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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:33:50 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:33:50 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10067-0.txt b/10067-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2d346e --- /dev/null +++ b/10067-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9140 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10067 *** + +THE MYSTERY OF THE BOULE CABINET + +_A Detective Story_ + + +BY + +BURTON E. STEVENSON + + +With Illustrations by THOMAS FOGARTY + +1911 + + +To + +A.B.M. +Fellow-Sherlockian + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I A CONNOISSEUR'S VAGARY + II THE FIRST TRAGEDY + III THE WOUNDED HAND + IV THE THUNDERBOLT + V GRADY TAKES A HAND + VI THE WOMAN IN THE CASE + VII ROGERS GETS A SHOCK + VIII PRECAUTIONS + IX GUESSES AT THE RIDDLE + X PREPARATIONS + XI THE BURNING EYES + XII GODFREY IS FRIGHTENED + XIII A DISTINGUISHED CALLER + XIV THE VEILED LADY + XV THE SECRET OF THE UNKNOWN FRENCHMAN + XVI PHILIP VANTINE'S CALLER + XVII ENTER M. ARMAND + XVIII I PART WITH THE BOULE CABINET + XIX "LA MORT!" + XX THE ESCAPE + XXI GODFREY WEAVES A ROMANCE + XXII "CROCHARD, L'INVINCIBLE!" + XXIII WE MEET M. PIGOT + XXIV THE SECRET OF THE CABINET + XXV THE MICHAELOVITCH DIAMONDS + XXVI THE FATE OF M. PIGOT + XXVII THE LAST ACT OF THE DRAMA + XXVIII CROCHARD WRITES AN EPILOGUE + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +CLUTCHING AT HIS THROAT, HE HALF-TURNED AND FELL + +"I GRABBED HER AGAIN, AND JUST THEN MR. VANTINE OPENED THE DOOR AND +CAME OUT INTO THE HALL." + +"A MOMENT LATER M. FÉLIX ARMAND WAS SHOWN IN" + +WITH HIS BACK TO THE DOOR, STOOD A MAN RIPPING SAVAGELY AWAY THE +STRIPS OF BURLAP + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A CONNOISSEUR'S VAGARY + + +"Hello!" I said, as I took down the receiver of my desk 'phone, in +answer to the call. + +"Mr. Vantine wishes to speak to you, sir," said the office-boy. + +"All right," and I heard the snap of the connection. + +"Is that you, Lester?" asked Philip Vantine's voice. + +"Yes. So you're back again?" + +"Got in yesterday. Can you come up to the house and lunch with me +to-day?" + +"I'll be glad to," I said, and meant it, for I liked Philip Vantine. + +"I'll look for you, then, about one-thirty." + +And that is how it happened that, an hour later, I was walking over +toward Washington Square, just above which, on the Avenue, the old +Vantine mansion stood. It was almost the last survival of the old +régime; for the tide of business had long since overflowed from the +neighbouring streets into the Avenue and swept its fashionable folk +far uptown. Tall office and loft buildings had replaced the +brownstone houses; only here and there did some old family hold on, +like a sullen and desperate rear-guard defying the advancing enemy. + +Philip Vantine was one of these. He had been born in the house where +he still lived, and declared that he would die there. He had no one +but himself to please in the matter, since he was unmarried and lived +alone, and he mitigated the increasing roar and dust of the +neighbourhood by long absences abroad. It was from one of these that +he had just returned. + +I may as well complete this pencil-sketch. Vantine was about fifty +years of age, the possessor of a comfortable fortune, something of a +connoisseur in art matters, a collector of old furniture, a little +eccentric--though now that I have written the word, I find that I +must qualify it, for his only eccentricity was that he persisted, in +spite of many temptations, in remaining a bachelor. Marriageable +women had long since ceased to consider him; mothers with maturing +daughters dismissed him with a significant shake of the head. It was +from them that he got the reputation of being an eccentric. But his +reasons for remaining single in no way concerned his lawyers--a +position which our firm had held for many years, and the active work +of which had come gradually into my hands. + +It was not very arduous work, consisting for the most part of the +drawing of leases, the collecting of rents, the reinvestment of +funds, and the adjustment of minor differences with tenants--all of +which were left to our discretion. But occasionally it was necessary +to consult our client on some matter of unusual importance, or to get +his signature to some paper, and, at such times, I always enjoyed the +talk which followed the completion of the business; for Vantine was a +good talker, with a knowledge of men and of the world gained by much +travel and by a detached, humourous and penetrating habit of mind. + +He came forward to meet me, as I gave his man my hat and stick, and +we shook hands heartily. I was glad to see him, and I think he was +glad to see me. He was looking in excellent health, and brown from +the voyage over. + +"It's plain to see that the trip did you good," I said. + +"Yes," he agreed; "I never felt more fit. But come along; we can talk +at table. There's a little difficulty I want you to untangle for me." +I followed him upstairs to his study, where a table laid for two had +been placed near a low window. + +"I had lunch served up here," Vantine explained, as we sat down, +"because this is the only really pleasant room left in the house. If +I didn't own that plot of ground next door, this place would be +impossible. As it is, I can keep the sky-scrapers far enough away to +get a little sunshine now and then. I've had to put in an air filter, +too; and double windows in the bedrooms to keep out the noise; but I +dare say I can manage to hang on." + +"I can understand how you'd hate to move into a new house," I said. + +Vantine made a grimace. + +"I couldn't endure a new house. I'm used to this one--I can find my +way about in it; I know where things are. I've grown up here, you +know; and, as a man gets older, he values such associations more and +more. Besides, a new house would mean new fittings, new furniture--" + +He paused and glanced about the room. Every piece of furniture in it +was the work of a master. + +"I suppose you found some new things while you were away?" I said. +"You always do. Your luck's proverbial." + +"Yes--and it's that I wanted to talk to you about, I brought back six +or eight pieces; I'll show them to you presently. They are all pretty +good, and one is a thing of beauty. It's more than that--it's an +absolutely unique work of art. Only, unfortunately, it isn't mine." + +"It isn't yours?" + +"No; and I don't know whose it is. If I did, I'd go buy it. That's +what I want you to do for me. It's a Boule cabinet--the most +exquisite I ever saw." + +"Where did it come from?" I questioned, more and more surprised. + +"It came from Paris, and it was addressed to me. The only explanation +I can think of is that my shippers at Paris made a mistake, sent me a +cabinet belonging to some one else, and sent mine to the other +person." + +"You had bought one, then?" + +"Yes; and it hasn't turned up. But beside this one, it's a mere daub. +My man Parks got it through the customs yesterday. As there was a +Boule cabinet on my manifest, the mistake wasn't discovered until the +whole lot was brought up here and uncrated this morning." + +"Weren't they uncrated in the customs?" + +"No; I've been bringing things in for a good many years, and the +customs people know I'm not a thief." + +"That's quite a compliment," I pointed out. "They've been tearing +things wide open lately." + +"They've had a tip of some sort, I suppose. Come in," he added, +answering a tap at the door. + +The door opened and Vantine's man came in. + +"A gentleman to see you, sir," he said, and handed Vantine a card. + +Vantine looked at it a little blankly. + +"I don't know him," he said. "What does he want?" + +"He wants to see you, sir; very bad, I should say." + +"What about?" + +"Well, I couldn't just make out, sir; but it seems to be important." + +"Couldn't make out? What do you mean, Parks?" + +"I think he's a Frenchman, sir; anyway, he don't know much English. +He ain't much of a looker, sir--I've seen hundreds like him sitting +out in front of the cafés along the boulevards, taking all afternoon +to drink a bock." + +Vantine seemed struck by a sudden idea, and he looked at the card +again. Then he tapped it meditatively on the table. + +"Shall I show him out, sir?" asked Parks, at last. + +"No," said Vantine, after an instant's hesitation. "Tell him to +wait," and he dropped the card on the table beside his plate. + +"I tell you, Lester," he went on, as Parks withdrew, "when I went +downstairs this morning and saw that cabinet, I could hardly believe +my eyes. I thought I knew furniture, but I hadn't any idea such a +cabinet existed. The most beautiful I had ever seen is at the Louvre. +It stands in the Salle Louis Fourteenth, to the left as you enter. It +belonged to Louis himself. Of course I can't be certain without a +careful examination, but I believe that cabinet, beautiful as it is, +is merely the counterpart of this one." + +He paused and looked at me, his eyes bright with the enthusiasm of +the connoisseur. + +"I'm not sure I understand your jargon," I said. "What do you mean by +'counterpart?'" + +"Boule furniture," he explained, "is usually of ebony inlaid with +tortoise-shell, and incrusted with arabesques in metals of various +kinds. The incrustation had to be very exact, and to get it so, the +artist clamped together two plates of equal size and thickness, one +of metal, the other of tortoise-shell, traced his design on the top +one, and then cut them both out together. The result was two +combinations, the original, with a tortoise-shell ground and metal +applications; and the counterpart, appliqué metal with tortoise-shell +arabesques. The original was really the one which the artist designed +and whose effects he studied; the counterpart was merely a resultant +accident with which he was not especially concerned. Understand?" + +"Yes, I think so," I said. "It's a good deal as though Michael +Angelo, when he made one of his sketches, white on black, put a sheet +of carbon under his paper and made a copy at the same time, black on +white." + +"Precisely. And it's the original which has the real artistic value. +Of course, the counterpart is often beautiful, too, but in a much +lower degree." + +"I can understand that," I said. + +"And now, Lester," Vantine went on, his eyes shining more and more, +"if my supposition is correct--if the Grand Louis was content with +the counterpart of this cabinet for the long gallery at Versailles, +who do you suppose owned the original?" + +I saw what he was driving at. + +"You mean one of his mistresses?" + +"Yes, and I think I know which one--it belonged to Madame de +Montespan." + +I stared at him in astonishment, as he sat back in his chair, smiling +across at me. + +"But," I objected, "you can't be sure--" + +"Of course I'm not sure," he agreed quickly. "That is to say, I +couldn't prove it. But there is some--ah--contributory evidence, I +think you lawyers call it Boule and the Montespan were in their glory +at the same time, and I can imagine that flamboyant creature +commissioning the flamboyant artist to build her just such a +cabinet." + +"Really, Vantine," I exclaimed, "I didn't know you were so romantic. +You quite take my breath away." + +He flushed a little at the words, and I saw how deeply in earnest he +was. + +"The craze of the collector takes him a long way sometimes," he said. +"But I believe I know what I'm talking about. I am going to make a +careful examination of the cabinet as soon as I can. Perhaps I'll +find something--there ought to be a monogram on it somewhere. What I +want you to do is to cable my shippers, Armand et Fils, Rue du +Temple, find out who owns this cabinet, and buy it for me." + +"Perhaps the owner won't sell," I suggested. + +"Oh yes, he will. Anything can be bought--for a price." + +"You mean you're going to have this cabinet, whatever the cost?" + +"I mean just that." + +"But, surely, there's a limit." + +"No, there isn't." + +"At least you'll tell me where to begin," I said. "I don't know +anything of the value of such things." + +"Well," said Vantine, "suppose you begin at ten thousand francs. We +mustn't seem too eager. It's because I'm so eager, I want you to +carry it through for me. I can't trust myself." + +"And the other end?" + +"There isn't any other end. Of course, strictly speaking, there is, +because my money isn't unlimited; but I don't believe you will have +to go over five hundred thousand francs." + +I gasped. + +"You mean you're willing to give a hundred thousand dollars for this +cabinet?" + +Vantine nodded. + +"Maybe a little more. If the owner won't accept that, you must let me +know before you break off negotiations. I'm a little mad about it, I +fancy--all collectors are a little mad. But I want that cabinet, and +I'm going to have it." + +I did not reply. I only looked at him. And he laughed as he caught my +glance. + +"I can see you share that opinion, Lester," he said. "You fear for +me. I don't blame you--but come and see it." + +He led the way out of the room and down the stairs; but when we +reached the lower hall, he paused. + +"Perhaps I'd better see my visitor first," he said. "You'll find a +new picture or two over there in the music-room--I'll be with you in +a minute." + +I started on, and he turned through a doorway at the left. + +An instant later, I heard a sharp exclamation; then his voice calling +me. + +"Lester! Come here!" he cried. + +I ran back along the hall, into the room which he had entered. He was +standing just inside the door. + +"Look there," he said, with a queer catch in his voice, and pointed +with a trembling hand to a dark object on the floor. + +I moved aside to see it better. Then my heart gave a sickening throb; +for the object on the floor was the body of a man. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FIRST TRAGEDY + + +It needed but a glance to tell me that the man was dead. There could +be no life in that livid face, in those glassy eyes. + +"Don't touch him," I said, for Vantine had started forward. "It's too +late." + +I drew him back, and we stood for a moment shaken as one always is by +sudden and unexpected contact with death. + +"Who is he?" I asked, at last. + +"I don't know," answered Vantine hoarsely. "I never saw him before." +Then he strode to the bell and rang it violently. "Parks," he went on +sternly, as that worthy appeared at the door, "what has been going on +in here?" + +"Going on, sir?" repeated Parks, with a look of amazement, not only +at the words, but at the tone in which they were uttered. "I'm sure I +don't know what--" + +Then his glance fell upon the huddled body, and he stopped short, his +eyes staring, his mouth open. + +"Well," said his master, sharply. "Who is he? What is he doing here?" + +"Why--why," stammered Parks, thickly, "that's the man who was waiting +to see you, sir." + +"You mean he has been killed in this house?" demanded Vantine. + +"He was certainly alive when he came in, sir," said Parks, recovering +something of his self-possession. "Maybe he was just looking for a +quiet place where he could kill himself. He seemed kind of excited." + +"Of course," agreed Vantine, with a sigh of relief, "that's the +explanation. Only I wish he had chosen some place else. I suppose we +shall have to call the police, Lester?" + +"Yes," I said, "and the coroner. Suppose you leave it to me. We'll +lock up this room, and nobody must leave the house until the police +arrive." + +"Very well," assented Vantine, visibly relieved, "I'll see to that," +and he hastened away, while I went to the 'phone, called up police +headquarters, and told briefly what had happened. + +Twenty minutes later, there was a ring at the bell, and Parks opened +the door and admitted four men. + +"Why, hello, Simmonds," I said, recognising in the first one the +detective-sergeant who had assisted in clearing up the Marathon +mystery. And back of him was Coroner Goldberger, whom I had met in +two previous cases; while the third countenance, looking at me with a +quizzical smile, was that of Jim Godfrey, the _Record's_ star +reporter. The fourth man was a policeman in uniform, who, at a word +from Simmonds, took his station at the door. + +"Yes," said Godfrey, as we shook hands, "I happened to be talking to +Simmonds when the call came in, and I thought I might as well come +along. What is it?" + +"Just a suicide, I think," and I unlocked the door into the room +where the dead man lay. + +Simmonds, Goldberger and Godfrey stepped inside. I followed and +closed the door. + +"Nothing has been disturbed," I said. "No one has touched the body." + +Simmonds nodded, and glanced inquiringly about the room; but +Godfrey's eyes, I noticed, were on the face of the dead man. +Goldberger dropped to his knees beside the body, looked into the eyes +and touched his fingers to the left wrist. Then he stood erect again +and looked down at the body, and as I followed his gaze, I noted its +attitude more accurately than I had done in the first shock of +discovering it. + +It was lying on its right side, half on its stomach, with its right +arm doubled under it, and its left hand clutching at the floor above +its head. The knees were drawn up as though in a convulsion, and the +face was horribly contorted, with a sort of purple tinge under the +skin, as though the blood had been suddenly congealed. The eyes were +wide open, and their glassy stare added not a little to the apparent +terror and suffering of the face. It was not a pleasant sight, and +after a moment, I turned my eyes away with a shiver of repugnance. + +The coroner glanced at Simmonds. + +"Not much question as to the cause," he said. "Poison of course." + +"Of