"Not two minutes ago," the man replied. "You wish to speak to him? I can stop him even now."
She shook her head.
"On the contrary," she said drily, "Mr. Fischer represents a type of my countrymen of whom I am not very fond. He is a great patron of yours, is he not?"
"He is a large shareholder in the company," Ferrani confessed.
"Then your restaurant will prosper," she told him. "Mr. Fischer has the name of being very fortunate…. That was a wonderful luncheon you gave us to-day."
"Madame is very kind."
"Will you do me a favour?"
Ferrani's gesture was all-expressive. Words were entirely superfluous.
"I want two addresses, please. First, the address of Joseph, your head musician, and, secondly, the address of Hassan, your coffee-maker."
Ferrani effectually concealed any surprise he might have felt. He tore a page from his pocket-book.