"I am absolutely bewildered," I admitted. "My position in this tragic affair is anything but enviable."
"Most certainly, all this must be most annoying and distressing to mademoiselle. I only hope we shall be successful in tracing the real perpetrators of the crime."
"You think there were more than one?"
"That is most probable," he replied. "At present, however, we still remain without any tangible clue, save that the proceeds of the crime have passed from one person to another, through the agency of yourself."
"Their audacity was beyond comprehension!" I cried. "It really seems inconceivable that I should have danced with the actual murderer, and afterwards been induced to hand over to a pair of impostors the money stolen from the unfortunate young man. I feel that I am to blame for my shortsightedness."
"Not at all, mademoiselle, not at all," declared the detective, with his suave Gallic politeness. "With such a set of ingenious malefactors, it is very easy to commit an error, and fall a victim to roguery."
"And what can be done?"
"We can only continue our investigations."
"But the man in the owl's dress? Tell me candidly, do you really believe that he was the actual murderer?"
"He may have been. It is evident that, for some hidden purpose, he had an important reason for passing the stolen notes into your possession."