“That they were not spies, and had nothing to say. M. Saint Pavin added, however, that he had said it without much thought, and only because he had once seen M. Favoral buying a three thousand francs bracelet, and also because it seemed impossible to him that a man should do away with millions without the aid of a woman.”
The commissary could not conceal his ill humor.
“Of course!” he grumbled. “Since Solomon said, ‘Look for the woman’ (for it was King Solomon who first said it), every fool thinks it smart to repeat with a cunning look that most obvious of truths. What next?”
“M. Saint Pavin politely invited me to go to—well, not here.”
The commissary wrote rapidly a few lines, put them in an envelope, which he sealed with his private seal, and handed it to his secretary, saying,
“That will do. Take this to the prefecture yourself.” And, after the secretary had gone out,
“Well, M. Maxence,” he said, “you have heard?” Of course he had. Only Maxence was thinking much less of what he had just heard than of the strange interest this commissary had taken in his affairs, even before he had seen him.
“I think,” he stammered, “that it is very unfortunate the woman cannot be found.”
With a gesture full of confidence,
“Be easy,” said the commissary: “she shall be found. A woman cannot swallow millions at that rate, without attracting attention. Believe me, we shall find her, unless—”