ng against the wall, and, with
folded arms, was watching the scene in which he had taken no part.
Walking up to the warder, Emilet demanded:

"Ho! Ho! You backed out of it, did you, my boy?... You didn't have a
throw, did you?... No?..."

Nibet grinned sardonically.

"Don't talk rubbish, Emilet!... If I have stood aside, I had my reasons
for doing so.... We haven't done with Jules yet!... Not by a long
chalk!... Now that he's been killed, he's got to be got rid of--isn't
that true?... Look at yourselves, my lambs! You are covered with red!...
It will take you all of an hour to make yourselves presentable!... Now,
look at me! I'm neat and clean ... and I have a plan ... a famous plan
to rid us of that corpse there! Now, just you stir your stumps,
Emilet!... I am going off to make preparations!... I'll give you ten
minutes to make yourself fit to be seen ... it's we two are to be the
undertakers; and I swear to you, that we will give them no end of
trouble to the curiosity mongers at Police Headquarters!"

XXIII

FROM VAUGIRARD TO MONTMARTRE

On the boulevard du Palais, Jerome Fandor looked at his watch: it was
half an hour after noon.

"The hour for copy! Courage! I will go to _La Capitale_."

Scarcely had he put foot in the large hall when the editorial secretary
called:

"There you are, Fandor!... At last!... That's a good thing!... Whatever
have you been up to since yesterday evening? I got them to telephone to
you twice, but they could not get on to you, try as they might. My dear
fellow, you really mustn't absent yourself without giving us warning."

Fandor looked jovial: certainly not repentant.

"Oh, say at once that I've been in the country!... But seriously, what
did you want me for? Is there anything new?..."

"A most mysterious scandal!..."

"Another?"

"Yes. You know Thomery, the sugar refiner?"

"Yes, I know him!"

"Well--he has disappeared!... No one knows where he is!"

Fandor took the news stolidly.

"You don't astonish me: you must be prepared for anything from those
sort of people!..."

It was the turn of the secretary to be surprised at Fandor's calmness.

"But, old man, I am telling you of a disappearance which is causing any
amount of talk in Paris!... You don't seem to grasp the situation!
Surely you know that Thomery represents one of the biggest fortunes
known?"

"I know he is worth a lot."

"His flight will bring ruin to many."

"Others will probably be enr