“That was dropped over Armand’s head as he came up the stairs,” said Godfrey, “or flung over him as he came into the room.  Then the dead man yonder jumped upon him and trussed him up with those ropes.”

Pushing the net aside, I saw upon the floor a little pile of severed cords.

“Yes,” I agreed; “he would be able to do that.  Have you noticed his size, Godfrey?  He was almost a giant!”

“He couldn’t have done it if Armand hadn’t been willing that he should,” retorted Godfrey, curtly.  “You see he had no difficulty in getting away,” and he held up the net and pointed to the great rents in it.  “He cut his way out while he was lying there—­I ought to have known—­I ought to have known he wasn’t bound—­that he was only waiting—­but it was all so sudden....”

He threw the net down upon the floor with a gesture of disgust and despair.  Then he stopped in front of the Boule cabinet and looked down at it musingly; and, after a moment, his face brightened.

The burlap wrappings had been almost wholly torn away, and the cabinet stood, more insolently beautiful than ever, it seemed to me, under the rays of the sun, which sparkled and glittered and shimmered as they fell upon it.

“But we’ll get him, Simmonds,” said Godfrey, and his lips broke into a smile.  “In fact, we’ve got him now.  We have only to wait, and he’ll walk into our arms.  Simmonds, I want you to lock this cabinet up in the strongest cell around at your station; and carry the key yourself.”

“Lock it up?” stammered Simmonds, staring at him.

“Yes,” said Godfrey, “lock it up.  That’s our one salvation!” His face was glowing; he was quite himself again, alert, confident of victory.  “You’re in charge of this case, aren’t you?  Well, lock it up, and give your reasons to nobody.”

“That’ll be easy,” laughed Simmonds.  “I haven’t got any reasons.”

“Oh, yes, you have,” and Godfrey bent upon him a gaze that was positively hypnotic.  “You will do it because I want you to, and because I tell you that, sooner or later, if you keep this cabinet safe where no one can get at it, the man we want will walk into our hands.  And I’ll tell you more than that, Simmonds; if we do get him, I’ll have the biggest story I ever had, and you will be world-famous.  France will make you a chevalier of the Legion of Honour, Simmonds, mark my words.  Don’t you think the ribbon would look well in your button-hole?”

Simmonds was staring at the speaker as though he thought he had suddenly gone mad.  Indeed, the thought flashed through my own brain that the disappointment, the chagrin of failure, had been too much for Godfrey.

He burst into laughter as he saw our faces.

“No, I’m not mad,” he said, more soberly; “and I’m not joking.  I’m speaking in deadly earnest, Simmonds, when I say that this fellow is the biggest catch we could make.  He’s the greatest criminal of modern times—­I repeat it, Lester, this time without qualification.  And now, perhaps, you’ll agree with me.”