"Yes, sir," said the detective, sitting down. "There is no doubt the necklace has been removed by some one, either for a nefarious purpose or for a joke."
"Ah! A joke?" meditated Mr. Prohack, aloud.
"It certainly hasn't been taken for a joke," said Eve warmly. "Nobody that I know well enough for them to play such a trick would dream of playing it."
"Then," said Mr. Prohack, "we are left all alone with the nefarious purpose. I had a sort of a notion that I should meet the nefarious purpose, and here it is! I suppose there's little hope?"
"Well, sir. You know what happens to a stolen pearl necklace. The pearls are separated. They can be sold at once, one at a time, or they can be kept for years and then sold. Pearls, except the very finest, leave no trace when they get a fair start."
"What I can't understand," Eve exclaimed, "is how it could have dropped off without me noticing it."
"Oh! I can easily understand that," said Mr. Prohack, with a peculiar intonation.
"I've known ladies lose even their hair without noticing anything," said the detective firmly. "Not to mention other items."
"But without anybody else noticing it either?" Eve pursued her own train of thought.
"Somebody did notice it," said the detective, writing on a small piece of paper.