Chapter 19 Chapter 19 The Uninvited Guest

Count Roger had just finished his selected breakfast. He wiped his little black beard with a napkin and stood up.He walked up and down the hall, looking at several antiques in the hall with a comfortable demeanor and energetic eyes: the snuff bottle of Louis XV (French Emperor. Annotation), Marie Antoinette (French Queen, Louis XVI's wife. Annotation) through the sardine shoes, and some other historical relics.Earl is a very good self-director, and he often introduces his female audiences that these are relics of the extended family.He went to the balcony and looked at the sea.No, he is not in a good mood today, a well-planned plan has completely failed, and he has to start all over again.He sat on the rattan chair, held a cigarette in his finger, and thought deeply.

Hippolyte, his servant, brought a cup of coffee and a glass of fine wine.His Excellency the Earl drank the brandy produced in Cognac, France in 1884.When the servant was about to leave, the count gently gestured him to stay.Hippolyte stood there, waiting for his master's orders. "In the last few days," said the count, "someone may have called. You may have been asked about me." "Yes, Monsieur Count." "Has this ever happened before?" "No, Monsieur Count." "Really do not have?" "No one came." "But someone is bound to come and ask you about me. Listen! I came here on Wednesday morning, as you know. But if it's the police or someone else When you ask, you say I arrived here on Tuesday the fourteenth, not Wednesday the fifteenth, understand?"

"Understood, Monsieur Count." "I know you are always cautious, Hippolyte." "I will, kind sir." "And Mary?" "Mary will too, I vouch for her." "Very well," said the count in a low voice. After Hippolyte walked out, he drank his strong coffee, sometimes frowning, sometimes shaking his head, sometimes nodding.Hippolyte returned to the room again, interrupting his deep thought. "A lady is looking for you, kind sir." "A lady?" There were many ladies who visited Villa Maria, but this morning the count was not aware of any of them.

"This lady is not an acquaintance of the Monsieur," Hippolyte reported to him. "Bring her in, Hippolyte." After a while, a lady dressed in orange and black came in, smelling of perfume all over her body. "You are Count Roger?" "I am willing to serve you." He bowed deeply and said. "I'm Miret, you may have heard of me." "Of course, miss, who doesn't appreciate your dancing art!" The dancing girl answered the compliment with a forced smile. "Excuse me for disturbing you." "No, I am honored, please sit down." The count said and pulled a wicker chair.

The count studied her carefully through the veil.He knew women well, but, except for women of his class, such as dancing girls, he knew very little.He and Mi Lei should be said to be peers, but his ability to manipulate women has not been brought into play at this time.She was a very cunning Parisian woman.But he could see one thing: Mi Lei was very excited.Excited women are generally prone to slipping the tongue.She might have a very ordinary and soberly thought-out affair, and some possible benefit from it would improve his situation. "We both have acquaintances in Paris," said Miret. "They told me a lot about you. A lot of people in Nizza also talked about you, but in a different way."

"yes?" "With all due respect," continued the dancer, "what I'm about to tell you may sound uncomfortable to you. But please believe me, I've always cared about your well-being, and now people in Nizha are talking about , you are the murderer who killed Ms. Kaitlin." "Me!? I am the murderer who killed Ms. Caitlin? Ridiculous!" His voice sounded a little excited.In his opinion, this is the best way to find out the truth from her mouth. "But that's what people think!" "My God! People always like to spread rumors," said the count indifferently. "It would be detrimental to my dignity if I were to take these rumours seriously."

"You misunderstood." Mi Lei bent down, her black eyes shining brightly. "It's not just gossip. Do you know who brought the charges? The police!" "Police station?" The count stood up suddenly, very nervous. Mi Lei nodded her head in satisfaction. "Yes, the police station! You know, there are my friends everywhere, and even some officials..." She shrugged and didn't finish her sentence. "Who can keep secrets in the presence of a beauty?" whispered the count. "The opinion of the police department is that you killed Ms. Kettering. But the police department made a mistake."

"Of course a mistake." The count agreed with her completely. "You're just talking like this, but you don't know the inside story. I know the inside story." The count looked at her in amazement. "Do you know who killed Ms. Kettering?" Millie nodded happily. "yes." "So, who is it?" "Her own husband," she whispered again, bending over, a little trembling with excitement and anger. "Her man killed her." The count leaned back, a cloud of suspicion appeared on his face. "May I take the liberty to inquire, miss, how do you know?"

