‘Certainly,’ replied the manager, leading the way.
The signature was the same, and, after thanking the manager, they took their departure.
‘That’s an unexpected find,’ Burnley remarked. ‘Felix said nothing to me about being here ten days ago.’
‘It’s a bit suggestive, you know,’ returned his companion. ‘We’ll have to find out what he was doing during the visit.’
Burnley nodded.
‘Now for my report, anyway,’ he said.
‘I think I’ll go to the Sûreté and do the same,’ answered Lefarge.
They parted, having arranged to meet later in the evening. Burnley wrote a detailed account of his day to his Chief, asking him to have inquiries made at Waterloo about the second cask. Having posted it, he gave himself up to a study of Felix’s letter ordering the group of statuary.
It was written on a sheet of the same kind of paper as those of the two typewritten letters received by Felix. Burnley carefully compared the watermarks and satisfied himself on the point. Then, drawing from his pocket the address he had got Felix to write in the house on the Great North Road, he compared them.
The handwriting was the same in each, at least that was his first impression, but on a closer examination he felt somewhat less certain. He was not a handwriting expert, but he had come across a good many of these men, and was aware of some of their methods. He applied those he knew and at last came to the conclusion that Felix had written the order, though a certain doubt remained. He wrote another note to his Chief and enclosed the two letters, asking him to have them compared.