“I have not rendered you any service at all, as a matter of fact. I was coming to see you about your letter. It was a complete puzzle. I did not write to you at all.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I altogether. But if you received a letter signed with my name giving information, it was a forgery.”
“Mr. Donnington! Are you serious?”
“Never more sober in my life.”
He rang his table bell. “Tell M. Dagara to come to me.”
“He is out, sir.”
“Tell him to come to me the instant he returns. I had no doubt that the signature was yours. I couldn’t doubt it.”
“Well, you must doubt it now. I declare to you positively that I did not write the letter which put you on the track of that Rua Catania business.”
“I am bound to say I thought it strange that, having been only a few hours in the city, you should have got secret information which my people have been trying in vain to get for weeks.”