"
This discretion made a great impression on old Tabaret, and increased
the esteem he had conceived for Lecoq. "The first time that you were
lacking in discretion," said he, "was when you tried to discover the
owner of the diamond earring found at the Poivriere."
"I made every effort to discover the last owner."
"You tried very hard, I don't deny it; but as for making every
effort--that's quite another thing. For instance, when you heard that
the Baroness de Watchau was dead, and that all her property had been
sold, what did you do?"
"You know; I went immediately to the person who had charge of the sale."
"Very well! and afterwards?"
"I examined the catalogue; and as, among the jewels mentioned, I could
find none that answered the description of these diamonds, I knew that
the clue was quite lost."
"There is precisely where you are mistaken!" exclaimed old Tirauclair,
exultantly. "If such valuable jewels are not mentioned in the catalogue
of the sale, the Baroness de Watchau could not have possessed them at
the time of her death. And if she no longer possessed them she must have
given them away or sold them. And who could she have sold them to? To
one of her lady friends, very probably. For this reason, had I been in
your place, I should have found out the names of her intimate friends;
this would have been a very easy task; and then, I should have tried to
win the favor of all the lady's-maids in the service of these friends.
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