“The extracting of the trinket is your affair,” he rejoined dryly. “I will give you five hundred francs if you bring the bracelet to me within fourteen days.”
“But—” I stammered again.
“Your task will not be such a difficult one after all. I will give you the duplicate key of the safe.”
He dived into the breast pocket of his coat, and drew from it a somewhat large and clumsy key, which he placed upon my desk.
“I managed to get that easily enough,” he said nonchalantly, “a couple of nights ago, when I had the honour of visiting Mademoiselle in her dressing-room. A piece of wax in my hand, Mademoiselle’s momentary absorption in her reflection while her maid was doing her hair, and the impression of the original key was in my possession. But between taking a model of the key and the actual theft of the bracelet out of the safe there is a wide gulf which a gentleman cannot bridge over. Therefore, I choose to employ you, M.—er—er—Ratichon, to complete the transaction for me.”
“For five hundred francs?” I queried blandly.
“It is a fair sum,” he argued.
“Make it a thousand,” I rejoined firmly, “and you shall have the bracelet within fourteen days.”
He paused a moment in order to reflect; his steel-grey eyes, cool and disdainful, were fixed searchingly on my face. I pride myself on the way that I bear that kind of scrutiny, so even now I looked bland and withal purposeful and capable.
“Very well,” he said, after a few moments, and he rose from his chair as he spoke; “it shall be a thousand francs, M.—er—er—Ratichon, and I will hand over the money to you in exchange for the bracelet—but it must be done within fourteen days, remember.”