Her baggage was placed upon it, and she
went away no one knows where. However, this lady is a relative of
my employer, and he so much wishes to find her that he would
willingly give a hundred francs over and above the amount you owe
him, to ascertain the number of the vehicle. He pretends that you
can give him this number if you choose; and it isn't an
impossibility, is it?"
"On the contrary, nothing could be easier," replied the clerk,
glad of an opportunity to explain the ingenious mechanism of the
office to an outsider. "Have you ten minutes to spare?"
"Ten days, if necessary," rejoined Chupin.
"Then you shall see." So saying the clerk rose and went into the
adjoining room, whence a moment later he returned carrying a large
green box. "This contains the October reports sent in every
evening by the branch offices," he remarked in explanation. He
next opened the box, glanced over the documents it contained, and
joyfully exclaimed: "Here we have it. This is the report sent in
by the superintendent of the cab-stand in the Rue Soumot on the
16th October. Here is a list of the vehicles that arrived or left
from a quarter to nine o'clock till a quarter past nine. Five
cabs came in, but we need not trouble ourselves about them. Three
went out bearing the numbers 1781, 3025, and 2140. One of these
three must have taken your employer's relative.
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