It was not
to be found. I must have lost it at the hotel, or the detective's, or in
the automobile I had hired. In an outside pocket of my coat, however, I
chanced upon something for the existence of which I couldn't account. It
was a very small something: only a bit of paper, but a very neatly
folded bit of paper, and I remembered how it had fallen from my pocket
onto the floor, and a gendarme had picked it up.
At ordinary times I should most likely not have given it a second
thought; but to-night nothing unexpected could be dismissed as
insignificant until it had been thoroughly examined. I put the paper
back, and as I did so I heard Maxine give an exclamation, apparently of
distress. I could not distinguish all she said, but I thought that I
caught the word "diamonds." For a moment or two she and du Laurier
talked together so excitedly that I might have made another attack on
the window without great risk; and I was meditating the attempt when
suddenly the voices ceased. A door opened and shut. There was dead
silence, except for a footfall overhead, which sounded heavier than
Maxine's. Perhaps it was her maid's.
For a few seconds more I stood still, awaiting developments, but there
was no sound in the next room, and I decided to take my chance before it
should be too late.
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