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noticed, or that, too, would have been removed That the exterior

of the car was dirty betrayed nothing, for Servettaz had left it

uncleaned"

Hanaud leaned back and, step by step, related the journey of the

car

"The ate open; he drives into Geneva the tomen, who are careful that their shoes shall leave no et out The e he covers all traces of the course he

and his friends have taken No one would suspect that the car had

ever left the garage At the corner of the road, just as he is

turning down to the villa, he sees a sergent-de-ville at the gate

He knows that the ht out of the town What is he to do? He is driving a

car for which the police in an hour or two, if not now already,

will be surely watching He is driving it in broad daylight He

et rid of it, and at once, before people are about to see

it, and to see hih to make one pity him Here he is in a car which convicts

him as a h Aix Then on the outskirts of the town he finds an eate, forces the door of the coach-

house, and leaves his car there Now, observe! It is no longer any

use for him to pretend that he and his friends did not disappear

in that car The murder is already discovered, and with the er troubles his head

about it He does not remove the traces of mould from the place

where his feet rested, which otherwise, no doubt, he would have

done It no longer matters He has to run to earth now before he

is seen That is all his business And so the state of the car is

explained It was a bold step to bring that car back--yes, a bold

and desperate step But a clever one For, if it had succeeded, we

should have known nothing of theirAh! I tell you this is no ordinary blundering affair

They are clever people who devised this cri"