We were unhurried in leaving the dowager countess’s suite. Charley and I walked leisurely through the limited confines of the grand suite to which access had not been cordoned off or blocked from view, surveying as inconspicuously as we could the card tables, the scene of the crime. We discussed the progression of the evening’s events which led to the diamonds going missing. I could see Charley pondering the matter deeply, turning it around this way and that in her mind.
If the diamonds had not been found on any of the persons at the party, could it be that they were still somewhere in the suite? The fifth floor suite faced the Thames. It would have been quite difficult and impractical as an escape route in so short a time without risking being noticed, or falling to one’s death. Tossing
