The ambassador assured Nick Carter that no other person than himself was aware of the hiding place; that he had never taken any person into his confidence, not even his wife or his daughter.
The room was his own room, which he occupied alone; the bed was so huge an affair that it was never moved from its position. How, then, had any person determined where the hiding place had been arranged?
The ambassador asked the detective all these questions; and to them Nick replied:
“It does not interest us to know how the hiding place was discovered, unless that was the quickest way of recovering the lost papers; but it is not. The only thing for us is the fact that they were taken—and it is a clear and logical deduction that whoever took them has passed them on to another person.”
“That is undoubtedly true,” the ambassador replied.
“What excuse have you made for keeping that automobile jack in your room?”
“None at all. I simply kept it there.”
“How often was it your habit to remove those papers from their hiding place?”
“Not once in six months. Only when there was something to be added to them.”