“Oh, in a very natural way! In the letter from old man Harlington to M. Étienne de Vaudreix, or rather to Lupin—”
“The intercepted letter?”
“Yes. There is a phrase which always puzzled me. After saying that the pictures are to be forwarded as arranged, he goes on to say, ‘You may add the rest, if you are able to succeed, which I doubt.’”
“Yes, I remember.”
“What was this ‘rest’? A work of art, a curiosity? The château contains nothing of any value besides the Rubenses and the tapestries. Jewelry? There is very little and what there is of it is not worth much. In that case, what could it be?—On the other hand, was it conceivable that people so prodigiously clever as Lupin should not have succeeded in adding ‘the rest,’ which they themselves had evidently suggested? A difficult undertaking, very likely; exceptional, surprising, I dare say; but possible and therefore certain, since Lupin wished it.”
“And yet he failed: nothing has disappeared.”
“He did not fail: something has disappeared.”
“Yes, the Rubenses—but—”
“The Rubenses and something besides—something which has been replaced by a similar thing, as in the case of the Rubenses; something much more uncommon, much rarer, much more valuable than the Rubenses.”
“Well, what? You’re killing me with this procrastination!”