CHAPTER XIV 

LOUIS EXPLAINS 

Louis returned of his own accord before long. 

"Monsieur has been well served?" he asked genially. 

"Excellently, Louis," I answered, "so far as the mere question of food goes. You have not, however, managed to satisfy my curiosity." 

"Monsieur?" he asked interrogatively. 

"Concerning the Deloras," I answered. 

Louis shrugged his shoulders. 

"But what should I know?" he asked. "Mr. Delora, he has come here last year and the year before. He has stayed for a month or so. He understands what he eats. That is all. Mademoiselle comes for the first time. I know her not at all." 

"What do you think of his disappearance, Louis?" I asked. 

"What should I think of it, monsieur? I know nothing." 

"Mr. Delora, I am told," I continued, "is a coffee planter in South America." 

"I, too," Louis admitted, "have heard so much." 

"How came he to have the _entree_ to the Cafe des Deux Epingles?" I asked. 

Louis smiled. 

"I myself," he remarked, "am but a rare visitor there. How should I tell?" 

"Louis," said I, "why not be honest with me? I am certainly not a person to be afraid of. I am very largely in your hands over the Tapilow affair, and, as you know, I have seen too much of the world to consider trifles. I do not believe that Mr. Delora came to London to sell his crop of coffee. I do not believe that you are ignorant of his affairs. I do not believe that his disappearance is so much a mystery to you as it is to the rest of us--say to me and to mademoiselle his niece." 
What does he do there?
is a coffee planter in South America.