Oh, do be on your guard.

It was really foolhardy to have attempted the thing alone.

Surely you might have appealed for assistance to the Paris police and not only have minimised your personal risk but made sure of the woman's arrest." "Not without allowing the authorities to learn exactly what the Baron de Carjorac was so anxious to keep them _from_ learning, Miss Lorne.

They must have found out what I was after, what really had been lost, if I had applied to them for assistance.

I had either to do the thing alone or drop the case entirely.