course," nodded Simmonds. + +"But what kind?" asked Godfrey. + +"It will take a post-mortem to tell that," and Goldberger bent for +another close look at the distorted face. "I'm free to admit the +symptoms aren't the usual ones." + +Godfrey shrugged his shoulders. + +"I should say not," he agreed, and turned away to an inspection of +the room. + +"What can you tell us about it, Mr. Lester?" Goldberger questioned. + +I told all I knew--how Parks had announced a man's arrival, how +Vantine and I had come downstairs together, how Vantine had called +me, and finally how Parks had identified the body as that of the +strange caller. + +"Have you any theory about it?" Goldberger asked. + +"Only that the call was merely a pretext--that what the man was +really looking for was a place where he could kill himself +unobserved." + +"How long a time elapsed after Parks announced the man before you and +Mr. Vantine came downstairs?" + +"Half an hour, perhaps." + +Goldberger nodded. + +"Let's have Parks in," he said. + +I opened the door and called to Parks, who was sitting on the bottom +step of the stair. + +Goldberger looked him over carefully as he stepped into the room; but +there could be no two opinions about Parks. He had been with Vantine +for eight or ten years, and the earmarks of the competent and +faithful servant were apparent all over him. + +"Do you know this man?" Goldberger asked, with a gesture toward the +body. + +"No, sir," said Parks. "I never saw him till about an hour ago, when +Rogers called me downstairs and said there was a man to see Mr. +Vantine." + +"Who is Rogers?" + +"He's the footman, sir. He answered the door when the man rang." + +"Well, and then what happened?" + +"I took his card up to Mr. Vantine, sir." + +"Did Mr. Vantine know him?" + +"No, sir; he wanted to know what he wanted." + +"What _did_ he want?" + +"I don't know, sir; he couldn't speak English hardly at all--he was +French, I think." + +Goldberger looked down at the body again and nodded. + +"Go ahead," he said. + +"And he was so excited," Parks added, "that he couldn't remember what +little English he did know." + +"What made you think he was excited?" + +"The way he stuttered, and the way his eyes glinted. That's what +makes me think he just come in here to kill hisself quiet like--I +shouldn't be surprised if you found that he'd escaped from +somewhere. I had a notion to put him out without bothering Mr. +Vantine--I wish now I had--but I took his card up, and Mr. Vantine +said for him to wait; so I come downstairs again, and showed the man +in here, and said Mr. Vantine would see him presently, and then +Rogers and me went back to our lunch and we sat there eating till the +bell rang, and I came in and found Mr. Vantine here." + +"Do you mean to say that you and Rogers went away and left this +stranger here by himself?" + +"The servants' dining-room is right at the end of the hall, sir. We +left the door open so that we could see right along the hall, clear +to the front door. If he'd come out into the hall, we'd have seen +him." + +"And he didn't come out into the hall while you were there?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did anybody come in?" + +"Oh, no, sir; the front door has a snap-lock. It can't be opened from +the outside without a key." + +"So you are perfectly sure that no one either entered or left the +house by the front door while you and Rogers were sitting there?" + +"Nor by the back door either, sir; to get out the back way, you have +to pass through the room where we were." + +"Where were the other servants?" + +"The cook was in the kitchen, sir. This is the housemaid's afternoon +out." + +The coroner paused. Godfrey and Simmonds had both listened to this +interrogation, but neither had been idle. They had walked softly +about the room, had looked through a door opening into another room +beyond, had examined the fastenings of the windows, and had ended by +looking minutely over the carpet. + +"What is the room yonder used for?" asked Godfrey, pointing to the +connecting door. + +"It's a sort of store-room just now, sir," said Parks. "Mr. Vantine +is just back from Europe, and we've been unpacking in there some of +the things he bought while abroad." + +"I guess that's all," said Goldberger, after a moment. "Send in Mr. +Vantine, please." + +Parks went out, and Vantine came in a moment later. He corroborated +exactly the story told by Parks and myself, but he added one detail. + +"Here is the man's card," he said, and held out a square of +pasteboard. + +Goldberger took the card, glanced at it, and passed it on to +Simmonds. + +"That don't tell us much," said the latter, and gave the card to +Godfrey. I looked over his shoulder and saw that it contained a +single engraved line: + + M. THÉOPHILE D'AURELLE + +"Except that he's French, as Parks suggested," said Godfrey. "That's +evident, too, from the cut of his clothes." + +"Yes, and from the cut of his hair," added Goldberger. "You say you +didn't know him, Mr. Vantine?" + +"I never before saw him, to my knowledge," answered Vantine. "The +name is wholly unknown to me." + +"Well," said Goldberger, taking possession of the card again and +slipping it into his pocket, "suppose we lift him onto that couch by +the window and take a look through his clothes." + +The man was slightly built, so that Simmonds and Goldberger raised +the body between them without difficulty and placed it on the couch. +I saw Godfrey's eyes searching the carpet. + +"What I should like to know," he said, after a moment, "is this: if +this fellow took poison, what did he take it out of? Where's the +paper, or bottle, or whatever it was?" + +"Maybe it's in his hand," suggested Simmonds, and lifted the right +hand, which hung trailing over the side of the couch. + +Then, as he raised it into the light, a sharp cry burst from him. + +"Look here," he said, and held the hand so that we all could see. + +It was swollen and darkly discoloured. + +"See there," said Simmonds, "something bit him," and he pointed to +two deep incisions on the back of the hand, just above the knuckles, +from which a few drops of blood had oozed and dried. + +With a little exclamation of surprise and excitement, Godfrey bent +for an instant above the injured hand. Then he turned and looked at +us. + +"This man didn't take poison," he said, in a low voice. "He was +killed!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WOUNDED HAND + + +"He was killed!" repeated Godfrey, with conviction; and, at the +words, we drew together a little, with a shiver of repulsion. Death +is awesome enough at any time; suicide adds to its horror; murder +gives it the final touch. + +So we all stood silent, staring as though fascinated at the hand +which Simmonds held up to us; at those tiny wounds, encircled by +discoloured flesh and with a sinister dash of clotted blood running +away from them. Then Goldberger, taking a deep breath, voiced the +thought which had sprung into my own brain. + +"Why, it looks like a snake-bite!" he said, his voice sharp with +astonishment. + +And, indeed, it did. Those two tiny incisions, scarcely half an inch +apart, might well have been made by a serpent's fangs. + +The quick glance which all of us cast about the room was, of course, +as involuntary as the chill which ran up our spines; yet Godfrey and +I--yes, and Simmonds--had the excuse that, once upon a time, we had +had an encounter with a deadly snake which none of us was likely ever +to forget. We all smiled a little sheepishly as we caught each +other's eyes. + +"No, I don't think it was a snake," said Godfrey, and again bent +close above the hand. "Smell it, Mr. Goldberger," he added. + +The coroner put his nose close to the hand and sniffed. + +"Bitter almonds!" he said. + +"Which means prussic acid," said Godfrey, "and not snake poison." He +fell silent a moment, his eyes on the swollen hand. The rest of us +stared at it too; and I suppose all the others were labouring as I +was with the effort to find some thread of theory amid this chaos. +"It might, of course, have been self-inflicted," Godfrey added, quite +to himself. + +Goldberger sneered a little. No doubt he found the +incomprehensibility of the problem rather trying to his temper. + +"A man doesn't usually commit suicide by sticking himself in the hand +with a fork," he said. + +"No," agreed Godfrey, blandly; "but I would point out that we don't +know as yet that it _is_ a case of suicide; and I'm quite sure that, +whatever it may be, it isn't usual." + +Goldberger's sneer deepened. + +"Did any reporter for the _Record_ ever find a case that _was_ +usual?" he queried. + +It was a shrewd thrust, and one that Godfrey might well have winced +under. For the _Record_ theory was that nothing was news unless it +was strange and startling, and the inevitable result was that the +_Record_ reporters endeavoured to make everything strange and +startling, to play up the outré details at the expense of the rest of +the story, and even, I fear, to invent such details when none +existed. + +Godfrey himself had been accused more than once of a too-luxuriant +imagination. It was, perhaps, a realisation of this which had +persuaded him, years before, to quit the detective force and take +service with the _Record_. What might have been a weakness in the +first position, was a mighty asset in the latter one, and he had won +an immense success. + +Please understand that I set this down in no spirit of criticism. I +had known Godfrey rather intimately ever since the days when we were +thrown together in solving the Holladay case, and I admired sincerely +his ready wit, his quick insight, and his unshakable aplomb. He used +his imagination in a way which often caused me to reflect that the +police would be far more efficient if they possessed a dash of the +same quality; and I had noticed that they were usually glad of his +assistance, while his former connection with the force and his +careful maintenance of the friendships formed at that time gave him +an entrée to places denied to less-fortunate reporters. I had never +known him to do a dishonourable thing--to fight for a cause he +thought unjust, to print a fact given to him in confidence, or to +make a statement which he knew to be untrue. Moreover, a lively sense +of humour made him an admirable companion, and it was this quality, +perhaps, which enabled him to receive Goldberger's thrust with a +good-natured smile. + +"We've got our living to make, you know," he said. "We make it as +honestly as we can. What do _you_ think, Simmonds?" + +"I think," said Simmonds, who, if he possessed an imagination, never +permitted it to be suspected, "that those little cuts on the hand are +merely an accident. They might have been caused in half a dozen ways. +Maybe he hit his hand on something when he fell; maybe he jabbed it +on a buckle; maybe he had a boil on his hand and lanced it with his +knife." + +"What killed him, then?" Godfrey demanded. + +"Poison--and it's in his stomach. We'll find it there." + +"How about the odour?" Godfrey persisted. + +"He spilled some of the poison on his hand as he lifted it to his +mouth. Maybe he had those cuts on his hand and the poison inflamed +them. Or maybe he's got some kind of blood disease." + +Goldberger nodded his approval, and Godfrey smiled as he looked at +him. + +"It's easy to find explanations, isn't it?" he queried. + +"It's a blamed sight easier to find a natural and simple +explanation," retorted Goldberger hotly, "than it is to find an +unnatural and far-fetched one--such as how one man could kill another +by scratching him on the hand. I suppose you think this fellow was +murdered? That's what you said a minute ago." + +"Perhaps I was a little hasty," Godfrey admitted, and I suspected +that, whatever his thoughts, he had made up his mind to keep them to +himself. "I'm not going to theorise until I've got something to start +with. The facts seem to point to suicide; but if he swallowed prussic +acid, where's the bottle? He didn't swallow that too, did he?" + +"Maybe we'll find it in his clothes," suggested Simmonds. + +Thus reminded, Goldberger fell to work looking through the dead man's +pockets. The clothes were of a cheap material and not very new, so +that, in life, he must have presented an appearance somewhat shabby. +There was a purse in the inside coat pocket containing two bills, one +for ten dollars and one for five, and there were two or three dollars +in silver and four five-centime pieces in a small coin purse which he +carried in his trousers' pocket. The larger purse had four or five +calling cards in one of its compartments, each bearing a different +name, none of them his. On the back of one of them, Vantine's address +was written in pencil. + +There were no letters, no papers, no written documents of any kind in +the pockets, the remainder of whose contents consisted of such odds +and ends as any man might carry about with him--a cheap watch, a +pen-knife, a half-empty packet of French tobacco, a sheaf of +cigarette paper, four or five keys on a ring, a silk handkerchief, +and perhaps some other articles which I have forgotten--but not a +thing to assist in establishing his identity. + +"We'll have to cable over to Paris," remarked Simmonds. "He's French, +all right--that silk handkerchief proves it." + +"Yes--and his best girl proves it, too," put in Godfrey. + +"His best girl?" + +For answer, Godfrey held up the watch, which he had been examining. +He had opened the case, and inside it was a photograph--the +photograph of a woman with bold, dark eyes and full lips and oval +face--a face so typically French that it was not to be mistaken. + +"A lady's-maid, I should say," added Godfrey, looking at it again. +"Rather good-looking at one time, but past her first youth, and so +compelled perhaps to bestow her affections on a man a little beneath +her--no doubt compelled also to contribute to his support in order to +retain him. A woman with many pasts and no future--" + +"Oh, come," broke in Goldberger impatiently, "keep your second-hand +epigrams for the _Record_. What we want are facts." + +Godfrey flushed a little at the words and laid down the watch. + +"There is one fact which you have apparently overlooked," he said +quietly, "but it proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that this fellow +didn't drift in here by accident. He came here of intention, and the +intention wasn't to kill himself, either." + +"How do you know that?" demanded Goldberger, incredulously. + +Godfrey picked up the purse, opened it, and took out one of the +cards. + +"By this," he said, and held it up. "You have already seen what is +written on the back of it--Mr. Vantine's name and the number of this +house. That proves, doesn't it, that this fellow came to New York +expressly to see Mr. Vantine?" + +"Perhaps you think Mr. Vantine killed him," suggested Goldberger, +sarcastically. + +"No," said Godfrey; "he didn't have time. You understand, Mr. +Vantine," he added, smiling at that gentleman, who was listening to +all this with perplexed countenance, "we are simply talking now about +possibilities. You couldn't possibly have killed this fellow because +Lester has testified that he was with you constantly from the moment +this man entered the house until his body was found, with the +exception of the few seconds which elapsed between the time you +entered this room and the time he joined you here, summoned by your +cry. So you are out of the running." + +"Thanks," said Vantine, drily. + +"I suppose, then, you think it was Parks," said Goldberger. + +"It may quite possibly have been Parks," agreed Godfrey, gravely. + +"Nonsense!" broke in Vantine, impatiently. "Parks is as straight as a +string--he's been with me for eight years." + +"Of course it's nonsense," assented Goldberger. "It's nonsense to say +that he was killed by anybody. He killed himself. We'll learn the +cause when we identify him--jealousy maybe, or maybe just hard luck +--he doesn't look affluent." + +"I'll cable to Paris," said Simmonds. "If he belongs there, we'll soon +find out who he is." + +"You'd better call an ambulance and have him taken to the morgue," +went on Goldberger. "Somebody may identify him there. There'll be a +crowd to-morrow, for, of course, the papers will be full of this +affair--" + +"The _Record_, at least, will have a very full account," Godfrey +assured him. + +"And I'll call the inquest for the day after," Goldberger continued. +"I'll send my physician down to make a post-mortem right away. If +there's any poison in this fellow's stomach, we'll find it." + +Godfrey did not speak; but I knew what was in his mind. He was +thinking that, if such poison existed, the vessel which had contained +it had not yet been found. The same thought, no doubt, occurred to +Simmonds, for, after ordering the policeman in the hall to call the +ambulance, he returned and began a careful search of the room, using +his electric torch to illumine every shadowed corner. Godfrey devoted +himself to a similar search; but both were without result. Then +Godfrey made a minute inspection of the injured hand, while +Goldberger looked on with ill-concealed impatience; and finally he +moved toward the door. + +"I think I'll be going," he said. "But I'm interested in what your +physician will find, Mr. Coroner." + +"He'll find poison, all right," asserted Goldberger, with decision. + +"Perhaps he will," admitted Godfrey. "Strange things happen in this +world. Will you be at home to-night, Lester?" + +"Yes, I expect to be," I answered. + +"You're still at the Marathon?" + +"Yes," I said; "suite fourteen." + +"Perhaps I'll drop around to see you," he said, and a moment later we +heard the door close behind him as Parks let him out. + +"Godfrey's a good man," said