I am not an English police
officer, but I could pick out that spurious "w" among a thousand genuine
ones. You see, I have seen a good many.'
"Now, of course, poor young Schwarz had not seen very many Bank of
England notes. He could not have told whether one 'w' in Mr. Bowen's
signature is better than another, but, though he did not speak English
nearly as fluently as his pompous interlocutor, he understood every word
of the appalling statement the latter had just made.
"'Then that Prince,' he said, 'at the hotel--'
"'Is no more Prince than you and I, my dear sir,' concluded the
gentleman of His Imperial Majesty's police calmly.
"'And the jewels? Mr. Winslow's jewels?'
"'With the jewels there may be a chance--oh! a mere chance. These forged
bank-notes, which you accepted so trustingly, may prove the means of
recovering your property.'
"'How?'
"'The penalty of forging and circulating spurious bank-notes is very
heavy. You know that. The fear of seven years' penal servitude will act
as a wonderful sedative upon the--er--Prince's joyful mood. He will give
up the jewels to me all right enough, never you fear. He knows,' added
the Russian officer grimly, 'that there are plenty of old scores to
settle up, without the additional one of forged bank-notes.
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