'
'You are a clever man,' retorted the doctor; 'I admire clever men.'
'Very good,' said Vandeloup, crossing one leg over the other. 'As we
now understand one another, I await your explanation of this visit.'
Dr Gollipeck, with admirable composure, placed his hands on his
knees, and acceded to the request of M. Vandeloup.
'I saw in the Ballarat and Melbourne newspapers,' he said, quietly,
'that Selina Sprotts, the servant of Mrs Villiers, was dead. The
papers said foul play was suspected, and according to the evidence
of Kitty Marchurst, whom, by the way, I remember very well, the
deceased had been poisoned. An examination was made of the body, but
no traces of poison were found. Knowing you were acquainted with
Madame Midas, and recognising this case as a peculiar one--seeing
that poison was asserted to have been given, and yet no appearances
could be found--I came down to Melbourne, saw the doctor who had
analysed the body, and heard what he had to say on the subject. The
symptoms were described as apoplexy, similar to those of a woman who
died in Paris called Adele Blondet, and whose case was reported in a
book by Messrs Prevol and Lebrun. Becoming suspicious, I assisted at
a chemical analysis of the body, and found that the woman Sprotts
had been poisoned by an extract of hemlock, the same poison used in
the case of Adele Blondet. The man who poisoned Adele Blondet was
sent to New Caledonia, escaped from there, and came to Australia,
and prepared this poison at Ballarat; and why I called here tonight
was to know the reason M.
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