I want to find out something
about Lacheneur's letter and the diamond earring."
"Go, then," replied M. Segmuller, "and good luck to you!"
Good luck! Yes, indeed, Lecoq looked for it. If up to the present moment
he had taken his successive defeats good-humoredly, it was because he
believed that he had a talisman in his pocket which was bound to insure
ultimate victory.
"I shall be very stupid if I can't discover the owner of such a valuable
jewel," he soliloquized, referring to the diamond earring. "And when
I find the owner I shall at the same time discover our mysterious
prisoner's identity."
The first step to be taken was to ascertain whom the earring had been
bought from. It would naturally be a tedious process to go from jeweler
to jeweler and ask: "Do you know this jewel, was it set by you, and if
so whom did you sell it to?" But fortunately Lecoq was acquainted with
a man whose knowledge of the trade might at once throw light on the
matter. This individual was an old Hollander, named Van Numen, who as a
connoisseur in precious stones, was probably without his rival in Paris.
He was employed by the Prefecture of Police as an expert in all such
matters. He was considered rich. Despite his shabby appearance, he was
rightly considered rich, and, in point of fact, he was indeed far more
wealthy than people generally supposed. Diamonds were his especial
passion, and he always had several in his pocket, in a little box which
he would pull out and open at least a dozen times an hour, just as a
snuff-taker continually produces his snuffbox.
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