vated by a
scratch. According to the doctors, soporific, injected into the human
body by the de Pravaz syringe, acts violently and efficaciously. It is
beyond a doubt that Monsieur Jacques Dollon has been rendered
unconscious in this manner.

To begin with, the painter's first version was considered the true one,
namely, that he had been surprised by robbers, who rendered him
unconscious; but, on reflection, this explanation would not hold water.
Murderous house-thieves do not send people to sleep: they kill them. Add
to this that nothing has been stolen from Monsieur Dollon: therefore,
mere robbery was not the motive of the crime.

Besides, Monsieur Dollon maintained that he was alone; yet at that time
Madame de Vibray was in his studio, and was there precisely because the
artist himself had asked her to come. We know that the Baroness de
Vibray, who was very wealthy, took a particular interest in this young
man and his sister.

We should consider ourselves to blame, did we not now remind our readers
that the names of those personages--Dollon, Vibray--implicated in the
drama of the rue Norvins, have already figured in the chronicles of
crimes, both recent and celebrated.

Thus the assassination of the Marquise de Langrune cannot have been
forgotten, an assassination which has remained a mystery, which was
perpetrated a few years ago, and brought into prominence the
personalities of Monsieur Rambert and the charming Therese
Auvernois....

Madame de Vibray, who has just been so tragically done to death, was an
intimate friend of the Marquise de Langrune....

Monsieur Jacques Dollon is a son of Madame de Langrune's old steward....

We do not, of course, pretend to connect, in any way whatever, the drama
of the rue Norvins with the bygone drama which ended in the execution of
Gurn,[1] but we cannot pass over in silence the strange coincidence
that, within the space of a few years, the same halo of mystery
surrounds the same group of individuals....

[Footnote 1: See _Fantomas_.]

But let us return to our narrative:

Monsieur Jacques Dollon, interrogated by the superintendent of police,
declared that he very rarely made use of the poisons locked up in the
little cupboard of his studio....

Notwithstanding this, it was discovered, during the course of the
perquisition, that one of the phials containing poison had been recently
opened, and that traces of the powder were still to be found on the
floor. This powd