"Blackmail him to the death! Yes, I can understand the whole thing. It's not very complicated, this blackmail business. . . . So this man the Burglar . . .?"
"This man the Burglar as well," said Chéri-Bibi simply.
"As well?"
"As well."
"That makes three of 'em," Hilaire ventured to observe.
"You know how to count in the grocery business!"
The tone in which this fearsome sentence was flung in Hilaire's face sent a shudder through him from head to foot.
Chéri-Bibi rose from the table, paid the bill and whistled to the Dodger like a master calling his dog. Hilaire gave a start and followed him like a puppy who has received a drubbing.
"I've known you when you had more go in you, Dodger," said Chéri-Bibi when they were in the street.
"Well, curse me, three! You know, Monsieur le Marquis, that I've got out of the habit of doing these things. I've got a bit rusty in the Rue Saint Roch. Give me a little time to get used to the idea that we've got a little job under way."