Gourel repeated these two fateful words with an absolutely petrified air. They rang within him like a knell. Arsène Lupin! The great, the formidable Arsène Lupin. The burglar-king, the mighty adventurer! Was it possible? “No, no,” he muttered, “it’s not possible, because he’s dead!” Only that was just it … was he really dead? Arsène Lupin! Standing beside the corpse, he remained dull and stunned, turning the card over and over with a certain dread, as though he had been challenged by a ghost. Arsène Lupin! What ought he to do? Act? Take the field with his resources? No, no … better not act … He was bound to make mistakes if he entered the lists with an adversary of that stamp. Besides, the chief was on his way! The chief was on his way! All Gourel’s intellectual philosophy was summed up in that short sentence. An able, persevering officer, full of courage and experience and endowed with Herculean strength, he was one of those who go ahead only when obeying directions and who do good work only when ordered.
