Ganimard stepped forward:
"M. Prévailles, I believe?"
"Yes, but who are you?"
"I have a commission to...."
He had not time to finish his sentence. At the sight of the men appearing out of the shadow, Prévailles quickly retreated to the wall and faced his adversaries, with his back to the door of a shop on the ground-floor, the shutters of which were closed.
"Stand back!" he cried. "I don't know you!"
His right hand brandished a heavy stick, while his left was slipped behind him and seemed to be trying to open the door.
Ganimard had an impression that the man might escape through this way and through some secret outlet:
"None of this nonsense," he said, moving closer to him. "You're caught.... You had better come quietly."
But, just as he was laying hold of Prévailles' stick, Ganimard remembered the warning which Lupin gave him: Prévailles was left-handed; and it was his revolver for which he was feeling behind his back.