At the same time, Ritz continued to manage his own hotels and businesses in Europe. Nellie Melba, among others, noted that Ritz was less focused on the Savoy. In 1897, Ritz and his partners were dismissed from the Savoy. Ritz and Echenard were implicated in the disappearance of over £3,400 (equivalent to £ at ), of wine and spirits, and Escoffier had been receiving gifts from the Savoy's suppliers. In a 1938 biography of her husband, Ritz's widow maintained that he resigned and that Escoffier, Echenard, and other senior employees resigned with him. This fiction was perpetuated for many years, with the consent of the Savoy company. In fact, however, after a damning report by the company's auditors and the advice of the prominent lawyer, Sir Edward Carson, that it was the board's "imperative duty to dismiss the manager and the chef", Carte handed Ritz, Escoffier and Echenard letters of dismissal: