"An inability."
"Is this a thought-out plan? Am I to expect the same silence in reply to all my questions?"
"Very nearly."
"And why?"
Lupin struck a solemn attitude and said:
"M. le Juge d'Instruction, my life belongs to history. You have only to turn over the annals of the past fifteen years and your curiosity will be satisfied. So much for my part. As to the rest, it does not concern me: it is an affair between you and the murderers at the Palace Hotel."
"Arsène Lupin, the honest man that you are will have to-day to explain the murder of Master Altenheim."
"Hullo, this is new! Is the idea yours, Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction?"
"Exactly."
"Very clever! Upon my word, M. Formerie, you're getting on!"