Maurice Leblanc

“ A few minutes later, a sound of voices rose from the other side of the house, no doubt near the well. The sound grew more distinct. A number of people flocked into the house. Some of them went up stairs to the first floor, while the sergeant arrived with a young man of whom Rénine and Hortense were able to distinguish only the tall figure:
"Jérôme Vignal," said she.
"Yes," said Rénine. "They are examining Madame de Gorne first, upstairs, in her bedroom." ”

“ Forming a sudden resolve, he said to Natalie:
"You will be good enough to hold yourself at the disposal of the authorities, madame, and to remain here, in the manor-house...."
And he made a sign to the sergeant to remove Jérôme Vignal in the car.
The game was lost for the two lovers. Barely united, they had to separate and to fight, far away from each other, against the most grievous accusations. ”

“ The man ran after him to the well and fired three revolver-shots."
"And where's the body?"
"Down the well."
Rénine protested:
"Oh, I say! Aren't you taking a lot for granted?"
"Why, sir, the snow's there, to tell the story; and the snow plainly says that, after the struggle, after the three shots, one man alone walked away and left the farm, one man only, and his footprints are not those of Mathias de Gorne. Then where can Mathias de Gorne be?"
"But the well ... can be dragged?"
"No. The well is practically bottomless. It is known all over the district and gives its name to the manor." ”

“ And, without waiting for more, shaking with merriment like a jolly old fellow amused by a funny story, he took his departure, not forgetting, however, to set his great hob-nail boots on each of the compromising footprints which his son had left behind him.
Later, when Rénine went back to the manor to let Hortense out, he found that she had disappeared.
He called and asked for her at her cousin Ermelin's. Hortense sent down word asking him to excuse her: she was feeling a little tired and was lying down.
"Capital!" thought Rénine. "Capital! She avoids me, therefore she loves me. ”

“ In a moment, Mathias de Gorne had seen the advantage which he could take of my slip: he could keep his property, keep his wife ... and keep the money. Quick as lightning, he tucked away the paper, hit me over the head with the butt-end of his gun, threw the gun on the floor and seized me by the throat with both hands. He had reckoned without his host. I was the stronger of the two; and after a sharp but short struggle, I mastered him and tied him up with a cord which I found lying in a corner ... Mr. Deputy, if my enemy's resolve was sudden, mine was no less so. ”

“ Events did not wait, you see, and I don't quite know what's to become of Jérôme Vignal and Natalie de Gorne."
"What, haven't you heard?" she said, quickly. "They've been arrested. They were going to travel by the express."
"Arrested? No." Rénine objected. "People are not arrested like that. They have to be questioned first."
"That's what's being done now. The authorities are making a search."
"Where?"
"At the château. And, as they are innocent.... For they are innocent, aren't they? You don't admit that they are guilty, any more than I do?" ”

“ We shall see and hear everything; and, as a word, a tone of the voice, a quiver of the eyelids will be enough to give me the tiny clue I need, we may entertain some hope. Come along."
He took her by the direct route which he had followed that morning, leading to the gate which the locksmith had opened. The gendarmes on duty at the manor-house had made a passage through the snow, beside the line of footprints and around the house. Chance enabled Rénine and Hortense to approach unseen and through a side-window to enter a corridor near a back-staircase. ”

“ Those present at once grasped their extreme significance and, by adapting it to the actual happenings, perceived in a flash the impenetrable truth, which suddenly appeared to be the most natural thing in the world. ”

“ Was she too killed and thrown down the well like her husband?"
"No, carried off."
"Carried off?"
"Remember that her bedroom was broken down with a hammer."
"Come, come, sergeant! You yourself declare that there was only one departure, the stranger's."
"Stoop down. Look at the man's footprints. See how they sink into the snow, until they actually touch the ground. Those are the footprints of a man, laden with a heavy burden. ”

“ To go to his father, Mathias de Gorne must have left this house. Which way did he go?"
"Hang it all, M. Vignal told you: by the road which leads from here to his father's!"
"There are no tracks in the snow."
"Yes, there are."
"But they show him coming here and not going away from here."
"It's the same thing."
"What?"
"Of course it is. There's more than one way of walking. One doesn't always go ahead by following one's nose."
"In what other way can one go ahead?"
"By walking backwards, Mr. Deputy." ”

“ Nevertheless, I am bound to say that everything is against them ... except one fact, which is that everything is too much against them. It is not normal for so many proofs to be heaped up one on top of the other and for the man who commits a murder to tell his story so frankly. ”

“ Rénine took his arm:
"Let's speak out plainly, sergeant. I understand the business pretty well, for, as I told you, I know Mlle. Ermelin, who is a friend of Jérôme Vignal's and also knows Madame de Gorne. Do you suppose ...?"
"I don't want to suppose anything. I simply declare that some one came there last night...."
"By which way? The only tracks of a person coming towards the manor are those of M. de Gorne."
"That's because the other person arrived before the snowfall, that is to say, before nine o'clock." ”

“ You have mortgaged every foot of your land. You have signed bills which will shortly be falling due and which it will be absolutely impossible for you to honour. You have nothing to hope for from your father, whose own affairs are in a very bad condition. ”

“ However, the de Gornes can't get over it.'
"'What, the father neither?'
"'The handsome young man is the last descendant of the people who bought the château long ago. This explains old de Gorne's hatred. Jérôme Vignal—I know him and am very fond of him—is a good-looking fellow and very well off; and he has sworn to run off with Natalie de Gorne. It's the old man who says so, whenever he has had a drop too much. ”

“ Never again! For instance (I am only telling you this because you are incorrigible, as inquisitive as any old charwoman, and always ready to busy yourself with things that don't concern you) , yesterday I was present at a rather curious meeting. Antoinette had taken me to the inn at Bassicourt, where we were having tea in the public room, among the peasants (it was market-day) , when the arrival of three people, two men and a woman, caused a sudden pause in the conversation. ”