Then he drew a long sigh, tossed his cigarette away savagely, and throwing back the photograph into the drawer, relocked it. "Yes," he declared, turning to me again. "The situation is most abnormally disturbing, Heltzendorff. A storm is brewing, without a doubt. But the Emperor must know nothing, remember--not the slightest suspicion. Ah! What an infernal fool I was to believe in that woman. Bah! They are all alike. And yet----" and he paused--"and yet if it were not for the petticoat Germany's secret diplomacy--the preparation for the great 'Day' when we shall stagger the world--could not proceed. This, my dear Heltzendorff, has shown me that you may with advantage use a woman of whatever age as your catspaw, your secret agent, your bait when angling for important information, or your go-between in secret transactions; but never trust one with knowledge of your own personal affairs." "Then I take it that this girl-thief of the Montmartre whom you met when out for an evening's amusement is the cause of all this trouble? And yet she said that she did not know you!" "Because it was to her advantage to disclaim knowledge of me. Personally I do not think that the pretty Lizette is my enemy or she would not warn me against this infernal Spaniard, whoever he may be." "If the matter is so serious, had I not better go to Paris to-morrow and see Pinaud?" I suggested. "Excellent!" he exclaimed. "Watch must be kept upon them. The one thing to bear in mind, however, is that neither the Emperor nor my wife learn anything. Go to Paris to-morrow, and tell Pinaud from me to do his best on my behalf." Next morning I left for Paris, and on arrival spent half an hour with Georges Pinaud in his room at the Sûreté. "So His Imperial Highness does not wish the arrest of the girl Lizette Sabin?" he exclaimed presently. "I have her _dossier_ here," and he indicated a cardboard portfolio before him. "It is a pretty bad one. Her last sentence was one of twelve months for robbing an English baronet at a dancing-hall in the Rue du Bac." "His Highness does not wish for her arrest. He only desires the pair to be kept under close observation." "The man Aranda is, I have discovered, a dangerous person," said the famous detective, leaning back in his chair. "He has served a sentence at Cayenne for the attempted murder of a woman in Lyons. He is, of course, an adventurer of the most expert type." I longed to reveal to my friend Pinaud the whole facts, but this was against my instructions. I merely asked him as a favour to institute a strict vigilance upon the pair, and to report to me by telegraph if either of them left Paris. Aranda was still living at the Hotel Terminus, but the pretty Lizette had gone to stay with two girl friends, professional dancers, who lived on the third floor of a house half-way up the Rue Blanche. So having discharged my mission, I returned on the following day to Potsdam, where, on meeting me, the Crown-Prince seemed much relieved.