“Not a soul, sir, not a soul! Nor in the box on the right, nor in the box on the left: not a soul, sir, I swear! The box-keeper told it me often enough, which proves that it was all a joke.”

“Oh, you agree, do you?” said Richard. “You agree! It’s a joke! And you think it funny, no doubt?”

“I think it in very bad taste, sir.”

“And what did the box-keeper say?”

“Oh, she just said that it was the Opera ghost. That’s all she said!”

And the inspector grinned. But he soon found that he had made a mistake in grinning, for the words had no sooner left his mouth than M. Richard, from gloomy, became furious.

“Send for the box-keeper!” he shouted. “Send for her! This minute! This minute! And bring her in to me here! And turn all those people out!”