They went up the stairs without troubling themselves about the doorkeeper, who, indeed, did not notice them. One of the officers remained in the street to keep watch on the front door. The four men stopped at the second floor, and George put his ear to the door and then looked through the keyhole. He neither heard nor saw anything. He rang the bell.
The commissary said to the officers: "You will remain in readiness till called on."
And they waited. At the end of two or three minutes George again pulled the bell several times in succession. They noted a noise from the further end of the rooms, and then a slight step approached. Someone was coming to spy who was there. The journalist then rapped smartly on the panel of the door. A voice, a woman's voice, that an attempt was evidently being made to disguise asked: "Who is there?"
The commissary replied: "Open, in the name of the law."
The voice repeated: "Who are you?"
"I am the commissary of police. Open the door, or I will have it broken in."
The voice went on: "What do you want?"
Du Roy said: "It is I. It is useless to seek to escape."
The light steps, the tread of bare feet, was heard to withdraw, and then in a few seconds to return.
George said: "If you won't open, we will break in the door."