'How do you know this?' he asked incredulously.
'It is quite simple,' she explained. Even the cleverest man in the world seems always to forget one thing. Niko forgot that his clothes and fingers, even his breath, have always that peculiar Oriental perfume. What is it like—half almond-blossom, half sandalwood?'
'I remember I noticed it when he came in,' Lavendale agreed quickly.
'Put your head inside that safe again,' she directed.
He obeyed at once. When he emerged, his face was troubled. He locked the door mechanically.
'You are right,' he said.
They were silent for a moment. Lavendale was contemplating the lock in a dazed manner. He turned to Suzanne. She had seated herself in his easy-chair and had thrown back her cloak.
'You were going to tell me,' he reminded her, 'about this fellow Niko. You had an idea about him.'
'Mine is no idea,' she replied. 'It is a certainty. The man who posed this evening as your temporary valet, the man who in your absence has opened your safe, why, it is Baron Niko Komashi. He belongs to one of the most aristocratic families of Japan.'
'But he is a member of the Servants' Club!' Lavendale expostulated. 'He was a friend of Perkins—my servant!'