“I make it a rule that no one is to come into this room unless Célestine, the maid, is there also. The chambermaid does the room in the morning while Célestine is present, and comes in after dinner to turn down the beds under the same conditions; otherwise she never enters the room.”

“Well, as I was saying,” continued Mrs. Opalsen, “I came up. I went to the drawer here,”⁠—she indicated the bottom right-hand drawer of the knee-hole dressing-table⁠—“took out my jewel-case and unlocked it. It seemed quite as usual⁠—but the pearls were not there!”

The inspector had been busy with his notebook. “When had you last seen them?” he asked.

“They were there when I went down to dinner.”

“You are sure?”