“What does it matter to you, madame? The essential thing is your diamond, is it not?”
“Yes.”
“Well, don’t worry. I have just undertaken a much more difficult task than that. You have my promise that I will restore the true diamond to you within ten days.”
The train slackened its speed. He put the false diamond in his pocket and opened the door. The Count cried out:
“That is the wrong side of the train. You are getting out on the tracks.”
“That is my intention. If Lupin has anyone on my track, he will lose sight of me now. Adieu.”
An employee protested in vain. After the departure of the train, the Englishman sought the station-master’s office. Forty minutes later he leaped into a train that landed him in Paris shortly before midnight. He ran across the platform, entered the lunch-room, made his exit at another door, and jumped into a cab.
“Driver—rue Clapeyron.”
Having reached the conclusion that he was not followed, he stopped the carriage at the end of the street, and proceeded to make a careful examination of Monsieur Detinan’s house and the two adjoining houses. He made measurements of certain distances and entered the figures in his notebook.
“Driver—avenue Henri-Martin.”