“But I made a statement of the whole facts to two agents of your department at an early hour this morning, before I left the Casino.” He looked puzzled, and his dark face broadened into a smile. “Pardon. But I think mademoiselle must be under some misapprehension. What occurred at the ball? Anything to arouse your suspicion?” “To arouse my suspicion?” I echoed. “Why, a man attired in the garb of an owl accosted me, gave me a strange warning, and actually placed in my hands the sixty thousand francs in notes stolen from the dead man!” “Impossible!” gasped the detective, amazed. “Where are the notes? You should have given us information instantly.” “I handed the notes to two police agents who were waiting in the Director’s room, and to whom I made a statement of the whole affair.” “What!” he cried loudly. “You have parted with the money?” “Certainly.” “Then mademoiselle has been most cleverly tricked, for the men to whom you handed the proceeds of the robbery were certainly not agents of the police!--they were impostors!” CHAPTER XI DESCRIBES A MEETING AND ITS SEQUEL His words staggered me. “Not agents of police!” I cried, dumfounded. “Why, they were fully cognizant of every detail of the affair. It was the Director of the Casino who presented them.” “Then M’sieur the Directeur was tricked, just as you were,” he answered gravely. “You say that you actually received from the hands of some one who wore an effective disguise the sum stolen from the unfortunate m’sieur? Kindly explain the whole circumstances of your meeting, and what passed between you.” “My dear Carmela,” exclaimed Ulrica. “This fresh complication is absolutely bewildering. You not only danced and chatted with the murderer, but you were the victim of a very clever plot.” “That is quite certain,” observed the officer. “The two individuals to whom mademoiselle inadvertently gave the notes upon the representations that they were agents of the police, were evidently well acquainted with the murderer’s intention to give up the proceeds of the robbery, and had watched you narrowly all through the evening. But kindly give us exact details.” In obedience to his demand, I recounted the whole story. It seemed to me incredible that the two men who had sent for me were bogus detectives, yet such was the actual fact, as was shown later when the Director of the Casino explained how they had come to him, telling him that they were police agents from Marseilles, and had ordered him to send for me, as they wished to interrogate me regarding “the affair of the Grand Hotel.” Such, he declared, was their air of authority that he never for a moment doubted that they were genuine officers of police. My statement held the two men absolutely speechless. I told them of the strange appointment in London made by the man with the owl’s face, of the curious warning he had given me, and of the manner in which he had presented me with the sum won at the tables by the murdered man.