"Who lent you the money?"

"M. Raoul de Lagors."

This witness had left Paris the day of the robbery, and could not be
found; so, for the time being, M. Patrigent was compelled to rely upon
Prosper's word.

"Well," he said, "I will not press this point; but tell me why, in spite
of the formal order of M. Fauvel, you drew the money from the Bank of
France the night before, instead of waiting till the morning of the
payment?"

"Because M. de Clameran had informed me that it would be agreeable,
necessary even, for him to have his money early in the morning. He will
testify to that fact, if you summon him; and I knew that I should reach
my office late."

"Then M. de Clameran is a friend of yours?"

"By no means. I have always felt repelled by him; but he is the intimate
friend of M. Lagors."

While Sigault was writing down these answers, M. Patrigent was racking
his brain to imagine what could have occurred between M. Bertomy and his
son, to cause this transformation in Prosper.

"One more thing," said the judge: "how did you spend the evening, the
night before the crime?"

"When I left my office, at five o'clock, I took the St.-Germain train,
and went to Vesinet, M. de Lagors's country seat, to carry him fifteen
hundred francs which he had asked for; and, finding him not at home, I
left it with his servant."

"Did he tell you that M. de Lagors was going away?"

"No, monsieur. I did not know that he had left Paris."

"Where did you go when you left Vesinet?"

"I returned to Paris, and dined at a restaurant with a friend."

"And then?"

Prosper hesitated.

"You are silent," said M. Patrigent; "then I shall tell you how you
employed your time. You returned to your rooms in the Rue Chaptal,
dressed yourself, and attended a _soiree_ given by one of those women
who style themselves dramatic artistes, and who are a disgrace to
the stage; who receive a hundred crowns a year, and yet keep their
carriages, at Mlle. Wilson's."

"You are right, monsieur."

"There is heavy playing at Wilson's?"

"Sometimes."

"You are in the habit of visiting places of this sort. Were you not
connected in some way with a scandalous adventure which took place at
the house of a woman named Crescenzi?"

"I was summoned to testify, having witnessed a theft."

"Gambling generally leads to stealing. And did you not play baccarat at
Wilson's, and lose eighteen hundred francs?"

"Excuse me, monsieur, only eleven hundred."