The Eight Strokes of the Clock by Maurice le Blanc
page 30 of 276 (10%)
page 30 of 276 (10%)
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belvedere, from which you can see, over the trees and the undulations of
the park, the tower standing eight hundred yards away, and that this was the only place that overlooked the top of the tower. He therefore pierced a hole in the parapet, through one of the former loopholes, and from there, by using a telescope which fitted exactly in the grove which he had hollowed out, he watched the meetings of the two lovers. And it was from there, also, that, after carefully taking all his measurements, and calculating all his distances, on a Sunday, the 5th of September, when the house was empty, he killed them with two shots." The truth was becoming apparent. The light of day was breaking. The count muttered: "Yes, that's what must have happened. I expect that my cousin d'Aigleroche...." "The murderer," Renine continued, "stopped up the loophole neatly with a clod of earth. No one would ever know that two dead bodies were decaying on the top of that tower which was never visited and of which he took the precaution to demolish the wooden stairs. Nothing therefore remained for him to do but to explain the disappearance of his wife and his friend. This presented no difficulty. He accused them of having eloped together." Hortense gave a start. Suddenly, as though the last sentence were a complete and to her an absolutely unexpected revelation, she understood what Renine was trying to convey: "What do you mean?" she asked. "I mean that M. d'Aigleroche accused his wife and his friend of eloping |
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