The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-03-21
THE
TEETH OF THE G
MAURICE LEBLANC
- TRANSLATED BY.
jALEXAEEER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS
-|TS.~--a~
CHArrL@. FOUR. tContinued.)

difficult it is to defend ones sci.
when one is innocent. There's my
right wing and my left wing driv
ell in. Will my center be able t.
stand the ASSAULT"
M. Desmalions, after a wills
pered colloquy with the examin
ing magistrate, resumed his qucs
tons in these terms:
Yesterday evening, when M
Fauville opened his safe in YOU
presence and the sergeant's, wha'
was in the safe?"
"a heap of papers, on one Of The
shelves and, among those papers
the diary in drab cloth which ha.
since disappeared
"You did not touch those pa
pers9"
Neither the papers nor tho
safe, Monsieur lie Prefet. Sergeant
Mazeroux must have told you that
he made me stand aside, to insure
the regularity of the inquiry"
$50 you never came into the
slightest contact with the safe?'
mot the slightest"
Nj. Desmalions looked at the ex,
aiming magistrate and nodded
his head. Had Perenna been able
to doubt that a trap was being laiC
for him, a glance at MazerouS
would have told him all about it
Mazeroux was ashen gray.
Meanwhile, Nj. Desmalions con
tinued:
"You have taken part in in
q~uiries, monsieur, in police in
quiries. Therefore, in putting my
next question to you, l conside,
that | am addressing it to a trieG
detective"
81 will answer your question
Monsieur lie Prefet, to the best Of
my ability"
Here it is, then: Supposine
that there were at this moment IL
the safe an object Of some kind, &
jewel, let us say, a diamond out oil
q tie pin, and that this diamond
had come from a tie pin which be
longed to somebody whom we
knew, somebody who had spent
the night in this house. what
would Won think of the cOinci
dence?'
"There we are,' said Perenna
to himself. "There's the trap. It's
clear that they've found some,
thing in the safe, and next, that
they imagine that this something
belongs to me. Good! But, in that
ease, we must presume, as l have
not touched the safe, that the
thing was taken from me and put
In the safe to compromise me. But
l did not have a finger in this pic
until yesterday; and it is impossi
bic that, during last night, when
saw nobody, any one can have haC
time to prepare and contrive sucl
a determined plot against me
So"
The project of police inter
rupted this silent monologue by
repeating:
"What would be your opin
ion?"
"There would be an undeniablt
connection between that person:
presence in the house and the two
crimes that had been committed
Consequently, we should have
the right at least to suspect the
personY"
Yes"
"That is your view?"
Decidedly"
M. Desmalions produced a piece
Of tissue paper from his pocket
and took from it a little blue stone
which he displayed.
Here is a turquoise which W.
found in the safe. 1t belongs
without a shadow OF a doubt, tt
the ring which you are wearing
on your finger
Don Luis was seized with a fiji
of rage. He half grated, through
his clenched teeth:
''Oh, the rascals! How clever
they are But no, | can't be
lieve-
He looked at his ring, which
was formed of a large, clouded
dead turquoise, surrounded by &
circle of small, irregular tur
quoises, also of a very pale blue
One Of these was missing; and the
one which M. Desmalions had il
his hand fitted the place exactly
What do you say?" asked NJ
Desmalions.
Il say that this turquoise be
longs to my ring, which was giver
me by Cosmo Mornington on the
first occasion that l saved hi.
life"
$50 we are agreed?"