Gyuri stood quiet again but his eyes shot flames and great drops
stood out on his forehead.
"Now go on, friend Cardillac," continued the detective. "We were
talking about Red Betty."
"I strangled her. She did not even know she was dying. She was
such a weak old woman, it really couldn't have hurt her."
"No, certainly not," said Muller soothingly, for he saw that the
thought that his victim might have suffered was beginning to make
the madman uneasy. "You needn't worry about that. Old Betty died
a quiet death. But tell me, how did Gyuri know that she had money?"
"The whole village knew it. She laid cards for people and earned
a lot of money that way. She was very stingy and saved every bit.
Somebody saw her counting out her money once, she had it in a big
stocking under her bed. People in the village talked about it.
That's how Gyuri heard of it."
"And so he commanded you to kill Betty and steal her money?"
"Yes. He knew that I loved to give them riddles to guess, just as
I did in Paris so long ago."
"Oh, yes, you're Cardillac, aren't you? And now tell us about the
smith's swineherd."
"You mean Janos? Oh, he was a stupid lout," answered Varna
scornfully.
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