"I see," said Hanaud, and he raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. The
Commissaire moved with impatience.

"From the middle or from the end--what does it matter?" he
exclaimed. "The petrol was taken."

Hanaud, however, did not dismiss the point so lightly.

"But it is very possible that it does matter," he said gently.
"For example, if Servettaz had had no reason to examine his tins
it might have been some while before he found out that the petrol
had been taken."

"Indeed, yes," said Servettaz. "I might even have forgotten that I
had not used it myself."

"Quite so," said Hanaud, and he turned to Besnard.

"I think that may be important. I do not know," he said.

"But since the car is gone," cried Besnard, "how could the
chauffeur not look immediately at his tins?"

The question had occurred to Ricardo, and he wondered in what way
Hanaud meant to answer it. Hanaud, however, did not mean to answer
it. He took little notice of it at all. He put it aside with a
superb indifference to the opinion which his companions might form
of him.

"Ah, yes," he said, carelessly. "Since the car is gone, as you