6. This looked like the end of the case but as it proved it was only the beginning. At ten minutes to eleven Dr. Touchon himself entered our outer office. I was dumbfounded at the sight of him. It seemed like the unluckiest accident in the world. It did not occur to me then that it might not be an accident at all. He smiled at the sight of my dismayed face.
"I wonder if I could see Mme. Storey for a moment," he said with the greatest politeness—but his eyes were alight with triumphant mockery.
I recovered myself. I had to think quickly because, for anything I knew, Fay might be already coming up the stairs. "Why, certainly," I said, with a cordiality no less than his own. I immediately opened the door to my mistress's room saying: "Dr. Touchon is here."
She understood my manoeuvre. "Wel
