Thénardier then sends the gang out and tries another tactic. Shrewdly he points out to Leblanc that in spite of his danger he has never called for help. Can it be that he is afraid of the police? With elaborate casualness, he moves to give the old man a view of the red-hot chisel and proposes a bargain — 200,000 francs for Leblanc's freedom. With the smile of a "grand inquisitor," he invites Leblanc to write a letter to his daughter asking her to come to him; she will serve as a hostage to insure that Leblanc pays the money. Silently, Leblanc writes, signs his name, and gives his address. Convulsively, Thénardier grasps the letter and sends his wife out with it to get the girl. They wait in a long and dreadful silence until Mme. Thénardier returns in a fury. They have been duped: Leblanc has given them a false address.
While she has been gone, however, Leblauc has used a miniature saw hidden in a hollow coin in his pocket to cut his bonds, and he is free except for one leg. He leaps to his feet and defies them, seizing the red-hot chisel in one hand. "You will never make me write what I do not want to write," he cries, and disdainfully puts the chisel to his own arm, watching it burn without a quiver; then he flings the chisel out of the window. The gang falls upon him, and Thénardier, deciding there is nothing left to do but kill him, takes a knife from the drawer.
Marius is in an agony of indecision, but he can no longer delay — it is Leblanc or Thénardier. Suddenly he has an inspiration: During her visit that morning, Thénardier's daughter had written on a piece of paper to show her education, "The cops are here." Marius grabs it and throws it through the crack in the wall. The gang reacts just as he has hoped. They rush to the window in a disorderly panic.
