"Read the mark there, in tiny letters: Cassette, 6a, Opera."
"Cannot English people buy canes in Paris?"
When Rouletabille had seen me into the train, he said:
"You'll remember the address?"
"Yes,--Cassette, 6a, Opera. Rely on me; you shall have word
tomorrow morning."
That evening, on reaching Paris, I saw Monsieur Cassette, dealer in
walking-sticks and umbrellas, and wrote to my friend:
"A man unmistakably answering to the description of Monsieur Robert
Darzac--same height, slightly stooping, putty-coloured overcoat,
bowler hat--purchased a cane similar to the one in which we are
interested, on the evening of the crime, about eight o'clock.
Monsieur Cassette had not sold another such cane during the last two
years. Fred's cane is new. It is quite clear that it's the same
cane. Fred did not buy it, since he was in London. Like you, I
think that he found it somewhere near Monsieur Robert Darzac. But
if, as you suppose, the murderer was in The Yellow Room for five,
or even six hours, and the crime was not committed until towards
midnight, the purchase of this cane proves an incontestable alibi
for Darzac.
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