“A very charming man,” the valet declared. “He was always very good to the servants. I used to look after him when he visited us here in Amsterdam.”

“Did you ever meet a friend of his—a Frenchman named Suzor?” I asked.

“Yes, once. When we stayed with Mr. De Gex at Florence. He was a fellow guest with my master.”

“And an Italian doctor named Moroni?”

Folcker shook his head, as he replied:

“I have no recollection of an Italian doctor. We were in Florence only two weeks.”

“Of course you know Mr. De Gex’s butler, a man named Horton?” I asked.

“No, the man I know is named Farmer. I haven’t been to Stretton Street for over a year.”

It would therefore appear that Horton was a new servant.

“But have you any idea how your master died?” was my next query.