Besides, the veiled lady herself made
a remark which revealed the whole story."
"I didn't notice it," I said, resignedly. "What was it?"
"That she was accustomed to opening the drawer with her left hand,
instead of with her right. After that, there could be no further
doubt. So I discovered the drawer very simply. It had to be there."
"Yes," I said; "and then?"
"Then I removed the jewels, took them down to a dealer in paste gems
and duplicated them as closely as I could. I had a hard time getting
a good copy of this big rose-diamond."
He picked it from the heap and held it up between his fingers.
"It's a beauty, isn't it?" he asked.
M. Pigot smiled a dry smile.
"It is the Mazarin," he said, "and is worth three million francs.
There is a copy of it at the Louvre."
"So that's true, is it?" I asked. "Crochard told us the story."
"It is unquestionably true," said M. Pigot. "It is not a secret--it
is merely something which every one has forgotten."
"Well," continued Godfrey, "after I got the duplicates, I rolled them
up in the cotton packets, and placed them back in the drawer, being
careful to put the Mazarin at the bottom, where I had found it.
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