"Not a rouble note," replied Zabern bluntly.
"That's contrary to your usual practice."
"Why should I offer a reward when I know who the—ah!—assassins are? There were three of them to the deed."
"You know them? And yet they have not been seized!"
"I have weighty reasons for deferring their arrest."
"Delay may end in their escape."
"The chief assassin cannot escape from me. The police know him and have their eye upon him whenever he walks abroad. I can put my finger upon him as easily as I now lay hand upon this coat," said Zabern smiling, and suiting the action to the word.
Radzivil was about to press for further enlightenment, but Barbara checked him.
"The subject is distressing to me," she said with a look that confirmed her words.
"Your Highness, I crave pardon," said the premier.