s table where a book lay open. "Do you see that red
book? It's the _Annuaire de la Noblesse Francaise_. You'll find his name
there--marked with a pencil."

Tignol went eagerly to the table, then, as he glanced at the printed page
there came over his face an expression of utter amazement.

"It isn't possible!" he cried.

"I know," agreed Coquenil, "it isn't possible, but--_it's true!_"

"_Dieu de Dieu de Dieu!_" frowned the old man, bobbing his cropped head and
tugging at his sweeping black mustache. Then slowly in awe-struck tones he
read from the great authority on French titles:

BARON FELIX RAOUL DE HEIDELMANN-BRUCK, only son of the Baron
Georges Raoul de Heidelmann-Bruck, upon whom the title was
conferred for industrial activities under the Second Empire. B.
Jan. 19, 1863. Lieutenant in the 45th cuirassiers, now retired. Has
extensive iron and steel works near St. Etienne. Also naval
construction yards at Brest. Member of the Jockey Club, the Cercle
de la Rue Royale, the Yacht Club of France, the Automobile Club,
the Aero Club, etc. Decorations: Commander of the Legion of Honor,
the order of St. Maurice and Lazare (Italy), the order of Christ
(Portugal), etc. Address: Paris, Hotel Rue de Varennes Chateau near
Langier, Touraine. Married Mrs. Elizabeth Coogan, who perished with
her daughter Mary in the Charity Bazaar fire.

"You see, it's all there," said M. Paul. "His name is Raoul and his wife's
name was Margaret. She died in the Charity Bazaar fire, and his
stepdaughter Mary is put down as having died there, too. We know where
_she_ is."

"The devil! The devil! The devil!" muttered Tignol, his nut-cracker face
screwed up in comical perplexity. "This will rip things wide, _wide_ open."

The detective shook his head. "It won't rip anything open."

"But if he is guilty?"

"No one will know it, no one would believe it."

"_You_ know it, you can prove it."

"How can I prove it? The courts are closed against me. And even if they
weren't, do you suppose it would be possible to convict the Baron de
Heidelmann-Bruck of _any_ crime? Nonsense! He's the most powerful man in
France. He controls the banks, the bourse, the government. He can cause a
money panic by lifting his hand. He can upset the ministry by a word over
the telephone. He financed the campaign that brought in the present radical
government, and his sister is the wife of the Prime Minister."

"_And he killed Mart