The Classic Mystery Collection - Arthur Conan Doyle [3988]
And now Gryce entered the room. He was accompanied by an inspector. This was a welcome addition to their force. Coroner Price greeted him with cordiality:
"You've come in good time, Inspector. The death of this young girl struck down by an arrow shot by an unknown hand from the opposite side of the building bids fair to make a greater call on your resources than on mine. The woman who appears to have acted as companion to Miss Willetts has fled the hotel where they both took rooms immediately upon leaving the steamer. Either she has heard of the accident which has occurred here--and if so, how?--or she's but carrying out some deep-laid plan which it is highly important for us to know. It looks now like a premeditated crime."
"With this Englishman involved?"
"I doubt that; I seriously doubt that--don't you, Gryce? A more subtle head than his planned this strange crime."
"Yes; there can be little doubt about that. Shall I set the boys to work, Inspector? This Frenchwoman must be found."
"At once--a general alarm. You can get a description of her from the clerk at the Universal. She must not be allowed to leave town."
Mr. Gryce sat down before the telephone. Coroner Price proceeded to acquaint the Inspector with such details of the affair as were now known. The Curator moved restlessly about. Gloom had settled upon the museum. On only one face was there a smile to be seen, but that was a heavenly one, irradiating the countenance of her who had passed from the lesser to the larger world with the joy of earth still warm in her innocent heart.
BOOK II
MR. X
VIII
ON THE SEARCH
It was late in the afternoon. The Inspector's office had hummed for hours with messages and reports, and the lull which had finally come seemed grateful to him. With relaxed brow and a fresh cigar, he sat in quiet contemplation of the facts brought out by the afternoon's inquiries. He was on the point of dismissing even these from his mind, when the door opened and Gryce came in.
Instantly his responsibilities returned upon him in full force. He did not wait for the expected report, but questioned the detective at once.
"You have been to the hotel," he said, pointing out a chair into which the old man dropped with a sigh as eloquent of anxiety as of fatigue. "What more did you learn there?"
"Very little. No message has come; no persons called. For them and for us these two women, Madame Duclos and Miss Willetts, are still an unknown quantity. Their baggage, which arrived while I was there, supplied the only information I was able to obtain."
"Their baggage! But that should tell us everything."
"It may if you think best to go through it. It is not heavy--a trunk for each, besides the one they brought with them from the steamer. From the pasters to be seen on them, they have come from the Continental Hotel, Paris, by way of the Ritz, London. At this latter place their stay was short. This is proved by the fact that only the steamer-trunk is pasted with the Ritz label. And this trunk was the one I found in their room at the Universal. From it Miss Willetts had taken the dress she wore to the museum. Her other clothes--I mean those she wore on arriving--lay in disorder on the bed and chairs. I should say that they had been tossed about by a careless if not hasty hand, while the trunk----"
"Well?"
"Stood open on the floor."
"Stood open?"
"Yes, I went through it, of course."
"And found nothing?"
"Nothing to help us to-day. No letters--no cards. Some clothing--some little trifles (bought in Paris, by the way) and one little book."
"A name in it?"
"Yes--_Angeline_; and one line of writing from some poem, I judge. I put it back where I found it. When we know more, it may help us to find her friends."
"And is that all?"
"Almost, but not quite. The young girl had a bag too. It stood on a table----"
"Well?"