"I did not hear the directions to the driver," said Berghof, with a shifting glance at Rowland. "The man who conducted the Fräulein to her room could shed no light upon the matter."
"But you. Did Herr Förster not question you?" asked Rowland keenly.
"Yes. He questioned this morning, and I answered him. It is not healthy not to answer the questions of one in such authority."
There was another silence, baffled it seemed on the part of the questioners. Herr Berghof took up his hat and rose. Rowland no longer smiled. Liederman rocked to and fro from one foot to the other by the mantel-shelf. Zoya Rochal nervously lighted a cigarette.
"One moment, Herr Berghof," said Rowland, whose mind had been tracing the interstices of the puzzle in his own American way. "You say that this Herr Förster has questioned the servants of the hotel?"
Herr Berghof hesitated a moment.
"One or two only. What was the use? The Fräulein had been there but an hour or more."
"But you seem to forget that in that hour much happened," said Rowland. "If that money was taken from the valise of Herr Hochwald, it was taken before he reached the hotel, not afterward. If Fräulein Korasov took it--ah----" He paused a moment, then went on quickly, "She had a valise, you say. Empty?"
Herr Berghof hesitated again and shot a quick glance over his shoulder toward the closed door behind him. But Rowland had risen and now stood beside it.
"You say the suit-case was empty?" repeated Rowland sternly.