He buried his face for a moment in his hands. Then he took up the
paper again.
"As for the rest, Helene Vauquier lied," he cried violently, and
he tossed the paper to Hanaud. "What do you make of it?"
Hanaud smiled and shook his head.
"Did you ever go for a voyage on a ship?" he asked.
"Yes; why?"
"Because every day at noon three officers take an observation to
determine the ship's position--the captain, the first officer, and
the second officer. Each writes his observation down, and the
captain takes the three observations and compares them. If the
first or second officer is out in his reckoning, the captain tells
him so, but he does not show his own. For at times, no doubt, he
is wrong too. So, gentlemen, I critcise your observations, but I
do not show you mine."
He took up Ricardo's paper and read it through again.
"Yes," he said pleasantly. "But the two questions which are most
important, which alone can lead us to the truth--how do they come
to be omitted from your list, Mr. Ricardo?"
Hanaud put the question with his most serious air. But Ricardo was
none the less sensible of the raillery behind the solemn manner.
He flushed and made no answer.
"Still," continued Hanaud, "here are undoubtedly some questions.
Let us consider them! Who was the man who took a part in the
crime? Ah, if we only knew that, what a lot of trouble we should
save ourselves! Who was the woman? What a good thing it would be
to know that too! How clearly, after all, Mr. Ricardo puts his
finger on the important points! What did actually happen in the
salon?" And as he quoted that question the raillery died out of
his voice. He leaned his elbows on the table and bent forward.
"What did actually happen in that little pretty room, just twelve
hours ago?" he repeated. "When no sunlight blazed upon the lawn,
and all the birds were still, and all the windows shuttered and
the world dark, what happened? What dreadful things happened? We
have not much to go upon. Let us formulate what we know. We start
with this. The murder was not the work of a moment. It was planned
with great care and cunning, and carried out to the letter of the
plan. There must be no noise, no violence. On each side of the
Villa Rose there are other villas; a few yards away the road runs
past. A scream, a cry, the noise of a struggle--these sounds, or
any one of them, might be fatal to success. Thus the crime was
planned; and there WAS no scream, there WAS no struggle. Not a
chair was broken, and only a chair upset. Yes, there were brains
behind that murder. We know that. But what do we know of the plan?
How far can we build it up? Let us see. First, there was an
accomplice in the house--perhaps two."