What was he talking about with his “little ruby-headed pin”? I remembered that Mme. Edith had told us that Old Bob had snatched one from her hand when she had playfully pricked him with it on the night of the drama of the Square Tower. But what relation could there be between this pin and the adventure of Old Bob? Arthur Rance did not wait for us to ask him, but hurried on to tell us that this little pin had disappeared at the same time as Old Bob and that he had found it in the possession of “the Hangman of the Sea,” fastening a sheaf of bank notes which the old uncle had paid him on that fated night for his complicity and his silence in having brought him in the fisher boat to the grotto of Romeo and Juliet. And M. Rance told us moreover that Tullio had withdrawn from the spot at dawn, greatly disquieted at the non-appearance of his passenger. Rance concluded, triumphantly: “A man who gives a ruby pin to another man in a boat cannot be at the same moment tied up in a potato sack in the Square Tower.” Upon which Mrs. Rance inquired: “What gave you the idea of going to San Remo? Did you know that Tullio was to be found there?” “I received an anonymous letter informing me of his whereabouts.” “It was I who sent it to you,” said Rouletabille, tranquilly. And, then, turning to the rest of us, he said in frigid tones: “Ladies and gentlemen, I congratulate myself upon the prompt return of M. Arthur Rance. At the present moment there are reunited around this table all the members of the house party of the Château of Hercules for whom my corporeal demonstration of the possibility of the ‘body too many’ may have some interest. I entreat you to give me your undivided attention.” But Arthur Rance halted him with a quick movement. “What do you mean by the expression: ‘There are united around this table all the members of the party for whom the corporeal demonstration of the possibility of the body too many can have any interest’?” “I mean,” declared Rouletabille, “all those among whom we may hope to find Larsan.” The Lady in Black, who had up to this time not uttered a word, arose trembling to her feet. “Do you mean,” she breathed, her eyes filled with agonized apprehension, “that Larsan is now among us?” “I am sure of it,” Rouletabille replied, gravely. There was an awful silence during which none of us dared look at each other. The reporter continued, still in the same frigid tone: “I am sure of it--and there is no reason why the idea should surprise you, Madame, since it has not for a moment left your own mind. As to the rest of us, is it not true, gentlemen, that the idea has occurred to each one of us at the same moment on the day when we took luncheon on the terrace of the Bold when all our eyes were hidden by the black glasses? If I except Mrs. Rance, who is there among us that did not feel the presence of Larsan at that time?”