“And on the study-table.”
“On the study-table? Why do you say that?”
“Because I know,” said Lupin, who had not forgotten Sébastiani’s words.
“But you don’t know the article in which the stopper is hidden?”
“No. But a study-table, a writing-desk, is a limited space. One can explore it in twenty minutes. One can demolish it, if necessary, in ten.”
The conversation had tired Arsène Lupin a little. As he did not wish to commit the least imprudence, he said to Clarisse:
“Listen. I will ask you to give me two or three days more. This is Monday, the 4th of March. On Wednesday or Thursday, at latest, I shall be up and about. And you can be sure that we shall succeed.”
“And, in the meantime....”
“In the meantime, go back to Paris. Take rooms, with the Growler and the Masher, in the Hôtel Franklin, near the Trocadero, and keep a watch on Daubrecq’s house. You are free to go in and out as you please. Stimulate the zeal of the detectives on duty.”
“Suppose Daubrecq returns?”