“But surely if you found evidence of his connection with this gang of spies, it should be easy to get a clue to the rest of the crowd?”
“Not so easy as you think,” the Chief replied. “The man who organized this system of espionage is a master at his craft. He has been careful to seal both ends of every connection, that is to say, though we found evidence of Master Bellward-Bruhl being in possession of highly confidential information relating to the movements of troops, we discovered nothing to show whence he received it or how or where he was going to forward it. But we did find a direct thread leading straight back to Nur-el-Din.”
“Really,” said Desmond, “that rather complicates things for her, doesn’t it?”
“It was in the shape of a letter of introduction, in French, without date or address, warmly recommending the dancer to our friend, Bellward.”
“Who is this letter from?”
“It is simply signed ‘P.’, but you shall see it for yourself when you get the other documents in the case.”
“But surely, sir, such a letter might be presented in perfectly good faith...”
“It might, but not this one. This letter, as an expert has ascertained beyond all doubt, is written on German manufactured note-paper of a very superior quality;, the writing is stiff and angular and not French: and lastly, the French in which it is phrased, while correct, is unusually pompous and elaborate.”
“Then...”
“The letter was, in all probability, written by a German!”