He
wanted to see if she would make any reference to the murder at
Seven Kings. If he could only bring in old Mackwayte's name, he
knew that the dancer must allude to the tragedy.
Then the unexpected happened. The girl introduce the old
comedian's name herself.
"The only pleasant memory I shall preserve of the Palaceum," she
said in French, "is my meeting with an old comrade of my youth.
Imagine, I had not seen him for nearly twenty years. Monsieur
Mackwayte, his name is, we used to call him Monsieur Arthur in
the old days when I was the child acrobat of the Dupont Troupe.
Such a charming fellow; and not a bit changed! He was doing a
deputy turn at the Palaceum on the last night I appeared there!
And he introduced me to his daughter! Une belle Anglaise! I shall
hope to see my old friend again when I go back to London!"
Desmond stared at her. If this were acting, the most hardened
criminal could not have carried it off better. He searched the
girl's face. It was frank and innocent. She ran on about
Mackwayte in the old days, his kindliness to everyone, his pretty
wife, without a shadow of an attempt to avoid an unpleasant
topic. Desmond began to believe that not only did the girl have
nothing to do with the tragedy but that actually she knew nothing
about it.
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