The Orphan's Tale Read Online Free PDF Page B

your hand tomorrow morning. I will go with you to the Conciergerie. Plan your attack as you wish, and I shall support you to the fullest extent of my power."
    **  **  **
    "He didn't die easily," said d'Anglars through white lips.
    Malet looked up from the contorted face on the pallet before him. "No, he didn't," he said. He saw d'Anglars' expression and twitched a stool forward. "Sit down," he said. "Put your head against your knees."
    D'Anglars obeyed. He took out a fine silk handkerchief after a moment and blotted his suddenly damp forehead.
    " He appears to have been strangled," said Jules Sonnier, the police surgeon for the 12th arrondissement. "Odd, but there aren't any marks on his neck."
    D'Anglars closed his eyes.
    Malet drew the collar of the man's shirt aside and frowned at the throat. He pushed Ensenat's throat with a fingertip and then bent and felt along the line of the man's windpipe. "Not strangled," he said. "He choked to death."
    Sonnier leaned forward. "On what?" he asked.
    " Feel his throat," said Malet. "There's something stuck there."
    Sonnier obeyed and then watched as Malet ripped Ensenat's shirt open and stared at the man's abdomen, which was covered with a dark bruise.
    "Just as I suspected," said Malet. He drew the torn shirt back and brushed his hands together. "Cut him open and you'll find a wad of cloth. Probably a handkerchief. It was shoved down his throat."
    " But the bruise?" said d'Anglars, who had recovered a little of his color and was craning his neck to see around Sonnier.
    "S omeone held him with the handkerchief ready," said Malet, "while another punched him in the stomach, forcing the air out. And then they crammed the handkerchief down his throat. It would be drawn farther down his windpipe with every breath he tried to take."
    " Good God!" said Sonnier.
    " Sometimes condemned men do that to escape execution," Malet said thoughtfully. "I always thought the rope or the guillotine would be less painful."
    " People are fools at best," said Sonnier, "And frightened people more so." He sighed and folded his arms. "Do you need me any more, Inspector?"
    Malet shook his head. "No, M. le Docteur," he said. "You may go. And thank you."
    " Shall I perform an autopsy?"
    Malet frowned and looked over at d'Anglars. "Monseigneur?" he said.
    D'Anglars shook his head. "If M. Malet is certain of the cause of death, there's no need to - to cut the corpse. His family might be grieved."
    " He has none," Malet said flatly. "He came from filth, dealt in filth, and died a filthy death at the hands of filthy men. He left no offspring and had no wife."
    The bitterness in his voice made d'Anglars raise his eyebrows, but he said nothing.
    "Doctor," said Malet as Sonnier reached the door. "Send the guards in, if you please. I want to speak with them."
    The doctor nodded and left.
    "Will it accomplish anything?" asked d'Anglars.
    " It'll shake them up," Malet said grimly.
    **  **  **
    "Do you remember seeing anyone - anyone! - coming along this hallway within the past day?" Malet asked.
    The four guards shook their heads.
    "Come now," said Malet. "You must have seen something. Think back."
    There was no answer. Malet had expected none. His smile thinned. "Nothing, again!" he said. "Your memories are completely clear." He paused the space of time it took to draw a deep breath, then spoke again. "Then let me tell you something that you should keep at the very front of your minds.
    " While you played cards - " he nodded toward a white-faced young man, " - or relieved yourself - " this to a paunchy, middle-aged man, " - or drank the wine you weren't supposed to have at your post, and carefully looked anywhere but where you were supposed to be looking, you became accessory to a murder, and that is a crime. And crime is my concern. So: from now on I will be watching you: your every step, your every move. One slip - only one! - and you'll be mine." He nodded toward the corpse on the pallet. "I will show as much mercy