"Because," went on the Judge with decision--"because this was found in
the compartment;" and he held out the piece of lace and the scrap of
beading for the General's inspection, adding quickly, "You have seen
these, or one of them, or something like them before. I am sure of it; I
call upon you; I demand--no, I appeal to your sense of honour, Sir
Collingham. Tell me, please, exactly what you know."


CHAPTER X

The General sat for a time staring hard at the bit of torn lace and the
broken beads. Then he spoke out firmly:

"It is my duty to withhold nothing. It is not the lace. That I could not
swear to; for me--and probably for most men--two pieces of lace are very
much the same. But I think I have seen these beads, or something exactly
like them, before."

"Where? When?"

"They formed part of the trimming of a mantle worn by the Contessa di
Castagneto."

"Ah!" it was the same interjection uttered simultaneously by the three
Frenchmen, but each had a very different note; in the Judge it was deep
interest, in the detective triumph, in the Commissary indignation, as
when he caught a criminal red-handed.

"Did she wear it on the journey?" continued the Judge.