Maurice Leblanc

“ If the crystal stopper was no longer there, would this not be obvious from some material sign? Had the removal of that object, doubtless contained within another object, left no trace, no void?
It was easy to ascertain. Lupin had simply to examine the writing-desk, for he knew, from Sebastiani's chaff, that this was the spot of the hiding-place. And the hiding-place could not be a complicated one, seeing that Daubrecq had not remained in the study for more than twenty seconds, just long enough, so to speak, to walk in and walk out again.
Lupin looked. And the result was immediate. ”

“ People do not suspect what does not appear to be hidden.
"Well, well," said Lupin, as he went out, greatly excited by his discovery, "I seem doomed, in this confounded adventure, to knock up against disappointments to the finish. Everything that I build crumbles to pieces at once. Every victory ends in disaster."
Nevertheless, he did not allow himself to be cast down. On the one hand, he now knew where Daubrecq the deputy hid the crystal stopper. On the other hand, he would soon learn from Clarisse Mergy where Daubrecq himself was lurking. ”

“ So, in M. Prasville's absence, I telephoned to the police-office and I am waiting. The disappearance of Daubrecq the deputy caused a great stir, as you know, and our presence here has a reason, in the eyes of the public, as long as that disappearance continues. But, now that Daubrecq has returned, now that we have proofs that he is neither under restraint nor dead, how can we stay in the house?"
"It doesn't matter," said Lupin, absently. "It doesn't matter whether the house is guarded or not. Daubrecq has been; therefore the crystal stopper is no longer here." ”

“ By the following evening, Lupin knew, beyond a doubt, that Daubrecq and Clarisse were not at Monte Carlo, nor at Monaco, nor at the Cap d'Ail, nor at La Turbie, nor at Cap Martin.
"Where can they be then?" he wondered, trembling with rage.
At last, on the Saturday, he received, at the poste restante, a telegram which had been readdressed from the Hotel Franklin and which said:
"He got out at Cannes and is going on to San Remo, Hotel Palace des Ambassadeurs. "CLARISSE." The telegram was dated the day before.
"Hang it!" exclaimed Lupin. "They passed through Monte Carlo. ”

“ But Chief-inspector Blanchon, who has charge of the case, and the detectives who are guarding the house declare that, in accordance with Prasville's instructions, their watch is not relaxed for a moment, even at night; that one of them, turn and turn about, is always on duty in the study; and that no one, therefore, can have gone in."
"So, on principle," Arsene Lupin concluded, "the crystal stopper must still be in Daubrecq's study?" ”

“ Do you imagine that they will commute the sentence of Arsene Lupin's accomplices?"
She ejaculated the words with a violence and a bitterness which he pretended not to notice; and he said:
"Vaucheray perhaps not... But they will take pity on Gilbert, on his youth..."
"They will do nothing of the sort." ”

“ The list of the Twenty-seven! Daubrecq must have it by now... or else d'Albufex. It was on the table!"
Clarisse reassured him:
"No one can have taken it," she declared. "The Growler was in Paris that same day, with a note from me for Prasville, entreating him to redouble his watch in the Square Lamartine, so that no one should enter, especially d'Albufex..."
"But Daubrecq?"
"He is wounded. He cannot have gone home." ”

“ Mergy nor Daubrecq...
But, as they were all three going, a porter accosted them near the refreshment-room:
"Is one of you gentlemen looking for a lady?"
"Yes, yes,... I am," said Lupin. "Quick, what is it?" ”

“ The lady told me there might be three of you or two of you.... And I didn't know..."
"But, in heaven's name, speak, man! What lady?"
"The lady who spent the whole day on the pavement, with the luggage, waiting." ”

“ In the meantime, go back to Paris. Take rooms, with the Growler and the Masher, in the Hotel Franklin, near the Trocadero, and keep a watch on Daubrecq's house. You are free to go in and out as you please. Stimulate the zeal of the detectives on duty. ”