LITMIR.BIZ

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off from their chamber, and which could be entered only by means of a door at the foot of their bed. As he had done on previous occasions, he hid it on a high shelf amongst hat-boxes and piles of linen. He closed the door, and retired.

      Next morning, he arose about nine o’clock, intending to go to the Crédit Lyonnais before breakfast. He dressed, drank a cup of coffee, and went to the stables to give his orders. The condition of one of the horses worried him. He caused it to be exercised in his presence. Then he returned to his wife, who had not yet left the chamber. Her maid was dressing her hair. When her husband entered, she asked:

      “Are you going out?”

      “Yes, as far as the bank.”

      “Of course. That is wise.”

      He entered the cabinet; but, after a few seconds, and without any sign of astonishment, he asked:

      “Did you take it, my dear?”

      “What?… No, I have not taken anything.”

      “You must have moved it.”

      “Not at all. I have not even opened that door.”

      He appeared at the door, disconcerted, and stammered, in a scarcely intelligible voice:

      “You haven’t.… It wasn’t you?… Then.…”

      She hastened to his assistance, and, together, they made a thorough search, throwing the boxes to the floor and overturning the piles of linen. Then the count said, quite discouraged:

      “It is useless to look any more. I put it here, on this shelf.”

      “You must be mistaken.”

      “No, no, it was on this shelf—nowhere else.”

      They lighted a candle, as the room was quite dark, and then carried out all the linen and other articles that the room contained. And, when the room was emptied, they confessed, in despair, that the famous necklace had disappeared. Without losing time in vain lamentations, the countess notified the commissary of police, Mon. Valorbe, who came at once, and, after hearing their story, inquired of the count:

      “Are you sure that no one passed through your chamber during the night?”

      “Absolutely sure, as I am a very light sleeper. Besides, the chamber door was bolted, and I remember unbolting it this morning when my wife rang for her maid.”

      “And there is no other entrance to the cabinet?”

      “None.”

      “No windows?”

      “Yes, but it is closed up.”

      “I will look at it.”

      Candles were lighted, and Mon. Valorbe observed at once that the lower half of the window was covered by a large press which was, however, so narrow that it did not touch the casement on either side.

      “On what does this window open?”

      “A small inner court.”

      “And you have a floor above this?”

      “Two; but, on a level with the servant’s floor, there is a close grating over the court. That is why this room is so dark.”

      When the press was moved, they found that the window was fastened, which would not have been the case if anyone had entered that way.

      “Unless,” said the count, “they went out through our chamber.”

      “In that case, you would have found the door unbolted.”

      The commissary considered the situation for a moment, then asked the countess:

      “Did any of your servants know that you wore the necklace last evening?”

      “Certainly; I didn’t conceal the fact. But nobody knew that it was hidden in that cabinet.”

      “No one?”

      “No one…unless.…”

      “Be quite sure, madam, as it is a very important point.”

      She turned to her husband, and said:

      “I was thinking of Henriette.”

      “Henriette? She didn’t know where we kept it.”

      “Are you sure?”

      “Who is this woman Henriette?” asked Mon. Valorbe.

      “A school-mate, who was disowned by her family for marrying beneath her. After her husband’s death, I furnished an apartment in this house for her and her son. She is clever with her needle and has done some work for me.”

      “What floor is she on?”

      “Same as ours…at the end of the corridor…and I think…the window of her kitchen.…”

      “Opens on this little court, does it not?”

      “Yes, just opposite ours.”

      Mon. Valorbe then asked to see Henriette. They went to her apartment; she was sewing, whilst her son Raoul, about six years old, was sitting beside her, reading. The commissary was surprised to see the wretched apartment that had been provided for the woman. It consisted of one room without a fireplace, and a very small room that served as a kitchen. The commissary proceeded to question her. She appeared to be overwhelmed on learning of the theft. Last evening she had herself dressed the countess and placed the necklace upon her shoulders.

      “Good God!” she exclaimed, “it can’t be possible!”

      “And you have no idea? Not the least suspicion? Is it possible that the thief may have passed through your room?”

      She laughed heartily, never supposing that she could be an object of suspicion.

      “But I have not left my room. I never go out. And, perhaps, you have not seen?”

      She opened the kitchen window, and said:

      “See, it is at least three metres to the ledge of the opposite window.”

      “Who told you that we supposed the theft might have been committed in that way?”

      “But…the necklace was in the cabinet, wasn’t it?”

      “How do you know that?”

      “Why, I have always known that it was kept there at night. It had been mentioned in my presence.”

      Her face, though still young, bore unmistakable traces of sorrow and resignation. And it now assumed an expression of anxiety as if some danger threatened her. She drew her son toward her. The child took her hand, and kissed it affectionately.

      When they were alone again, the count said to the commissary:

      “I do not suppose you suspect Henriette. I can answer for her. She is honesty itself.”

      “I quite agree with you,” replied Mon. Valorbe. “At most, I thought there might have been an unconscious complicity. But I confess that even that theory must be abandoned, as it does not help solve the problem now before us.”

      The commissary of police abandoned the investigation, which was now taken up and completed by the examining judge. He questioned the servants, examined the condition of the bolt, experimented with the opening and closing of the cabinet window, and explored the little court from top to bottom. All was in vain. The bolt was intact. The window could not be opened or closed from the outside.

      The inquiries especially concerned Henriette, for, in spite of everything, they always turned in her direction. They made a thorough investigation of her past life, and ascertained that, during the last three years, she had left the house only four times, and her business, on those occasions, was satisfactorily explained. As a matter of fact, she acted as chambermaid and seamstress to the countess, who treated her with great strictness and even severity.

      At

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