He passed through the toll-gate and jumped into a taxi:
"Rue Raynouard."
He stopped the cab at two hundred yards from the Rue des Vignes and walked to the corner of the two streets. To his great surprise, Doudeville was not there.
"That's funny," said Lupin. "It's past twelve. . . . This business looks suspicious to me."
He waited ten minutes, twenty minutes. At half-past twelve, nobody had arrived. Further delay was dangerous. After all, if Doudeville and his men were prevented from coming, Charolais, his son and he, Lupin, himself were enough to repel the attack, without counting the assistance of the servants.
He therefore went ahead. But he caught sight of two men who tried to hide in the shadow of a corner wall.
"Hang it!" he said. "That's the vanguard of the gang, Dieudonne and Chubby. I've allowed myself to be out-distanced, like a fool."
Here he lost more time. Should he go straight up to them, disable them and then climb into the house through the pantry-window, which he knew to be unlocked? That would be the most prudent course and would enable him, moreover, to take Mrs. Kesselbach away at once and to remove her to a place of safety.
Yes, but it also meant the failure of his plan; it meant missing this glorious opportunity of trapping the whole gang, including Louis de Malreich himself, without doubt.
Suddenly a whistle sounded from somewhere on the other side of the house. Was it the rest of the gang, so soon? And was an offensive movement to be made from the garden?