“Ever since this morning.”
“It’s not a question of thinking! One must see into things first, study facts, look for clues, establish connecting links. The time for thinking comes after, when one pieces all that together and discovers the truth.”
“Yes, I know.—That’s the usual way, the right one, I dare say.—Mine is different.—I think first, I try, above all, to get the general hang of the case, if I may so express myself. Then I imagine a reasonable and logical hypothesis, which fits in with the general idea. And then, and not before, I examine the facts to see if they agree with my hypothesis.”
“That’s a funny method and a terribly complicated one!”
“It’s a sure method, M. Filleul, which is more than can be said of yours.”
“Come, come! Facts are facts.”
“With your ordinary sort of adversary, yes. But, given an enemy endowed with a certain amount of cunning, the facts are those which he happens to have selected. Take the famous clues upon which you base your inquiry: why, he was at liberty to arrange them as he liked. And you see where that can lead you, into what mistakes and absurdities, when you are dealing with a man like Arsène Lupin. Holmlock Shears himself fell into the trap.”
“Arsène Lupin is dead.”
“No matter. His gang remains and the pupils of such a master are masters themselves.”
M. Filleul took Isidore by the arm and, leading him away: