"Did you destroy his letters?"
"Not all. There may be one or two in a desk in my lodgings."
I scribbled an order which he signed. It gave me authority to enter his rooms and look through the desk, the lock of which he informed me was broken. He then furnished me with a precise description of the personal appearance of Maxwell.
"Your wife's maid, Annette, had another name?"
"Her full name was Annette Lourbet."
"Have you any idea what has become of her?"
"No."
"I want you now to take your mind back to the night of the struggle. It appears very strange to me that in the course of the fight you should both have ascended a flight of stairs. Much more likely to have stumbled down than up. Can you account for it?"
"No."
"When you finally left the house, Louis Fordham's body was lying at the end of the room opposite the door. Can you be sure of that?"