M. Formerie held his sides:
"Oh, I shall die of laughing, I know I shall! Lord, what a joke! That answer will travel round the world. So, according to your theory, it was with you that I made the first enquiries at the Palace Hotel after the murder of Mr. Kesselbach? . . ."
"Surely it was with me that you investigated the case of the stolen coronet when I was Duc de Chamerace,"[8] retorted Lupin, in a sarcastic voice.
[8] See Arsène Lupin by Edgar Jepson and Maurice Leblanc.
M. Formerie gave a start. All his merriment was dispelled by that odious recollection. Turning suddenly grave, he asked:
"So you persist in that absurd theory?"
"I must, because it is the truth. It would be easy for you to take a steamer to Cochin-China and to find at Saigon the proofs of the death of the real M. Lenormand, the worthy man whom I replaced and whose death-certificate I can show you."
"Humbug!"
"Upon my word, Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction, I don't care one way or the other. If it annoys you that I should be M. Lenormand, don't let's talk about it. We won't talk about myself; we won't talk about anything at all, if you prefer. Besides, of what use can it be to you? The Kesselbach case is such a tangled affair that I myself don't know where I stand. There's only one man who might help you. I have not succeeded in discovering him. And I don't think that you . . ."
"What's the man's name?"