Goldberger, "but he's too romantic. He +looks for a mystery in every crime, whereas most crimes are merely +plain, downright brutalities. Take this case. Here's a man kills +himself, and Godfrey wants us to believe that death resulted from a +scratch on the hand. Why, there's no poison on earth would kill a man +as quick as that--for he must have dropped dead before he could get +out of the room to summon help. If it was prussic acid, he swallowed +it. Remember, he wasn't in this room more than fifteen or twenty +minutes, and he was quite dead when Mr. Vantine found him. Men don't +die as easily as all that--not from a scratch on the hand. They don't +die easily at all. It's astonishing how much it takes to kill a man +--how the spirit, or whatever you choose to call it, clings to +life." + +"How do you explain the address on the card, Mr. Goldberger?" I +asked. + +"My theory is that this fellow really had some business with Mr. +Vantine; probably he wanted to borrow some money, or ask for help; +and then, while he was waiting, he suddenly gave the thing up and +killed himself. The address has no bearing whatever, that I can see, +on the question of suicide. And I'll say this, Mr. Lester, if this +isn't suicide, it's the strangest case I ever had anything to do +with." + +"Yes," I agreed, "if it isn't suicide, we come to a blank wall right +away." + +"That's it," and Goldberger nodded emphatically. "Here's the +ambulance," he added, as the bell rang. + +The bearers entered with the stretcher, placed the body on it, and +carried it away. Goldberger paused to gather up the articles he had +taken from the dead man's pockets. + +"You gentlemen will have to give your testimony at the inquest," he +said. "So will Parks and Rogers. It will be day after to-morrow, +probably at ten o'clock, but I'll notify you of the hour." + +"Very well," I said; "we'll be there," and Goldberger bade us +good-bye, and left the house. "And now," I added, to Vantine, "I must +be getting back to the office. They'll be asking the police to look +for me next. Man alive!" and I glanced at my watch, "it's after four +o'clock." + +"Too late for the office," said Vantine. "Better come upstairs and +have a drink. Besides, I want to talk with you." + +"At least, I'll let them know I'm still alive," I said, and I called +up the office and allayed any anxiety that may have been felt there +concerning me. I must admit that it did not seem acute. + +"I feel the need of a bracer after all this excitement," Vantine +remarked, as he opened the cellarette. "Help yourself. I dare say +you're used to this sort of thing--" + +"Finding dead men lying around?" I queried, with a smile. "No--it's +not so common as you seem to think." + +"Tell me, Lester," and he looked at me earnestly, "do you think that +poor devil came in here just to get a chance to kill himself +quietly?" + +"No, I don't," I said. + +"Then what did he come in for?" + +"I think Goldberger's theory a pretty good one--that he had heard of +you as a generous fellow and came in here to ask help; and while he +was waiting, suddenly gave it up--" + +"And killed himself?" Vantine completed. + +I hesitated. I was astonished to find, at the back of my mind, a +growing doubt. + +"See here, Lester," Vantine demanded, "if he didn't kill himself, +what happened to him?" + +"Heaven only knows," I answered, in despair. "I've been asking myself +the same question, without finding a reasonable answer to it. As I +said to Goldberger, it's a blank wall. But if anybody can see through +it, Jim Godfrey can." + +Vantine seemed deeply perturbed. He took a turn or two up and down +the room, then stopped in front of me and looked me earnestly in the +eye. + +"Tell me, Lester," he said, "do you believe that theory of Godfrey's +--that that insignificant wound on the hand caused death?" + +"It seems absurd, doesn't it? But Godfrey is a sort of genius at +divining such things." + +"Then you _do_ believe it?" + +I asked myself the same question before I answered. + +"Yes, I do," I said, finally. + +Vantine walked up and down the room again, his eyes on the floor, his +brows contracted. + +"Lester," he said, at last, "I have a queer feeling that the business +which brought this man here in some way concerned the Boule cabinet I +was telling you about. Perhaps it belonged to him." + +"Hardly," I protested, recalling his shabby appearance. + +"At any rate, I remember, as I was looking at his card, that some +such thought occurred to me. It was for that reason I told Parks to +ask him to wait." + +"It's possible, of course," I admitted. "But that wouldn't explain +his excitement. And that reminds me," I added, "I haven't sent off +that cable." + +"Any time to-night will do. It will be delivered in the morning. But +you haven't seen the cabinet yet. Come down and look at it." + +He led the way down the stair. Parks met us in the lower hall. + +"There's a delegation of reporters outside, sir," he said. "They say +they've got to see you." + +Vantine made a movement of impatience. + +"Tell them," he said, "that I positively refuse to see them or to +allow my servants to see them. Let them get their information from +the police." + +"Very well, sir," said Parks, and turned away grinning. + +Vantine passed on through the ante-room in which we had found the +body of the unfortunate Frenchman, and into the room beyond. Five or +six pieces of furniture, evidently just unpacked, stood there, but, +ignorant as I am of such things, he did not have to point out to me +the Boule cabinet. It dominated the room, much as Madame de +Montespan, no doubt, dominated the court at Versailles. + +I looked at it for some moments, for it was certainly a beautiful +piece of work, with a wealth of inlay and incrustation little short +of marvellous. But I may as well say here that I never really +appreciated it. The florid style of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth +Louis is not at all to my taste; and I am too little of a connoisseur +to admire a beauty which has no personal appeal for me. So I am +afraid that Vantine found me a little cold. + +Certainly there was nothing cold about the way he regarded it. His +eyes gleamed with a strange fire as he looked at it; he ran his +fingers over the inlay with a touch almost reverent; he pulled out +for me the little drawers with much the same air that another friend +of mine takes down his Kilmarnock Burns from his bookshelves; he +pointed out to me the grace of its curves in the same tone that one +uses to discuss the masterpiece of a great artist. And then, finding +no echo to his enthusiasm, he suddenly stopped. + +"You don't seem to care for it," he said, looking at me. + +"That's my fault and not the fault of the cabinet," I pointed out. +"I'm not educated up to it; I'm too little of an artist, perhaps." + +He was flushed, as a man might be should another make a disparaging +remark about his wife, and he led the way from the room at once. + +"Remember, Lester," he said, a little sternly, pausing with his hand +on the front door, "there is to be no foolishness about securing that +cabinet for me. Don't you let it get away. I'm in deadly earnest." + +"I won't let it get away," I promised. "Perhaps it's just as well I'm +not over-enthusiastic about it." + +"Let me know as soon as you have any news," he said, and opened the +door for me. + +I had intended walking home, but as I turned up the Avenue, I met +sweeping down it a flood of girls just released from the workshops of +the neighbourhood. I struggled against it for a few moments, then +gave it up, hailed a cab, and settled back against the cushions with +a sigh of relief. I was glad to be out of Vantine's house; something +there oppressed me and left me ill at ease. Was Vantine quite normal, +I wondered? Could any man be normal who was willing to pay a hundred +thousand dollars for a piece of furniture? Especially a man who could +not afford such extravagance? I knew the size of Vantine's fortune; +it was large, but a hundred thousand dollars represented more than a +year's income. And then I smiled to myself. Of course Vantine had +been merely jesting when he named that limit. The cabinet could be +bought for a tenth of it, at the most. And, still smiling, I left the +cab, paid the driver, and mounted to my rooms. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE THUNDERBOLT + + +It was about eight o'clock that evening that Godfrey tapped at my +door, and when I let him in, I could tell by the way his eyes were +shining that he had some news. + +"I can't stay long," he said. "I've got to get down to the office and +put the finishing touches on that story;" but nevertheless he took +the cigar I proffered him and sank into the chair opposite my own. + +I knew Godfrey, so I waited patiently until the cigar was going +nicely, then-- + +"Well?" I asked. + +"It's like old times, isn't it, Lester?" and he smiled across at me. +"How many conferences have we had in this room? How many of your +cigars have I made away with?" + +"Not half enough recently," I said. "You haven't been here for +months." + +"I'm sure to drift back, sooner or later, because you seem to have a +knack of getting in on the interesting cases. And I want to say this, +Lester, that of all I ever had, not one has promised better than +this one does. If it only keeps up--but one mustn't expect too much!" + +"You've been working on it, of course?" + +"I haven't been idle, and just now I'm feeling rather pleased with +myself. The coroner's physician finished his post-mortem half an hour +or so ago." + +"Well?" I said again. + +"The stomach was absolutely normal. It showed no trace of poison of +any kind." + +He stretched himself, lay back in his chair, sent a smoke-ring +circling toward the ceiling, and watched it, smiling absently. + +"Rather a facer for our friend Goldberger," he added, after a minute. + +"What's the matter with Goldberger? He seemed rather peeved with you +this afternoon." + +"No wonder. He's Grady's man, and we're after Grady. Grady isn't fit +to head the detective bureau--he got the job through his pull with +Tammany--he's stupid, and I suspect he's crooked. The _Record_ says +he has got to go." + +"So, of course, he _will_ go," I commented, smiling. + +"He certainly will," assented Godfrey seriously, "and that before +long. But meanwhile it's a little difficult for me, because his +people don't know which way to jump. Once he's out, everything will +be serene again." + +I wasn't interested in Grady, so I came back to the case in hand. + +"Look here, Godfrey," I said, "if it wasn't poison, what was it?" + +"But it _was_ poison." + +"Inserted at the hand?" + +He nodded. + +"Goldberger says there's no poison known which could be used that way +and which would act so quickly." + +"Goldberger is right in that," agreed Godfrey; "but there's a poison +unknown that will--because it did." + +"It wasn't a snake bite?" + +"Oh, no; snake poison wouldn't kill a man that quickly--not even a +fer-de-lance. That fellow practically dropped where he was struck." + +"Then what was it?" + +Godfrey was sitting erect again. He was not smiling now. His face was +very stern. + +"That is what I am going to find out, Lester," he said; "that is the +problem I've set myself to solve--and it's a pretty one. There is one +thing certain--that fellow was killed by some agency outside himself. +In some way, a drop or two of poison was introduced into his blood by +an instrument something like a hypodermic needle; and that poison was +so powerful that almost instantly it caused paralysis of the heart. +After all, that isn't so remarkable as it might seem. The blood in +the veins of the hand would be carried back to the heart in four or +five seconds." + +"But you've already said there's no poison so powerful as all that." + +"I said we didn't know of any. I wouldn't be so sure that Catherine +de Medici didn't." + +"What has Catherine de Medici to do with it?" + +"Nothing--except that what has been done may always be done again. +Those old stories are, no doubt, exaggerated; but it seems fairly +certain that the Queen of Navarre was killed with a pair of poisoned +gloves, the Duc d'Anjou with the scent of a poisoned rose, and the +Prince de Porcian with the smoke of a poisoned lamp. This case isn't +as extraordinary as those." + +"No," I agreed, and fell silent, shivering a little, for there is +something horrible and revolting about the poisoner. + +"After all," went on Godfrey, at last, "there is one thing that +neither you nor I nor any reasonable man can believe, and that is +that this Frenchman came from heaven knows where--from Paris, +perhaps--with Vantine's address in his pocket, and hunted up the +house and made his way into it simply to kill himself there. He had +some other object, and he met his death while trying to accomplish +it." + +"Have you found out who he is?" + +"No; he's not registered at any of the hotels; the French consul +never heard of him; he belongs to none of the French societies; he's +not known in the French quarter. He seems to have dropped in from the +clouds. We've cabled our Paris office to look him up; we may hear +from there to-night. But even if we discover the identity of +Théophile d'Aurelle, it won't help us any." + +"Why not?" I demanded. + +"Because it is evident that that isn't his name." + +"Go ahead and tell me, Godfrey," I said, as he looked at me, smiling. +"I don't see it." + +"Why, it's plain enough. He had five cards in his pocket, no two +alike. The sixth, selected probably at random, he had sent up to +Vantine." + +I saw it then, of course; and I felt a good deal as the Spanish +savants must have felt when Columbus stood the egg on end. Godfrey +smiled again at my expression. + +"The real d'Aurelle, whoever he may turn out to be, may be able to +help us," he added. "If he can't, we may learn something from the +Paris police. The dead man's Bertillon measurements have been cabled +over to them. Even that won't help, if he has never been arrested. +And, of course, we can't get at motives until we find out something +about him." + +"But, Godfrey," I said, "suppose you knew who he was and what he +wanted with Vantine--suppose you could make a guess at who killed +him and why--how was it done? That is what stumps me. How was it +done?" + +"Ah!" agreed Godfrey. "That's it! How was it done? I told you it was +a pretty case, Lester. But wait till we hear from Paris." + +"That reminds me," I said, sitting up suddenly, "I've got to cable to +Paris myself, on some business for Mr. Vantine." + +"Not connected with this affair?" + +"Oh, no; his shippers over there sent him a piece of furniture that +doesn't belong to him. He asked me to straighten the matter out." + +I rang for the hall-boy, asked for a cable-blank, and sent off a +message to Armand & Son, telling them of the mistake and asking them +to cable the name of the owner of the cabinet now in Mr. Vantine's +possession. Godfrey sat smoking reflectively while I was thus +engaged, staring straight before him with eyes that saw nothing; but +as I sat down again and took up my pipe, ready to continue the +conversation, he gave himself a sort of shake, put on his hat, and +got to his feet. + +"I must be moving along," he said. "There's no use sitting here +theorising until we have some sort of foundation to build on." + +"Goldberger was right in one thing," I remarked. "He pointed out, +after you left, that most crimes are not romances, but mere +brutalities. Perhaps this one--" + +The ringing of my telephone stopped me. + +"Hello," I said, taking down the receiver. + +"Is that you, Mr. Lester?" asked a voice. + +"Yes." + +"This is Parks," and I suddenly realised that his voice was +unfamiliar because it was hoarse and quivering with emotion. "Could +you come down to the house right away, sir?" + +"Why, yes," I said, wonderingly, "if it's important. Does Mr. Vantine +need me?" + +"We all need you!" said the voice, and broke into a dry sob. "For +God's sake, come quick, Mr. Lester!" + +"All right," I said without further parley, for evidently he had lost +his self-control. "Something has happened down at Vantine's," I added +to Godfrey, as I hung up the receiver. "Parks seems to be scared to +death. He wants me to come down right away," and I reached for my hat +and coat. + +"Shall I come, too?" asked Godfrey. + +Even under the stress of the moment, I could not but smile at the +question and at the tone in which it was uttered. + +"Perhaps you'd better," I agreed. "It sounded pretty serious." + +We went down together in the elevator, and three minutes later we had +hailed a taxi and were speeding eastward toward the Avenue. It had +started to drizzle, and the asphalt shone like a black mirror, +dancing with the lights along either side. The streets were almost +empty, for the theatre-crowd had passed, and as we reached the Avenue +and turned down-town, the driver pushed up his spark, and we hurtled +along toward Fourteenth street at a speed which made me think of the +traffic regulations. But no policeman interfered, and five minutes +later we drew up before the Vantine place. + +Parks must have been on the front steps looking for me, for he came +running down them almost before the car had stopped. I caught a +glimpse of his face under the street lights, as I thrust a bill into +the driver's hand, and it fairly startled me. + +"Is it you, Mr. Lester?" he gasped. "Good God, but I'm glad you're +here--" + +I caught him by the arm. + +"Steady, man," I said. "Don't let yourself go to pieces. Now--what +has happened?" + +He seemed to take a sort of desperate grip of himself. + +"I'll show you, sir," he said, and ran up the steps, along the hall, +to the door of the ante-room where we had found the Frenchman's body. +"In there, sir!" he sobbed. "In there!" and clung to the wall as I +opened the door and stepped inside. + +The room was ablaze with light, and for an instant my eyes were so +dazzled that I could distinguish nothing. Dimly I saw Godfrey spring +forward and drop to his knees. + +Then my eyes cleared, and I saw, on the very spot where d'Aurelle had +died, another body--or was it the same, brought back that the +tragedy of the afternoon might, in some mysterious way, be re-enacted? + +I remember bending over and peering into the face-- + +It was the face of Philip Vantine. + +A minute must have passed as I stood there dazed and shaken. I was +conscious, in a way, that Godfrey was examining him. Then I heard his +voice. + +"He's dead," he said. + +Then there was an instant's silence. + +"Lester, look here!" cried Godfrey's voice, sharp, insistent. "For +God's sake, look here!" + +Godfrey was kneeling there holding something toward me. + +"Look here!" he cried again. + +It was the dead man's hand he was holding; the right hand; a swollen +and discoloured hand. And on the back of it, just above the knuckles, +were two tiny wounds, from which a few drops of blood had trickled. + +And as I stared at this ghastly sight, scarce able to believe my +eyes, I heard a choking voice behind me, saying over and over again: + +"It was that woman done it! It was that woman done it! Damn her! It +was that woman done it!