Then he explodes his bombshell: "Do you have your wallet? I'll settle for a thousand crowns." Leblanc, alarmed by this blackmail, stands up with his back to the wall and stares at him suspiciously. Like a cat playing with a mouse, Jondrette turns to more innocent conversation. Suddenly three armed men walk in and Jondrette ceases his pretense. In a thunderous voice he says to Leblanc: "Do you recognize me?" Leblanc, pale but far from intimidated, retreats behind the table and steels himself for action, declaring he does not know Jondrette. Jondrette cries, "I am not Fabantou. I am not Jondrette. I am Thénardier."
The revelation leaves Leblanc unmoved, but not Marius. He is stunned, for he finds himself confronted by an impossible dilemma: save Thénardier and sacrifice an innocent man, or call the police and betray his father's trust. He has no time to deliberate, for events move rapidly. Thénardier savors his triumph with hysterical glee, pouring out a flood of reproaches, threats, and boasts; Leblanc calmly replies that Thénardier is mistaken — he is not a rich man, and they have never met before. But, as Thénardier turns around to speak to one of his accomplices, the prisoner springs to the window and nearly escapes. It takes three men to bring him back, and after a titanic struggle, he is tied to one of the beds.
