But M. de Tregars had foreseen the difficulty:
“I beg you to believe, madame,” he went on, “that my questions are not dictated by an idle curiosity. Here are the facts. A relative of ours, a man of a certain age, of whom we are very fond, and whose head is a little weak, left his home some forty-eight hours since. We are looking for him, and we are in hopes, if we find these trunks, to find him at the same time.”
With furtive glances, the husband and wife were tacitly consulting each other.
“The fact is,” they said, “we wouldn’t like, under any consideration, to commit an indiscretion which might result to the prejudice of a customer.”
“Fear nothing,” said M. de Tregars with a reassuring gesture. “If we have not had recourse to the police, it’s because, you know, it isn’t pleasant to have the police interfere in one’s affairs. If you have any objections to answer me, however, I must, of course, apply to the commissary.”
The argument proved decisive.
“If that’s the case,” replied the woman, “I am ready to tell all I know.”
“Well, then, madame, what do you know?”
“These two trunks were bought on Friday afternoon last, by a man of a certain age, tall, very thin, with a stern countenance, and wearing a long frock coat.”
“No more doubt,” murmured Maxence. “It was he.”