e quickly, I think."

"As a matter of fact, a material proof was wanted. Now I had discovered
in Daval's room, on one of the sheets of the blotting-pad on which he
used to write, this address: 'Monsieur A.L.N., Post-office 45, Paris.'
You will find it there still, traced the reverse way on the
blotting-paper. The next day, it was discovered that the telegram sent
by the sham flyman from Saint-Nicolas bore the same address: 'A.L.N.,
Post-office 45.' The material proof existed: Jean Daval was in
correspondence with the gang which arranged the robbery of the
pictures."

M. Filleul raised no objection.

"Agreed. The complicity is established. And what conclusion do you
draw?"

"This, first of all, that it was not the runaway who killed Jean Daval,
because Jean Daval was his accomplice."

"And after that?"

"Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction, I will ask you to remember the first
sentence uttered by Monsieur le Comte when he recovered from fainting.
The sentence forms part of Mlle. de Gesvres' evidence and is in the
official report: 'I am not wounded.--Daval?--Is he alive?--The knife?'
And I will ask you to compare it with that part of his story, also in
the report, in which Monsieur le Comte describes the assault: 'The man
leaped at me and felled me with a blow on the temple!' How could M. de
Gesvres, who had fainted, know, on waking, that Daval had been stabbed
with a knife?"

Isidore Beautrelet did not wait for an answer to his question. It
seemed as though he were in a hurry to give the answer himself and to
avoid all comment. He continued straightway:

"Therefore it was Jean Daval who brought the three burglars to the
drawing room. While he was there with the one whom they call their
chief, a noise was heard in the boudoir. Daval opened the door.
Recognizing M. de Gesvres, he rushed at him, armed with the knife. M.
de Gesvres succeeded in snatching the knife from him, struck him with
it and himself fell, on receiving a blow from the man whom the two
girls were to see a few minutes after."

Once again, M. Filleul and the inspector exchanged glances. Ganimard
tossed his head in a disconcerted way. The magistrate said:

"Monsieur le Comte, am I to believe that this version is correct?"

M. de Gesvres made no answer.

"Come, Monsieur le Comte, your silence would us to suppose--I beg you
to speak."

Replying in a very clear voice, M. de Gesvres said:

"The version is correct in every particular."

The magist