Both the others, Dolores and M. Lenormand, leant toward him, anxiously awaiting his answer.
"No," he said, "I don't see. . . ."
"Think well," repeated the chief detective. "The murderer's Christian name and surname begin with an L and an M."
"An L," he echoed. "I don't see . . . an L . . . an M. . . ."
"Yes, the initials are in gold on the corner of a cigarette-case belonging to the murderer."
"A cigarette-case?" asked Steinweg, making an effort of memory.
"A gun-metal case . . . and one of the compartments is divided into two spaces, the smaller for cigarette-papers, the other for tobacco. . . ."
"Two spaces, two spaces," repeated Steinweg, whose thoughts seemed stimulated by that detail. "Couldn't you show it to me?"
"Here it is, or rather this is an exact reproduction," said M. Lenormand, giving him a cigarette-case.
"Eh! What!" said Steinweg, taking the case in his hands.