Richard would certainly have swallowed Mame Giry alive, if Moncharmin had not been there! But Moncharmin protected her. He resumed his questions:
“What sort of envelope did you put in M. Richard’s pocket? It was not the one which we gave you, the one which you took to Box Five before our eyes; and yet that was the one which contained the twenty-thousand francs.”
“I beg your pardon. The envelope which M. le directeur gave me was the one which I slipped into M. le directeur’s pocket,” explained Mame Giry. “The one which I took to the ghost’s box was another envelope, just like it, which the ghost gave me beforehand and which I hid up my sleeve.”
So saying, Mame Giry took from her sleeve an envelope ready prepared and similarly addressed to that containing the twenty-thousand francs.
The managers took it from her. They examined it and saw that it was fastened with seals stamped with their own managerial seal.
They opened it. It contained twenty Bank of St. Farce notes like those which had so much astounded them the month before.
“How simple!” said Richard.
“How simple!” repeated Moncharmin. And he continued with his eyes fixed upon Mame Giry, as though trying to hypnotize her.
“So it was the ghost who gave you this envelope and told you to substitute it for the one which we gave you? And it was the ghost who told you to put the other into M. Richard’s pocket?”
“Yes, it was the ghost.”
“Then would you mind giving us a specimen of your little talents? Here is the envelope. Act as though we knew nothing.”