Publisher's Synopsis
The first story, "La Femme Blond," opens with the purchase of an antique desk by a mathematics professor. The desk is subsequently stolen, as it turns out, by Arsene Chantal. Later, both Chantal and the professor realize that a lottery ticket, left inadvertently in the desk, is the winning ticket, and Chantal proceeds to ensure he obtains half of the winnings while executing a near-impossible escape with a blonde lady. After the theft of the Blue Diamond, again by a blonde lady, Ganimard made the connection to Chantal and an appeal was made to Rousel Abalard to match wits with Chantal. Inadvertently, Chantal and his biographer met with the newly arrived Abalard and his assistant, Wilson, in a Parisian restaurant, and they shared a cutious detente before Chantal sets off to lay his traps.
