Who was guilty at the chateau? That seemed to be an open question.
Henriette’s declaration that it was not the Countess Marchand, strengthened the suspicion already rife in Ruth’s mind that the old servant, Bessie, was the German-lover.
The latter was known to José, one of the crooks from America. She might easily be of the same nationality as José—Mexican. And the Mexicans largely are pro-German.
José and Legrand were already under suspicion of a huge swindle in Red Cross stores. It would seem that if these men would steal, it was fair to presume they would betray the French Government for money.
It was a mixed-up and doubtful situation at best. Ruth Fielding intuitively felt that she had hold of the ends of certain threads of evidence that must, in time, lead to the unraveling of the whole scheme of deceit and intrigue.
It was still light enough on the upland for the girls to see some distance along the road ahead. Henriette drove the car slowly as they approached the wide gateway of the chateau.
Ruth distinguished the flutter of something white by the gate and wondered if it was the “werwolf” or the old serving woman. But when she called Henriette’s attention to the moving object the French girl cried, under her breath:
“Oh! It is the countess! Look you, Mademoiselle Ruth, perhaps she will speak to us.”
“But there’s something with her. It is a dog,” the American girl declared.
“Why that is only Bubu, the old hound. He is always with the countess when she walks out. He is a greyhound—see you? It is foolish, Mademoiselle, to connect Bubu with the werwolf,” and she shrugged her plump shoulders.