"They evidently know the individual who came to me last night."
"Certainly. But why didn't they arrest him when he was under their very noses. No, my dear Carmela, depend upon it, here, in this world of Monte Carlo, the police are bribed, just as the Press, the railwaymen, and postmen are bribed, by these rulers of the Riviera, the Administration of the Société des Bains de Mer de Monaco."
"That may be so," I observed wonderingly. "But the fact still remains that last night I danced with Reggie's assassin."
"Did he dance well?"
"Oh, Ulrica! Don't treat the thing humorously!" I protested.
"I'm not humorous. The worst of Carnival balls is that they're such mixed affairs. One meets millionaires and murderers, and rubs shoulders with the most notorious women in Europe. Your adventure, however, is absolutely unique. If it got into the papers, what a nice little story it would make, wouldn't it?"
"For Heaven's sake no!" I cried.
"Well, if you don't want it to reach the Petit Niçois or the Eclaireur, you'd better be pretty close about it. Poor Reggie's murder is a mystery and the public fondly delight to read anything about a mystery."
"But we can trust Gerald and Mr. Keppel," I suggested.
"Of course," she answered. "But what a strange thing it is that this man, whoever he is, noticed exactly what I also had noticed, namely, that the old gentleman is among your admirers."