“It’s Juve all right, my boy!” cried the smiling detective, as he rid himself of the feminine get-up which impeded his movements. “I was pleased to see, my lad, that you did not suspect my identity until I had thrown off this second-hand wardrobe I bulked myself out with.”

“Oh!” cried Fandor, “that’s only because I hardly looked at you. If I had, Juve, you may be sure I should have recognised you.”

“Possibly! But what do you think of the disguise?”

“Not so bad, Juve; but why did you change your sex this evening?”

“Oh, for the fun of it, and to keep my hand in...

besides, the more precautions we take when we meet the better. Admit for a moment that our enemies are keeping a watch on you here: what will they recollect about your doings this evening? Why, that Fandor, the journalist, had a call from a lady, and that she did not leave in a hurry either!”

“Hang it all! I’ve no objection to a Don Juan reputation, but may I say, without offence, that, as a woman, there’s nothing particularly attractive about you, Juve, in the garb you’ve just discarded!”

“Bah!” replied Juve. “You mustn’t be so particular, my dear boy – as if dress mattered – or appearance either!” Juve was lighting a cigarette as he walked about the room, examining the books and other objects with which Fandor had surrounded himself.

“A charming home!” murmured the detective.

Then, he inspected the contents of a little show-case, in which Fandor had collected what he called his

“Circumstantial Evidence”; in other words, various objects relating to cases he had been engaged on, such as scraps of clothing, bloodstained weapons, broken locks: these records of crimes, new and old, were carefully labelled. Juve began questioning Fandor about these sinister relics. Five minutes of jokes and laughter, then Fandor became serious. He drew his friend to a corner settee.

“Juve,” said he in an impressive tone, “I have found the connecting link. ‘

“By God! You have, have you!” cried Juve in a bantering tone, and with a quizzical look. “Let us see it!... Explain!”

Regardless of his friend’s apparent skepticism, Fandor proceeded to expound his theory.

“I did as you suggested. I was present at the trial of the smugglers: I listened to Counsel’s speech for the defence, but judged it useless to stay to the end. When Maître Henri Robart began a disquisition on the facts, I left.

Here is what I have noted: