III
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
The Cité Frochot is shut in by low stone walls, topped by grating round which creepers intertwine.
The entry to its main thoroughfare, shaded by trees and lined with small private houses, is not supposed to be public, and a porter's lodge to the right of the entrance is intended to enforce its private character.
It was about seven in the evening. As the fine spring day drew to a close, Fandor reached the square of the Cité. For an hour past the journalist had been wholly engaged in keeping track of the famous Loupart, who, after leaving the saloon, had sauntered up the Rue des Martyrs, his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth.
Fandor allowed him to pass at the corner of the Rue Claude, and from there on kept him in view.
Juve had completely disappeared.
As Loupart, followed by Fandor, was about to enter the Cité Frochot, an exclamation made them both turn.
Fandor perceived a poorly dressed man anxiously searching for something in the gutter. A curious crowd had instantly collected, and word was passed round that the lost object was a twenty-five-franc gold piece.