The Duke and the inspector gazed at him with respectful eyes--at
least, the eyes of the inspector were respectful; the Duke's eyes
twinkled.

"I am gathering up the threads," said M. Formery. "Inspector, bring
up the concierge and his wife. I will question them on the scene of
the crime. Their dossier should be here. If it is, bring it up with
them; if not, no matter; bring them up without it."

The inspector left the drawing-room. M. Formery plunged at once into
frowning meditation.

"I find all this extremely interesting," said the Duke.

"Charmed! Charmed!" said M. Formery, waving his hand with an absent-
minded air.

The inspector entered the drawing-room followed by the concierge and
his wife. He handed a paper to M. Formery. The concierge, a bearded
man of about sixty, and his wife, a somewhat bearded woman of about
fifty-five, stared at M. Formery with fascinated, terrified eyes. He
sat down in a chair, crossed his legs, read the paper through, and
then scrutinized them keenly.

"Well, have you recovered from your adventure?" he said.

"Oh, yes, sir," said the concierge. "They hustled us a bit, but they
did not really hurt us."