The next day Mrs Peters is delighted when Willard is returned but shocked to see that his liberator is Mr Thompson. The man explains that overhearing the conversation on the night of the first ransom note between Pyne and Mrs Peters, he followed them and listened to everything they said. The kidnapper's intention all along had been to obtain the necklace and what she thought had been the original that was handed back to her the day before was in fact the paste copy. The man calling himself Parker Pyne and his jeweller accomplice are now under lock and key. Mr Thompson explains how he knew something was wrong – he is Parker Pyne, travelling incognito as he promised himself on the Nile, and when he heard his name mentioned, he knew something was up!