Chapter 13 Chapter 13 Telegraphing Von Alden

On the afternoon of February 13th, there was heavy fog in London. It would not be a good mood to go out on this day.Rufus von Arden defied the doctor's orders in the weather and was doing his job to the best of his ability.Knighton was very happy about this.Millionaires can't concentrate on work these days.When the secretary has something important to report to him, he is absent-minded even though he listens.Today, however, the Yankee is working twice as hard. But there was always something that made him uneasy.His secretary discovered this by accident.It seemed that the Yankee was listening intently to the secretary's report, but in fact he hardly heard a word.He just nodded mechanically.The secretary was about to take another file when the master said:

"Could you speak to me again, Knighton?" The secretary didn't seem to fully understand what it meant. "Is that what you mean, sir?" he said, pointing to a business file. "No, no," said von Arden, "I mean, you said that you saw Ruth's maid in Paris yesterday, last night. I don't understand that. Are you mistaken?" "I am not mistaken, sir, I have spoken to her face to face." "Please tell me about the whole meeting again." Knighton was very obedient, he said: "I went to Ritz after my meeting with Baltemer Company, and went there to pick up something. At that time, I wanted to go to the North Station to take the Neue train back after dinner. I saw a woman in the lobby of the hotel and immediately recognized her as Ms Kettering's maid. I asked her if Ms Kettering got off here too."

"Oh," said von Arden, "then the maid told you that Ruth went on to the Riviera by train, and left her in Ritz, awaiting new instructions from the master." "Yes, that's right, sir." "Strange!" said von Arden, "very strange indeed. Perhaps the woman's misbehavior on the train has dissuaded my daughter from traveling with her." "If that's the case," put in Knighton, "then Ms. Kettering will pay her to go back to England. It doesn't suit her well to stay at the Ritz." "But she didn't," muttered the millionaire. "You are right."

He wanted to say something else, but he didn't say it.He trusted Knighton very much, but in any case he could not tell the secretary about his daughter's private affairs.Ruth had concealed something from him, which had broken his heart already, and this unexpected news troubled him still more. Why did Ruth leave the maid in Paris?How strange some things are!Of course, Ruth would never have imagined that the first person she met with the maid was her father's secretary.But that's how it happened, and that's how people conspire. He couldn't get rid of this thought at all.Could it really be a conspiracy?He tried to find out as much as possible on his own.The answer is Armante de la Roche.There is no doubt about this.

It was a very painful thing for von Alden: it was his daughter who had been fooled by such a man.He knew that his daughter was of noble birth and would not be easily deceived by the count like other women, but she could easily see through a man, but she did not have this ability with women. He wanted to find an excuse to dispel the secretary's suspicions. "Ruth was always like that, changing her plans a lot," he said. "Why did she suddenly change her travel plans? Didn't the maid mention this to you?" Knighton, trying to control his tone of voice as naturally as possible, replied:

"The maid said that Ms. Kettering came across an acquaintance by chance." "Oh, met an acquaintance. Did she mean met a female acquaintance?" "As far as I know, she was talking about a gentleman." Von Alden nodded.He was filled with fear.He got up, and walked up and down the room as he always did when he was emotional.He couldn't control his emotions, and finally blurted out: "Is a woman really that incomprehensible? It's been said so often that women are inherently good, and it's all nonsense. She would throw herself into the arms of this villain. This A villain's job is to make himself look good and play a little deceit. If he comes to me..."

He stopped talking.At this moment a servant brought a telegram.Von Alding looked at the telegram, and his face suddenly turned pale.He supported the back of the chair so as not to fall to the ground, and waved to the little servant to let him go out. "What happened, sir?" Knighton gave his Master a concerned look. "Ruth!" Von Alding choked a little. "What misfortune has Ms. Kettering encountered?" "died!" "It's terrible. Is there something wrong with the train?" Von Alden shook his head. "No, my child was murdered."

"God only knows!" The telegram fluttered from von Alden's seemingly paralyzed hand to the ground. "The telegram is from Niza Police Station, I must... immediately..." He didn't tell Knighton what he had to do, but Knighton looked at his watch and said: "At five o'clock sharp, depart from Victoria Railway Station." "Good! You come with me, Knighton, and tell the people below to pack my boxes. Do what's urgent; I'm going to my daughter's room." The phone rang and Knighton picked up the receiver. "Who is it?"

Then he said to von Alding: "It's Goby, sir." "Gobby? I don't want to see him now. No, wait a minute, we've got time. Let him come." Von Arden was a strong man, and now he has calmed down.When he shook hands with Goby, his voice was as usual. "I'm very busy now. Is there anything important you want to do with me?" Goby coughed. "Didn't you want to hear about Mr. Kettering, sir?" "Yes, how?" "Mr. Kettering went to the Riviera yesterday morning." "what did you say?" His voice almost made Goby faint.The seasoned old slick, who never looked at his opponents when he was talking to them, squinted at the millionaire this time.

"Which train did he take?" asked von Alding. "'Blue Express'!" Goby coughed again, and said, looking at the wall clock above the fireplace: "Miss Milei, even the dancer from the Parthenon is going in the same car."