"There are only two courses open. In the first place, we can easily catch the Lala who sold the watch, and take him to a quiet place."
"Well, do you suppose he will tell us what he knows?"
"We will torture him," said Balsamides, coolly. I confess that I was rather startled by the calm way in which he made the proposition. I inwardly determined that we should do nothing of the kind.
"What is the other alternative?" I inquired, without showing any surprise.
"To break into the house and make a search, I suppose," answered my friend, still quite unmoved, and speaking as though he were proposing a picnic on the Bosphorus.
"That is not an easy matter," I remarked, "besides being slightly illegal."
"Whatever we do must be illegal," answered Gregorios. "If we begin to use the law, the Khanum will have timely warning. If Alexander is still alive and imprisoned in her house, it would be the work of a moment to drop him into the Bosphorus. If he is dead already, we should have less chance of getting evidence of the fact by using legal means than by extracting a confession by bribery or violence."
"In other words, you think it is indispensable that we should undertake a burglary?"
"Unless we succeed in persuading the Lala to confess," said Balsamides.
"This is a very unpleasant business," I remarked, with a pardonable hesitation. "I do not quite see where it will end. If we break into the house and find nothing, we shall be amenable to the law. I object to that."