"
"Did he ever to your knowledge commit a crime?"
"Never to my knowledge."
"Did you ever hear it whispered that he was a criminal?"
The old lady did not answer.
"You do not answer me."
"I fear he caused his mother a great deal of anxiety at times."
"His mother still resides in France?"
"She is dead."
"Where is the young man?"
"I don't know."
"Where did you see him last?"
"In Paris."
"How long ago?"
"About a year ago."
"When and where?"
"I saw him upon the street."
"Did you address him?"
"No."
"Why not?"
The woman did not answer.
"Please answer me."
"He was in the hands of a sergeant de ville."
"He was under arrest?"
"Yes."
"For what offense?"
"I never inquired, and the day following my niece and I started for
London."
"You have no reason to suspect that Alphonse Donetti is in the United
States, in fact in New York?"
"The suggestion did not arise in my mind until you began to question me
about him, then I did ask myself the question: Could it have been
Alphonse Donetti who sent me that warning note?"
The detective meditated a long time and then said:
"The chances are that Alphonse Donetti sent you that warning note.
Pages:
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57