“Oh! oh!” exclaimed Mon. Dudouis, “that is a bold statement and a very serious one.”
“And is that all you have discovered?” asked the Count de Crozon.
“Not at all. On the second day after the theft, three of your guests went on an automobile trip as far as Crécy. Two of them visited the famous battlefield; and, while they were there, the third party paid a hasty visit to the post-office, and mailed a small box, tied and sealed according to the regulations, and declared its value to be one hundred francs.”
“I see nothing strange in that,” said the count.
“Perhaps you will see something strange in it when I tell you that this person, in place of giving her true name, sent the box under the name of Rousseau, and the person to whom it was addressed, a certain Monsieur Beloux of Paris, moved his place of residence immediately after receiving the box, in other words, the ring.”
“I presume you refer to one of my cousins d’Andelle?”
“No,” replied Ganimard.
“Madame de Réal, then?”
“Yes.”
“You accuse my friend, Madam de Réal?” cried the countess, shocked and amazed.