I was myself consulted upon the case, but I
was unable to throw any light upon it. Suspicion fell upon the
maid of the Princess, who was an Italian, and it was proved that
she had a brother in London, but we failed to trace any connec-
tion between them. The maid's name was Lucretia Venucci, and
there is no doubt in my mind that this Pietro who was murdered
two nights ago was the brother. I have been looking up the dates
in the old files of the paper, and I find that the disappearance of
the pearl was exactly two days before the arrest of Beppo, for
some crime of violence -- an event which took place in the
factory of Gelder & Co., at the very moment when these busts
were being made. Now you clearly see the sequence of events,
though you see them, of course, in the inverse order to the way
in which they presented themselves to me. Beppo had the pearl
in his possession. He may have stolen it from Pietro, he may
have been Pietro's confederate, he may have been the go-between
of Pietro and his sister. It is of no consequence to us which is the
correct solution.
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