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GRADY TAKES A HAND + + +I have no very clear remembrance of what happened after that. The +shock was so great that I had just strength enough to totter to a +chair and drop into it, and sit there staring vaguely at that dark +splotch on the carpet. I told myself that I was the victim of a +dreadful nightmare; that all this was the result of over-wrought +nerves and that I should wake presently. No doubt I had been working +too hard. I needed a vacation--well, I would take it.... + +And all the time I knew that it was not a nightmare, but grim +reality; that Philip Vantine was dead--killed by a woman. Who had +told me that? And then I remembered the sobbing voice.... + +Two or three persons came into the room--Parks and the other +servants, I suppose; I heard Godfrey's voice giving orders; and +finally someone held a glass to my lips and commanded me to drink. I +did so mechanically; coughed, spluttered, was conscious of a grateful +warmth, and drank eagerly again. And then I saw Godfrey standing over +me. + +"Feel better?" he asked. + +I nodded. + +"I don't wonder it knocked you out," he went on. "I'm feeling shaky +myself. I had them call Vantine's physician--but he can't do +anything." + +"He's dead, then?" I murmured, my eyes on that dark and crumpled +object which had been Philip Vantine. + +"Yes--just like the other." + +Then I remembered, and I caught his arm and drew him down to me. + +"Godfrey," I whispered, "whose voice was it--or did I dream it +--something about a woman?" + +"You didn't dream it--it was Rogers--he's almost hysterical. We'll +get the story, as soon as he quiets down." + +Someone called him from the door, and he turned away, leaving me +staring blankly at nothing. So there had been a woman in Vantine's +life! Perhaps that was why he had never married. What ugly skeleton +was to be dragged from its closet? + +But if a woman killed Vantine, the same woman also killed d'Aurelle. +Where was her hiding-place? From what ambush did she strike? + +I glanced about the room, as a tremor of horror seized me. I arose, +shaking, from the chair and groped my way toward the door. Godfrey +heard me coming, swung around, and, with one glance at my face, came +to me and caught me by the arms. + +"What is it, Lester?" he asked. + +"I can't stand it here," I gasped. "It's too horrible!" + +"Don't think about it. Come out here and have another drink." + +He led me into the hall, and a second glass of brandy gave me back +something of my self-control. I was ashamed of my weakness, but when +I glanced at Godfrey, I saw how white his face was. + +"Better take a drink yourself," I said. + +I heard the decanter rattle on the glass. + +"I don't know when I have been so shaken," he said, setting the glass +down empty. "It was so gruesome--so unexpected--and then Rogers +carrying on like a madman. Ah, here's the doctor," he added, as the +front door opened and Parks showed a man in. + +I knew Dr. Hughes, of course, returned his nod, and followed him and +Godfrey into the ante-room. But I had not yet sufficiently recovered +to do more than sit and stare at him as he knelt beside the body and +assured himself that life had fled. Then I heard Godfrey telling him +all we knew, while Hughes listened with incredulous face. + +"But it's absurd, you know!" he protested, when Godfrey had finished. +"Things like this don't happen here in New York. In Florence, +perhaps, in the Middle Ages; but not here in the twentieth century!" + +"I can scarcely believe my own senses," Godfrey agreed. "But I saw +the Frenchman lying here this afternoon; and now here's Vantine." + +"On the same spot?" + +"As nearly as I can tell." + +"And killed in the same way?" + +"Killed in precisely the same way." + +Hughes turned back to the body again, and looked long and earnestly +at the injured hand. + +"What sort of instrument made this wound, would you say, Mr. +Godfrey?" he questioned, at last. + +"A sharp instrument, with two prongs. My theory is that the prongs +are hollow, like a hypodermic needle, and leave a drop or two of +poison at the bottom of the wound. You see a vein has been cut." + +"Yes," Hughes assented. "It would scarcely be possible to pierce the +hand here without striking a vein. One of the prongs would be sure to +do it." + +"That's the reason there are two of them, I fancy." + +"But you are, of course, aware that no poison exists which would act +so quickly?" Hughes inquired. + +Godfrey looked at him strangely. + +"You yourself mentioned Florence a moment ago," he said. "You meant, +I suppose, that such a poison did, at one time, exist there?" + +"Something of the sort, perhaps," agreed Hughes. "The words were +purely instinctive, but I suppose some such thought was running +through my head." + +"Well, the poison that existed in Florence five centuries ago, exists +here to-day. There's the proof of it," and Godfrey pointed to the +body. + +Hughes drew a deep breath of wonder and horror. + +"But what sort of devilish instrument is it?" he cried, his nerves +giving way for an instant, his voice mounting shrilly. "Above all, +who wields it?" + +He stared about the room, as though half-expecting to see some mighty +and remorseless arm poised, ready to strike. Then he shook himself +together. + +"I beg pardon," he said, mopping the sweat from his face; "but I'm +not used to this sort of thing; and I'm frightened--yes, I really +believe I'm frightened," and he laughed, a little unsteady laugh. + +"So am I," said Godfrey; "so is Lester; so is everybody. You needn't +be ashamed of it." + +"What frightens me," went on Hughes, evidently studying his own +symptoms, "is the mystery of it--there is something supernatural +about it--something I can't understand. How does it happen that each +of the victims is struck on the right hand? Why not the left hand? +Why the hand at all?" + +Godfrey answered with a despairing shrug. + +"That is what we've got to find out," he said. + +"We shall have to call in the police," suggested Hughes. "Maybe they +can solve it." + +Godfrey smiled, a little sceptical smile, quickly suppressed. + +"At least, they will have to be given the chance," he agreed. "Shall +I attend to it?" + +"Yes," said Hughes; "and you would better do it right away. The +sooner they get here the better." + +"Very well," assented Godfrey, and left the room. + +Hughes sat down heavily on the couch near the window, and mopped his +face again, with a shaking hand. Death he was accustomed to--but +death met decently in bed and resulting from some understood cause. +Death in this horrible and mysterious form shook him; he could not +understand it, and his failure to understand appalled him. He was a +physician; it was his business to understand; and yet here was death +in a form as mysterious to him as to the veriest layman. It compelled +him to pause and take stock of himself--always a disconcerting +process to the best of us! + +That was a trying half hour. Hughes sat on the couch, breathing +heavily, staring at the floor, perhaps passing his own ignorance in +review, perhaps wondering if he had always been right in prescribing +this or that. As for me, I was thinking of my dead friend. I +remembered Philip Vantine as I had always known him--a kindly, witty, +Christian gentleman. I could see his pleasant eyes looking at me in +friendship, as they had looked a few hours before; I could hear his +voice, could feel the clasp of his hand. That such a man should be +killed like this, struck down by a mysterious assassin, armed with a +poisoned weapon.... + +A woman! Always my mind came back to that. A woman! Poison was a +woman's weapon. But who was she? How had she escaped? Where had she +concealed herself? How was she able to strike so surely? Above all, +why should she have chosen Philip Vantine, of all men, for her +victim--Philip Vantine, who had never injured any woman--and then I +paused. For I realised that I knew nothing of Vantine, except what he +had chosen to tell me. Parks would know. And then I shrank from the +thought. Must we probe that secret? Must we compel a man to betray +his master? + +My face was burning. No, we could not do that--that would be +abominable.... + +The door opened and Godfrey came in. This time, he was not alone. +Simmonds and Goldberger followed him, and their faces showed that +they were as shaken and nonplussed as I. There was a third man with +them whom I did not know; but I soon found out that it was +Freylinghuisen, the coroner's physician. + +They all looked at the body, and Freylinghuisen knelt beside it and +examined the injured hand; then he sat down by Dr. Hughes, and they +were soon deep in a low-toned conversation, whose subject I could +guess. I could also guess what Simmonds and Godfrey were talking +about in the farther corner; but I could not guess why Goldberger, +instead of getting to work, should be walking up and down, pulling +impatiently at his moustache and glancing at his watch now and then. +He seemed to be waiting for some one, but not until twenty minutes +later did I suspect who it was. Then the door opened again to admit a +short, heavy-set man, with florid face, stubbly black moustache, and +little, close-set eyes, preternaturally bright. He glanced about the +room, nodded to Goldberger, and then looked inquiringly at me. + +"This is Mr. Lester, Commissioner Grady," said Goldberger, and I +realised that the chief of the detective bureau had come up from +headquarters to take personal charge of the case. + +"Mr. Lester is Mr. Vantine's attorney," the coroner added, in +explanation. + +"Glad to know you, Mr. Lester," said Grady, shortly. + +"And now, I guess, we're ready to begin," went on the coroner. + +"Not quite," said Grady, grimly. "We'll excuse all reporters, first," +and he looked across at Godfrey, his face darkening. + +I felt my own face flushing, and started to protest, but Godfrey +silenced me with a little gesture. + +"It's all right, Lester," he said. "Mr. Grady is quite within his +rights. I'll withdraw--until he sends for me." + +"You'll have a long wait, then!" retorted Grady, with a sarcastic +laugh. + +"The longer I wait, the worse it will be for you, Mr. Grady," said +Godfrey quietly, opened the door and closed it behind him. + +Grady stared after him for a moment in crimson amazement. Then, +mastering himself with an effort, he turned to the coroner. + +"All right, Goldberger," he said, and sat down to watch the +proceedings. + +A very few minutes sufficed for Hughes and Freylinghuisen and I to +tell all we knew of this tragedy and of the one which had preceded +it. Grady seemed already acquainted with the details of d'Aurelle's +death, for he listened without interrupting, only nodding from time +to time. + +"You've got a list of the servants here, of course, Simmonds," he +said, when we had finished the story. + +"Yes, sir," and Simmonds handed it to him. "H-m," said Grady, as he +glanced it over. "Five of 'em. Know anything about 'em?" + +"They've all been with Mr. Vantine a long time, sir," replied +Simmonds. "So far as I've been able to judge, they're all right." + +"Which one of 'em found Vantine's body?" + +"Parks, I think," I said. "It was he who called me." + +"Better have him in," said Grady, and doubled up the list and slipped +it into his pocket. + +Parks came in looking decidedly shaky; but answered Grady's questions +clearly and concisely. He told first of the events of the afternoon, +and then passed on to the evening. + +"Mr. Vantine had dinner at home, sir," he said. "It was served, I +think, at seven o'clock. He must have finished a little after +seven-thirty. I didn't see him, for I was straightening things around +up in his room and putting his clothes away. But he told Rogers--" + +"Never mind what he told Rogers," broke in Grady. "Just tell us what +you know." + +"Very well, sir," said Parks, submissively. "I had a lot of work to +do--we just got back from Europe yesterday, you know--and I kept on, +putting things in their places and straightening around, and it must +have been half-past eight when I heard Rogers yelling for me. I +thought the house was on fire, and I come down in a hurry. Rogers was +standing out there in the hall, looking like he'd seen a ghost. He +kind of gasped and pointed to this room, and I looked in and saw Mr. +Vantine laying there--" + +His voice choked at the words, but he managed to go on, after a +moment. + +"Then I telephoned for Mr. Lester," he added, "and that's all I +know." + +"Very well," said Grady. "That's all for the present. Send Rogers +in." + +Rogers's face, as he entered the room, gave me a kind of shock, for +it was that of a man on the verge of hysteria. He was a man of about +fifty, with iron-grey hair, and a smooth-shaven face, ordinarily +ruddy with health. But now his face was livid, his cheeks lined and +shrunken, his eyes blood-shot and staring. He reeled rather than +walked into the room, one hand clutching at his throat, as though he +were choking. + +"Get him a chair," said Grady, and Simmonds brought one forward and +remained standing beside it. "Now, my man," Grady continued, "you'll +have to brace up. What's the matter with you, anyhow? Didn't you ever +see a dead man before?" + +"It ain't that," gasped Rogers. "It ain't that--though I never saw a +murdered man before." + +"What?" demanded Grady, sharply. "Didn't you see that fellow this +afternoon?" + +"That was different," Rogers moaned. "I didn't know him. Besides, I +thought he'd killed himself. We all thought so." + +"And you don't think Vantine did?" + +"I know he didn't," and Rogers's voice rose to a shrill scream. "It +was that woman done it! Damn her! She done it! I knowed she was up to +some crooked work when I let her in!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE WOMAN IN THE CASE + + +It was coming now; the secret, however sordid, however ugly, was to +be unveiled. I saw Grady's face set in hard lines; I could hear the +stir of interest with which the others leaned forward.... + +Grady took a flask from his pocket and opened it. + +"Take a drink of this," he said, and placed it in Rogers's hand. + +I could hear the mouth of the flask clattering against his teeth, as +he put it eagerly to his mouth and took three or four long swallows. + +"Thank you, sir," he said, more steadily, and handed the flask back +to its owner. A little colour crept into his face; but I fancied +there was a new look in his eyes--for, as the horror faded, fear took +its place. + +Grady screwed the cap on the flask with great deliberation, and +returned it to his pocket. And all the time Rogers was watching him +furtively, wiping his mouth mechanically with a trembling hand. + +"Now, Rogers," Grady began, "I want you to take your time and tell us +in detail everything that happened here to-night. You say a woman did +it. Well, we want to hear all about that woman. Now go ahead; and +remember there's no hurry." + +"Well, sir," began Rogers slowly, as though carefully considering his +words, "Mr. Vantine came out from dinner about half-past seven--maybe +a little later than that--and told me to light all the lights in here +and in the next room. You see there are gas and electrics both, sir, +and I lighted them all. He had gone into the music-room on the other +side of the hall, so I went over there and told him the lights were +all lit. He was looking at a new picture he'd bought, but he left it +right away and come out into the hall. + +"'I don't want to be disturbed, Rogers,' he said, and come in here +and shut the door after him. + +"It was maybe twenty minutes after that that the door-bell rung, and +when I opened the door, there was a woman standing on the steps." + +He stopped and swallowed once or twice, as though his throat was dry, +and I saw that his fingers were twitching nervously. + +"Did you know her?" questioned Grady. + +Rogers loosened his collar with a convulsive movement. + +"No, sir, I'd never seen her before," he answered hoarsely. + +"Describe her." + +Rogers closed his eyes, as though in an effort of recollection. + +"She wore a heavy veil, sir, so that I couldn't see her very well; +but the first thing I noticed was her eyes--they were so bright, they +seemed to burn right through me. Her face looked white behind her +veil, and I could see how red her lips were--I didn't like her looks, +sir, from the first." + +"How was she dressed?" + +"In a dark gown, sir, cut so skimpy that I knowed she was French +before she spoke." + +"Ah!" said Grady. "She was French, was she?" + +"Yes, sir; though she could speak some English. She asked for Mr. +Vantine. I told her Mr. Vantine was busy. And then she said something +very fast about how she must see him, and all the time she kept +edging in and in, till the first thing I knowed she was inside the +door, and then she just pulled the door out of my hand and shut it. I +ask you, sir, is that the way a lady would behave?" + +"No," said Grady, "I dare say not. But go ahead,--and take your +time." + +Rogers had regained his self-confidence, and he went ahead almost +glibly. + +"'See here, madam,' says I, 'we've had enough trouble here to-day +with Frenchies, and if you don't get out quietly, why, I'll have to +put you out.' + +"'I must see Mistaire Vangtine,' she says, very fast. 