At seven o’clock in the evening, Mon. Dudonis, chief of the detective service, astonished at not receiving any news, visited the rue Clapeyron. He questioned the detectives who were guarding the house, then ascended to Mon. Detinan’s apartment. The lawyer led him into his room. There, Mon. Dudonis beheld a man, or rather two legs kicking in the air, while the body to which they belonged was hidden in the depths of the chimney.
“Ohé!... Ohé!” gasped a stifled voice. And a more distant voice, from on high, replied:
“Ohé!... Ohé!”
Mon. Dudonis laughed, and exclaimed:
“Here! Ganimard, have you turned chimney-sweep?”
The detective crawled out of the chimney. With his blackened face, his sooty clothes, and his feverish eyes, he was quite unrecognizable.
“I am looking for him,” he growled.
“Who?”
“Arsène Lupin ... and his friend.”
“Well, do you suppose they are hiding in the chimney?”