‘You didn’t notice any lettering on it, other than the labels?’
‘I did,’ he answered, ‘there was “Return to” in French, English, and German, and the name of a Paris firm.’
‘Do you recollect the name?’
The young man paused in thought.
‘No, monsieur,’ he replied, after a few seconds, ‘I regret to say I have quite forgotten it.’
‘I suppose you wouldn’t recognise it if you heard it? It was not, for example, Messrs. Dupierre, the monumental sculptors, of Grenelle?’
The clerk hesitated again.
‘Possibly it was, monsieur, but I fear I could not say definitely.’
‘Well, I am greatly obliged for what you have told me, any way. Just one other question. What was in the cask?’
‘It was invoiced Statuary, but of course I did not see it opened, and don’t know if the description was correct.’