Two days later.
Archbishop Boissy peered at the two sheets of paper in the hands of the mathematics adviser beside him. "Well? Did he get them all right?"
They were Angelique's test answers, and he could not understand them at all.
The mathematics adviser nodded and said with feeling, "My Lord, not only are they all correct, but his approach to solving the problems is extremely ingenious. Even my students might not be able to do better. I truly can't believe he's only twelve."
Boissy signaled for the adviser to withdraw, then rubbed his hands and looked toward Archbishop Aceri. "This child is indeed very unusual. Right, what is his background?" The latter looked toward the priest beside him. "Father Bonnet, where did you find him?"
"He is from Italy," Father Bonnet said. "He originally came to Paris to study, but this summer, his family's business went bankrupt, and they almost couldn't even pay the rent. My nephew happened to live downstairs from him."
"Excellent!" Archbishop Boissy immediately said to Archbishop Aceri in excitement, "You truly saved my life. I will certainly repay you."
"Oh, it's nothing."
That afternoon, Archbishop Boissy came to an agreement with Angelique's family. He gave them three thousand Francs as a benefit fee, had the child enter the Church School on Rue du Cloître Notre-Dame, and promised that if he could place in the top three in the Math Competition, he would be rewarded with another three thousand Francs.
On the other side, Father Bonnet returned to his residence, wrote a secret letter, and had his men deliver it to the headquarters of the Intelligence Bureau.
Once that letter was decoded, it contained only one sentence—the scorpion has burrowed into the pillowcase.
Yes, his other identity was that of an agent of the French Intelligence