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Updated: June 5, 2025
"But when one has a fixed idea ... well, one has a fixed idea." He shrugged his shoulders, and looked at Guerchard with contemptuous eyes. The Duke laughed, an unaffected ringing laugh, but not a pleasant one: "It's absurd!" he cried. "There are always those thefts," said Guerchard, with a nettled air. "You have nothing to go upon," said M. Formery.
"Undoubtedly most necessary," said M. Formery gravely. "See to it, inspector. You can take her away." The inspector called in a couple of policemen, and with their aid he and Bonavent raised the sleeping woman, a man at each corner of the mattress, and bore her from the room. "And now to reconstruct," said M. Formery; and he folded his arms and plunged into profound reflection.
The idea is childish, gentlemen" he leaned against the door of the safe "absolutely childish, but Guerchard is mad on this point; and I foresee that his madness is going to hamper us in the most idiotic way." He suddenly pitched forward into the middle of the room, as the door of the safe opened with a jerk, and Guerchard shot out of it. "What the devil!" cried M. Formery, gaping at him.
Tell us!" cried M. Formery, purple with exasperation. "But you won't let me get a word out of my mouth," protested Guerchard with aggravating gentleness. "Well, speak!" cried M. Formery; and he sank gasping on to a chair. "Ah, well, she's here," said Guerchard. "Here! How did she GET here?" said M. Formery. "On a mattress," said Guerchard.
He was informed that the trunk line was very busy and that he might have to wait half an hour. The Duke inquired if any trace of the burglars, after they had left with their booty, had yet been found. M. Formery told him that, so far, the detectives had failed to find a single trace.
"Always Lupin!" said M. Formery contemptuously. There came a knock at the door, and a footman appeared on the threshold. He informed the Duke that Germaine had returned from her shopping expedition, and was awaiting him in her boudoir. He went to her, and tried to persuade her to put in a word for Sonia, and endeavour to soften Guerchard's rigour.
He took a little ivory foot-rule from his waist-coat pocket, and gave it to the inspector, who fell on his knees and measured the footprint with the greatest care. "I must take a careful look at that house they're building. I shall find a good many traces there, to a dead certainty," said M. Formery. The inspector entered the measurements of the footprint in his note-book.
M. Formery looked at them with longing eyes; but he did not suggest that the inspector should hunt about for a set of footprints of the size of the one he had so carefully measured on the drawing-room carpet. While they were examining the ground round the half-built house a man came briskly down the stairs from the second floor of the house of M. Gournay-Martin.
"No, I haven't been robbed since that burglary; but my daughter has," said the millionaire. "Your daughter?" said M. Formery. "Yes; I have been robbed two or three times during the last three years," said Germaine. "Dear me! But you ought to have told us about this before. This is extremely interesting, and most important," said M. Formery, rubbing his hands, "I suppose you suspect Victoire?"
Some of them are from the first families in France." "They would replace them ... those paper-knives," said the Duke, smiling. Germaine and her father led the way. M. Formery, Guerchard, and the inspector followed them. At the door the Duke paused, stopped, closed it on them softly. He came back to the window, put his hand in his pocket, and drew out the packet wrapped in tissue-paper.
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