"That's all very well," replied Fandor, "but as the lady is dead, how are we going to set about it?"
"By reconstructing the last hours of her life. We are now on our way to Lady Beltham's residence, Boulevard Inkermann."
"And what are we to do when we arrive there?"
"I shall examine the house, which is probably empty, and you are to 'pump' the neighbours, to ask questions of the tradespeople. I should attract too much attention if I were to do this myself, and that is why I dragged you away from your work."
Some moments later the taxi pulled up at the corner of Boulevard Inkermann.
"The house is number—" said Juve as he took Fandor by the arm. "Bless me, you remember the house! It is the one in which I arrested Gurn three years ago; that famous day he came to see Lady Beltham, disguised as a beggar."
The two friends soon found themselves at their destination. Through the garden railing, which was wholly covered with a dense growth of ivy, the two saw the house, which now looked very dilapidated.
"It doesn't look as if it had been inhabited for a long while," said Fandor.
"That's what we want to make sure of. Go and make your inquiries."
Fandor left his companion and made his way back to the commercial section of Neuilly. He stopped opposite a sign which read: