"Pooh!" said the Englishman, flattered at the compliment paid him by so great an expert. "It only needed a little thought."
"It needed to know how to use one's thought; and there are so few who do know. But, now that the field of surmise has been narrowed and the ground swept clear...."
"Well, now, all that I have to do is to discover why the three cases were enacted at 25, Rue Clapeyron, at 134, Avenue Henri-Martin and within the walls of the Château de Crozon. The whole case lies there. The rest is mere talk and child's play. Don't you agree?"
"I agree."
"In that case, M. Lupin, am I not right in saying that I shall have finished my business in ten days?"
"In ten days, yes, the whole truth will be known."
"And you will be arrested."
"No."
"No?"
"For me to be arrested there would have to be a conjunction of such unlikely circumstances, a series of such stupefying pieces of ill-luck, that I cannot admit the possibility."