"It's everything of a clue," insisted Ryder. "It shows where this Frenchman was working, for the first thing—"
"Unless it had been stolen by some native who lost it in that tomb."
"Natives don't lose gold lockets. Of course it might have been stolen and hidden—but that's far-fetched. It's much more likely that this was the very tomb where Delcassé was working at the time of his death. For one thing, the place showed signs of previous excavation up to the inner corridor, and there I'll swear no modern got ahead of me. And for another thing, it's a perfect specimen of the limestone carving of the Tomb of Thi which Delcassé wrote his book about—looks very much as if it might be by the same artist. There's a flock of hippopotami in a marsh scene with the identical drawing, and there's the same lovely boat in full sail—but there, you bounder, you don't know the Tomb of Thi from a thyroid gland. You're here to administer financial justice, the middle, the high, and the low; your soul is with piasters, not the past. But take my word for it, it's exactly the spot where an enthusiast of the Thi Tomb would be grubbing away.... Lord, they could choose their find in those days!"
"It's uncommonly likely," McLean conceded, abandoning his demolished cherry tart and pulling out his briar. "And if the locket proves the duplicate of the other it indicates that it's a portrait of Madame Delcassé, but it doesn't indicate what has become of Madame Delcassé.... Though in a general way," McLean deduced with Scotch judicialness, "it supports the theory of foul play. The woman would hardly have lost her miniature, or have sold it, except under pressing conditions. In fact—"
Ryder was brusque with his facts.
"That doesn't matter—Madame Delcassé doesn't matter. The thing that matters is—"
As brusquely he broke off. His tongue balked before the revelation but he goaded it on.
"That there is a girl—the living image of that picture."
"I say!" McLean looked up at that, distinctly intrigued. "That's getting on.... You mean you've seen her?"
Ryder nodded, suddenly busy with his cigarette.