“Do they hold out any hope of recovery?”

“I’m afraid they are not sanguine. You see, the pair had a good start, and I expect they belong to one of the leading gangs of jewel thieves in Europe. The entire business must have been carefully planned. Probably I was shadowed from the moment I left your bankers’.”

“It’s unfortunate.”

“Yes, indeed. I felt sure that you would attach some importance to the jewel-case. So I have instructed the police to do their utmost.”

She seemed taken aback by the lightness of my tone.

“My friend, those jewels were few, but they were valuable. They were worth — I don’t know what they were worth. There was a necklace that must have cost fifteen thousand pounds.”