The French detective congratulated himself upon the completeness of his
Paris operation. It was evident that the French police had succeeded in
suppressing all communication between the detained members of the Rue
St. Claude den and the head office--which he shrewdly suspected to be
situated in London. So confident were the group in the self-contained
properties of each of their branches that the raid of any one
establishment meant for them nothing more than a temporary financial
loss. Failing the clue supplied by the draft on Paris, the case, so far
as he was concerned, indeed, must have terminated with the raiding
of the opium house. He reflected that he owed that precious discovery
primarily to the promptness with which he had conducted the raid--to the
finding of the letter (the ONE incriminating letter) from Mr. King.
Evidently the group remained in ignorance of the fact that the little
arrangement at the Credit Lyonnais had been discovered. He surveyed--and
his eyes twinkled humorously--a small photograph which was contained in
his writing-case.
It represented a very typical Parisian gentleman, with a carefully
trimmed square beard and well brushed mustache, wearing pince-nez and
a white silk knot at his neck. The photograph was cut from a French
magazine, and beneath it appeared the legend:
"M.
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