Part 30

The commissary considered the situation for a moment, then asked the countess:

“Did any of your servants know that you wore the necklace last evening?”

“Certainly; I didn’t conceal the fact. But nobody knew that it was hidden in that cabinet.”

“No one?”

“No one.... unless....”

“Be quite sure, madam, as it is a very important point.”

She turned to her husband, and said:

“I was thinking of Henriette.”

“Henriette? She didn’t know where we kept it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Who is this woman Henriette?” asked Mon. Valorbe.

“A school-mate, who was disowned by her family for marrying beneath her. After her husband’s death, I furnished an apartment in this house for her and her son. She is clever with her needle and has done some work for me.”

“What floor is she on?”

“Same as ours.... at the end of the corridor.... and I think.... the window of her kitchen....”

“Opens on this little court, does it not?”

“Yes, just opposite ours.”

Mon. Valorbe then asked to see Henriette. They went to her apartment; she was sewing, whilst her son Raoul, about six years old, was sitting beside her, reading. The commissary was surprised to see the wretched apartment that had been provided for the woman. It consisted of one room without a fireplace, and a very small room that served as a kitchen. The commissary proceeded to question her. She appeared to be overwhelmed on learning of the theft. Last evening she had herself dressed the countess and placed the necklace upon her shoulders.

“Good God!” she exclaimed, “it can’t be possible!”

“And you have no idea? Not the least suspicion? Is it possible that the thief may have passed through your room?”

She laughed heartily, never supposing that she could be an object of suspicion.

“But I have not left my room. I never go out. And, perhaps, you have not seen?”

She opened the kitchen window, and said:

“See, it is at least three metres to the ledge of the opposite window.”

“Who told you that we supposed the theft might have been committed in that way?”

“But.... the necklace was in the cabinet, wasn’t it?”

“How do you know that?”

“Why, I have always known that it was kept there at night. It had been mentioned in my presence.”

Her face, though still young, bore unmistakable traces of sorrow and resignation. And it now assumed an expression of anxiety as if some danger threatened her. She drew her son toward her. The child took her hand, and kissed it affectionately.