"On the other hand, according to your depositions, Noël Dorgeroux intended to have a second amphitheatre built in his garden and to use the back of the same wall as a screen. That's so, is it not?"
"Yes."
"Well, this is the particular which I want you to give me. Have you noticed whether the back of the wall forms the same angle with its lower part?"
"Yes, I've noticed that."
"In that case," said Benjamin Prévotelle, with a note of increasing triumph in his voice, "the evidence is complete. Noël Dorgeroux and I are agreed. The pictures do not come from the wall itself. The cause lies elsewhere. I will prove it; and, if M. Massignac would show a little willingness to help . . ."
"Théodore Massignac was kidnapped this evening," I remarked.
"Kidnapped? What do you mean?"
I repeated:
"Yes, kidnapped; and I presume that the amphitheatre will be closed until further notice."
"But this is terrible, it's awful!" gasped Benjamin Prévotelle. "Why, in that case they couldn't verify my theory! There would never be any more pictures! No, look here, it's impossible. Just think, I don't know the indispensable formula! Nobody does, except Massignac. Oh, no, it is absolutely necessary . . . Hullo, hullo! Don't cut me off, mademoiselle! . . . One moment more, monsieur. I'll tell you the whole truth about the pictures. Three or four words will be enough. . . . Hullo, hullo! . . ."