SHE: I am surprised at you, Doctor Calackabitsy, being as how I thought you was honest.

HE: Oh, I am as honest as the day is long.

SHE: But this is winter and the days are very short.

HE: That is why I am less honest in the winter than in the summer. Now let us just retrieve my Cabinet and then we can retreat to some place of safety at a convenient distance.

SHE: But, Doctor, I seen you with my own eyes. I have no alternative but to reprimand you severely. When that man was bending over applying his eyes to the eyepiece and I dabbed his face with all paint like what you said while all them cannons was going off and that, I seen you pick his pocket. You cannot deny it.

HE: Indeed I cannot. I have his wallet here, I am glad to say.

SHE: Then that is very wicked of you.

HE: The public is a very nervous and shy creature. It has to be helped to invest in magnificent enterprises like the Cabinet of Wonders.

SHE: You must not excuse your stealing by calling it helping your victims to invest. I am very grateful to you for helping me, but you are wicked and dishonest. I would never of agreed to help you if I had have known that it would lead me into enterprises of a felonious nature.

HE: Very wise. Now let us retrieve my Cabinet while these two policemen are temporarily vacating the premises.

SHE: And then will you help me rescue Charlotte?

HE: Yes. Now hold the lantern high while I attempt to lift the Cabinet.

At that point, deeming it an appropriate moment, I sprang out from my place of concealment in order to apprehend the villain. Unfortunately, while concealing myself I had overlooked the presence of a bucket in the cupboard and had inserted my left foot therein, what got in the way of my springing out and caused me to fall heavily and dent my helmet.

When I had recovered my composure, I addressed the villain.

“Doctor Crackawhipsy,” I announced, “I arrest you in the name of the law.”

To my astonishment I saw that the person in question was not Doctor Caramolesty at all, but an agent of the Venetian Secret Service, posing under an alias. He greeted me by name. I was temporarily unsure of the correct procedure, being as how the Police Handbook does not cover cases like this, when I caught sight of the recumbent boots of Constable Winkelburg. It seemed as how he had fallen asleep while on duty. I could hardly believe my eyes. I woke him up and reprimanded him severely, and under the distraction afforded by this I was able to rapidly and swiftly evaluate the situation.