Both were strangers to me. I had never seen either of them in the flesh, at least to my knowledge, and Ulrica was also agreed that she had never seen anyone bearing the slightest resemblance to either.
"Mademoiselle is absolutely certain?" the detective asked of me.
"Absolutely," I responded.
"Will mademoiselle have the kindness to allow her memory to go back for one moment to the day of the unfortunate gentleman's death?" asked the detective, with an amiable air. "At the time Monsieur Thorne was at the table at Monte Carlo and playing with success, there were, I believe, many persons around him?"
"Yes, a crowd."
"And near him, almost at his elbow, you did not see this man?" he inquired, indicating the bearded convict.
I shook my head.
"I really do not recollect the face of any member of that excited crowd," I responded. "He may have been there, but I certainly did not see him."
"Nor did I," chimed in Ulrica.
"Then I much regret troubling you," he said, bowing politely. "In this affair we are, as you of course know, making very searching inquiries on account of representations made by the British Ambassador in Paris. We intend, if possible, to solve the mystery."