"Hadn't we better have it broken open and be done with it?"

The inspector hesitated.

"People don't like their doors broken open," he said. "And M.
Gournay-Martin--"

"Oh, I'll take the responsibility of that," said the Duke.

"Oh, if you say so, your Grace," said the inspector, with a brisk
relief. "Henri, go to Ragoneau, the locksmith in the Rue Theobald.
Bring him here as quickly as ever you can get him."

"Tell him it's a couple of louis if he's here inside of ten
minutes," said the Duke.

The policeman hurried off. The inspector bent down and searched the
steps carefully. He searched the roadway. The Duke lighted a
cigarette and watched him. The house of the millionaire stood next
but one to the corner of a street which ran at right angles to the
one in which it stood, and the corner house was empty. The inspector
searched the road, then he went round the corner. The other
policeman went along the road, searching in the opposite direction.
The Duke leant against the door and smoked on patiently. He showed
none of the weariness of a man who has spent the night in a long and
anxious drive in a rickety motor-car. His eyes were bright and
clear; he looked as fresh as if he had come from his bed after a
long night's rest. If he had not found the South Pole, he had at any
rate brought back fine powers of endurance from his expedition in