“Never mind about that. For six months, I have worked on this affair, investigated it, studied it, questioned the servants, the moneylenders and men of straw; for six months, I have shadowed the husband and wife. Consequently, I know what I am talking about. Whether the fortune came to them from old Brawford, as they pretend, or from some other source, I do not care. I know that it is a reality; that it exists. And some day it will be mine.”

“ Bigre! One hundred millions!”

“Let us say ten, or even five⁠—that is enough! They have a safe full of bonds, and there will be the devil to pay if I can’t get my hands on them.”

The tramcar stopped at the Place de l’Etoile . The man whispered to Lupin:

“What am I to do now?”