That is so," said Wethermill quietly. "A friend of mine who had met
her in Paris introduced me to her at my request."
Hanaud handed back the portrait and drew forward his chair nearer to
Wethermill. His face had grown friendly. He spoke with a tone of
respect.
"Monsieur, I know something of you. Our friend, Mr. Ricardo, told me
your history; I asked him for it when I saw you at his dinner. You are
of those about whom one does ask questions, and I know that you are
not a romantic boy, but who shall say that he is safe from the appeal of
beauty? I have seen women, monsieur, for whose purity of soul I would
myself have stood security, condemned for complicity in brutal crimes
on evidence that could not be gainsaid; and I have known them turn
foul-mouthed, and hideous to look upon, the moment after their just
sentence has been pronounced." "No doubt, monsieur," said Wethermill,
with perfect quietude. "But Celia Harland is not one of those women."
"I do not now say that she is," said Hanaud. "But the Juge d'lnstruction
here has already sent to me to ask for my assistance, and I refused. I
replied that I was just a good bourgeois enjoying his holiday. Still it is
difficult quite to forget one's profession. It was the Commissaire of
Police who came to me, and naturally I talked with him for a little
while. The case is dark, monsieur, I warn you."
"How dark?" asked Harry Wethermill.
"I will tell you," said Hanaud, drawing his chair still closer to the young
man. "Understand this in the first place. There was an accomplice
within the villa. Some one let the murderers in. There is no sign of an

entrance being forced; no lock was picked, there is no mark of a thumb
on any panel, no sign