“The great Fred and I were alone in his chamber, now, to talk over this thing. We talked for an hour, turning the matter over and viewing it from every side. From the questions put by him, from the explanation which he gives me, it is clear to me that—in spite of all our senses he is persuaded the man disappeared by some secret passage in the château known to him alone.
“ ‘He knows the château,’ he said to me; ‘he knows it well.’
“ ‘He is a rather tall man—well-built,’ I suggested.
“ ‘He is as tall as he wants to be,’ murmured Fred.
“ ‘I understand,’ I said; ‘but how do you account for his red hair and beard?’
“ ‘Too much beard—too much hair—false,’ says Fred.
“ ‘That ’s easily said. You are always thinking of Robert Darzac. You can’t get rid of that idea? I am certain that he is innocent.’
“ ‘So much the better. I hope so; but everything condemns him. Did you notice the marks on the carpet?—Come and look at them.’
“ ‘I have seen them; they are the marks of the neat boots, the same as those we saw on the border of the lake.’
“ ‘Can you deny that they belong to Robert Darzac?’