'Ah! And how is that supposed to interest me? There is nothing that I wish investigated. I did not send for you, did I?'
'No, Mr. Innis, I merely took the liberty of calling to ask you to let me have the package you took from Mr. Bentham Gibbes's frock-coat pocket on the night of the twenty-third.'
'He wishes it returned, does he?'
'Yes.'
Mr. Innis calmly walked to a desk, which he unlocked and opened, displaying a veritable museum of trinkets of one sort and another. Pulling out a small drawer he took from it the packet containing the five twenty-pound notes. Apparently it had never been opened. With a smile he handed it to me.
'You will make my apologies to Mr. Gibbes for not returning it before. Tell him I have been unusually busy of late.'
'I shall not fail to do so,' said I, with a bow.
'Thanks so much. Good-morning, Monsieur Valmont.'
'Good-morning, Mr. Innis,'
And so I returned the packet to Mr. Bentham Gibbes, who pulled the notes from between their pasteboard protection, and begged me to accept them.