'I must see +Mistaire Vangtine. It is most necessaire that I see Mistaire +Vangtine.' + +"'Then I'll have to put you out,' says I, and took hold of her arm. +And at that she screamed and jerked herself away; and I grabbed her +again, and just then Mr. Vantine opened the door there and came out +into the hall. + +"'What's all this, Rogers?' he says. 'Who is this party?' + +"But before I could answer, that wild cat had rushed over to him and +begun to reel off a string of French so fast I wondered how she got +her breath. And Mr. Vantine looked at her kind of surprised at first, +and then he got more interested, and finally he asked her in here and +shut the door, and that was the last I saw of them." + +"You mean you didn't let the woman out?" demanded Grady. + +"Yes, sir, that's just what I mean. I thought if Mr. Vantine wanted +to talk with her, well and good; that was his business, not mine; so +I went back to the pantry to help the cook with the silver, expecting +to hear the bell every minute. But the bell didn't ring, and after +maybe half an hour, I came out into the hall again to see if the +woman had gone; and I walked past the door of this room but didn't +hear nothing; and then I went on to the front door, and was surprised +to find it wasn't latched." + +"Maybe you hadn't latched it," suggested Grady. + +"It has a snap-lock, sir; when that woman slammed it shut, I heard it +catch." + +"You're sure of that?" + +"Quite sure, sir." + +"What did you do then?" + +"I closed the door, sir, and then come back along the hall. I felt +uneasy, some way; and I stood outside the door there listening; but I +couldn't hear nothing; and then I tapped, but there wasn't no answer; +so I tapped louder, with my heart somehow working right up into my +mouth. And still there wasn't no answer, so I just opened the door +and looked in--and the first thing I see was him--" + +Rogers stopped suddenly, and caught at his throat again. + +"I'll be all right in a minute, sir," he gasped. "It takes me this +way sometimes." + +"No hurry," Grady assured him, and then, when his breath was coming +easier, "What did you do then?" + +"I was so scared I couldn't scarcely stand, sir; but I managed to get +to the foot of the stairs and yell for Parks, and he come running +down--and that's all I remember, sir." + +"The woman wasn't here?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did you look through the rooms?" + +"No, sir; when I found the front door open, I knowed she'd gone out. +She hadn't shut the door because she was afraid I'd hear her." + +"That sounds probable," agreed Grady. "But what makes you think she +killed Vantine?" + +"Well, sir," answered Rogers, slowly, "I guess I oughtn't to have +said that; but finding the door open that way, and then coming on Mr. +Vantine sort of upset me--I didn't know just what I was saying." + +"You don't think so now, then?" questioned Grady, sharply. + +"I don't know what to think, sir." + +"You say you never saw the woman before?" + +"Never, sir." + +"Had she ever been here before?" + +"I don't think so, sir. The first thing she asked was if this was +where Mr. Vantine lived." + +Grady nodded. + +"Very good, Rogers," he said. "I'll be offering you a place on the +force next. Would you know this woman if you saw her again?" + +Rogers hesitated. + +"I wouldn't like to say sure, sir," he answered, at last. "I might +and I might not." + +"Red lips and a white face and bright eyes aren't much to go on," +Grady pointed out. "Can't you give us a closer description?" + +"I'm afraid not, sir. I just got a general impression, like, of her +face through her veil." + +"You say you didn't search these rooms?" + +"No, sir, I didn't come inside the door." + +"Why not?" + +"I was afraid to, sir." + +"Afraid to?" + +"Yes, sir; I'm afraid to be here now." + +"Did Parks come in?" + +"No, sir; I guess he felt the same way I did." + +"Then how did you know Vantine was dead? Why didn't you try to help +him?" + +"One look was enough to tell me that wasn't no use," said Rogers, and +glanced, with visible horror, at the crumpled form on the floor. + +Grady looked at him keenly for a moment; but there seemed to be no +reason to doubt his story. Then the detective looked about the room. + +"There's one thing I don't understand," he said, "and that is why +Vantine should want all these lights. What was he doing in here?" + +"I couldn't be sure, sir; but I suppose he was looking at the +furniture he brought over from Europe. He was a collector, you know, +sir. There are five or six pieces in the next room." + +Without a word, Grady arose and passed into the room adjoining, we +after him; only Rogers remained seated where he was. I remember +glancing back over my shoulder and noting how he huddled forward in +his chair, as though crushed by a great weight, the instant our backs +were turned. + +But I forgot Rogers in contemplation of the scene before me. + +The inner room was ablaze with light, and the furniture stood +hap-hazard about it, just as I had seen it earlier in the day. Only +one thing had been moved. That was the Boule cabinet. + +It had been carried to the centre of the room, and placed in the full +glare of the light from the chandelier. It stood there blazing with +arrogant beauty, a thing apart. + +Who had helped Vantine place it there, I wondered? Neither Rogers nor +Parks had mentioned doing so. I turned back to the outer room. + +Rogers was sitting crouched forward in his chair, his hands over his +eyes, and I could feel him jerk with nervousness as I touched him on +the shoulder. + +"Oh, is it you, Mr. Lester?" he gasped. "Pardon me, sir; I'm not at +all myself, sir." + +"I can see that," I said, soothingly; "and no wonder. I just wanted +to ask you--did you help move any of the furniture in the room +yonder?" + +"Help move it, sir?" + +"Yes--help change the position of any of it since this afternoon?" + +"No, sir; I haven't touched any of it, sir." + +"That's all right, then," I said, and turned back into the inner +room. + +Vantine had said that he intended examining the cabinet in detail at +the first opportunity; I remembered how his eyes had gleamed as he +looked at it; how his hand had trembled as he caressed the +arabesques. No doubt he was making that examination when he had heard +a woman's cry and had gone out into the hall to see what the matter +was. + +Then he and the woman had entered the ante-room together; he had +closed the door; and then.... + +Like a lightning-flash, a thought leaped into my brain--a reason--an +explanation--wild, improbable, absurd, but still an explanation! + +I choked back the cry which rose to my lips; I gripped my hands +behind me, in a desperate attempt to hold myself in check; and, +fascinated as by a deadly serpent, I stood staring at the cabinet. + +For there, I felt certain, lay the clue to the mystery! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ROGERS GETS A SHOCK + + +Grady, Simmonds and Goldberger examined the room minutely, for they +seemed to feel that the secret of the tragedy lay somewhere within +its four walls; but I watched them only absently, for I had lost +interest in the procedure. I was perfectly sure that they would find +nothing in any way bearing upon the mystery. I heard Grady comment +upon the fact that there was no door except the one opening into the +ante-room, and saw them examine the window-catches. + +"Nobody could raise these windows without alarming the house," Grady +said, and pointed to a tiny wire running along the woodwork. "There's +a burglar alarm." + +Simmonds assented, and finally the trio returned to the ante-room. + +"We'd like to look over the rest of the house," Grady said to Rogers, +who was sitting erect again, looking more like himself, and the four +men went out into the hall together. I remained behind with Hughes +and Freylinghuisen. They had lifted the body to the couch and were +making a careful examination of it. Heavy at heart, I sat down near +by and watched them. + +That Philip Vantine should have been killed by enthusiasm for the +hobby which had given him so much pleasure seemed the very irony of +fate, yet such I believed to be the case. To be sure, there were +various incidents which seemed to conflict with such a theory, and +the theory itself seemed wild to the point of absurdity; but at least +it was a ray of light in what had been utter darkness. I turned it +over and over in my mind, trying to fit into it the happenings of the +day--I must confess with very poor success. Freylinghuisen's voice +brought me out of my reverie. + +"The two cases are precisely alike," he was saying. "The symptoms are +identical. And I'm certain we shall find paralysis of the heart and +spinal cord in this case, just as I did in the other. Both men were +killed by the same poison." + +"Can you make a guess as to the nature of the poison?" Hughes +inquired. + +"Some variant of hydrocyanic acid, I fancy--the odour indicates +that; but it must be about fifty times as deadly as hydrocyanic acid +is." + +They wandered away into a discussion of possible variants, so +technical and be-sprinkled with abstruse words and formulae that I +could not follow them. Freylinghuisen, of course, had all this sort +of thing at his fingers' ends--post-mortems were his every-day +occupation, and no doubt he had been furbishing himself up, since +this last one, in preparation for the inquest, where he would +naturally wish to shine. I could see that he enjoyed displaying his +knowledge before Hughes, who, although a family practitioner of high +standing, with an income greater than Freylinghuisen's many times +over, had no such expert knowledge of toxicology as a coroner's +physician would naturally possess. + +The two detectives and the coroner came back while the discussion was +still in progress and listened in silence to Freylinghuisen's +statement of the case. Grady's mahogany face told absolutely nothing +of what was passing in his brain, but Simmonds was plainly +bewildered. It was evident from his look that nothing had been found +to shed any light on the mystery; and now that his suicide theory had +fallen to pieces, he was completely at sea. So, I suspected, was +Grady, but he was too self-composed to betray it. + +The coroner drew the two physicians aside and talked to them for a +few moments in a low tone. Then he turned to Grady. + +"Freylinghuisen thinks there is no necessity for a post-mortem," he +said. "The symptoms are in every way identical with those of the +other man who was killed here this afternoon. There can be no +question that both of them died from the same cause. He is ready to +make his return to that effect." + +"Very well," assented Grady. "The body can be turned over to the +relatives, then." + +"There aren't any relatives," I said; "at least, no near ones. +Vantine was the last of this branch of the family. I happen to know +that our firm has been named as his executors in his will, so, if +there is no objection, I'll take charge of things." + +"Very well, Mr. Lester," said Grady again; and then he looked at me. +"Do you know the provisions of the will?" he asked. + +"I do." + +"In the light of those provisions, do you know of any one who would +have an interest in Vantine's death?" + +"I think I may tell you the provisions," I said, after a moment. +"With the exception of a few legacies to his servants, his whole +fortune is left to the Metropolitan Museum of Art." + +"You have been his attorney for some time?" + +"We have been his legal advisers for many years." + +"Have you ever learned that he had an enemy?" + +"No," I answered instantly; "so far as I know, he had not an enemy on +earth." + +"He was never married, I believe?" + +"No." + +"Was he ever, to your knowledge, involved with a woman?" + +"No," I said again. "I was astounded when I heard Rogers's story." + +"So you can give us no hint as to this woman's identity?" + +"I only wish I could!" I said, with fervour. + +"Thank you, Mr. Lester," and Grady turned to Simmonds. "I don't see +that there is anything more we can do here," he added. "There's one +thing, though, Mr. Lester, I will have to ask you to do. That is to +keep all the servants here until after the inquest. If you think +there is any doubt of your ability to do that, we can, of course, put +them under arrest--" + +"Oh, that isn't necessary," I broke in. "I will be responsible for +their appearance at the inquest." + +"I'll have to postpone it a day," said Goldberger. "I want +Freylinghuisen to make some tests to-morrow. Besides, we've got to +identify d'Aurelle, and these gentlemen seem to have their work cut +out for them in finding this woman--" + +Grady looked at Goldberger in a way which indicated that he thought +he was talking too much, and the coroner stopped abruptly. A moment +later, all four men left the house. + +Dr. Hughes lingered for a last word. + +"The undertaker had better be called at once," he said. "It won't do +to delay too long." + +I knew what he meant. Already the face of the dead man was showing +certain ugly discolourations. + +"I can send him around on my way home," he added, and I thanked him +for assuming this unpleasant duty. + +As the door closed behind him, I heard a step on the stair, and +turned to see Godfrey calmly descending. + +"I came in a few minutes ago," he explained, in answer to my look, +"and have been glancing around upstairs. Nothing there. How did our +friend Grady get along?" + +"Fairly well; but if he guesses anything, his face didn't show it." + +"His face never shows anything, because there's nothing to show. He +has cultivated that sibylline look until people think he's a wonder. +But he's simply a stupid ignoramus." + +"Oh, come, Godfrey," I protested, "you're prejudiced. He went right +to the point. Do you know Rogers's story?" + +"About the woman? Certainly. Rogers told it to me before Grady +arrived." + +"Well," I commented, "you didn't lose any time." + +"I never do," he assented blandly. "And now I'm going to prove to you +that Grady is merely a stupid ignoramus. He has heard all the +evidence, but does he know who that woman was?" + +"Of course not," I said, and then I looked at him. "Do you mean that +you do? Then I'm an ignoramus, too!" + +"My dear Lester," protested Godfrey, "you are not a detective--that's +not your business; but it _is_ Grady's. At least, it is supposed to +be, and the safety of this city as a place of residence depends more +or less upon the truth of that assumption. On the strength of it, he +has been made deputy police commissioner, in charge of the detective +bureau." + +"Then you mean that you _do_ know who she was?" + +"I'm pretty sure I do--that is what I came back to prove. Where's +Rogers?" + +"I'll ring for him," I said, and did so, and presently he appeared. + +"Did you ring, sir?" he asked. + +He was still miserably nervous, but much more self-controlled than he +had been earlier in the evening. + +"Yes," I said. "Mr. Godfrey wishes to speak to you." + +It seemed to me that Rogers turned visibly paler; there was certainly +fear in the glance he turned upon my companion. But Godfrey smiled +reassuringly. + +"We'd better give him his instructions about the reporters, first +thing, hadn't we, Lester?" he inquired. + +"Which reporters?" I queried. + +"All the others, of course. They will be storming this house, Rogers, +before long. You will meet them at the door, you will refuse to admit +one of them; you will tell them that there is nothing to be learned +here, and that they must go to the police. Tell them that +Commissioner Grady himself is in charge of the case and will no doubt +be glad to talk to them. Is that right, Lester?" + +"Yes, Ulysses," I agreed, smiling. + +"And now," continued Godfrey, watching Rogers keenly, "I have a +photograph here that I want you to look at. Did you ever see that +person before?" and he handed a print to Rogers. + +The latter hesitated an instant, and then took the print with a +trembling hand. Stark fear was in his eyes again; then slowly he +raised the print to the light, glanced at it.... + +"Catch him, Lester!" Godfrey cried, and sprang forward. + +For Rogers, clutching wildly at his collar, spun half around and fell +with a crash. Godfrey's arm broke the fall somewhat, but as for me, I +was too dazed to move. + +"Get some water, quick!" Godfrey commanded sharply, as Parks came +running up. "Rogers has been taken ill." + +And then, as Parks sped down the hall again, I saw Godfrey loosen the +collar of the unconscious man and begin to chafe his temples +fiercely. + +"I hope it isn't apoplexy," he muttered. "I oughtn't to have shocked +him like that." + +At the words, I remembered; and, stooping, picked up the photograph +which had fluttered from Rogers's nerveless fingers. And then I, too, +uttered a smothered exclamation as I gazed at the dark eyes, the full +lips, the oval face--the face which d'Aurelle had carried in his +watch! