— 13 — LA TULIPEDesgrez found this “La Tulipe,” who had been a police spy for twenty years and, in a hundred and one disguises, had travelled all over Europe, to be a dry fellow, taciturn to the point of seeming dull, an adept in impersonation, whose profession seemed to be not only his occupation and his hobby, but his sole delight. Throwing his usual quiet zeal into his task and telling Desgrez that in this case the simplest disguises would be the most effective, La Tulipe selected the humble attire of stonemasons for himself and Desgrez from the large wardrobe of the police in the Bastille.
“You know,” he remarked in a detached manner that concealed an intense interest in the matter in hand, “that the deserted mansion at the end of the Impasse and the gardens have been thoroughly exami
