what to say.
Then he mumbled:

"What a fellow, though!"

Ganimard nodded his head:

"Yes, chief, a blackguard, but, I can't help saying, a devil of a clever
fellow. For his plan to succeed, he must have managed in such a way
that, for four or five weeks, no one could express or even conceive the
least suspicion of the part played by Colonel Sparmiento. All the
indignation and all the inquiries had to be concentrated upon Lupin
alone. In the last resort, people had to find themselves faced simply
with a mournful, pitiful, penniless widow, poor Edith Swan-neck, a
beautiful and legendary vision, a creature so pathetic that the
gentlemen of the insurance-companies were almost glad to place something
in her hands to relieve her poverty and her grief. That's what was
wanted and that's what happened."

The two men were close together and did not take their eyes from each
other's faces.

The chief asked:

"Who is that woman?"

"Sonia Kritchnoff."

"Sonia Kritchnoff?"

"Yes, the Russian girl whom I arrested last year at the time of the
theft of the coronet, and whom Lupin helped to escape."[E]

[E] _Arsene Lupin._ The Novel of the Play. By Edgar Jepson and Maurice
Leblanc (Mills & Boon).

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. I was put off the scent, like everybody else, by Lupin's
machinations, and had paid no particular attention to her. But, when I
knew the part which she was playing, I remembered. She is certainly
Sonia, metamorphosed into an Englishwoman; Sonia, the most
innocent-looking and the trickiest of actresses; Sonia, who would not
hesitate to face death for love of Lupin."

"A good capture, Ganimard," said M. Dudouis, approvingly.

"I've something better still for you, chief!"

"Really? What?"

"Lupin's old foster-mother."

"Victoire?"[F]

[F] _The Hollow Needle._ By Maurice Leblanc. Translated by Alexander
Teixeira de Mattos (Nash). _813_ By Maurice Leblanc. Translated by
Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (Mills & Boon).

"She has been here since Mme. Sparmiento began playing the widow; she's
the cook."

"Oho!" said M. Dudouis. "My congratulations, Ganimard!"

"I've something for you, chief, that's even better than that!"

M. Dudouis gave a start. The inspector's hand clutched his and was
shaking with excitement.

"What do you mean, Ganimard?"

"Do you think, chief, that I would have brought you here, at this late
hour, if I had had nothing more attractive to offer you than