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PRECAUTIONS + + +But it wasn't apoplexy. It was Parks who reassured us, when he came +hurrying back a minute later with a glass of water in one hand and a +small phial in the other. + +"He has these spells," he said. "It's a kind of vertigo. Give him a +whiff of this." + +He uncorked the phial and handed it to Godfrey, and I caught the +penetrating fumes of ammonia. A moment later, Rogers gasped +convulsively. + +"He'll be all right pretty soon," remarked Parks, with ready +optimism. "Though I never saw him quite so bad." + +"We can't leave him lying here on the floor," said Godfrey. + +"There's a couch-seat in the music-room," Parks suggested, and the +three of us bore the still unconscious man to it. + +Then Godfrey and I sat down and waited, while he gasped his way back +to life. + +"Though he can't really tell us much," Godfrey observed. "In fact, I +doubt if he'll be willing to tell anything. But his face, when he +looked at the picture, told us all we need to know." + +Thus reminded, I took the photograph out of the pocket into which I +had slipped it, and looked at it again. + +"Where did you get it?" I asked. + +"The police photographer made some copies. This is one of them." + +"But what made you suspect that the two women were the same?" + +"I don't just know," answered Godfrey, reflectively. "They were both +French--and Rogers spoke of the red lips; somehow it seemed probable. +Mr. Grady will find some things he doesn't know in to-morrow's +_Record_. But then he usually does. This time, I'm going to rub it +in. Hello," he added, "our friend is coming around." + +I looked at Rogers and saw that his eyes were open. They were staring +at us as though wondering who we were. Godfrey passed an arm under +his head and held the glass of water to his lips. + +"Take a swallow of this," he said, and Rogers obeyed mechanically, +still staring at him over the rim of the glass, "How do you feel?" + +"Pretty weak," Rogers answered, almost in a whisper. "Did I have a +fit?" + +"Something like that," said Godfrey, cheerfully; "but don't worry. +You'll soon be all right again." + +"What sent me off?" asked Rogers, and stared up at him. Then his face +turned purple, and I thought he was going off again. But after a +moment's heavy breathing, he lay quiet. "I remember now," he said. +"Let me see that picture again." + +I passed it to him. His hand was trembling so he could hardly take +it; but I saw he was struggling desperately to control himself, and +he managed to hold the picture up before his eyes and look at it with +apparent unconcern. + +"Do you know her?" Godfrey asked. + +To my infinite amazement, Rogers shook his head. + +"Never saw her before," he muttered. "When I first looked at her, I +thought I knew her; but it ain't the same woman." + +"Do you mean to say," Godfrey demanded sternly, "that that is not the +woman who called on Mr. Vantine to-night?" + +Again Rogers shook his head. + +"Oh, no," he protested; "it's not the same woman at all. This one is +younger." + +Godfrey made no reply; but he sat down and looked at Rogers, and +Rogers lay and gazed at the picture, and gradually his face softened, +as though at some tender memory. + +"Come, Rogers," I urged, at last. "You'd better tell us all you know. +If this is the woman, don't hesitate to say so." + +"I've told you all I know, Mr. Lester," said Rogers, but he did not +meet my eyes. "And I'm feeling pretty bad. I think I'd better be +getting to bed." + +"Yes, that's best," agreed Godfrey promptly. "Parks will help you," +and he held out his hand for the photograph. + +Rogers relinquished it with evident reluctance. He opened his lips as +though to ask a question; then closed them again, and got slowly to +his feet, Parks aiding him. + +"Good-night, gentlemen," he said weakly, and shuffled away, leaning +heavily on Parks's shoulder. + +"Well!" said I, looking at Godfrey. "What do you think of that?" + +"He's lying, of course. We've got to find out why he's lying and +bring it home to him. But it's getting late--I must get down to the +office. One word, Lester--be sure Rogers doesn't give you the slip." + +"I'll have him looked after," I promised. "But I fancy he'll be +afraid to run away. Besides, it is possible he's telling the truth. I +don't believe any woman had anything to do with either death." + +Godfrey turned, as he was starting away, and stopped to look at me. + +"Who did then?" he asked. + +"Nobody." + +"You mean they both suicided in that abnormal way?" + +"No, it wasn't suicide--they were killed--but not by a human being +--at least, not directly." I felt that I was floundering hopelessly, +and stopped. "I can't tell you now, Godfrey," I pleaded. "I haven't +had time to think it out. You've got enough for one day." + +"Yes," he smiled; "I've got enough for one day. And now good-bye. +Perhaps I'll look in on you about midnight, on my way home, if I get +through by then." + +I sighed. Godfrey's energy became a little wearing sometimes. I was +already longing for bed, and there remained so much to be done. But +he, after a day which I knew had been a hard one, and with a +many-column story still to write, was apparently as fresh and eager +as ever. + +"All right," I agreed. "If you see a light, come up. If there isn't +any light, I'll be in bed, and I'll kill you if you wake me." + +"Conditions accepted," he laughed, as I opened the door for him. + +Parks joined me as I turned back into the house. + +"I got Rogers to bed, sir," he said. "He'll be all right in the +morning. But he's a queer duck." + +"How long have you known him, Parks?" + +"He's been with Mr. Vantine about five years. I don't know much about +him; he's a silent kind of fellow, keeping to hisself a good deal and +sort of brooding over things. But he did his work all right, except +once in a while when he keeled over like he did to-night." + +"Parks," I said, suddenly, "I'm going to ask you a question. You know +that Mr. Vantine was a friend of mine, and I thought a great deal of +him. Now, what with this story Rogers tells, and one or two other +things, there is talk of a woman. Is there any foundation for talk of +that kind?" + +"No, sir," said Parks, emphatically. "I've been Mr. Vantine's valet +for eight years and more, and in all that time he has never been +mixed up with a woman in any shape or form. I always fancied he'd +loved a lady who died--I don't know what made me think so; but +anyhow, since I've known him, he never looked at a woman--not in +that way." + +"Thank you, Parks," I said, with a sigh of relief. "I've been through +so much to-day, that I felt I couldn't endure that; and now--" + +"Beg pardon, sir," said a voice at my elbow; "we have everything +ready, sir." + +I turned with a start to see a little, clean-shaven man standing +there, rubbing his hands softly together and gazing blandly up at me. + +"The undertaker's assistant, sir," explained Parks, seeing my look of +astonishment. "He came while you and Mr. Godfrey were in the +music-room. Dr. Hughes sent him." + +"Yes, sir," added the little man; "and we have the corpse ready for +the coffin. Very nice it looks, too; though it was a hard job. Was it +poison killed him, sir?" + +"Yes," I answered, with a feeling of nausea, "it was poison." + +"Very powerful poison, too, I should say, sir; we didn't get here +none too soon. Where shall we put the body, sir?" + +"Why not leave it where it is?" I asked, impatiently. + +"Very good, sir," said the man, and presently he and his assistant +took themselves off, to my intense relief. + +"And now, Parks," I began, "there is something I want to say to you. +Let us go somewhere and sit down." + +"Suppose we go up to the study, sir. You're looking regularly done +up, if you'll permit me to say so, sir. Shall I get you something?" + +"A brandy-and-soda," I assented; "and bring one for yourself." + +"Very good, sir," and a few minutes later we were sitting opposite +each other in the room where Vantine had offered me similar +refreshment not many hours before. I looked at Parks as he sat there, +and turned over in my mind what I had to say to him. I liked the man, +and I felt he could be trusted. At any rate, I had to take the risk. + +"Now, Parks," I began again, setting down my glass, "what I have to +say to you is very serious, and I want you to keep it to yourself: I +know that you were devoted to Mr. Vantine--I may as well tell you +that he has remembered you in his will--and I am sure you are willing +to do anything in your power to help solve the mystery of his death." + +"That I am, sir," Parks agreed, warmly. "I was very fond of him, sir; +nobody will miss him more than I will." + +I realised that the tragedy meant far more to Parks than it did even +to me, for he had lost not only a friend, but a means of livelihood, +and I looked at him with heightened sympathy. + +"I know how you feel," I said, "and I am counting on you to help me. +I have a sort of idea how his death came about. Only the vaguest +possible idea," I added hastily, as his eyes widened with interest; +"altogether too vague to be put into words. But I can say this much +--the mystery, whatever it is, is in the ante-room where the bodies +were found, or in the room next to it where the furniture is. Now, I +am going to lock up those rooms, and I want you to see that nobody +enters them without your knowledge." + +"Not very likely that anybody will want to enter them, sir," and +Parks laughed a grim little laugh. + +"I am not so sure of that," I dissented, speaking very seriously. "In +fact, I am of the opinion that there _is_ somebody who wants to enter +those rooms very badly. I don't know who he is, and I don't know what +he is after; but I am going to make it your business to keep him out, +and to capture him if you catch him trying to get in." + +"Trust me for that, sir," said Parks promptly. "What is it you want +me to do?" + +"I want you to put a cot in the hallway outside the door of the +ante-room and sleep there to-night. To-morrow I will decide what further +precautions are necessary." + +"Very good, sir," said Parks. "I'll get the cot up at once." + +"There is one thing more," I went on. "I have given the coroner my +personal assurance that none of the servants will leave the house +until after the inquest. I suppose I can rely on them?" + +"Oh, yes, sir. I'll see they understand how important it is." + +"Rogers, especially," I added, looking at him. + +"I understand, sir," said Parks, quietly. + +"Very well. And now let us go down and lock up those rooms." + +They were still ablaze with light; but both of us faltered a little, +I think, on the threshold of the ante-room. For in the middle of the +floor stood a stretcher, and on it was an object covered with a +sheet, its outlines horribly suggestive. But I took myself in hand +and entered. Parks followed me and closed the door. + +The ante-room had two windows, and the room beyond, which was a +corner one, had three. All of them were locked, but a pane of glass +seemed to me an absurdly fragile barrier against any one who really +wished to enter. + +"Aren't there some wooden shutters for these windows?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir; they were taken down yesterday and put in the basement. +Shall I get them?" + +"I think you'd better," I said. "Will you need any help?" + +"No, sir; they're not heavy. If you'll wait here, you can snap the +bolts into place when I lift them up from the outside." + +"Very well," I agreed, and Parks hurried away. + +I entered the inner room and stopped before the Boule cabinet. There +was a certain air of arrogance about it, as it stood there in that +blaze of light, its inlay aglow with a thousand subtle reflections; a +flaunting air, the air of a courtesan conscious of her beauty and +pleased to attract attention--just the air with which Madame de +Montespan must have sauntered down the mirror gallery at Versailles, +ablaze with jewels, her skirts rustling, her figure swaying +suggestively. Something threatening, too; something sinister and +deadly-- + +There was a rattle at the window, and I saw Parks lifting one of the +shutters into place. I threw up the sash, and pressed the heavy bolts +carefully into their sockets, then closed the sash and locked it. The +two other windows were secured in their turn, and with a last look +about the room, I turned out the lights. The ante-room windows were +soon shuttered in the same way, and with a sigh of relief I told +myself that no entrance to the house could be had from that +direction. With Parks outside the only door, the rooms ought to be +safe from invasion. + +Then, before extinguishing the lights, I approached that silent +figure on the stretcher, lifted the sheet and looked for the last +time upon the face of my dead friend. It was no longer staring and +terrible, but calm and peaceful as in sleep--almost smiling. With +wet eyes and contracted throat, I covered the face again, turned out +the lights, and left the room. Parks met me in the hall, carrying a +cot, which he placed close across the doorway. + +"There," he said; "nobody will get into that room without my knowing +it." + +"No," I agreed; and then a sudden thought occurred to me. "Parks," I +said, "is it true that there is a burglar-alarm on all the windows?" + +"Yes, sir. It rings a bell in Mr. Vantine's bedroom, and another in +mine, and sends in a call to the police." + +"Is it working?" + +"Yes, sir; Mr. Vantine himself tested it this evening just before +dinner." + +"Then why didn't it work when I opened those windows just now?" I +demanded. + +Parks laughed. + +"Because I threw off the switch, sir," he explained, "when I came out +to get the shutters. The switch is in a little iron box on the wall +just back of the stairs, sir. It's one of my duties to turn it on +every night before I go to bed." + +I breathed a sigh of relief. + +"Is it on again, now?" + +"It certainly is, sir. After what you told me, I'd not be likely to +forget it." + +"You'd better have a weapon handy, too," I suggested. + +"I have a revolver, sir." + +"That's good. And don't hesitate to use it. I'm going home--I'm dead +tired." + +"Shall I call a cab, sir?" + +"No, the walk will do me good. I'll see you to-morrow." + +Parks helped me into my coat and opened the door for me. Glancing +back, after a moment, I saw that he was standing on the steps gazing +after me. I could understand his reluctance to go back into that +death-haunted house; and I found myself breathing deeply with the +relief of getting out of it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GUESSES AT THE RIDDLE + + +The walk uptown did me good. The rain had ceased, and the air felt +clean and fresh as though it had been washed. I took deep breaths of +it, and the feeling of fatigue and depression which had weighed upon +me gradually vanished. I was in no hurry--went out of my way a +little, indeed, to walk out into Madison Square and look back at the +towering mass of the Flatiron building, creamy and delicate as carved +ivory under the rays of the moon--and it was long past midnight when +I finally turned in at the Marathon. Higgins, the janitor, was just +closing the outer doors, and he joined me in the elevator a moment +later. + +"There's a gentleman waiting to see you, sir," he said, as the car +started upward. "Mr. Godfrey, sir. He came in about ten minutes ago. +He said you were expecting him, so I let him into your rooms." + +"That was right," I said, and reflected again upon Godfrey's +exhaustless energy. + +I found him lolling in an easy chair, and he looked up with a smile +at my entrance. "Higgins said you hadn't come in yet," he explained, +"so I thought I'd wait a few minutes on the off chance that you +mightn't be too tired to talk. If you are, say so, and I'll be moving +along." + +"I'm not too tired," I said, hanging up my coat. "I feel a good deal +better than I did an hour ago." + +"I saw that you were about all in." + +"How do you keep it up, Godfrey?" I asked, sitting down opposite him. +"You don't seem tired at all." + +"I _am_ tired, though," he said, "a little. But I've got a fool brain +that won't let my body go to sleep so long as there is work to be +done. Then, as soon as everything is finished, the brain lets go and +the body sleeps like a log. Now I knew I couldn't go to sleep +properly to-night until I had heard the very interesting theory you +are going to confide to me. Besides, I have a thing or two to tell +you." + +"Go ahead," I said. + +"We had a cable from our Paris office just before I left. It seems +that M. Théophile d'Aurelle plays the fiddle in the orchestra of the +Café de Paris. He played as usual to-night, so that it is manifestly +impossible that he should also be lying in the New York morgue. +Moreover, none of his friends, so far as he knows, is in America. No +doubt he may be able to identify the photograph of the dead man, and +we've already started one on the way, but we can't hear from it for +six or eight days. But my guess was right--the fellow's name isn't +d'Aurelle." + +"You say you have a photograph?" + +"Yes, I had some taken of the body this afternoon. Here's one of +them. Keep it; you may have a use for it." + +I took the card, and, as I gazed at the face depicted upon it, I +realised that the distorted countenance I had seen in the afternoon +had given me no idea of the man's appearance. Now the eyes were +closed and the features composed and peaceful, but even death failed +to give them any dignity. It was a weak and dissipated face, the face +of a hanger-on of cafés, as Parks had said--of a loiterer along the +boulevards, of a man without ambition, and capable of any depth of +meanness and deceit. At least, that is how I