This  point  being  settled,  the  Prefect  broke  forth  at
once  into  explanations  of  his  own  views,  interspers
ing  them  with  long  comments  upon  the  evidence;  of
which  latter  we  were  not  yet  in  possession.  He  dis
coursed  much,  and,  beyond  doubt,  learnedly ;  while  I
hazarded  an  occasional  suggestion  as  the  night  wore
drowsily  away.  Dupin,  sitting  steadily  in  his  accus
tomed  armchair,  was  the  embodiment  of  respectful
attention.  He  wore  spectacles  during  the  whole  in
terview  ;  and  an  occasional  glance  beneath  their  green
glasses  sufficed  to  convince  me  that  he  slept  not  the
less  soundly,  because  silently,  throughout  the  seven
or  eight  leaden-footed  hours  which  immediately  pre
ceded  the  departure  of  the  Prefect.
In  the  morning,  I  procured,  at  the  Prefecture,  a
full  report  of  all  the  evidence  elicited,  and,  at  the  va
rious  newspaper  offices,  a  copy  of  every  paper  in


The  Mystery  of  Marie  Roget        257

which,  from  first  to  last,  had  been  published  any  de
cisive  information  in  regard  to  this  sad  affair.  Freed
from  all  that  was  positively  disproved,  this  mass  of
information  stood  thus :

Marie  Roget  left  the  residence  of  her  mother,  in
the  Rue  Pavee  St.  Andree,  about  nine  o'clock  in  the
morning  of  Sunday,  June  the  twenty-second,  18 —.
