"Did they use the wireless apparatus on board?" I asked quickly.
"Once, sir," was the captain's reply. "The Comte was in the wireless cabin last night for nearly an hour. He's always experimenting."
"You don't know if he sent any messages—eh?"
"Oh, yes. He sent some, for I heard them, but I didn't trouble to try to read the sounds."
Therefore, having thanked Mr. Veale and his family, I set forth, accompanied by Fournier and the two Italian police officers, to the railway station up the hill, above the busy docks.
Eagerly I asked one of the ticket-collectors in Italian if the Rome express had gone, knowing well that in Italy long-distance trains are often an hour or more late.
"No, Signore," was his reply. "It is still here, fifty-five minutes late, from Turin." Then glancing down upon the lines, where several trains were standing in the huge, vaulted station, he added: "Platform number four. Hurry quickly, Signore, and you will catch it."
CHAPTER XXIX THE HOUSE IN HAMPSTEAD
I dashed down to the platform, three steps at a time, followed by my three companions, but ere I gained it the train had begun to move out of the station.