read it. + +"He's evidently low-class," said Godfrey, watching me. "One of those +parasites, without work and without income, so common in Paris. +Shop-girls and ladies' maids have a weakness for them." + +"I think you are right," I agreed; "but, at the same time, if he was +of that type, I don't see what business he could have had with Philip +Vantine." + +"Neither do I; but there are a lot of other things I don't see, +either. We're all in the dark, Lester; have you thought of that? +Absolutely in the dark." + +"Yes, I have thought of it," I said, slowly. + +"No doubt we can establish this fellow's identity in time--sooner +than we think, perhaps, for most of the morning papers will run his +picture, and if he is known here in New York at all, it will be +recognised by some one. When we find out who he is, we can probably +guess at the nature of his business with Vantine. We can find out who +the woman was who called to see Vantine to-night--that is just a case +of grilling Rogers; then we can run her down and get her secret out +of her. We can find why Rogers is trying to shield her. All that is +comparatively simple. But when we have done it all, when we have all +these facts in hand, I am afraid we shall find that they are utterly +unimportant." + +"Unimportant?" I echoed. "But surely--" + +"Unimportant because we don't want to know these things. What we want +to know is how Philip Vantine and this unknown Frenchman were killed. +And that is just the one thing which, I am convinced, neither the man +nor the woman nor Rogers nor anybody else we have come across in this +case can tell us. There's a personality behind all this that we +haven't even suspected yet, and which, I am free to confess, I don't +know how to get at. It puzzles me; it rather frightens me; it's like +a threatening shadow which one can't get hold of." + +There was a moment's silence; then, I decided, the time had come for +me to speak. + +"Godfrey," I said, "what I am about to tell you is told in +confidence, and must be held in confidence until I give you +permission to use it. Do you agree?" + +"Go on," he said, his eyes on my face. + +"Well, I believe I know how these two men were killed. Listen." + +And I told him in detail the story of the Boule cabinet; I repeated +Vantine's theory of its first ownership; I named the price which he +was ready to pay for it; I described the difference between an +original and a counterpart, and dwelt upon Vantine's assertion that +this was an original of unique and unquestionable artistry. Long +before I had finished, Godfrey was out of his chair and pacing up and +down the room, his face flushed, his eyes glowing. + +"Beautiful!" he murmured from time to time. "Immense! What a case it +will make, Lester!" he cried, stopping before my chair and beaming +down upon me, as I finished the story. "Unique, too; that's the +beauty of it! As unique as this adorable Boule cabinet!" + +"Then you see it, too?" I questioned, a little disappointed that my +theory should seem so evident. + +"See it?" and he dropped into his chair again. "A man would be blind +not to see it. But all the same, Lester, I give you credit for +putting the facts together. So many of us--Grady, for instance! +--aren't able to do that, or to see which facts are essential and +which are negligible. Now the fact that Vantine had accidentally come +into possession of a Boule cabinet would probably seem negligible to +Grady, whereas it is the one big essential fact in this whole case. +And it was you who saw it." + +"You saw it, too," I pointed out, "as soon as I mentioned it." + +"Yes; but you mentioned it in a way which made its importance +manifest. I couldn't help seeing it. And I believe that we have both +arrived at practically the same conclusions. Here they are," and he +checked them off on his fingers. "The cabinet contains a secret +drawer. This is inevitable, if it really belonged to Madame de +Montespan. Any cabinet made for her would be certain to have a secret +drawer--she would require it, just as she would require lace on her +underwear or jewelled buttons on her gloves. That drawer, since it +was, perhaps, to contain such priceless documents as the love letters +of a king--even more so, if the love letters were from another man! +--must be adequately guarded, and therefore a mechanism was devised to +stab the person attempting to open it and to inject into the wound a +poison so powerful as to cause instant death. Am I right so far?" + +"Wonderfully right," I nodded. "I had not put it so clearly, even to +myself. Go ahead." + +"We come to the conclusion, then," continued Godfrey, "that the +business of this unknown Frenchman with Vantine in some way concerned +this cabinet." + +"Vantine himself thought so," I broke in. "He told me afterwards that +it was because he thought so he consented to see him." + +"Good! That would seem to indicate that we are on the right track. +The Frenchman's business, then, had something to do with this +cabinet, and with this secret drawer. Left to himself, he discovered +the cabinet in the room adjoining the ante-room, attempted to open +the drawer, and was killed." + +"Yes," I agreed; "and now how about Vantine?" + +"Vantine's death isn't so simply explained. Presumably the unknown +woman also called on business relating to the cabinet. She, also, +wanted to open the secret drawer, in order to secure its contents +--that seems fairly certain from her connection with the first +caller." + +"You still think it was her photograph he carried in his watch?" + +"I am sure of it. But how did it happen that it was Vantine who was +killed? Did the woman, warned by the fate of the man, deliberately +set Vantine to open the drawer in order that she might run no risk? +Or was she also ignorant of the mechanism? Above all, did she succeed +in getting away with the contents of the drawer?" + +"What _was_ the contents of the drawer?" I demanded. + +"Ah, if we only knew!" + +"Perhaps the woman had nothing to do with it. Vantine himself told me +that he was going to make a careful examination of the cabinet. No +doubt that is exactly what he was doing when the woman's arrival +interrupted him. He might have let her out of the house himself, and +then, returning to the cabinet, stumbled upon the secret drawer after +she had gone." + +"Yes; that is quite possible, too. At any rate, you agree with me +that both men were killed in some such way as I have described?" + +"Absolutely. I think there can be no doubt of it." + +"There are objections--and rather weighty ones. The theory explains +the two deaths, it explains the similarity of the wounds, it explains +how both should be on the right hand just above the knuckles, it +explains why both bodies were found in the same place since both men +started to summon help. But, in the first place, if the Frenchman got +the drawer open, who closed it?" + +"Perhaps it closed itself when he let go of it." + +"And closed again after Vantine opened it?" + +"Yes." + +"It would take a very clever mechanism to do that." + +"But at least it's possible." + +"Oh, yes; it's possible. And we must remember that the poisoners of +those days were very ingenious. That was the heydey of La Voisin and +the Marquise de Brinvilliers, of Elixi, and heaven knows how many +other experts who had followed Catherine de Medici to France. So +that's all quite possible. But there is one thing that isn't +possible, and that is that a poison which, if it is administered as +we think it is, must be a liquid, could remain in that cabinet fresh +and ready for use for more than three hundred years. It would have +dried up centuries ago. Nor would the mechanism stay in order so +long. It must be both complicated and delicate. Therefore it would +have to be oiled and overhauled from time to time. If it is worked by +a spring--and I don't see how else it can be worked--the spring would +have to be renewed and wound up." + +"Well?" I asked, as he paused. + +"Well, it is evident that the drawer contains something more recent +than the love letters of Louis Fourteenth. It must have been put in +working order quite recently. But by whom and for what purpose? That +is the mystery we have to solve--and it is a mighty pretty one. And +here's another objection," he added. "That Frenchman knew about the +secret drawer, because, according to our theory, he opened it and got +killed. Why didn't he also know about the poison?" + +That was an objection, truly, and the more I thought of it, the more +serious it seemed. + +"It may be," said Godfrey, at last, "that d'Aurelle was going it +alone--that he had broken with the gang--" + +"The gang?" + +"Of course there is a gang. This thing has taken careful planning and +concerted effort. And the leader of the gang is a genius! I wonder if +you understand how great a genius? Think: he knows the secret of the +drawer of Madame de Montespan's cabinet; but above all he knows the +secret of the poison--the poison of the Medici! Do you know what that +means, Lester?" + +"What _does_ it mean?" I asked, for Godfrey was getting ahead of me. + +"It means he is a great criminal--a really great criminal--one of the +elect from whom crime has no secrets. Observe. He alone knows the +secret of the poison; one of his men breaks away from him, and pays +for his mutiny with his life. He is the brain; the others are merely +the instruments!" + +"Then you don't believe it was by accident that cabinet was sent to +Vantine?" + +"By accident? Not for an instant! It was part of a plot--and a +splendid plot!" + +"Can you explain that to me, too?" I queried, a little ironically, +for I confess it seemed to me that Godfrey was permitting his +imagination to run away with him. + +He smiled good-naturedly at my tone. + +"Of course, this is all mere romancing," he admitted. "I am the first +to acknowledge that. I was merely following out our theory to what +seemed its logical conclusion. But perhaps we are on the wrong track +altogether. Perhaps d'Aurelle, or whatever his name is, just +blundered in, like a moth into a candle-flame. As for the plot--well, +I can only guess at it. But suppose you and I had pulled off some big +robbery--" + +He stopped suddenly, and his face went white and then red. + +"What is it, Godfrey?" I cried, for his look frightened me. + +He lay back in his chair, his hands pressed over his eyes. I could +see how they were trembling--how his whole body was trembling. + +"Wait!" he said, hoarsely. "Wait!" Then he sat upright, his face +tense with anxiety. "Lester!" he cried, his voice shrill with fear. +"The cabinet--it isn't guarded!" + +"Yes, it is," I said. "At least I thought of that!" + +And I told him of the precautions I had taken to keep it safe. He +heard me out with a sigh of relief. + +"That's better," he said. "Parks wouldn't stand much show, I'm +afraid, if worst came to worst; but I think the cabinet is safe--for +to-night. And before another night, Lester, we will have a look for +ourselves." + +"A look?" + +"Yes; for the secret drawer!" + +I stared at him fascinated, shrinking. + +"And we shall find it!" he added. + +"D'Aurelle and Vantine found it," I muttered thickly. + +"Well?" + +"And they're both dead!" + +"It won't kill us. We will go about it armoured, Lester. That +poisoned fang may strike--" + +"Don't!" I cried, and cowered back into my chair. "I--I can't do it, +Godfrey. God knows, I'm no coward--but not that!" + +"You shall watch me do it!" he said. + +"That would be even worse!" + +"But I'll be ready, Lester. There will be no danger. Come, man! Why, +it's the chance of a lifetime--to rifle the secret drawer of Madame +de Montespan! Yes!" he added, his eyes glowing, "and to match +ourselves against the greatest criminal of modern times!" + +His shrill laugh told how excited he was. + +"And do you know what we shall find in that drawer, Lester? But no +--it is only a guess--the wildest sort of a guess--but if it is +right--if it is right!" + +He sprang from his chair, biting his lips, his whole frame quivering. +But he was calmer in a moment. + +"Anyway, you will help me, Lester? You will come?" + +There was a wizardry in his manner not to be resisted. Besides--to +rifle the secret drawer of Madame de Montespan! To match oneself +against the greatest criminal of modern times! What an adventure! + +"Yes," I answered, with a quick intaking of the breath; "I'll come!" + +He clapped me on the shoulder, his face beaming. + +"I knew you would! To-morrow night, then--I'll call for you here at +seven o'clock. We'll have dinner together--and then, hey for the +great secret! Agreed?" + +"Agreed!" I said. + +He caught up coat and hat and started for the door. + +"There are things to do," he said; "that armour to prepare--the plan +of campaign to consider, you know. Good-night, then, till--this +evening!" + +The door closed behind him, and his footsteps died away down the +hall. I looked at my watch--it was nearly two o'clock. + +Dizzily I went to bed. But my sleep was broken by a fearful dream--a +dream of a serpent, with blazing eyes and dripping fangs, poised to +strike! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PREPARATIONS + + +My first thought, when I awoke next morning, was for Parks, for +Godfrey's manner had impressed me with the feeling that Parks was in +much more serious danger than either he or I suspected. It was with a +lively sense of relief, therefore, that I heard Parks's voice answer +my call on the 'phone. + +"This is Mr. Lester," I said. "Is everything all right?" + +"Everything serene, sir," he answered. "It would take a mighty smooth +burglar to get in here now, sir." + +"How is that?" I asked. + +"Reporters are camped all around the house, sir. They seem to think +somebody else will be killed here to-day." + +He laughed as he spoke the words, but I was far from thinking the +idea an amusing one. + +"I hope not," I said, quickly. "And don't let any of the reporters +in, nor talk to them. Tell them they must go to the police for their +information. If they get too annoying, let me know, and I'll have an +officer sent around." + +"Very good, sir." + +"And, Parks." + +"Yes, sir?" + +"Don't let anybody in the house--no matter what he wants--unless Mr. +Grady or Mr. Simmonds or Mr. Goldberger accompanies him. Don't let +anybody in you don't know. If there is any trouble, call me up. I +want you to be careful about this." + +"I understand, sir." + +"How is Rogers?" I asked. + +"Much better, sir. He wanted to get up, but I told him he might as +well stay in bed, and I'd look after things. I thought that was the +best place for him, sir." + +"It is," I agreed. "Keep him there as long as you can. I'll come in +during the day, if possible; in any event, Mr. Godfrey and I will be +there this evening. Call me at the office, if you need me for +anything." + +"Very good, sir," said Parks again, and I hung up. + +I glanced through Godfrey's account of the affair while I ate my +breakfast, and noted with amusement the sly digs taken at +Commissioner Grady. Under the photograph of the unknown woman was the +legend: + + MR. VANTINE'S MYSTERIOUS CALLER + + (Grady Please Notice) + +And it was intimated that when Grady wanted any real information +about an especially puzzling case, he had to go to the _Record_ to +get it. + +This, however, was merely by the way, for the story of the double +tragedy, fully illustrated, was flung across many columns, and was +plainly considered the great news feature of the day. + +I glanced at two or three other papers on my way down-town. All of +them featured the tragedy with a riot of pictures--pictures of +d'Aurelle and Vantine, of Grady (very large), of Simmonds, of +Goldberger, of Freylinghuisen, of the Vantine house, diagrams of the +ante-room showing the position in which the bodies were found, +anatomical charts showing the exact nature of the wounds, pictures of +the noted poisoners of history with a highly-coloured list of their +achievements--but, when it came to the story of the tragedy itself, +their accounts were far less detailed and intimate than that in the +_Record_. They were, indeed, for the most part, mere farragos of +theories, guesses, blood-curdling suggestions, and mysterious hints +of important information confided to the reporters but withheld from +the public until the criminal had been run to earth. That this would +soon be accomplished not a single paper doubted, for had not Grady, +the mighty Grady, taken personal charge of the case? (Here followed a +glowing history of Grady's career.) + +It was evident enough that all these reporters had been compelled to +go to Grady for their information, and I could fancy them damning him +between their teeth as they penned these panegyrics. I could also +fancy their city editors damning as they compared these incoherent +imaginings with the admirable and closely-written story in the +_Record_, and I suspected that it was the realisation of the +_Record's_ triumph which had caused the descent of the phalanx of +reporters upon the Vantine place. + +I went over the whole affair with Mr. Royce, as soon as he reached +the office, and spent the rest of the day arranging the papers +relating to Vantine's affairs and getting them ready to probate. +Parks called me up once or twice for instructions as to various +details, and Vantine's nearest relative, a third or fourth cousin, +wired from somewhere in the west that he was starting for New York at +once. And then, toward the middle of the afternoon, came the +cablegram from Paris which I had almost forgotten to expect: + + "Royce & Lester, New York. + + "Regret mistake in shipment exceedingly. Our representative will + call to explain. + + "Armand et Fils." + +So there was an end of the romance Godfrey had woven, and which I had +been almost ready to believe--the