"
I did so, and this is what I read:
"_A:_ the name of the man who cut out the lid of the cardboard box and
sealed it in the envelope--Gaston Max!
"_B:_ the name of the missing cabman--Gaston Max!
"_C:_ the name of the man who rang me up at Dr. Stuart's and told me
that Gaston Max was dead--Gaston Max!"
I returned the slip to Inspector Dunbar. I bowed.
"It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with you, Inspector," I
said ....
This statement is nearly concluded. The whole of the evening I spent
in the room of the Assistant Commissioner discussing the matters
herein set forth and comparing notes with Inspector Dunbar. One
important thing I learned: that I had abandoned my nightly watches
too early. For one morning just before dawn someone who was _not_
Zara had paid a visit to the house of Dr. Stuart! I determined to
call upon the doctor.
As it chanced I was delayed and did not actually arrive until so late
an hour that I had almost decided not to present myself ... when a big
yellow car flashed past the taxicab in which I was driving!
_Nom d'un nom!_ I could not mistake it! This was within a few hundred
yards of the house of Dr. Stuart, you understand, and I instantly
dismissed my cabman and proceeded to advance cautiously on foot. I
could no longer hear the engine of the car which had passed ahead of
me, but then I knew that it could run almost noiselessly. As I crept
along in that friendly shadow cast by a high hedge which had served
me so well before, I saw the yellow car.
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