“Yes.”

“Will you kindly let me see it?”

He took it, and examined it closely.

“Just as I suspected: it is a manufactured diamond.”

“A manufactured diamond?”

“Yes; a new process which consists in submitting diamond dust to a tremendous heat until it melts and is then molded into a single stone.”

“But my diamond is genuine.”

“Yes, your diamond is; but this is not yours.”

“Where is mine?”

“It is held by Arsène Lupin.”