sat
in it. What are then the count's thoughts? He reflects on the
long hours which have elapsed, upon the few hours which remain to
him. He reflects that he has found nothing; that he will hardly
have time, before day, to execute his plans for turning suspicion
from him, and assure his safety, by creating an impression that he,
too, has been murdered. And he must fly at once--fly, without that
accursed paper. He summons up his energies, rises, and do you know
what he does? He seizes a pair of scissors and cuts off his long,
carefully cultivated beard."

"Ah!" interrupted M. Plantat, "that's why you examined the portrait
so closely."

M. Lecoq was too intent on following the thread of his deductions
to note the interruption.

"This is one of those vulgar details," pursued he, "whose very
insignificance makes them terrible, when they are attended by
certain circumstances. Now imagine the Count de Tremorel, pale,
covered with his wife's blood, shaving himself before his glass;
rubbing the soap over his face, in that room all topsy-turvy,
while three steps off lies the still warm and palpitating body!
It was an act of terrible courage, believe me, to look at himself
in the glass after a murder--one of which few criminals are
capable. The count's hands, however, trembled so violently that
he could scarcely hold his razor, and his face must have been cut
several times."

"What!" said Dr. Gendron, "do you imagine that the count spared
the time to shave?"

"I am positively sure of it, pos-i-tive-ly. A towel on which I
have found one of those marks which a razor leaves when it is
wiped--and one only--has put me on the track of this fact. I
looked about, and found a box of razors, one of which had recently
been used, for it was still moist; and I have carefully preserved
both the towel and the box. And if these proofs are not enough,
I will send to Paris for two of my men, who will find, somewhere in
the house or the garden, both the count's beard and the cloth with
which he wiped his razor. As to the fact which surprises you,
Doctor, it seems to me very natural; more, it is the necessary
result of the plan he adopted. Monsieur de Tremorel has always worn
his full beard: he cuts it off, and his appearance is so entirely
altered, that if he met anyone in his flight, he would not be
recognized."

The doctor was apparently convinced, for he cried:

"It's clear--it's evident,"

"Once thus disguised, the count hastens t