I received that answer; its substance is of no consequence now.
"And you remember where I first met you? It was while you were
investigating the shooting of Senor Alvarez in the German embassy. That
shooting, as you know, was done by Prince d'Abruzzi, so almost from the
beginning my plans went wrong because of the assumption of authority by
the prince. The paper he took from Senor Alvarez after the shooting was
supposed to bear vitally upon Mexico's attitude toward our plan, but, as
it developed, it was about another matter entirely."
"Yes, I know," said Mr. Grimm.
"The event of that night which you did _not_ learn was that Germany
agreed to join the compact upon conditions. Mr. Rankin, who was attached
to the German embassy in an advisory capacity, delivered the answer to
me, and I pretended to faint in order that I might reasonably avoid
you."
"I surmised that much," remarked Mr. Grimm.
"The telegraphing I did with my fan was as much to distract your
attention as anything else, and at the same time to identify myself to
Mr. Rankin, whom I had never met. You knew him, of course; I didn't."
She was silent a while as her eyes steadily met those of Mr.
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