Countess de la Moray
and General Gastang are still staying in the hotel? I feel pretty sure
they are gone, but it is just possible that such may not be the case.
Let this inquiry be made delicately, please."

Inspector Field departed to ask the question himself. He came back
presently with the information that the General and the Countess had
already gone, in fact they had not really been staying in the hotel at
all--their luggage was elsewhere, as the hotel they generally favoured
was full--they had only come to the _Royal Palace Hotel_ for the night,
and it had been their intention to proceed to Paris in the morning.

"Then it is General Gastang and the Countess de la Moray that we have to
look after," Beatrice cried. "The Countess came to me last night in the
drawing-room. She professed to be an old friend of my father, and,
indeed, I must confess that she knew a great deal about the family. She
was very nice indeed, and asked me to go and stay with her near Paris.
Being a little lonely just at present, I quite took to her. Subsequently
the General was introduced to me. He brought a message to the Countess,
who excused herself. Then some stranger came in and the General
vanished. He was quite taken aback for a moment, and evidently went in
deadly fear of being recognized. Of course this aroused my suspicions. I
had heard of these well-dressed, good-class swindlers in hotels before,
and immediately I thought of my jewels. I went straight to my room and
the door was locked. People were talking inside and I waited. Then the
door opened and a man came out and walked away."

"Would you recognize that man again, Miss?" Field asked eagerly.

"I should certainly be able to recognize him again," Beatrice said
quietly. She passed the point over rapidly. Something prevented
her--shame, perhaps--from saying it was the man who called himself her
husband. "After that I entered my room. The Countess was taken aback,
but very quickly she recovered herself. Then I noticed that there was a
thread of silk sticking to her hands, and after that I further noticed
that her hand was covered with wax. Even then the truth did not dawn
upon me till I saw a similar thread sticking to the seal on the door
leading to my father's room. And then I knew that the Countess had taken
an impression of the seal. They did not dare to take the impression in
the corridor, I suppose, and that was why they hit upon the clever
expedient of using the privacy