Lying on the floor, apparently half dead, was Monsieur Nanteuil.

Calmly lighting a candle was the telephone workman. He alone seemed unmoved.

Fandor threw down his revolver and, coolly marching to the door, locked it.

Monsieur Barbey followed the journalist with a look. He made a gesture of futility and pointed to the window: its panes were smashed to pieces.

“We are tricked – done!” he said. “The assassin has got away!”

But Fandor, with a shrug, marched up to the window, returned, and said in a matter-of-fact tone:

“It is impossible that Fantômas could have made his escape that way!”

The workman nodded gravely.

“Monsieur Fandor,” said he, “I am entirely of your opinion.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN : THE IMPRINT

“Monsieur Fandor, I am entirely of your opinion!” Hearing these words, Fandor, who had regained his self-composure, and was ready to start fighting again if necessary, looked at the individual who had made this statement – the individual whose face was oddly familiar.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The individual smiled broadly.

“Don’t you recognise me?” he asked.

He removed his wig and latex, threw the candlelight on himself, and smilingly announced his identity.

“Sergeant Juve, once of the detective force; formerly dead: now amateur policeman!”

“You! You, Juve! “cried Fandor. “And to think I suspected you!”

But the two bankers interrupted at one and the same moment.“What are you doing here?”

Juve smiled.

“The art I practise brought me! Since my interest in the Dollon affair is so keen, I follow it up, I wish to find the secret of it, just through love of my art. I dabble in it nowadays.”

“But Juve – how did you get here?” questioned Fandor.“Ah, ha! If you have made some psychological discoveries, if reasoning has landed you here – well now, facts have led me here!... You know I was shadowing the band of Numbers? You know that in the skin of Cranajour I was intimate with those rascals... To my astonishment I found that my wretched companions had dealings with the Barbey-Nanteuil bank – who, of course, had no suspicion of it! Are you surprised then that I felt it incumbent on me to visit this bank!

“Besides, yesterday, I saw you enter here; but you never came out again! You had reasons for acting so. I determined to be near you, in case you needed my help. I therefore passed myself off as a workman come to attend to the telephone installation. It was easy enough, for I am a qualified electrician... Well, when I found that you were preparing to pass the night here, I laid my plans accordingly.

I pretended to leave the premises, but really I hid myself in the house. Just now, when you called for help, I came to your aid as quickly as I could, naturally!”

“Just as we did!” remarked Monsieur Barbey, looking at his partner.

Monsieur Nanteuil contented himself with a nod. He added: “Alas, once again that criminal has escaped!