"It is understood, then! Count on me. I shall tell you all I can without breaking professional secrecy.... Shall we take a turn through the rooms, old boy?"
"If you like, my dear Bonnet."
The two men strolled through the thinning rooms, talking of what all the world might hear.
"Dear boy, I must leave you," said Fandor suddenly.... "An interview!... Till our next meeting!"
Fandor went up to a man standing in a doorway, gazing disdainfully at the couples revolving in the centre of the room.
"Will you grant me a word or two, Monsieur Havard?" asked Fandor respectfully.
The chief of police brightened.
"Four, if you like, my good Fandor, I am bored to death. I would rather submit to your indiscreet questioning than stick here in a brown study—black, I might say—with only my own thoughts for company."
"Good heavens, Chief! What is troubling you to such an extent?"
Monsieur Havard laughed.