2. Mr. Averill and Mlle. Anne de Condillac had been married in the
English church at Biarritz on the 24th of June, 1905.
3. Mrs. Averill had died on the 17th of July, 1906, while giving birth
to a daughter.
4. This daughter, whose name was Ruth, was baptised at the Anglican
church, Biarritz, on the 19th of August, 1906.
5. Mr. Theodore Averill had died on the 8th of September, 1910, his
little four-year old daughter then being sent to England.
So that was certainty at last. Roper was the evil genius behind all
these involved happenings. He it was who had got Ruth away from the
doomed house; he had sent Whymper off to pass the stolen notes so that
he might learn if their numbers were known; he had murdered Simon
Averill; he had stolen the notes from the safe; he had murdered his
wife; he had burned the house. All was now clear—except the one point
at which French, trembling with exasperation, was again brought up.
What had happened to Roper? What blunder had he made? How had he died?
And again; where was the money? Was it hidden or was it destroyed?
As French went down to the police station to tell Sergeant Kent he
might withdraw his observation on Whymper, he determined that next
morning he would begin a meticulous and detailed search of the ground
surrounding the ruins in the hope of finding the answer to his last
question.
But next morning French instead found himself contemplating with a
growing excitement a new idea which had leaped into his mind and which
bade fair to change the whole future course of his investigation.