“Howisthisknown？”askedDupin。
“Itisclearlyinferred。”repliedthePrefect，“fromthenatureofthedocument，andfromthenon-appearanceofcertainresultswhichwouldatoncearisefromitspassingoutoftherobber’spossession；
thatistosay，fromhisemployingitashemustdesignintheendtoemployit。”
“Bealittlemoreexplicit。”Isaid。
“Well，Imayventuresofarastosaythatthepapergivesitsholderacertainpowerinacertainquarterwheresuchpowerisimmenselyvaluable。”ThePrefectwasfondofthecantofdiplomacy。