y person would, except Arsene Lupin.
He has something better to do. Now, to proceed in an orderly way. At
all events, you have a clear conscience. Let us suppose that you are
the commissary of police and that you are proceeding to make an inquiry
concerning this affair----Yes, but in order to do that, I require a
clearer brain. Mine is muddled like a ragout."

He tumbled into an armchair, with his clenched hands pressed against his
burning forehead.

* * * * *

The murder of the avenue Hoche is one of those which have recently
surprised and puzzled the Parisian public, and, certainly, I should
never have mentioned the affair if the veil of mystery had not been
removed by Arsene Lupin himself. No one knew the exact truth of the
case.

Who did not know--from having met her in the Bois--the fair Leotine
Zalti, the once-famous cantatrice, wife and widow of the Count
d'Andillot; the Zalti, whose luxury dazzled all Paris some twenty years
ago; the Zalti who acquired an European reputation for the magnificence
of her diamonds and pearls? It was said that she wore upon her shoulders
the capital of several banking houses and the gold mines of numerous
Australian companies. Skilful jewelers worked for Zalti as they had
formerly wrought for kings and queens. And who does not remember the
catastrophe in which all that wealth was swallowed up? Of all that
marvelous collection, nothing remained except the famous black pearl.
The black pearl! That is to say a fortune, if she had wished to part
with it.

But she preferred to keep it, to live in a commonplace apartment with
her companion, her cook, and a man-servant, rather than sell that
inestimable jewel. There was a reason for it; a reason she was not
afraid to disclose: the black pearl was the gift of an emperor! Almost
ruined, and reduced to the most mediocre existence, she remained
faithful to the companion of her happy and brilliant youth. The black
pearl never left her possession. She wore it during the day, and, at
night, concealed it in a place known to her alone.

All these facts, being republished in the columns of the public press,
served to stimulate curiosity; and, strange to say, but quite obvious
to those who have the key to the mystery, the arrest of the presumed
assassin only complicated the question and prolonged the excitement. Two
days later, the newspapers published the following item:

"Information has reached us of the arrest of Victor Danegre, the serv