"Excellent," remarked his chief, and, ringing a bell, a clerk appeared and took down the official telegram, giving the description of the woman and her accomplice.
"I suppose the fugitive Englishman is not with them?" suggested the Chef du Sureté.
"I did not see him at the station—or, at least, I did not recognise anyone answering to the description," replied the inspector; "but we may as well add his description in the telegram and ask for an immediate reply."
Thereupon the official description of Digby, as supplied to the Belgian police by Scotland Yard, was translated into French and placed in the message.
After the clerk had left with it, Frémy, standing near the window, exclaimed:
"Dieu! Had I but known who they were last night! But we may still get them. I will see the employée at the Poste Restante. This Monsieur Bryant, if he receives letters, may have given an address for them to be forwarded."
After a slight pause, during which time the two functionaries conversed in Flemish, I turned to Van Huffel, and said:
"I have related all I know, m'sieur; therefore, I beg of you to tell me something concerning the young person Marie Bracq. Was she a lady?"
"A lady!" he echoed with a laugh. "Most certainly—the daughter of one of the princely houses of Europe."
"What?" I gasped. "Tell me all about her!"