And his affairs were complicated enough, in all conscience!
There was one, for instance, which surpassed all the others in importance, and for which he had to employ all the resources of his genius. How was he to have a long, quiet conversation with old Steinweg? The necessity was immediate. In a few days, Steinweg would have recovered from his imprisonment, would receive interviews, might blab . . . to say nothing of the inevitable interference of the enemy, 'the other one.' And it was essential that Steinweg's secret, Pierre Leduc's secret, should be revealed to no one but Lupin. Once published, the secret lost all its value. . . .
The bolts grated, the key turned noisily in the lock.
"Ah, it's you, most excellent of jailers! Has the moment come for the last toilet? The hair-cut that precedes the great final cut of all?"
"Magistrate's examination," said the man, laconically.
Lupin walked through the corridors of the prison and was received by the municipal guards, who locked him into the prison-van.
He reached the Palais de Justice twenty minutes later. One of the Doudevilles was waiting near the stairs. As they went up, he said to Lupin:
"You'll be confronted to-day."
"Everything settled?"
"Yes."