The capture of King Victor

The capture of King Victor ends his masquerade as the French detective M. Lemoine and turns a contest of identities into a physical arrest. The decisive reversal comes when Anthony Cade introduces the real M. Lemoine, a man whose bandaged head bears witness to his abduction, and Hiram Fish prevents the false detective from escaping. The episode also reveals how Anthony’s apparent cooperation with the impostor had been a deliberate trap: a false lead about the diamond and a message to Mademoiselle Brun were meant to keep King Victor occupied while the conspirators tried to recover it.

The imposture exposed

The capture follows Anthony’s arrival at Dover, where Fish had followed him believing him to be King Victor. They found a mysterious stranger held prisoner; once they heard his account, Anthony recognized the familiar pattern of a kidnapped real man replaced by a false one. In this instance, the prisoner was the genuine M. Lemoine, and the man acting in his place was King Victor. The discovery links the imposture at Chimneys to the same practical scheme of substitution: someone with the right name and role can command attention while the person he has displaced is kept out of sight.

The revelation becomes visible when Anthony crosses to the door and opens it. On the threshold stands the real detective, recognizable by his neat black beard, eyeglasses, and foppish appearance, though a bandage around his head mars it. Anthony presents him as the genuine M. Lemoine of the Sûreté. That entrance overturns the false detective’s authority in a single stroke: the supposed representative of French law is exposed by the actual man whose identity he has stolen.

The arrest at the window

The impostor’s exposure immediately becomes a struggle. A rush and scuffle follow the appearance of the real detective, but King Victor cannot turn recognition into escape. From the window, Fish announces that he has been stationed there throughout the evening specifically to prevent the prisoner from getting away. He has him covered with his gun and explains that he came to take him and has succeeded. The calm, reassuring quality of Fish’s nasal voice contrasts with the sudden physical commotion, making the arrest both decisive and almost matter-of-fact.

Fish’s intervention closes the gap between discovering the fraud and securing its perpetrator. The genuine detective’s appearance establishes the truth; Fish’s watch and weapon make that truth consequential. King Victor, who had gained leverage by impersonating an official investigator, is now the one under surveillance and restraint. The capture therefore reverses his performance of authority: the disguise that let him direct other people’s movements cannot protect him once the real detective is present and an armed observer is waiting at the window.

Battle’s suspicions and the evidence

Anthony’s later explanation connects the capture to Superintendent Battle’s earlier doubts about his supposed French colleague. Battle had never been satisfied that the man was genuine. He sent to Paris for fingerprints and other means of identification, turning suspicion into a test that could distinguish the impostor from the officer he claimed to be. The Baron recognizes the fingerprints and Bertillon measurements as the technical details the false Lemoine had invoked. The supposed expert’s own language about identification thus becomes part of the evidence against him.

The episode brings together several kinds of proof rather than relying on appearance alone. The real M. Lemoine can identify himself through his presence and account of captivity; Battle’s inquiry seeks fingerprints and identifying measurements; and Fish’s surveillance ensures that the exposed man cannot simply disappear. The contrast is important: King Victor’s disguise works by borrowing the visible and professional signs of another person, while the investigation answers that performance with personal testimony, physical identification, and watchfulness.

Anthony’s counter-misdirection

Anthony explains that he admired the false detective’s plan and chose to play along with it. Once Anthony supplied a tip about the “rows” and the diamond’s actual hiding place, the impostor wanted to pass the information to his accomplice while keeping everyone else confined to the room. The note was intended for Mademoiselle Brun. King Victor instructed Tredwell to deliver it at once, and Tredwell took it upstairs to the schoolroom. The false Lemoine then accused Anthony of being King Victor, creating a diversion that discouraged anyone from leaving.

Anthony’s false clue gave the conspirators a reason to act while helping him understand how their plan worked. By the time the company moved to the library to search for the stone, King Victor believed that it would already have been removed. His effort to control the room through an accusation and an urgent message instead exposed the structure of his deception: the message connected him to Mademoiselle Brun, while the accusation bought time for the intended theft. Anthony used the impostor’s eagerness to communicate and misdirect as a means of turning the scheme against him.

Consequences and significance

After King Victor is secured, the assembled company receives the explanation later that evening. Anthony says that he and Fish went to Dover, found the captive stranger, and understood the substitution as soon as they heard his story. He also explains Battle’s doubts and the Paris identification inquiry, then reconstructs the message and the diversion at Chimneys. The arrest thus resolves more than the identity of the man calling himself M. Lemoine: it clarifies how the diamond plot, the attempt to control the room, and the false accusation fit together.

George Lomax condemns Anthony’s conduct as reprehensible and foolhardy, arguing that if the plan had gone wrong, a national possession might have vanished beyond recovery. His rebuke preserves the risk inherent in Anthony’s counter-misdirection. The strategy succeeds, but it depended on allowing the impostor to believe his message and diversion were working while the diamond remained vulnerable. King Victor’s capture brings that danger under control, yet the episode refuses to treat cleverness as harmless: the same calculated deception that exposes the criminal could have cost the country its possession.