"What do you know of the Tána Society?"
"Very little beyond the fact that it consists of a body of men who emerge on occasions from the Den to dispense that justice which cannot be obtained by law. The headquarters of the society is in Naples, and the symbol is a coral hand grasping a dagger."
Signor Venosta might have been hewn out of marble for all the surprise he showed at this speech. But he was staggered, since Gerald caught the expression of his eyes. "May I ask how you know all this, sir?"
Gerald shrugged. "I see no reason to conceal the fact that by chance I carried away Mrs. Crosbie's cigarette-case during my last visit. The amulet fell out when I opened the case in my rooms for a cigarette."
"Quite so,"' assented Venosta blandly, "but you thought, no doubt, that it was merely a trinket."
"Yes; such as an old friend--you, for instance, Signor Venosta--might give to Mrs. Crosbie."
"Ah!" the Italian turned swiftly on the widow, "you have told him."
"No, no!" she said vehemently, "only that you gave me the trinket, and that I made that Jew moneylender do what I wanted by showing it to him. I did not tell anything else, because I know nothing else, save that the coral hand has to do with some society called the Tána."
"How do you know that much even?"
"My mother told me. Mr. Haskins told her."