“Finally we have Jodot and the two brothers Loubeaux. These three have acted so cleverly that William and his mother do not know that they have reappeared and are competing with them. The three rogues have followed all William’s maneuvers; they know everything that is going on and being planned in Bregeac’s house; and they are on the spot on the twenty-sixth of April. Their plan is laid: they will carry off Aurelie and compel her to speak by any means to hand. That’s clear, isn’t it?” He paused and looked round at their attentive faces. Then he went on: “And now this is the real distribution of these persons on the express. Car number five: in the back compartment Miss Bakersfield and Baron de Limézy; in the front compartment Aurelie and William Ancivel. You quite understand, Marescal, in the front compartment, Aurelie and William, and not the two brothers Loubeaux, as one has hitherto believed. The two brothers as well as Jodot are elsewhere. They are in car number four, your car, Marescal, well hidden in the darkness of the covered lamp and drawn curtains. Do you understand?” “Yes,” said Marescal in a low voice. “That’s a good thing!” said Ralph. “Well, the train starts. Two hours pass. It stops at La Roche station. It starts again. The moment has come. The three men from car number four, that is to say Jodot and the brothers Loubeaux come out of their dark compartment. They are masked, dressed in gray blouses, and wear caps. They slip into car number five. At once they see in the first compartment, two sleeping figures, a man and a lady with fair hair. Jodot and one of the brothers fall upon them while the other brother keeps watch. The Baron is knocked on the head and bound. The Englishwoman defends herself. Jodot grips her by the throat and only then learns the mistake they have made: it is not Aurelie, but another woman with fair hair. They leave the Baron bound and the girl dying and go out of the corridor to the last compartment, where William and Aurelie really are. But here everything changes. William has heard a noise. He is on his guard. He has his revolver and brings the business to an end with a couple of shots. The two brothers fall, and Jodot flies.