"He might have stolen it or found it."
"But the mode of operating?"
"That, it seems to me, is the point from where we should start."
Saniel could remain no longer, and he rose to leave.
"You have my address," he said; "but I must tell you, if you want me, I leave to-morrow for Nice. But I shall be absent only just long enough to go and return."
"If we want you, it will not be for several days. We shall not get on very rapidly, we have so little to guide us."
CHAPTER XV
A NEW PLAN
Saniel walked home briskly. If, more than once during this interview, his emotion was poignant, he could not but be satisfied with the result. The concierge had not seen him, that was henceforth unquestionable; the hypothesis of the butcher's knife was put in a way to make his fortune; and it seemed probable that Caffie had not kept the numbers of the bank- notes.
But if they had been noted, and should the notebook containing them be discovered later, the danger was not immediate. While writing his report and listening to the concierge's deposition, by a sort of inspiration he thought of a way of disposing of them. He would divide them into small packages, place them in envelopes, and address them with different initials to the poste restante, where they would remain until he could call for them without compromising himself.