"Absolutely. I was put off the scent, like everybody else, by Lupin's machinations, and had paid no particular attention to her. But, when I knew the part which she was playing, I remembered. She is certainly Sonia, metamorphosed into an Englishwoman; Sonia, the most innocent-looking and the trickiest of actresses; Sonia, who would not hesitate to face death for love of Lupin." "A good capture, Ganimard," said M. Dudouis, approvingly. "I've something better still for you, chief!" "Really? What?" "Lupin's old foster-mother." "Victoire?"[F] [F] _The Hollow Needle._ By Maurice Leblanc. Translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (Nash). _813_ By Maurice Leblanc. Translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (Mills & Boon). "She has been here since Mme. Sparmiento began playing the widow; she's the cook." "Oho!" said M. Dudouis. "My congratulations, Ganimard!" "I've something for you, chief, that's even better than that!" M. Dudouis gave a start. The inspector's hand clutched his and was shaking with excitement. "What do you mean, Ganimard?" "Do you think, chief, that I would have brought you here, at this late hour, if I had had nothing more attractive to offer you than Sonia and Victoire? Pah! They'd have kept!" "You mean to say ...?" whispered M. Dudouis, at last, understanding the chief-inspector's agitation. "You've guessed it, chief!" "Is he here?" "He's here." "In hiding?" "Not a bit of it. Simply in disguise. He's the man-servant." This time, M. Dudouis did not utter a word nor make a gesture. Lupin's audacity confounded him. Ganimard chuckled. "It's no longer a threefold, but a fourfold incarnation. Edith Swan-neck might have blundered. The master's presence was necessary; and he had the cheek to return. For three weeks, he has been beside me during my inquiry, calmly following the progress made." "Did you recognize him?" "One doesn't recognize him. He has a knack of making-up his face and altering the proportions of his body so as to prevent any one from knowing him. Besides, I was miles from suspecting.... But, this evening, as I was watching Sonia in the shadow of the stairs, I heard Victoire speak to the man-servant and call him, 'Dearie.' A light flashed in upon me. 'Dearie!' That was what she always used to call him. And I knew where I was." M. Dudouis seemed flustered, in his turn, by the presence of the enemy, so often pursued and always so intangible: "We've got him, this time," he said, between his teeth. "We've got him; and he can't escape us." "No, chief, he can't: neither he nor the two women." "Where are they?" "Sonia and Victoire are on the second floor; Lupin is on the third." M. Dudouis suddenly became anxious: "Why, it was through the windows of one of those floors that the tapestries were passed when they disappeared!" "That's so, chief." "In that case, Lupin can get away too. The windows look out on the Rue Dufresnoy."