ssed by the feeling that I was off the track.
Once or twice I had received "_ferma in posta_"--confidential letters
from Rudolph Rayne and also from Duperre. To these I replied to an
unsuspicious address--a library in Knightsbridge.

By reason, however, of keeping observation upon the Palazzo Romanelli
I gained considerable knowledge concerning those who came and went. I
knew, for instance, that the pretty Flavia was in the habit of meeting
in strictest secrecy a good-looking young lieutenant of artillery
named Rinaldo Ricci. Indeed, they met almost daily. It struck me as
more than curious that on the day after the Admiral had left hurriedly
for Rome Zuccari should arrive from Bari, and having taken a room at
the Excelsior Hotel, dine at the palazzo.

My vigil that night was a long one. I managed to creep up through the
grounds and peer through the wooden shutters into the fine,
well-furnished _salon_ of the palazzo. It was unoccupied, but upon a
table on the opposite side of the room stood the Silver Spider, the
strange but exquisite mascot of the Romanelli. No doubt some legend
was attached to it, just as there are legends to many family
heirlooms.

That night I made a further discovery, namely, that when Zuccari left
he returned to his hotel, where Flavia's secret lover had a long chat
with him.

Next day a strange thing happened. While watching the Marchesa I saw
her, about eleven o'clock in the morning, walking alone in the Corso
Vittorio when she accidentally encountered the banker Zuccari. They
passed each other as total strangers!

Why? There was some deep motive in that pretended ignorance of each
other's identity. Could it be because they feared they were being
watched? And yet was not Zuccari a frequent visitor at the Palazzo
Romanelli, for it was there I had first met him? In any case, it was
curious that Zuccari and young Rinaldo Ricci should be friends
apparently unknown to either the Marchesa or to Flavia.

In order to probe the mystery I decided that it would be necessary to
learn more of Zuccari's movements. Therefore, having watched him call
at the Palazzo Romanelli, I waited for him to leave, and at ten
o'clock that same night he suddenly departed from Naples for the
north. I traveled by the same train. Arrived at Rome, the banker
remained at the buffet about half an hour, when he joined the express
train for Milan, and all through the day and the night I traveled,
wondering what might be his