"But you are to take care of her. She can only accept two hundred marks a month and I have given you enough for that four times over." "But she doesn't want money; she already has a full list." "Then what does she want?" "Jewels, of course; they all want them; jewels from the Royal Level, and she knows you can get them for her." "Oh, I see. Well, what would please her?" "A necklace of rubies, the best they have, one that will cost at least twenty thousand marks." "That's rather expensive, is it not?" "But her favourite lover disappeared," fenced Holknecht, "and his death was never entered on the records. It may be the Chemical Staff knows what became of him and maybe they do not; whatever happened, you seem to want it kept still, so you had best get the necklace." After a little further arguing that revealed nothing, I went to the Royal Level, and searching out a jewelry shop, I purchased a necklace of very beautiful synthetic rubies, for which I gave my check for twenty thousand marks. Returning to my apartment, I found Holknecht still waiting. He insisted on taking the necklace to Katrina, but I feared to trust a man who accepted bribes so shamelessly, and decided to go with him and deliver it in person. Sullenly, Holknecht led the way to her apartment. Katrina sensuously gowned in flaming red was awaiting the outcome of her blackmailing venture. She motioned me to a chair near her, while Holknecht, utterly ignored, sank obscurely into a corner. "So you came," said the lady of black and scarlet, leaning back among her pillows and gazing at me through half closed eyes. "Yes," I said, "since you have looked up Holknecht and he has explained to you the reason for the disappearance of the man you knew, I thought best to see you and have an understanding." "But that dumb fellow explained nothing," declared Katrina, "except that he told me that Armstadt went to the mines and you came back and took his place. He wasn't even sure you were not the other Karl Armstadt until I convinced him, and then he claimed that he had known it all the time; and yet he had never told it. Some men are as dull as books." "On the contrary, Holknecht is very sensible," I replied. "It is a grave affair of state and one that it is best not to probe into." "And just what did become of the other Armstadt?" asked Katrina, and in her voice was only a curiosity, with no real concern. "To tell you the truth, your lover was killed in the mine explosion," I replied, for I thought it unwise to state that he was still alive lest she pursue her inquiries for him and so make further trouble.