"The first floor is occupied by two gentlemen called Leroux."
"We will question the two gentleman called Leroux."
They all went upstairs and the commissary rang. At the second ring, a man, who was none other than one of the bodyguards, appeared in his shirt-sleeves and, with a furious air:
"Well, what is it? What's all this noise about; what do you come waking people up for?"
But he stopped in confusion:
"Lord bless my soul!... Am I dreaming? Why, it's M. Decointre!... And you too, M. Ganimard? What can I do for you?"
There was a roar of laughter. Ganimard was splitting with a fit of merriment which doubled him up and seemed to threaten an apoplectic fit:
"It's you, Leroux!" he spluttered out. "Oh, that's the best thing I ever heard: Leroux, Arsène Lupin's accomplice!... It'll be the death of me, I know it will!... And where's your brother, Leroux? Is he visible?"
"Are you there, Edmond? It's M. Ganimard come to pay us a visit."
Another man came forward, at the sight of whom Ganimard's hilarity increased still further: