His frequent absences from home at
night, which were hailed by the Prefect as certain aids to his
success, I regarded only as ruses, to afford opportunity for
thorough search to the police, and thus the sooner to impress them
with the conviction to which G--, in fact, did finally arrive --the
conviction that the letter was not upon the premises. I felt, also,
that the whole train of thought, which I was at some pains in
detailing to you just now, concerning the invariable principle of
policial action in searches for articles concealed --I felt that
this whole train of thought would necessarily pass through the mind of
the Minister. It would imperatively lead him to despise all the
ordinary nooks of concealment. He could not, I reflected, be so weak
as not to see that the most intricate and remote recess of his hotel
would be as open as his commonest closets to the eyes, to the
probes, to the gimlets, and to the microscopes of the Prefect. I
saw, in fine, that he would be driven, as a matter of course, to
simplicity, if not deliberately induced to it as a matter of choice.
You will remember, perhaps, how desperately the Prefect laughed when I
suggested, upon our first interview, that it was just possible this
mystery troubled him so much on account of its being so very
self-evident.
Pages:
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31