“No, to a very important English royal person. I am not at liberty to divulge her name, but the piece is priceless. I was taking every possible precaution with it—it was locked in the bank until it was needed for tonight’s show. Two of your gendarmes escorted me to the hotel and stood guard outside the doors. Nobody could have come in or out without their noticing.”

“Then—” Inspector Lafite paused dramatically. “It must still be in this room. Have you searched the room?”

“Of course.”

The inspector turned back to me. “Did you feel a thief removing this necklace from your person?”

“No,” I said. “I tripped and fell and when I got up, the necklace was missing.”

“Ah. You fell to the floor?”

“No, I landed on that lady over there.” I pointed to the large Russian.

“Then it is possible that the necklace came off and is concealed somewhere about the person of Madame,” he said, regarding the lady’s large bosom.

A slim older woman with aristocratically high cheekbones and iron gray hair stepped between the inspector and the Russian lady. “This is the Princess Theodora Fedorova,” she said in such a commanding voice that the inspector was stopped in his tracks. “Related to the late czar. You are not about to search her. She would have noticed if the necklace had lodged somewhere on her body.” And she directed her gaze at the princess’s impressive cleavage. Her accent was charmingly French but she spoke in English.

“You witnessed this fall, Madame?” the inspector asked in his own language.

“Of course. I was seated beside Her Highness.”

“And may one ask your name?”

“You may. I am the Princess Marie Bourbon de la Fountaine-O’Day, related to the kings of France. Princess Theodora stays at my residence in Paris. We have just arrived here in Nice for our health. The princess has been stricken with rheumatics recently and the physician prescribed a climate that was less damp. Paris can be rather damp in winter, as I’m sure you know.”

The inspector wanted to interrupt before she told their entire life stories, but her demeanor was so regal that he waited, shifting uncomfortably, until she took a breath.

“Highness, would you be gracious enough to tell me what you saw?” he asked finally in French.

“I saw the young lady stumble. She tried to right herself but flashbulbs went off and must have blinded her. She was not able to save herself before she tumbled off the end of the runway. The Princess Theodora was sitting immediately below the runway and the young lady landed on top of her. I stood up to help but a young man came to her aid.”

“Where is this young man who came to the assistance of Lady Rannoch?” the inspector asked in English, turning to the assembled crowd.

Nobody came forward.

“Do you see this man in the room?” the inspector asked.