"How do I know?" Mi Lei jumped up and laughed out loud, the laughter was creepy. "He had planned it long ago. He was empty-handed, heavily in debt, and had no inheritance. Only the death of his wife could save him. That's what he told me himself. So, he took the same bus to Niza , of course not to let her know. Why do you want to do this? I asked myself. It turned out to be to attack my wife in the middle of the night!" She closed her eyes, "I saw this good show with my own eyes." The Count coughed mysteriously. "But everything is possible," he whispered. "However, there is absolutely no need to steal the gem in this case."

"The jewel," she sighed, "the jewel, the jewel!" Her eyes shone with two strange lights in the veil.The Count looked at her in surprise.In the count's past years, he had discovered a hundred times the magical effect of gems on women.This time the gem also brought Mirei to real life. "Then what shall I do, madam?" "It's very simple. You go to the police station and tell them Mr. Kettering did it." "So will people believe me? What if they ask me to present evidence?" Mirely chuckled, wrapping herself tightly in her cloak. "Then you let the police come to me," she said softly, "I'll give them evidence."

This eccentric woman has accomplished her mission.She stormed out of the room, and the door slammed shut behind her. The count shook his head while staring in the direction she was walking. "This is a vile bitch," he muttered to himself. "What makes her so angry? Does she really believe that Caitlin killed his wife? Anyway, she wants me and the police to believe it." a little." He smiled.never!Another trip to the police station?He wasn't even the slightest bit interested.The reason why he secretly laughed, there are reasons for his pride. However, his face was immediately covered with a shadow.The police department suspected him, Milley said.Of course, this possibility cannot be ruled out. This woman must have reliable first-hand information.A determined wrinkle formed around his mouth, and if so, he should have taken some measures. The count went upstairs to his bedroom and opened the desk drawer.He gently touched a fixed spring in the drawer.Then a secret gray wooden box popped out.He opened the box, took out a small bag from it, weighed it in his hand a few times.Then he plucked a hair off the side of the box, and put the box back in its place.He went downstairs with the bag in his hand to the garage where his crimson two-seater was parked.Five minutes later he was driving onto the road to Monte Carlo. He spent a few hours at the Casino and then went for a drive around the city.He turned the car onto the road to Mentor.Even before that, he had noticed a gray car following him now and then.At this time, the car appeared behind him again.The road is always uphill.The Earl stepped on the gas pedal, and the two-seater car specially made for him had four powerful cylinders, and the car was speeding at full speed. The gray car was still following him.Earl drove at full speed, he was a senior driver.It was downhill now, and the serpentine road twisted and twisted, one sharp turn after another.He stopped the car suddenly in front of a small post office.He jumped out of the car, opened the trunk, took out the small gray box, and hurried into the post office.Two minutes later, he was back in the car.Drive to Mentor.When the gray car arrived, the Earl was already peacefully drinking hot tea after lunch in a luxurious hotel. In the evening he went back to Monte Carlo, dined there, and was home about eleven o'clock.Hippolyte opened the door to meet him, feeling a little apprehensive. "Ah! Great, the Count is back again. Have you called me today, Mr. Count?" The count shook his head. "At three o'clock in the afternoon, I received a call from Mr. Earl, asking me to pick you up at the Negrescu Hotel in Niza." "Oh, oh!" said the count, "then of course you went?" "Of course, sir, but no one at the Neglescu's knows you've been there." "Of course Mary is shopping outside at this time. Are you preparing dinner?" "Yes, Monsieur Count." "Forget it!" said the count, "it's nothing, it's just a misunderstanding." He went upstairs after speaking. After entering the bedroom, he locked the door and looked around carefully.It seems that everything is as usual.He opened all the wardrobes and drawers, and everything seemed to stay the same.But only "seems".His sharp eyes saw at once that the whole house had been searched. He went to the desk and pressed the hidden spring.The secret box jumped out, but the hair was not where it was.He nodded, everything understood. "Our bloody cops here are doing a great job," he murmured to himself. "They're doing a great job. Nothing escapes their eyes."