“But did he return at once?” Dehra persisted. “Mightn’t he have remained and killed Adolph—some how, some way—I don’t know, but mightn’t he?”
Armand shook his head. “I think not,” he said. “I looked into that too, and there seems to be no doubt Lotzen was in Dornlitz before one o’clock; and every moment of his time, until Adolph was found, has been accounted for; so, even assuming he didn’t leave the Palace immediately, he would have had to kill the valet within half an hour after we saw him in the library; and that, under all the conditions, is utterly incredible.”
“Nothing’s incredible where Lotzen is concerned,” she answered. “So let us assume he did kill Adolph, in the King’s library, during that very half hour between noon and twelve-thirty, and answer me this: Why did he kill him?”
“Either to get the Book of Laws or because Adolph knew too much concerning it,” said Armand, smiling at her earnestness.
“Exactly; and, therefore, Lotzen either has the Book or he knows where it is.... Am I not right?” she demanded, turning to Courtney.
“Undoubtedly, Your Highness—according to your premises.”
“You don’t admit the premises?”
“I can’t—they are too improbable—and the facts are against them.”
“Oh, facts!” she exclaimed, “facts! I don’t care a rap for facts. Lotzen killed Adolph and Lotzen has the Book.”
Courtney looked at her curiously—the idea was preposterous, naturally, but the very arbitrariness of her conclusions was softened by her earnestness and evident faith in their truth. It was, of course, just another case of woman’s intuition, that begged every question and tore logic into tatters; yet, sometimes, he had known it to guess truly, despite the most adverse facts—might it be that here was just another such guess?