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"No, you do not understand! It is the other ladies who were
wanted by the police – the adventurous Mrs. Rice and the gentle Mrs.
Clayton. It is they who are well known birds of prey. Those two, they
make their living by blackmail, mon cher."
Harold had a sensation of the world spinning round him. He
said faintly:
"But the man – the man who was killed?"
"No one was killed. There was no man!"
"But I saw him!"
"Oh no. The tall deep-voiced Mrs. Rice is a very successful
male impersonator. It was she who played the part of the husband -
without her grey wig and suitably made up for the part."
He put his hand on Harold's shoulder.
"You must not go through life being too credulous, my friend.
These women traded on your ignorance of foreign languages. The
police arrive and go to her room, yes! But what actually happens?
You do not know. Perhaps she says she has lost a brooch - something
of that kind. Any excuse to arrange for the police to come so that you
shall see them. Then you wire for money, a lot of money, and you
hand it over to Mrs. Rice who is in charge of all the negotiations. But
they are greedy, these birds of prey. They have seen that you have
taken an unreasonable aversion to these two Polish ladies. The ladies
come and have a perfectly innocent conversation with Mrs. Rice, but
she knows you cannot understand what is being said and" you have to
send for more money."
Harold drew a deep breath. He said:
"And Elsie-Elsie?"
"She played her part very well. She always does. A skillful
little actress."
Harold Waring said sternly:
"I'm going to learn every European language. Nobody's going
to make a fool of me a second time."

***

Assignments

1. Skimming: Skim the reading to gain a general idea of its form, length,
and content. Give the gist of the story.