“Good evening, Mr Trewinnard,” he said. “I’ve met you here as I don’t want to be seen at the ‘Métropole’ to-night. I have travelled straight through from Petersburg here. I landed at Dover this afternoon, went up to Victoria, and down here. I arrived at eight o’clock, but learning that Her Highness was dining with you, I waited until you left her. It is perhaps as well that I am here,” he added.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I’ve been on the pier with you to-night,” was the reply of the chief of the detective department of Russia, “and I have seen how closely you have been watched by a person whom even Oleg Lobko, usually so well-informed, does not suspect—a person who is extremely dangerous. I do not wish to alarm you, Mr Trewinnard,” he added in a low voice, “but I heard in Petersburg that something is intended here in Brighton, and the Emperor sent me post-haste to you.”
“Who is this person who has been watching us?” I asked eagerly. “I noticed him.”
“Oleg doesn’t know him, but I do. I have had certain suspicions, and only five days ago I made a discovery in Petersburg—an amazing discovery—which confirmed my apprehensions. The man who has been watching you with distinctly evil intent is a most notorious and evasive character named Danilo Danilovitch.”
“Danilovitch!” I cried. “I know him, but I did not recognise him to-night. His appearance has so changed.”
“Yes, it has. But I have been watching him all the evening. He returned by the midnight train to London.”
“I can tell you where he is in hiding,” I said.
“You can!” he cried. “Excellent! Then we will both go and pay him a surprise call to-morrow. There is danger—a grave and imminent danger—for both Her Highness and yourself; therefore it must be removed. There is peril in the present situation—a distinct peril which I had never suspected. A disaster may happen at any moment if we are not wary and watchful. And there’s another important point, Mr Trewinnard,” added the great detective; “do you happen to know a tall, thin, sharp-featured young man called Richard Drury?”