"Exactly!" he said, catching sight of an object made of polished metal.
"Exactly! That's it!... Well, upon my word, it took me long enough!"

On the spot on the floor which he had uncovered lay the receiver of a
telephone, the cord of which ran up to the apparatus fixed on the wall,
at the usual height.

Lupin put the receiver to his ear. The noise began again at once, but
it was a mixed noise, made up of different calls, exclamations, confused
cries, the noise produced by a number of persons questioning one another
at the same time.

"Are you there?... He won't answer. It's awful... They must have killed
him. What is it?... Keep up your courage. There's help on the way...
police... soldiers..."

"Dash it!" said Lupin, dropping the receiver.

The truth appeared to him in a terrifying vision. Quite at the beginning,
while the things upstairs were being moved, Leonard, whose bonds were not
securely fastened, had contrived to scramble to his feet, to unhook the
receiver, probably with his teeth, to drop it and to appeal for assistance
to the Enghien telephone-exchange.

And those were the words which Lupin had overheard, after the first boat
started:

"Help!... Murder!... I shall be killed!"