"Have you it on you?"
"No, it is in my room. It is a gun-metal case. It has a space for tobacco and cigarette-papers on one side and for matches on the other. There are two initials in gold: an L and an M. . . ."
"What's that?"
Chapman had stepped forward. He seemed greatly surprised and, questioning the servant:
"A gun-metal cigarette-case, you say?"
"Yes."
"With three compartments—for tobacco, cigarette-papers, and matches. . . . Russian tobacco, wasn't it, very fine and light?"
"Yes."
"Go and fetch it. . . . I should like to see it for myself . . . to make sure. . . ."
At a sign from the chief detective, Gustave Beudot left the room.