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of water under the close scrutiniy of the officer. But Antonio was old,his front tooth was not missing,nor had he side whiskers. But the officer,if such he were, seeing death looming before him should he fail to find a culprit, pointed to Antonio's striped jacket and said that the man he was looking for wore just such a striped jacket and also a kitchen apron. But here I interposed: 'Gardeners do not wear such striped jackets and kitchen aprons.' - 'Then he must have been a combined house-man and gardener.' retorted the officer. I affirmed that we had never had such a person and that everyone in the neighbourhood could vouch for it. I now thought it time that these seemingly obseesed gentlemen should hear about a suspicious person who really did exist,the Polish maid; so whether they liked it or not,I began relating how this woman had entered our service as a Pole,and then joined the Germans during their retreat. Antonio added much that I did not know before: how this very ugly maid was in the habit of going out at night to keep some unknown tryst,and how on one occasion she was escorted back by a German officer. We wanted to send her away but never dared to do so. Now this was really something precise to go on and the three detectives were forced to focus their attention on actual facts. They would go to question the gardener who being blond was beyond their suspicion but who had been here at the same time as the maid. I gave the gardener's address on the Viale T. My guests got up to leave but on their way