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purchase destroyed his finances?"
    "From what I have been able to determine, yes."
    "If you are about to tell me that your uncle purchased the Forbidden Rings of Aphrodite, save your breath. I would not believe you.'
    "That is precisely what I am telling you, sir."
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    She was deadly serious. Leo studied every nuance of her expression. Her clear, direct gaze did not waver. He thought about the rumors he had heard.
    "What led you to believe that your uncle acquired the Rings?"
    "Some notes that he left. The only reason I have them is because Uncle Reggie kept a detailed appointment book. He also kept a journal, but it is missing."
    "Missing?" "Thieves broke into his house the night he died. I believe the journal was taken by them."
    Leo frowned. "Why would common housebreakers steal a gentleman's personal journal? They could not hope to fence it."
    "Perhaps these housebreakers were not so common." "Was anything else of value removed?" Leo asked sharply.
    "Some silver and such." Beatrice shrugged. "But I think that was done only to make it appear that the housebreaking was the work of ordinary thieves."
    He eyed her thoughtfully. "But you don't believe that." "Not for a moment."
    "Impossible." Leo drummed his fingers on the mantel. "It defies credibility." But he could not forget the tales of the Rings that had come to his attention. "Did your uncle have an interest in collecting antiquities?"
    "He was always interested but he could not afford to collect them until he came into his inheritance. After that he did not purchase many, however. He claimed that most of the items that were for sale in the antiquities shops were fakes and frauds."
    Leo was impressed in spite of himself. "He was right. It sounds as if your uncle had good instincts for artifacts."
    "A certain sensibility for that sort of thing runs in the family," she said vaguely. "In any event, Uncle Reggie apparently believed that the Forbidden Rings were the key to a
     
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    fabulous treasure. That is what compelled him to pursue them."
    "Ah, yes. The lure of fabled treasure. It has drawn more than one man to his doom." Leo frowned. "Did he go to the House of the Rod often?"
    Beatrice turned pink. "Apparently he was a regular client of the proprietress, Madame Virtue."
    "How do you know that?"
    Beatrice studied her fingers. "Uncle Reggie made a note of the visits in his appointment book. He, uh, treated them rather as if they were visits to a doctor. I believe he suffered from a certain type of, uh, masculine malady."
    "A masculine malady?"
    She cleared her throat again. "A sort of weakness in a certain extremity that is unique to gentlemen."
    "He was impotent."
    "Yes, well, in addition to his appointments at the House of the Rod, he was apparently a regular patron of a certain Dr. Cox, who sold him a concoction called the Elixir of Manly Vigor."
    "I see." Leo released his grip on the mantel and crossed the room to his desk.
    For the first time, he considered seriously the possibility that there had been some truth to the rumors that he had heard. The notion was absurd on the face of it. The tales stretched logic and credibility to the limit. But what if the Forbidden Rings had been found?
    Beatrice watched him intently. "I have told you the particulars of my situation, sir. It is time for you to keep your end of the bargain."
    "Very well." Leo recalled what he had read in the old volume he had consulted after the antiquities dealer had contacted him. "According to the legend, a certain alchemist crafted a statue of Aphrodite some two hundred years ago. He fashioned it out of a unique material that he had created
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    in his workshop. Supposedly the stuff is extremely strong. It is said to be impervious to hammer or chisel."
    Beatrice's brows drew together in a small frown of concentration. "I see."
    "It is also said that the alchemist hid a fabulous treasure inside the statue and sealed the Aphrodite, locking it