ne, but
gradually I drew out the threads. When I had done so, however, I heard,
to my dismay, that certain of our enemies had got to know the direction
in which I was working, and had warned the Paris Surete. I was therefore
bound to travel back to Monte Carlo, if I intended to be successful, so
I had to come by the roundabout route through Italy and by the Tenda."

"I suspected that," I said.

"Yes. But the truth was stranger than I had ever imagined. As you know,
things do not surprise me very often, but in this affair I confess I'd
been taken completely aback."

"How?"

"Because when I returned to Monty I made some absolutely surprising
discoveries. Among them was that Mademoiselle was in the habit of
secretly meeting a long-nosed man."

"A long-nosed man!" I exclaimed. "You mean the police-agent?"

"I mean Monsieur Martin, the clerk. Don't you recognise him?" he asked,
taking the photograph out of his pocket and handing it to me.

It was the same!

"To be away from Martin's influence, my dear Ewart, the good jeweller
Dumont had arranged for Mademoiselle to go into the convent. The father
had, no doubt, discovered his daughter's secret love affair. Martin knew
this, and with the connivance of Pierrette and Madame had decamped with
the gems from the Charing Cross Hotel, in order to feather his nest."

"And the missing Dumont?"

"Dumont, when he realised his enormous loss, saw that if he complained
to the police it would get into the papers, and his creditors--who had
lately been very pressing--would lose confidence in the stability of the
business in the Rue de la Paix. So he resolved to disappear, get away to
Norway, and, if possible, follow Martin and regain possession of the
jewels. In this he very nearly succeeded, but fortunately for us, Martin
was no fool."

"How?"

"Why, he took the jewels to Nice with him when he went to meet
Pierrette, and, having acquaintance with Regnier through his friend
Raoul, gave them over to 'The President' to sell for him, well knowing
that Regnier had, like we ourselves, a secret market for such things.
I've proved, by the way, that this fellow Martin has had one or two
previous dealings with Regnier while in various situations in Paris."

"Well?" I asked, astounded at all this. "That's the reason they warned
me against her. What else?"

"What else?" he asked. "You may well ask what else? Well, I acted
boldly."

"How do you mean?"

"I simply told the dainty Mad