"Good heavens!"
"One of the three alternatives is, of course, unthinkable. Your choice would seem to lie, then, between royalty and the drama. But—the photographs of the Italian Royal family are sold everywhere in Italy. So are photographs of pretty actresses. Why is the sale of The Laughing Girl forbidden in Italy?"
"Forbidden? You didn't say that."
"Forbidden," he repeated calmly.
"That's very strange," said I. "What does it signify, Smith?"
"Well, of course, I have my own theory as to that."
"You don't care to discuss it?"
He shook his head.
"No, Michael. But it seems to fit in with my general idea concerning the identity of Thusis."
"And do you, too, believe that Thusis is the original of The Laughing Girl?" I asked.