"I want more than that," insisted the inspector.
The huge Frenchman remained silent.
"You are not a man to waste your time on this kind of entertainment," said the inspector slowly. "Is there any connection between the crime to-night, and your so-called 'riddle'?"
"The connection of death," said Monsieur Dupont.
There was something of awe in his voice and manner.
"For two years," he said, "I have been following in the track of something, which, in the words of our great Dumas—'must have passed this way, for I see a corpse.'"
"That quotation referred to a woman," said the inspector quickly.
"From me," returned Monsieur Dupont evenly, "it is sexless—at present."
The inspector frowned.
"Come," he said impatiently—"in what way are you mixed up in this?"