“Attendez! Wait!” I called and started to run after him but he was moving fast and was gone. But at least I knew something now. The name was Jeanine and she was known around here. I wished I hadn’t promised to meet Granddad and Coco at noon. I had no time to search properly now. But I’d come back as soon as I’d checked in with them and I could tell them exactly where I’d be. Maybe they could tail me at a distance, just in case. Or better still, maybe Commmissaire Germain could tail me. Thus reassured, I made my way back to the bus and came down the hill.

Granddad and Coco jumped up excitedly as they saw me.

“You’ve found the thief?” I asked.

“Not exactly,” Coco said. “But we’ve established one thing. Look at this.” She held out a glossy photograph. It showed my back, being led away from the stage, with the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Simpson muttering something to each other in the foreground. And around my neck . . .

“The necklace is still there,” I said.

“Precisely,” Coco replied. “Which means it was taken when you were helped to a seat. But I thought your mother and I helped you to the seat.”

“And the marquis,” I said flatly. “Remember he got me a brandy and he put his arm around my shoulder as he handed it to me. And that’s when he took my necklace.”

“The marquis? Jean-Paul?” Chanel laughed incredulously. “But that is absurd. Why would he steal a necklace?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “but the more I’ve thought about it, it all points to him. He orchestrated everything—the necklace and Sir Toby’s villa the next afternoon, sending someone who looked like me to pin everything on me.” I could feel a lump in my throat and swallowed it back hastily.

“You are trying to tell us that Jean-Paul killed Sir Toby?”

I shook my head violently. “He was with me. By the time he drove me home, Sir Toby must have been already dead. It was the young woman who must have killed him—or maybe they had a third coconspirator we don’t even know about.”

“This is absurd,” Chanel said. “Jean-Paul is fabulously rich. Everyone knows that. And he comes from an old family. Why would he want to rob people?”

“For the fun of it, maybe?” I was trying to stay calm and detached. “Look, I have no idea why. But someone must be told. Can you go and find your friend Jacques Germain? He will know what to do.”

Coco shrugged and threw her scarf around her shoulders. The wind had picked up and it was chilly so near to the sea. “We did not arrange a time or place to meet, but we will do our best. But what about you?”