"He has been my guest for three months now, and is my most intimate friend."
"And his name?"
"Professor Henri Delapine."
"What!" he exclaimed, "Professor Delapine, the renowned professor at the Sorbonne?"
"The same."
"Mon Dieu! he was one of the most amiable men I ever had the good fortune to meet. What reason could anyone have to seek his death? But that we can go into later. How long has he been dead?"
"I cannot say. All that I know is that he was alive and well a little more than half an hour ago."
"Half an hour ago," said Monsieur Biron, astonished; "but what could have killed him?"
"That is what I want to know."
"This is a most extraordinary affair. Let us examine his body at once."