"Well, the necklace, for some reason or other, seems to have been kept in a tin dispatch-box in his room. It was locked, of course, but the keys were under his pillow, a fact which the thief, whoever it was, seems to have known. The box was simply opened and the necklace taken." "It all sounds as though the thief must have been some one staying in the hotel," Aaron observed. The detective smiled pleasantly upon him. They had left the Gardens now and were approaching the back entrance to the Milan. "The legal mind, Mr. Rodd," he remarked--"the legal mind. Yes, I may say that we have come to that conclusion ourselves, Ditchwater and I. Some one staying in the hotel, we think." They passed through the mahogany doors and Brodie rang the bell for the lift. "By the by, Grimm," he suggested, "have you any objection--you have so often asked me to have a look at your rooms here?" "Delighted, I'm sure," the other assented cheerfully. "We had better get out on the restaurant floor and take the lift on the other side of the café. I am afraid you won't see them at their best just now. I only returned yesterday from a week's absence." "That so?" Brodie murmured. "Say, these little trips away from town are very pleasant! I don't seem to be able to get away from my work often enough. Not that I've been doing much good," he confessed dolefully, "during the last few months. Things have been going rather against me, Grimm. I've put in a lot of work and it don't seem to have panned out according to expectations." "Too bad!" Harvey Grimm sympathised. "You're up against a genius, though, Brodie--there's no question about that." Paul Brodie nodded solemnly. "I tell you, sir," he declared, "that Jeremiah Sands is more than a genius. He has the devil's own luck, too, and I have come to the conclusion," he added, dropping his voice to a confidential undertone, "that the young lady is almost as clever as he is. I don't mind admitting," he went on, as they passed through the café and stood waiting for the other lift, "that at one time, Grimm, I was inclined to think that you'd put it over me--that little affair of the faked diamond, you know, when we tried to make a scoop in Mr. Rodd's office. I have changed my mind, though. Jerry Sands was too clever ever to walk into a trap like that. I guess I did you an injustice there, Grimm, and you, Mr. Rodd. Things have been a bit better with you lately, though, haven't they?" he wound up, a little abruptly. Aaron Rodd raised his eyebrows. He had the air of one who considered the last remark impertinent. "Have they?" he observed coolly. "No business of mine, of course," Brodie went on. "Say, is this your floor, Grimm?" The lift had come to a standstill and they stepped out. "My rooms are this way," the latter announced.