"
"Drugged?"
"Mais, oui!"
"You remember"--he addressed us collectively again--"that through
all the tumult and noise next door Mademoiselle Cynthia slept.
That admitted of two possibilities. Either her sleep was
feigned--which I did not believe--or her unconsciousness was
indeed by artificial means.
"With this latter idea in my mind, I examined all the coffee-cups
most carefully, remembering that it was Mrs. Cavendish who had
brought Mademoiselle Cynthia her coffee the night before. I took
a sample from each cup, and had them analysed--with no result. I
had counted the cups carefully, in the event of one having been
removed. Six persons had taken coffee, and six cups were duly
found. I had to confess myself mistaken.
"Then I discovered that I had been guilty of a very grave
oversight. Coffee had been brought in for seven persons, not
six, for Dr. Bauerstein had been there that evening. This
changed the face of the whole affair, for there was now one cup
missing. The servants noticed nothing, since Annie, the
housemaid, who took in the coffee, brought in seven cups, not
knowing that Mr.
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