"Some reason connected with the girl?" asked the other quickly.
"Yes."
"You say he calls himself Alice's cousin. Isn't he really her cousin?"
Coquenil shook his head. "He isn't her cousin, and she isn't Alice."
"Wha-at?"
"Her name is Mary, and he is her stepfather."
The old man stared in bewilderment. "But—how the devil do you know that?"
Coquenil smiled. "I found an inscription on the back of that Brussels photograph—I mean the genuine one—it was hidden under a hinged support, and Groener must have overlooked it. That was his second great mistake."
"What was the inscription?" asked Tignol eagerly.
"It read: 'To my dear husband, Raoul, from his devoted wife Margaret and her little Mary.' You notice it says her little Mary. That one word throws a flood of light on this case. The child was not his little Mary."