"The man must soon be pronounced incapable of managing his own affairs, and be placed under proper control. He will, of course, be declared irresponsible by the court, if the public prosecutor should proceed against him."
In this I fully concurred. Then I gave the superintendent a detailed account of my visit to Mrs. Reierson, and of how the actor's name was mentioned, and of my hurried meeting with the latter.
"Do I understand you aright," said the superintendent, "that you have a suspicion that the pretty maid and the fascinating actor are intimate?"
"Yes, I have."
"And you go still farther; in this, you seek the reason why the unhappy girl has committed the robbery, isn't that so?"
"Yes, indeed, I cannot deny that something of the sort was in my mind; only it seemed strange to me that a girl like Evelina, who not only has the best of characters from Miss Frick, as a good and honest girl, but who, after all I have been able to ascertain, also possesses a certain amount of character and love of truth, can have fallen in love with such a man, or given herself into his power!"
"Why, my dear Monk!" broke in the superintendent, with a smile, which could have made those who did not know him take him for a heartless cynic, "do you, after so many years in the police service, still nourish illusions with regard to the fair sex?"
"I have, of course, in my day seen a good deal of—"
"Yes, you have seen a good deal; which shows you that the greatest Don Juan is also the greatest liar, and that a man with a smooth face, who can flatter and deceive, has greater power over the fair sex than any honest man whatsoever. Isn't that so?"
I was accustomed to my superior's humorous exaggerations, and could not deny that my experiences as a detective in the police force to a considerable degree went in the same direction.