q threw himself upon his knees in the snow; he rose again almost
immediately. "These indentations were not made by the men's feet," said
he. "There have been women here."

III

Obstinate men of Father Absinthe's stamp, who are at first always
inclined to differ from other people's opinions, are the very
individuals who end in madly adopting them. When an idea has at last
penetrated their empty brains, they twist and turn it, dwell upon it,
and develop it until it exceeds the bounds of reason.

Hence, the police veteran was now much more strongly convinced than
his companion that the usually clever Gevrol had been mistaken, and
accordingly he laughed the inspector to scorn. On hearing Lecoq affirm
that women had taken part in the horrible scene at the Poivriere, his
joy was extreme--"A fine affair!" he exclaimed; "an excellent case!" And
suddenly recollecting a maxim that has been handed down from the time
of Cicero, he added in sententious tones: "Who holds the woman holds the
cause!"

Lecoq did not deign to reply. He was standing upon the threshold,
leaning against the framework of the door, his hand pressed to his
forehead, as motionless as a statue. The discovery he had just made, and
which so delighted Father Absinthe, filled him with consternation. It
was the death of his hopes, the annihilation of the ingenious structure
which his imagination had built upon the foundation of a single
sentence.

There was no longer any mystery--, so celebrity was not to be gained by
a brilliant stroke!

For the presence of two women in this vile den explained everything in
the most natural and commonplace fashion. Their presence explained the
quarrel, the testimony of Widow Chupin, the dying declaration of the
pretended soldier. The behavior of the murderer was also explained. He
had remained to cover the retreat of the two women; he had sacrificed
himself in order to save them, an act of gallantry so common in the
French character, that any scoundrel of the barrieres might have
performed it.

Still, the strange allusion to the battle of Waterloo remained
unexplained. But what did that prove now? Nothing, simply nothing.
However, who could say how low an unworthy passion might cause a man
even of birth and breeding to descend? And the carnival afforded an
opportunity for the parties to disguise themselves.

But while Lecoq was turning and twisting all these probabilities in his
mind, Father Absinthe became impatien