The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-04

the bankers two sons, one of whom was in the army and the other of whom was most exemplary young man. But of late he had forsaken the society of all the Fauvels and had for his inti- mate friends the Marquis de Clameran and Raoul de Lagors, one of the hand somest young men in Paris, a nephew of Mme Fauvel and reported to be very wealthy, as he spent money like water,
 When Fanferlot reached home he had, as was his wont, a consultation with Mime. Alexandre concerning the case he had in hand Fanferot was ambitious, and thought by handling the affair of the Rue de Provence skillfully to advance himself in the police service. He told his wife what he had done, what he had found out, and what he suspected. Lis ten to me-" said madame, you had bet ter take my advice and consult M. Lecoq.' Fanferlot medtated while, and then said: every well, l will see him just for
 vour satisfaction. But as I have not discovered anything of importance neither will he. And if he takes it upon him. self to be domineering it won't do. Let him show himself insoent to me and
 will let him know his place."
 M. Lecoq was Fanferlot's chief, but
 Fanferlot was evidently not afraid of him as he started off with his hat cooked over
 one ear and his nose in the air But
 by the time he reached the house of
 M. Lecoq in the Rue Montmarte he pulled
 his hat over his eyes, hung his head and | of orp1f dptpC- tive in a very subdued manner
 Well, so you are here, young man.
 said Lecoq. ''It seems you have not made much progress in the Bertomy case. You wish to be master and you are not fit even for a journeyman You have mud dled everything. You are an ass. Do you
 not know that the day you went with the police to verify the robbery you held in your stupid hands the means-probably, do not say certainly-of determining which key it was that opened the safer. How is that?"
 s'Do.you remember a scratch that you discovered on the safe door? You were so impressed by 1t that you could not refrain from calling out immediately you saw 1t. It was fresh scratch, only few
 hours old. It extended diagonally from
 the keyhole to the edge of the door of the safe, slanting to the left How was this made? Evidently with key. You should have called for the keys of both
 the banker and his clerk. One of them
 would probably have had some traces of the hard green paint sticking to it. Fanferlot listened open-mouthed to this Iexplanation. Then he violently slapped his forehead with his hands and cried, 'Idiot! Idiot!'
 You have correctly named yourself" said M. Lecoq calmly; T am going to pre- sent you with an aphorism; a man may shine in the second rank who would be totally eclipsed in the first. know no more about this case than you do, Fanfer- lot, but you seem to have made up your
 mind, whereas I am still undecided. From what know of your doings, am of the
 belief that you think now the cashier is Innocent and the banker guilty. Is 1t not | SOP" How did that wonderful man know these things? By process of deduction and elimination The theory of the bank 1 CTS guilt was the present theory of Fan | ferlot.
 l M Lecoq now took charge of the case and Fanferlot was ordered to obey him implicitly and blindly. There were things about this Marquis de Clameran and
 his Raoul de Lagors which Lecoq could not at first understand. De Lagors claimed | to be from St. Benny. Lecoq investigated and found that the last De Lagors of St. ! Benny had died in 1S4s, leaving two
 daughtsrs. one nov ! school ttaoher ana