Fix found Passepartout walking around the port. The detective walked up to him with a friendly smile.
"Is your passport ready?" Fix asked.
"Yes, thank you," Passepartout replied. "But we are traveling so fast! I need to buy some shirts and shoes because we left without any luggage."
Fix offered to show him a good clothing shop. As they walked together, the young Frenchman started chatting happily. Fix warned him not to be late for the ship.
"Oh, we have plenty of time," Passepartout said, looking at his large silver watch. "It is only ten o'clock."
"Your watch is two hours slow," Fix explained. "You are in Egypt now. You must adjust your watch to the local time."
"Change my grandfather's watch? Never!" Passepartout was completely stubborn. "If my watch and the sun do not agree, then the sun is wrong!"
After a short silence, Fix casually asked, "So, you left London very quickly?"
"Very quickly! My master came home on Friday evening, and less than an hour later, we were on a train."
"Where is he going?" Fix asked.
"Around the world in eighty days. He says it is for a bet, but I do not believe it. I think he is hiding a secret."
"Is he rich?"
"He must be. He is carrying an enormous fortune in brand-new banknotes in his bag. And I only met him the day we left!"
Fix could not believe his luck. Every word made him more suspicious. The rushed departure, the huge amount of money, the crazy story about a bet, and a servant who knew nothing about his master. To the detective, this was perfect evidence that Fogg was the bank robber.
Fix left the Frenchman at the clothing shop and ran straight back to the consul's office.
"I am completely sure now," Fix told the consul. "He is pretending to be a crazy traveler, but he is actually running from the police."
"What will you do?" the consul asked.
"I will send a message to London. I will ask them to send an official police document to India. Then, I will buy a ticket for his ship. I will follow him to Bombay, and as soon as we step onto British soil, I will arrest him."
A few minutes later, Fix sent his telegram. Then, carrying only a small bag, the detective stepped onto the steamship just before it sailed away into the Red Sea.