Mr. Hartmann received us in his private room, and, although reluctant to talk about an affair which was no business of his, was willing to give any help in his power. I repeated the story as Lord Leconbridge had first told it to me, just the bare facts, and I dwelt upon the delicacy of the affair.
"You did not actually see the necklace, I suppose?"
"No; and in the excitement I was not presented to Lady Leconbridge," Hartmann answered.
"I believe you know something about precious stones, Mr. Hartmann?"
"Gems are a hobby of mine," he said with a smile.
"I want your opinion. Do you think paste might deceive an expert?"
"At a casual glance--yes, if it were good paste."
"For instance," I said, "if Lady Leconbridge had been wearing the necklace when you approached her would you have known had it been paste?"
"I should," he answered, with a satisfied smile.
"But yours would have been only a casual glance. A man is more likely to be interested in a woman's beauty than in the jewels she is wearing. Besides, you would not expect Lady Leconbridge to be wearing paste."
"You say Lady Leconbridge was not agitated by her loss?"
"I said she was curiously calm," he answered. "She was hiding her true feelings, perhaps. At the moment the actress may have predominated. You know, of course, that Lady Leconbridge was an actress before her marriage?"
"Helen Farrow--yes. Wasn't there some gossip about her at the time of her marriage?"
"So much smoke must have had some fire behind it, I am afraid," said the banker. "You have hinted at the delicacy of this affair, so you must ask me no more questions in that direction."
"Her past could hardly have any bearing on the loss of the diamonds," I said.
"I should have thought it might have," said Hartmann, "but then I am not a detective."
Quarles shifted his position a little. From the moment he had sat down he had been absorbed in the pattern of the carpet, apparently.
"You might be right, I think," I said. "One thing is certain, an ordinary thief would have great difficulty in dealing with the stones."
"He could only pass them to some one who could afford to bide his time, receiving small payment for the risk he had run?"
"And it would be extremely awkward for the person in whose possession the stones were found. That is the detective's point of view."