The Blue Lights Part 9

"It--it was gone."

"Then it is clear that the child must have been taken away peaceably, without objection on his part. Had he struggled, cried, he would have dropped the ball, would he not?"

"I suppose so."

"How long was your head turned from him--while you were--dreaming?"

"About a minute."

"Not more?"

"No."

"How do you estimate the time so closely?"

"I'm sure it could not have been longer. A minute is quite a long time."

"What time was it when you got back to the house?"

"About--about one o'clock, I think." The girl turned to Mrs. Stapleton for confirmation of her answer.

"It was a quarter-past one," said Mrs. Stapleton, promptly. "I noted the time particularly, because it was later than usual. Mary had orders to bring Jack back for luncheon not later than one."

Duvall began to make some figures on a piece of paper. "You fix the time of the boy's disappearance at 11.30. You say you hunted for him an hour.

That would be 12.30." He looked at the girl searchingly. "You arrived home at 1.15. That would mean that it took 45 minutes to get here." He turned to Stapleton. "Please send for your chauffeur, Francois."

Mr. Stapleton rang a bell, and ordered the servant who responded to send in the chauffeur. Meanwhile Mary Lanahan was regarding Duvall with nervous apprehension.

"We must have hunted for him longer than I thought," she said, at length.

Duvall made no reply, but waited until the arrival of the chauffeur. He proved to be a short, heavily built man, with long powerful arms, and a swarthy face--evidently from the south of France. His countenance was stolid and emotionless. He appeared the well trained servant.

Duvall addressed him at once. "How long would it take you, my man, driving fast, to reach this house from the spot in the Bois where Master Jack was lost?"

The man responded at once. "Ten minutes," he said, "easily."

"What time was it when this woman," the detective indicated the nurse, "called to you, on discovering that the child was gone?"

"I do not know."

"Have you no idea?"

"It must have been about twelve o'clock. We hunted for the boy till about one--then came home."

"The nurse says it was half-past eleven."

The man shrugged his shoulders. "It may have been. I did not observe the time."

"What were you doing?"

"I was asleep."

Mr. Stapleton started. "Asleep?" he demanded, angrily.

The man nodded. "The day was warm. I had nothing to do. For a time I read the paper. I must have dozed in my seat; for, the next thing I knew, the nurse was calling to me, and the boy was gone."

Duvall frowned. "Then you could not say whether anyone else was near the nurse and the boy, at the time he was kidnapped?"

"No, monsieur. I could not."

"That will do." The detective turned to Mr. Stapleton. "Have your man drive us to the place where all this occurred."

The banker gave the man the order, and he left the room. Then Duvall turned again to Mary Lanahan.

"You were taken suddenly ill one day last week. Tell us about it."

The woman looked up. "It was very mysterious, sir. I went out for a walk. At a cafe in the Rue St. Honore I had a cup of chocolate."

"Alone?" asked the detective, sharply.

The woman colored. "No," she faltered. "I--I was with a friend."

"Who?"

"A--a gentleman I know." She glanced fearfully at Mr. Stapleton. "I--I would rather not give his name."

"Was it Alphonse Valentin?" asked Duvall, quickly.

The woman colored still more deeply. "Yes," she replied, in scarcely audible tones.

The banker regarded her in surprise. "Alphonse Valentin!" he cried. "The fellow I discharged last year, for dishonesty? Mr. Duvall--he's your man!"

"No--no!" exclaimed the nurse, excitedly. "He knows nothing of the matter--nothing!"

"That remains to be seen," remarked Duvall, slowly. "Where did you meet this fellow, Valentin?"

"At the cafe in the Rue St. Honore."

"You had met him there frequently before?"

"Yes."

"After you left the cafe, what did you do?"

"We walked to the Champs elysees and sat on a bench, talking. Suddenly I felt very ill. Mr. Valentin called a cab and sent me home."

"Give me the address of this cafe, please."

The woman did so. As Duvall was entering it in his notebook, a servant announced that the automobile was at the door.