`I take it the police have not succeeded in tracing the lorry?' C. B. asked.
Malouet made a negative gesture. `One could hardly expect them to. Its presence there was not reported till this morning, and the description given of it was only of the vaguest.'
`Then the Canon has got away with the game again,' John commented bitterly. `It is a hundred to one on that having been Upson's seaplane. And how darned clever of them to have planned the timing of the job so well. By delaying his departure till the afternoon, Copely Syle was able to fly practically straight in to Nice, yet give Upson the benefit of last light for crossing the mountains. He must have worked fast, though, to have pulled that one over the huge d'Instruction so soon after his arrival.'
C. B. shrugged. `Two and a half hours should have been ample if the de Grasses had the job already planned and everything prepared for him. Then there is always the possibility that it proved unnecessary to resort to a magical operation. Not all law officers would be above taking a bribe to alter a name in an official document.'
`This man is, I think, an honourable magistrate,' Malouet said. `But one can never be certain of such things. There is, too, the fact that Satanism is world wide in its ramifications; so it is even possible that he is a secret associate of the Canon's, and acted as he did on a simple request.'
`Have you reason to suppose that Black Magic is widely practised down here?' C. B. enquired.
`I would not say that. Among the peasants up in the hill villages sorcery has played its part from time immemorial, and still does so. On the coast there is some sorcery, too, of a quite different type, which is resorted to by people who live here only for the gambling. Inveterate gamblers are always superstitious and easily become the dupes of occulists who promise them aid to win money at the tables. But activities which suggest the presence of genuine Satanists are no more frequent here than in Paris or Marseilles.'
`I asked because I think it very unlikely that the Canon will attempt to tackle this business to night on his own. Even if he doesn't assemble a full coven, he will almost certainly need a few brother warlocks to assist him with the homunculus. It occurred to me that if there are certain people in these parts whom you suspect of being practitioners of the Black Art, we might trace him through them.'
`You have been thinking on the same lines as myself,' Malouet nodded. `There is an antique dealer in Cannes, a Polish countess living here in Nice, and one or two others who may be worth investigating. I was going to suggest that this afternoon we should see if we could pick up a lead from one of them.'
`What about the de Grasses?' John demanded. `They are up to their ears in this.'
The ex inspector gave him a pitying look. `Is it likely that we should have neglected them, Monsieur; or that they are such fools as to have exposed themselves? M. le Marquis is still laid up with his wound and Count Jules has an alibi covering him from seven o'clock till past midnight.'
`But they must know the whole story. Upson is their man and the Canon travelled by his seaplane.'
`There is no proof whatever, Monsieur, that the seaplane that landed on the reservoir was Upson's.'
`Who can doubt it; or that the de Grasses did all the spade work for getting Christina out of prison?'
`Let us accept that,' agreed Malouet. `The police are endeavouring to trace the lorry which presumably drove away the Canon and the homunculus, and the taxi in which Mademoiselle Christina was carried off. But in both cases they have very little to go on, and nothing at all that links either up with the de Grasses.'
`They know the truth! We must get it out of them!' exclaimed John impatiently.
Molly laid a hand on his arm. `Johnny dear, don't be unreasonable. Since there is nothing with which they can be charged, the police have no excuse for questioning them; and they certainly won't give anything away to us.'
`But, Mumsie, we've got to make them, somehow,' he protested. `It is our only chance to find out what has been done with Christina.'
`There is still a chance that we may get a line through one of these occultists whom Monsieur Malouet suggests that we should investigate this afternoon,' C. B. put in quietly.
`Perhaps ! But we have only this afternoon left to work in,' John argued desperately. `So we can't possibly afford to ignore the only people we are all convinced could give us the facts if they liked. I am going to ring up Jules and make him give me an appointment.'
`Just as you like.' C. B. gave a little shrug. `But I'm afraid you will be knocking your head up against a brick wall.'
John jumped up and left the table to telephone. When he returned a few minutes later he said, `I got on to Jules at the Capricorn, and he has agreed to see me at four o'clock. Mumsie, you'll drive me over, won't you? And I'd like Mr. Beddows to come with us. He has certain arguments which I think might induce Jules to talk.'
Beddows had taken very little part in the conversation, but he now gave a quick nod and said, `I get the idea it's O.K. by me.'
C. B. had also got it, and turned a serious glance on John. `It's worth trying, though I doubt if Jules will prove willing to make any admissions, whatever you offer. Still, I can guess how you must be feeling; so good luck.'
As they left the table Malouet said, `Colonel Verney and I will maintain contact with the police in case they pick up any information about the lorry or the cab, and will spend the afternoon ourselves making enquiries in other quarters. If you wish to get in touch with us, ring up Inspector Drouet at the Prefecture in Nice. I will see to it that he knows from time to time where to get hold of us.'
Outside the airport they separated, C. B. and Malouet taking a taxi into the city, while Molly took the road to St. Tropez with John and Beddows as her passengers. At her villa they made a brief halt to drop their suitcases, but out of his Beddows took the bulk of his bank notes and stuffed them in his pockets. They reached the Capricorn soon after four, and as they drove up to the hotel Molly said to John
`I don't think I'll come in with you, Johnny. I'll just wait in the car and say a little prayer that things may go the way you want them to.'
`Thanks, Mumsie.' He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. `Keep on praying till we come out, please. This means an awful lot to me.'
On giving his name he was shown up at once to the de Grasses' suite. Jules let them in and John introduced Beddows to him. The young Frenchman gave Christina's father a swift, appraising look, then led them into the sitting room. When they were settled there John said:
`I'd like to come straight to the point. A few days ago you offered to double cross Canon Copely Syle if I would make it worth your while to do so. Is that offer still open?'
Jules' eyebrows rose in evident amusement. `A lot has happened since then; and things are rather different now, aren't they?'
`You mean that I caused you a lot of trouble, and that it was largely owing to my having taken a hand in the game that your father was wounded?'
To John's surprise, Jules replied, `No; I wasn't thinking of that. You made yourself a nuisance, of course, but even if you hadn't been with us at the chateau that hell cat might have got hold of Upson's pistol and run amok as she did; so I reckon that what we lost on the swings owing to your intervention we more than made up on the roundabouts. I saw you knock the gun up when she was about to shoot my father through the heart. I am very fond of my father, and it was your having saved his life that decided me to hear anything you had to say this afternoon.'