The critical moment
had come.
Panting for breath, the lady exclaimed:
"Arsene Lupin....he attacked us....he stole my jewels....I am
Madame Renaud....my husband is a director of the penitentiary
service....Ah! here is my brother, Georges Ardelle, director of
the Credit Rouennais....you must know...."
She embraced a young man who had just joined us, and whom the
commissary saluted. Then she continued, weeping:
"Yes, Arsene Lupin....while monsieur was sleeping, he seized him
by the throat....Mon. Berlat, a friend of my husband."
The commissary asked:
"But where is Arsene Lupin?"
"He leaped from the train, when passing through the tunnel."
"Are you sure that it was he?"
"Am I sure! I recognized him perfectly. Besides, he was seen at
the Saint-Lazare station. He wore a soft hat---"
"No, a hard felt, like that," said the commissary, pointing to my
hat.
"He had a soft hat, I am sure," repeated Madame Renaud, "and a
gray overcoat."
"Yes, that is right," replied the commissary, "the telegram says
he wore a gray overcoat with a black velvet collar."
"Exactly, a black velvet collar," exclaimed Madame Renaud,
triumphantly.
I breathed freely.
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