Fandor turned sharply:
"Ah, there you are, Madame, I didn't see you."
It would have surprised the journalist had he known that the extraordinary Mme. Citron a moment before had been comfortably installed in the Marquis de Sérac's apartment, and that hearing herself called, she had slid down her communicating post to answer the summons. Still further was he from imagining that the Marquis de Sérac and Mme. Citron were one and the same person.
"Well, now that I'm here, what is it you want?"
Madame Citron recognized Fandor. But she recognized him as being some one he was not. She had, indeed, only seen him for a few moments immediately after the murder of Susy d'Orsel.
"I want to see Mlle. Marie Pascal. She lives here, doesn't she?"
"Yes, Monsieur, but ..."
"Is she at home?"
"What is it about?"
Fandor answered casually: