'Did you take up a passenger a few minutes past three o'clock on the
Boulevard des Italiens, near the Credit-Lyonnais? Had he a short black
beard? Did he carry a small box in his hand and order you to drive to
the Madeleine?'
The cabman seemed puzzled.
'He wore a short black beard when he got out of the cab,' he replied.
'What do you mean by that?'
'I drive a closed cab, sir. When he got in he was a smooth-faced
gentleman; when he got out he wore a short black beard.'
'Was he a Frenchman?'
'No, sir; he was a foreigner, either English or American.'
'Was he carrying a box?'
'No, sir; he held in his hand a small leather bag.'
'Where did he tell you to drive?'
'He told me to follow the cab in front, which had just driven off very
rapidly towards the Madeleine. In fact, I heard the man, such as you
describe, order the other cabman to drive to the Madeleine. I had come
alongside the curb when this man held up his hand for a cab, but the
open cab cut in ahead of me. Just then my passenger stepped up and
said in French, but with a foreign accent: "Follow that cab wherever
it goes."'
I turned with some indignation to my inefficient spy.
'You told me,' I said, 'that the American had gone down a side street.
Pages:
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37