"It is needless, at this stage of the proceedings, to trouble you with
details. The money has unquestionably been stolen in the course of
its transit from you to us. Certain peculiarities which we observe,
relating to the manner in which the fraud has been perpetrated, lead
us to conclude that the thief may have calculated on being able to pay
the missing sum to our bankers, before an inevitable discovery
followed the annual striking of our balance. This would not have
happened, in the usual course, for another three months. During that
period, but for your letter, we might have remained perfectly
unconscious of the robbery that has been committed.
"We mention this last circumstance, as it may help to show you that we
have to do, in this case, with no ordinary thief. Thus far we have
not even a suspicion of who that thief is. But we believe you will
assist us in making some advance towards discovery, by examining the
receipt (forged, of course) which has no doubt purported to come to
you from our house. Be pleased to look and see whether it is a
receipt entirely in manuscript, or whether it is a numbered and
printed form which merely requires the filling in of the amount. The
settlement of this apparently trivial question is, we assure you, a
matter of vital importance. Anxiously awaiting your reply, we remain,
with high esteem and consideration,
"DEFRESNIER & CIE.
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