"What was his business?"
"He said he was an inventor and desired the top floor for his experiments. I told him that in that case I should have to charge extra, as experiments were always dangerous. He did not object, and paid a month in advance. He seemed a very harmless person."
"Was he alone?"
"At that time, yes, sir. But when he returned with his baggage, his daughter accompanied him."
"How do you know it was his daughter?"
"He told me so, sir. The resemblance was very evident. Besides, he insisted that I supply material to curtain off a portion of the room for her bed."
Lépine recognised the cogency of this reasoning and nodded.
"Continue," he said.
"She was a dark, slim girl, of about twenty. They gave me no trouble. She scarcely left the house except for the marketing. But her father was away a great deal."
"Did he bring much baggage?"