"Either you saw her or you didn't," he said. "Or do you mean you were drunk?"
"I'd had a few drinks," Essenden admitted. "Fellow I met in the bar. He must have been the Saint — I can see it all now. I'm certain I drank more than whisky. Anyway, I can only remember getting back to my room, and then — I simply passed out. The next thing I knew was that the valet was bringing in my breakfast, and I was lying on the bed fully dressed. I don't know what the man must have thought."
"I do," said Cullis.
"Anyhow," said Essenden, "they'd taken a couple of hundred thousand francs off me — and a notebook and wallet as well, which were far more important."
Cullis sat up abruptly.
"What's that mean?" he demanded.
"It was all written up in code, of course—"
"What was written up in code?"
"Some accounts — and some addresses. Nothing to do with anything in England, though."
The assistant commissioner leaned back again.