"You should have persisted. It was your manifest duty. You are an
officer of the law, or you say you are."

"Pray telegraph at once, if you think fit, to Rome, to the police
authorities, and you will find that Natale Ripaldi--your humble
servant--travelled by the through express with their knowledge and
authority. And here are my credentials, my official card, some official
letters--"

"And what, in a word, have you to tell us?"

"I can tell you who the murdered man was."

"We know that already."

"Possibly; but only his name, I apprehend. I know his profession, his
business, his object in travelling, for I was appointed to watch and
follow him. That is why I am here."

"Was he a suspicious character, then? A criminal?"

"At any rate he was absconding from Rome, with valuables."

"A thief, in fact?"

The Italian put out the palms of his hands with a gesture of doubt and
deprecation.

"Thief is a hard, ugly word. That which he was removing was, or had
been, his own property."