“Did you notice anything unusual about his manner when he came back to town?”
“He seemed nervous; especially when I’ve gone in to him to announce a lady visitor. He seemed to fear that some lady would call whom he didn’t want to see.”
“But he often took ladies to the Gallery down at the House,” I remarked, for Roddy was never so happy as when escorting two or three ladies over the House, or giving them tea on the long terrace beside the Thames. He was essentially a lady’s man.
“Yes, sir. But there was one he used to describe to me, and he told me often that if she ever came I was to tell her that he had left London.”
“What was she like?” asked the officer, pricking up his ears.
“Well,” replied Ash, after some reflection, “as far as I could make out, she was about twenty or so; very good-looking, and generally dressed in black. Of course, I never saw her, for she never called.”
The description he had given answered exactly to that of Aline. The mystery had become more complicated than I had anticipated. The next fact to ascertain was the cause of death.
“Why have you made these inquiries regarding Monte Carlo?” the detective asked me. “Did he go there?”
“I believe so,” I replied. “Of course, it is not proved, but I suspect that when he went to Aberdeen he afterwards went secretly to the Riviera.”
“Why secretly?”