"No, but she can have put her arm through and drawn the bolts."

"The bottom bolt, yes," said Lupin. "But the top bolt, no: the distance
is far too great. Try for yourself and see."

Achille tried and had to give up the attempt.

Lupin did not reply. He stood thinking for a long time. Then, suddenly,
he said:

"Give me my hat... my coat..."

He hurried off, urged by an imperative idea. And, the moment he reached
the street, he sprang into a taxi:

"Rue Matignon, quick!..."

As soon as they came to the house where he had been robbed of the crystal
stopper, he jumped out of the cab, opened his private entrance, went
upstairs, ran to the drawing-room, turned on the light and crouched at
the foot of the door leading to his bedroom.

He had guessed right. One of the little panels was loosened in the same
manner.

And, just as in his other flat in the Rue Chateaubriand, the opening was
large enough to admit a man's arm and shoulder, but not to allow him to
draw the upper bolt.

"Hang!" he shouted, unable any longer to master the rage that had been