"Alfred."
"Well?" and Delcassé looked up at his companion.
"That would seem to show, sir," said Lépine, "that William Smith was only an ordinary traveller, after all. You will see that it was filed at Brussels at noon of Sunday, the twenty-fourth. It was delayed in transmission, and for some reason was not received at Toulon until nine o'clock in the evening. Messages here are not delivered on Sunday evening after eight o'clock, and this was held until seven the next morning. At that hour, William Smith was no longer at the hotel."
"Well?" asked Delcassé a second time.
"Well," Lépine continued, "at ten minutes past six on Monday morning, this message was filed at the office here," and he spread out the second sheet of tissue.
Again Delcassé bent forward, and read:
"Alfred Smith, Restante, Brussels.
"We continue our trip as planned. All well. Next address Nice.
"William."
"You will see," Lépine went on, "that these messages are such as an ordinary tourist would send and receive."