There was one other point concerning which we will repeat some of the conversation between the detective and the ambassador.
“Of the dozen spies whom you know to be in this city, keeping watch on you, and of whom you have given me a list, which are the ones you deem most competent to have carried this theft into effect?”
“Either of the first two on the list. The man, Rafael Delorme, and the woman, Dolores Delorme, his wife. They are unquestionably at the head of the system of spies, which we call Siamese; the others are only their puppets.”
“Do they know that you are aware of their business here?”
“They would be very poor spies indeed if they were not aware of it—and they are the slickest of their kind.”
“There is no other one among the twelve whom you think is clever enough to have done this thing?”
“Any one of them is clever enough, if directed by either of the Delormes; but with the possible exception of Jules Legrande, who is really a Greek, notwithstanding his French name, I don’t think any one of them could have carried it off alone.”
“Now, outside of this dozen on the list, is there any other person in Washington, man or woman, toward whom your suspicions have been directed, believing that he or she might be a spy in the service of Siam?”
“Yes. There is one.”
“Who is that one, prince?”