Such exact information and such minute details perplexed his mind. Where and how could M. Lecoq have gathered them?
"You have been studying the case, master?"
"Probably. But as I am not infallible, I may have let some valuable point escape me. Sit down, and tell me all that you know."
One could not prevaricate with M. Lecoq. Therefore Fanferlot told the exact truth,—which was not his custom. However, before the end of his recital, his vanity prevented him from telling how he had been tricked by Mademoiselle Nina Gypsy and the stout gentleman.
Unfortunately, M. Lecoq was never informed by halves.
"It seems to me, Master Squirrel," he said, "that you have forgotten something. How far did you follow the empty cab?"
Fanferlot, despite his assurance, blushed to his ears, and dropped his eyes like a schoolboy caught in a guilty act.
"O patron," he stammered, "you know that too? How could you have—"
Suddenly a thought flashed through his brain: he stopped, and bounding from his chair, cried, "Oh, I am sure—that stout gentleman with the red whiskers was you!"
Fanferlot's surprise gave such a ridiculous expression to his face that M. Lecoq could not help smiling.