The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1920-05-09

which he threw into the last SEN
tonss. She only answered, simply
and demureiy, ~Oh. yes"
Il must ash for your help here,
madsmoiselle. n you viii be good
enough 10 give Il to me"-he was
intent for the moment on getting her
into an amiaSie and . helpful frame
OF mind. II n were possible. for on
this point scout the key and Of my
aunt's exit from the house. he
thought that she might give him
useful assistance. Il should be
greatly obliged n you could find me
that key. How did you md the
conservatory door when you went
outf Was II locked or unlocked"
-oh. locked. monsieur" she an
swered.
'Then does not that look as II
her iadyship. in letting herself out.
had locked the door behind her and
taken the key with herr"
1T would seem DO, monsieur"
And yet the key was not found
on her--nor near her! Does II not
seem stranger How did her lady
ship propose 10 come into the
house again."
II always was the sergeant's way,
when he wished to gain a person
as an assistant. to make Q great
show of consulting him or her upon
the case. a. though he valued the
advice very highly. Doubtless Il
was q subtle and valuable form Of
hattery, well calculated to reach It's
end.
Il am afraid" he had said to me,
that II is only I'm works of fiction
that you meet with the omniscient
detective Of crime. who never
makes Q mistake and uncoils the
plot with deadly, silent certainty
In his own brain. infallibly and
without listening to word that
anyone outside may tell him about
It. They make good heroes OF fc-
ton. these fellows. but ! do not
think they would make very good
detectives"
In the particular case of Celeste
and In inviting her assistance in
this matter Of the key he had also
further motive. An obvious solu-
ton OF the mystery of the locked
door would be that Celeste had let
her mistress out OF 1t, had locked
II, and had been meaning to re-
admit her on returning.
He did not wish . raise Celeste's
suspicion OF him by a direct sug-,
gestion that this might be the ex-
PLANTATION. He asked questions
round and about the point, but the
woman gave no sign, let drop no
word, to convey that she was in
her mistress's confidence about this
nocturnal promenade. II she were
fencing with him her guard, both
OF word and feature, was so good
that the sergeant could not get
past It,
Yet the theory was one which
explained very nicely the moon
light ramble Of the French girl,
also. for 1t was most natural that
when she found her mistress not
returning she should 90 out to see
what was the matter. To be sure,
there was a quite sufficient alter
native motive for this ramble-Jim
Heasden.
:. Since the sergeant's first CONVEX
sation with Livesay, Heasden's
every movement had been kept I'M
der observation and had been en-.
tered on q report which had been
handed to the detective in a very
unobtrusive way as he strolled out
from the White Hart for a short
constitutional" after supper.
Among the items of information
relating to Heasden contained in
the report was one to the effect
that shortly after dusk he had been
seen talking earnestly and for a
considerable time with "her lady.
ship's French maid"
What had happened was that
Celeste had gone into the village,
probably on some errand invented
for the special purpose Of seeing
Heasden. had succeeded in coming
across him and had been followed
by him to the unfrequented strip
Of country road between the vii
lage and the turning of toward
Scotney House. 1t was light eve