ands.

"Monsieur," he declared, "it is not for us. The doctor has given his
certificate."

Hunterleys smiled a little grimly.

"I have always understood," he observed, "that things were managed like
this. You may have confidence in me, Monsieur the Commissioner, and you,
Monsieur Picard. I shall not tell the world what I suspect. But for your
private information I will tell you that this man was probably murdered
by an assassin who sought my life. You observe that there is a certain
resemblance."

The hotel proprietor turned pale.

"Murdered!" he exclaimed. "Impossible! A murder here--unheard of!"

The Commissioner dismissed the whole thing airily with a wave of his
hand.

"The doctor has signed the certificate," he repeated.

"And I," Hunterleys added, as he led the way out of the room, "am more
than satisfied--I am grateful. So there is nothing more to be said."

CHAPTER XXV

DRACONMEYER IS DESPERATE

Draconmeyer stood before the window of his room, looking out over the
Mediterranean. There was no finer view to be obtained from any suite in
the hotel, and Monte Carlo had revelled all that day in the golden,
transfiguring sunshine. Yet he looked as a blind man. His eyes saw
nothing of the blue sea or the brown-sailed fishing boats, nor did he
once glance towards the picturesque harbour. He saw only his own future,
the shattered pieces of his carefully-thought-out scheme. The first fury
had passed. His brain was working now. In her room below, Lady
Hunterleys was lying on the couch, half hysterical. Three times she had
sent for her husband. If he should return at that moment, Draconmeyer
knew that the game was up. There would be no bandying words between
them, no involved explanations, no possibility of any further
misunderstanding. All his little tissue of lies and misrepresentations
would crumble hopelessly to pieces. The one feeling in her heart would
be thankfulness. She would open her arms. He saw the end with fatal,
unerring truthfulness.

His servant returned. Draconmeyer waited eagerly for his message.

"Lady Hunterleys is lying down, sir," the man announced. "She is very
much upset and begs you to excuse her."

Draconmeyer waved the man away and walked up and down the apartment, his
hands behind his back, his lips hard-set. He was face to face with a
crisis which baffled him completely, and yet which he felt to be wholly
unworthy of his powers. His brain had never been keener, his sens