M. Fauvel, much more disturbed and excited than his cashier, made a last
attempt.

"It is not too late yet, poor boy," he said: "for Heaven's sake
reflect----"

Prosper did not appear to hear him. He drew from his pocket a small key,
which he laid on the table, and said:

"Here is the key of your safe, monsieur. I hope for my sake that you
will some day be convinced of my innocence; and I hope for your sake
that the conviction will not come too late."

Then, as everyone was silent, he resumed:

"Before leaving I hand over to you the books, papers, and accounts
necessary for my successor. I must at the same time inform you that,
without speaking of the stolen three hundred and fifty thousand francs,
I leave a deficit in cash."

"A deficit!" This ominous word from the lips of a cashier fell like a
bombshell upon the ears of Prosper's hearers.

His declaration was interpreted in divers ways.

"A deficit!" thought the commissary: "how, after this, can his guilt be
doubted? Before stealing this whole contents of the safe, he has kept
his hand in by occasional small thefts."

"A deficit!" said the detective to himself, "now, no doubt, the very