clusion was wrong.
Frederick-Christian, like myself, came down a flight too many and found
himself, as I have, in this cellar. Evidently a scoundrel was waiting
for him here. The trampled ground, the shreds of silk torn from a high
hat, all indicate clearly the struggle which took place. But the King,
being drunk, was easily overpowered and bound. That is the reason he did
not reach his hotel."

One difficulty still troubled the detective. It had been shown that on
the night of December 31st, the third person, otherwise the King, whom
Fandor declared to be in the apartment, had been unable to escape by
the back stairs, since the door was locked and bolted. Then it came into
Juve's mind that the maid Justine in giving testimony had become
embarrassed and finally had admitted that the key having been lost, she
had neglected to lock the door. This cleared up the dubious point and
established in Juve's mind the complete explanation of what happened.

Fantomas, after killing Susy d'Orsel, had lurked on the stairs until the
King left the apartment. Then, locking the door, he had hurried after
his victim and caught him at the moment he reached the cellar.

The detective's next move was to break into the apartment of the Marquis
de Serac. By the aid of a ladder which he found in a corner, he climbed
up and broke a windowpane and thus made his entrance. At first nothing
in the apartment seemed worthy of suspicion. The rooms were elegant but
commonplace. The bureaus and wardrobes were locked, and gave out a
hollow sound when rapped upon. As he did not have his burglar's
equipment with him, Juve decided to come back later and investigate. He
was on the point of leaving when his foot caught in a garment, which he
found to be a waistcoat. He gave vent to an exclamation of surprise as
he picked it up and folding it into a bundle hid it under his overcoat.
The Marquis de Serac had been under his suspicion for some time; now
that suspicion was in a fair way to become a certainty. Were the Marquis
and Fantomas one and the same?

Juve was inclined to answer in the affirmative....

* * * * *

The next step was to invite Wulf to dine with him, to show him the
waistcoat and prove beyond doubt that it had been made by a tailor of
Glotzbourg.

Juve's opinion had now become a solid conviction. Fantomas had worn the
garment, and had carried the diamond in the pocket of the waistcoat he
found in the Marquis