Until they reached the governor's office, he did not
utter a word; then, sinking down into an armchair, he exclaimed: "We
must confess ourselves beaten. This man will always remain what he
is--an inexplicable enigma."
"But what is the meaning of the comedy he has just played? I do not
understand it at all," remarked the governor.
"Why," replied Lecoq, "don't you see that he wished to persuade the
magistrate that the first note, the one that fell into the cell while
you and I were there yesterday, had been written by me in a mad desire
to prove the truth of my theory at any cost? It was a hazardous project;
but the importance of the result to be gained must have emboldened him
to attempt it. Had he succeeded, I should have been disgraced; and he
would have remained May--the stroller, without any further doubt as to
his identity. But how could he know that I had discovered his secret
correspondence, and that I was watching him from the loft overhead? That
will probably never be explained."
The governor and the young detective exchanged glances of mutual
distrust. "Eh! eh!" thought the former, "yes, indeed, that note which
fell into the cell while I was there the other day might after all have
been this crafty fellow's work. His Father Absinthe may have served him
in the first instance just as he did subsequently."
While these reflections were flitting through the governor's mind, Lecoq
suspiciously remarked to himself: "Who knows but what this fool of
a governor confided everything to Gevrol? If he did so, the General,
jealous as he is, would not have scrupled to play one such a damaging
trick.
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