But the man's face was sadly against him. He had
the slyest eyes I have ever seen; that peculiar shifty glance which
invariably sets one against an individual. And thus I became more and
more convinced that we had to deal with some piece of trickery.
We entered the smoking-room where the gas was burning low. A gentleman
stopping at the hotel was snoring in solitary state in one of the arm
chairs. Reaching a table near a window we sat down and at once engaged in
battle.
'I have not brought you a definite answer,' said Wareham to the envoy,
'but this gentleman is in M. Zola's confidence, and wishes further proof
of your bona fides before allowing you to see M. Zola.'
Then I took up the tale, now in French, now in English, for the envoy
spoke both languages. Who was he? I asked. Did he claim to have received
Labori's card from Labori himself? What was the document in the envelope
which he would only deliver to M. Zola in person? And he replied that he
was a diamond-broker. Did I know So-and-So and So-and-So of Hatton
Garden? They knew him well, they did business with him; they could vouch
for his honorability.
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