Part 61

"Yes, I know. All I want you to do is to find out who visits Mr. De Gex, and whether any telegrams are sent by either him or Mr. Suzor."

"I quite understand, señor," was the detective's reply as he rose, and a few minutes later withdrew.

Late in the evening two days afterwards I returned to the hotel to find the man Pardo awaiting me. After I had taken him up to my room and closed the door, he drew a piece of paper from his pocket, saying in French:

"Señor Suzor sent a telegram at half-past eight this evening of which this is a copy."

The message he handed me was in a pencilled scribble, and was in English as follows:

"Charles Rabel, Rue de Lalande 163, Montauban.--

"Important that I should see you. Meet me at Hôtel Luxembourg, Nîmes, without fail, next Monday at noon.--O."

The initial "O" stood for Oswald--Oswald De Gex! So the mystery-man of Europe contemplated leaving Madrid!

I thanked the man Pardo, who said:

"Señor Suzor did not dispatch the telegram from the chief office in the Calle del Correo, but from the branch office in the Plaza del Progreso. He apparently wished to send it in secret."

"I wonder why?" I asked.

The Spaniard raised his shoulders.

The address conveyed nothing to me. But the message was proof that De Gex intended to leave Spain, and further, it was a source of satisfaction to know his destination in case he slipped away suddenly.

After Pardo had gone I sat and pondered. It struck me as very curious that Suzor should have gone to a distant telegraph office in order to send the message. It seemed that he feared to be recognized by the counter-clerk at the chief telegraph office. For over an hour I smoked reflectively. I confess that a curious ill-defined suspicion had arisen in my mind, a suspicion that became so strong that just about eleven o'clock I entered the Jefatura Superior de Policia in the Calle de la Princesa, and again inquired for Señor Andrade.

Fortunately he had been detained in his office, and I was shown into his presence.

He seemed surprised to see me, but at once he became interested when I said:

"I have a distinct suspicion that I know the whereabouts of Despujol."

"Have you?" he exclaimed quickly. "What causes you to suspect?"

"A man whom I believe to be an acquaintance of his has to-day sent an urgent telegram to Charles Rabel, Rue de Lalande, 163, in Montauban, in France, making an appointment to meet him at the Hôtel Luxembourg at Nîmes next Monday at noon."

"Who is his friend?" he asked eagerly.

"I regret, Señor Andrade, that I am not in a position to answer that question. The whole matter is only one of suspicion--very strong suspicion."

The Chief of Police looked very straight at me.

"Ah! Then you are in possession of certain secret knowledge concerning the man who made such a dastardly attempt upon your life!" he remarked. "And you suspect this Charles Rabel at Montauban to be the fugitive--eh?"

"Exactly," I replied.

He asked me to repeat the address, which he scribbled down, and then looking up, said:

"Personally, Señor Garfield, I think your suspicions are unfounded. Despujol, if he is ever found, will be discovered in hiding somewhere in the mountains of the north."

"But why not in Montauban?" I asked. "He is apparently a well-educated man, judging from his conversation with me. He speaks French well, and perhaps passes as a French subject."

"He could pass for a Spaniard, an Italian, a Greek, or a Frenchman," Andrade remarked. "And as forged passports are so cheap nowadays, and almost impossible to detect, the means of escape of such a daring criminal are both numerous and easy. But," he added, "I am interested in this person whom you believe to be a friend of the fugitive. Cannot you tell me who he is?"