* * * * *
The following facts were at once established by an examination of
the prison records: Eight weeks before a man named Baudru Desire
had slept at the Depot. He was released the next day, and left
the Depot at two o'clock in the afternoon. On the same day at two
o'clock, having been examined for the last time, Arsene Lupin left
the Depot in a prison-van.
Had the guards made a mistake? Had they been deceived by the
resemblance and carelessly substituted this man for their
prisoner?
Another question suggested itself: Had the substitution been
arranged in advance? In that event Baudru must have been an
accomplice and must have caused his own arrest for the express
purpose of taking Lupin's place. But then, by what miracle had
such a plan, based on a series of improbable chances, been carried
to success?
Baudru Desire was turned over to the anthropological service; they
had never seen anything like him. However, they easily traced his
past history. He was known at Courbevois, at Asnieres and at
Levallois. He lived on alms and slept in one of those rag-picker's
huts near the barrier de Ternes. He had disappeared from there a
year ago.
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