"But what about the millions?" I asked. "The princess's jewels?"
"They were in the safe. I remember seeing the parcel."
"Well?"
"They are there still."
"Impossible!"
"They are, upon my word! I might tell you that I was afraid of the detectives, or else plead a sudden attack of delicacy. But the truth is simpler ... and more prosaic: the smell was too awful!..."
"What?"
"Yes, my dear fellow, the smell that came from that safe ... from that coffin.... No, I couldn't do it ... my head swam.... Another second and I should have been ill.... Isn't it silly?... Look, this is all I got from my expedition: the tie-pin.... The bed-rock value of the pearl is thirty thousand francs.... But all the same, I feel jolly well annoyed. What a sell!"
"One more question," I said. "The word that opened the safe!"
"Well?"