“A relative of my wife; a very attractive, intelligent young man, somewhat wild, but rich enough to pay for his follies.”
The judge wrote the name Lagors at the bottom of an already long list on his memorandum.
“Now,” he said, “we are coming to the point. You are sure that the theft was not committed by anyone in your house?”
“Quite sure, monsieur.”
“You always kept your key?”
“I generally carried it about on my person; and, whenever I left it at home, I put it in the secretary drawer in my chamber.”
“Where was it the evening of the robbery?”
“In my secretary.”
“But then—”
“Excuse me for interrupting you,” said M. Fauvel, “and to permit me to tell you that, to a safe like mine, the key is of no importance. In the first place, one is obliged to know the word upon which the five movable buttons turn. With the word one can open it without the key; but without the word—”