romance of design, of a carefully +laid plot, and all that. It had been merely accident, after all. And +I smiled a little sarcastically at myself for my credulity. No doubt +my own romance of a secret drawer and a poisoned mechanism would +prove equally fabulous. In my over-wrought state of the night before, +it had seemed reasonable enough; but here, in the cold light of day, +it seemed preposterous. How Grady and Goldberger would have laughed +at it! + +I put the whole thing impatiently away from me, and turned to other +work; but I found I could not conquer a certain deep-seated +nervousness; so at last I locked my desk, told the boy I would not be +back, and took a cab for a long drive through the park. The fresh +air, the smell of the trees, the sight of the children playing along +the paths, did me good, and I was able to greet Godfrey with a smile +when he called for me at seven o'clock. + +"I've engaged a table at a little place around the corner," he said. +"It is managed by a friend of mine, and I think you'll like it." + +I did. Indeed, the dinner was so good that it demanded undivided +attention, and not until the coffee was on the table and the cigars +lighted did we speak of the business which had brought us together. + +"Anything new?" I asked, as we pushed back our chairs. + +"No, nothing of any importance. The man at the morgue has not been +identified. In the first place, the Paris police have never taken his +Bertillon measurements." + +"Then he's not a criminal?" + +"He has never been arrested," Godfrey qualified. "More peculiar is +the fact that he hasn't been recognised here. Two million people, +probably, saw his photograph in the papers this morning. Some of +them thought they knew him and went around to the morgue to see his +body, but nothing came of it. The police have no report of any such +man missing." + +"That _is_ peculiar, isn't it!" I commented. + +"It's very peculiar. It means one of two things--either the fellow's +friends are keeping dark purposely, or he didn't have any friends, +here in New York, at least. But even then, one would think that +whoever rented him a room would wonder what had become of him, and +would make some inquiries." + +"Perhaps he hadn't rented a room," I suggested. "Perhaps he had just +reached New York, and went direct to Vantine's." + +Godfrey's face lighted up. + +"From the steamer, of course! I ought to have guessed as much from +the cut of his hair. He hasn't been out of France more than ten days +or so. Excuse me a moment." + +He hurried away, and five minutes passed before he came back. + +"I 'phoned the office to send some men around to the boats which came +in yesterday. If he was a passenger, some one of the stewards will +recognise his photograph. There were three boats he might have come +on--the _Adriatic_ and _Cecelie_ from Cherbourg, and _La Touraine_ +from Havre. There is nothing else that I know of," he added +thoughtfully, "except that Freylinghuisen thinks he has discovered +the nature of the poison. He says it is some very powerful variant of +prussic acid." + +"Yes," I said, "I heard him say something of the sort last night." + +"I had a talk with him this afternoon about it, and he was quite +learned," Godfrey went on. "This is a great chance for him to get +before the public, and he's making the most of it. I gathered from +what he said that ordinary prussic acid, which is deadly enough, +heaven knows, contains only two per cent. of the poison; while the +strongest solution yet obtained contains only four per cent. +Freylinghuisen says that whoever concocted this particular poison has +evidently discovered a new way of doing it--or rediscovered an old +way--so that it is at least fifty per cent. effective. In other +words, if you can get a fraction of a drop of it in a man's blood, +you kill him by paralysis quicker than if you put a bullet through +his heart." + +"Nothing can save a man, then?" I questioned. + +"Nothing on earth. Oh, I don't say that if somebody had an axe handy +and chopped your arm off at the shoulder an instant after you were +struck on the hand, you mightn't have a chance to live; but it would +take mighty quick work, and even then, it would be nip and tuck. +Freylinghuisen thinks it is a new discovery. I don't. I think some +one has dug up one of the old Medici formulae. Maybe it was placed in +the secret drawer, so that there would never be any lack of +ammunition for the mechanism." + +"Godfrey," I said, "are you still bent on fooling with that thing?" + +"More than ever; I'm going to find that secret drawer. And if the +fangs strike--well, I'm ready for them. See here what I had made +today." + +He drew from his pocket something that looked like a steel gauntlet, +such as one sees on suits of old armour. He slipped it over his right +hand. + +"You see it covers the back of the hand completely," he said, "half +way down the first joint of the fingers. It is made of the toughest +steel and would turn a bullet. And do you see how it is depressed in +the middle, Lester?" + +"Yes," I said, "I was wondering why you had it made in that shape." + +"I want to get a sample of that poison. My theory is that when the +fangs strike the hand, the shock drives out a drop or two of the +poison. I don't want those drops to get away; I want them to roll +into this depression, and I shall very carefully bottle them. Think +what they are, Lester--the poison of the Medici!" + +I sat for a moment looking at him, half in amusement, half in sorrow. +It seemed a pity that his theory must come tumbling down, it was so +picturesque, and he was so interested and enthusiastic over it. And +it would make such a good story! He caught my glance, and put the +gauntlet back into his pocket. + +"Well, what is it?" he asked quietly. + +For answer, I got out the cablegram and passed it across to him. He +read it with brows contracted. + +"That seems to put a puncture in our little romance, doesn't it?" I +asked, at last. + +He nodded thoughtfully. + +"Yes, it does," and he read the message again, word by word. +"Armand's man hasn't called yet?" + +"No, I didn't get the message till about three o'clock. I suppose +he'll be around to-morrow." + +"You will have to turn the cabinet over to him, of course?" + +"Why, yes, it belongs to him. At least, it doesn't belong to +Vantine." + +He slipped the message into its envelope and handed it back to me. I +could see that he was perplexed and upset. + +"Well, in spite of this," he said finally, "I am still interested in +that cabinet, Lester, and I wish you would keep possession of it as +long as you can. At least, I wouldn't give it up until he delivered +to you the other cabinet which Vantine really bought." + +"Oh, I'll make him do that," I agreed quickly. "That will no doubt +take a few days--longer than that if Vantine's cabinet is in Paris." + +Godfrey raised a finger to the waiter, asked for the check, and paid +it. + +"And now let us go down and have a look at this one," he said, "as we +intended doing. You will think me foolish, Lester, but even that +cablegram hasn't shaken my belief in the existence of that secret +drawer." + +"And all the rest?" I asked. + +"Yes," he answered slowly, "and all the rest." He said nothing more +until we stopped before the Vantine house, but I could see, from his +puckered brows, how desperately he was trying to untangle this quirk +in the mystery. + +"The siege seems to have been lifted," I remarked, as we alighted. + +"The siege?" + +"Parks telephoned me that your esteemed contemporaries had the place +surrounded. I told him to hold the fort!" + +"Poor boys!" he commented, smiling. "To think that all they know is +what Grady is able to tell them!" Then he stopped before the house +and made a careful survey of it. + +"Which room is the cabinet in?" he asked. + +"The ante-room is there at the left where those two shuttered windows +are. The cabinet is in the corner room--there is one window on this +side and two on the other." + +"Wait till I take a look at them," he said, and, vaulting the low +railing, he walked quickly along the front of the house and around +the corner. He was gone only a minute. "They're all right," he said, +in a tone of relief. + +"Of course they're all right. You didn't suppose--" + +"If that cabinet contains what I thought it did, Lester--yes," he +added, a little savagely, as he saw my look, "and what I still think +it does--it wouldn't be safe in the strongest vault of the National +City Bank," and he motioned for me to ring the bell. + +I did so, in silence. + +Parks answered it almost instantly, and I could tell from the way his +face changed how glad he was to see me. + +"Well, Parks," I said, as we stepped inside, "everything is all +right, I hope?" + +"Yes, sir," he answered. "But--but it gets on the nerves a little, +sir." + +I heard a movement behind me, as I gave Parks my coat, and turned to +see Rogers sitting on the cot. + +"Hello," I said, "so you're able to be up, are you?" + +"Yes, sir," he answered, without looking at me. "I thought I'd come +down and keep Parks company." + +Parks smiled a little sheepishly. + +"I asked him to, Mr. Lester," he said. "I got so lonesome and jumpy +here by myself that I just had to have somebody to talk to. +Especially, after the burglar-alarm rang." + +"The burglar-alarm?" repeated Godfrey quickly. "What do you mean?" + +"We've got a burglar-alarm on the windows, sir. It's usually turned +off in the day-time, but I thought I'd better leave it on to-day, and +it rang about the middle of the afternoon. I thought at first that +one of the other servants had raised a window, but none of them had. +Something went wrong with it, I guess." + +"Did you take a look at the windows?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir; a policeman came to see what was the matter and we went +around and examined the windows, but they were all locked. It made me +feel kind of scary for a while." + +"Does the alarm work now?" + +"No, sir; the policeman said there must be a short circuit somewhere, +and that he'd notify the people who put it in; but nobody has come +around yet to fix it." + +"We'd better take a look at the windows, ourselves," said Godfrey. +"You stay here, Parks. We can find them, all right; and I don't want +you to leave that door unguarded for a single instant." + +We went from window to window, and Godfrey examined each of them with +a minuteness that astonished me, for I had no idea what he expected +to find. But we completed the circuit of the ground floor without his +apparently discovering anything out of the way. + +"Let's take a look at the basement," he said, and led the way +downstairs with a readiness which told me that he had been over the +house before. + +In the kitchen, we came upon the cook and housemaid sitting close +together and talking in frightened whispers. They watched us +apprehensively, and I stopped to reassure them, while Godfrey +proceeded with his search. Then I heard him calling me. + +I found him in a kind of lumber-room, standing before its single +small window, his electric torch in his hand. + +"Look there," he said, his voice quivering with excitement, and threw +a circle of light on the jamb of the window at the spot where the +upper and lower sashes met. + +"What is it?" I asked, after a moment. "I don't see anything wrong." + +"You don't? You don't see that this house was to be entered to-night? +Then what does this mean?" + +With his finger-nail, he turned up the end of a small insulated wire. +And then I saw that the wire had been cut. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BURNING EYES + + +For an instant, I did not grasp the full significance of that severed +wire. Then I understood. + +"Yes," said Godfrey drily, "that romance of mine is looking up again. +Somebody was preparing for a quiet invasion of the house to-night +--somebody, of course, interested in that cabinet." + +"He wasn't losing any time," I ventured. + +"He knew he hadn't any to lose. When you put those wooden shutters +up, you warned him that you suspected his game. He knew, if the alarm +was on, it would ring when he cut the wire, but he also knew that the +chances were a hundred to one against the cut being discovered, or +the alarm put in working order, before to-morrow." + +"Why can't we ambush him?" I suggested. + +"We might try, but it will be a mighty risky undertaking, Lester." + +"One risky undertaking is enough for to-night," I said, with a sigh, +for my belief in the existence of the secret drawer and the poison +and all the rest of it had come back with a rush. I felt almost +apologetic toward Godfrey for ever doubting him. "We'd better wait +and see if we survive the first one before we arrange for any more." + +"All right," Godfrey laughed. "But I'll fix this break." + +He got out his pen-knife, loosened two or three of the staples which +held the wire in place, drew it out, scraped back the insulation, and +twisted the ends tightly together. + +"There," he added, "that's done. If the invader tampers with the +window again, he will set off the alarm. But I don't believe he'll +touch it. I fancy he already knows his little game is discovered." + +"How would he know it?" I demanded, incredulously. + +"If he is keeping an eye on this window, as he naturally would do, he +has seen my light. Perhaps he is watching us now." + +I glanced at the dark square of the window with a little shiver. This +business was getting on my nerves again. But Godfrey turned away with +a shrug of the shoulders. + +"Now for the cabinet," he said, and led the way back upstairs. + +Rogers was still sitting dejectedly on the cot, and, looking at him +more closely, I could see that he was white and shaken. His trouble, +whatever its nature, plainly lay heavy on his mind. + +"Have you anything to tell us, this evening, Rogers?" I asked, +kindly, but he only shook his head. + +"I've told you everything I know, sir," he answered, in a low voice. + +"I'm not going to worry you, Rogers," I went on, "but I want you to +think it over. You can rely upon me to help you, if I can." + +He looked up quickly, but caught himself, and turned his eyes away. + +"Thank you, sir," was all he said. + +"And now," I added, briskly, "I'll have to ask you to get up. Move +the cot away from the door, Parks." + +Parks obeyed me with astonished face. + +"You're not going in there, sir!" he protested, as I turned the knob. + +"Yes, we are," I said, and opened the door. "Is--is...." + +"No, sir," broke in Parks, understanding. "The undertakers brought +the coffin and put him in it and moved him over to the drawing-room +this afternoon, sir." + +"I'm glad of that. I want all the lights lit, Parks, just as they +were last night." + +Parks reached inside the door and switched on the electrics. Then he +went away, came back in a moment with a taper, and proceeded to light +the gas-lights. A moment later, the lights in the inner room were +also blazing. + +"There you are, sir," said Parks, and retreated to the door. "Will +you need me?" + +"Not now. But wait in the hall outside. We may need you." I had a +notion to tell him to have an axe handy, but I saw Godfrey smiling. + +"Very good, sir," said Parks, evidently relieved, and went out and +closed the door. + +I led the way into the inner room. + +"Well, there it is," I said, and nodded toward the Boule cabinet, +standing in the full glare of the light, every inlay and incrustation +glittering like the eyes of a basilisk. "It isn't too late to give it +up, Godfrey." + +"Oh, yes, it is," he said, coolly, removing his coat "It was too late +the moment you told me that story. Why, Lester, if I gave it up, I +should never sleep again!" + +"And if you don't, you may never wake again," I pointed out. + +He laughed lightly. + +"What a dismal prophet you are! Draw up a chair and watch me." + +He pulled back his shirt-sleeves, and placed his electric torch on +the floor beside the cabinet. Then he paused with folded arms to +contemplate this masterpiece of M. Boule. + +"It _is_ a beauty," he said, at last, and then drew out the little +drawers, one after another, looked them over, and placed them +carefully on a chair. "Now," he added, "let us see if there is any +space that isn't accounted for." + +He took from his pocket a folding rule of ivory, opened it, and began +a series of measurements so searching and intricate that half an hour +passed without a word being spoken. Then he pulled up another chair, +and sat down beside me. + +"I seem to be pretty much up against it," he said, "no doubt just as +the designer of the cabinet would wish me to be. The whole bottom of +the desk is inclosed, and those three little drawers take up only a +small part of the space. Then the back of the cabinet seems to be +double--at least, there's a space of three inches I can't account +for. So there's room for a dozen secret drawers, if the Montespan +required so many. And now to find the combination." + +He adjusted the steel gauntlet carefully to his right hand and sat +down on the floor before the cabinet. + +"I'll begin at the bottom," he said. "If there is any spot I miss, +tell me of it." + +He ran his fingers up and down the graceful legs, carefully feeling +every inequality of the elaborate bronze ornamentation. Particularly +did his fingers linger on every boss and point, striving to push it +in or move it up or down; but they were all immovable. Then he +examined the bottom of the table minutely, using his torch to +illumine every crevice; but again without result. + +Another half hour passed so, and when at last he came out from under +the table, his face was dripping with sweat. + +"It's trying work," he said, sitting down again and mopping his face. +"But isn't it a beauty, Lester? The more I look at it, the more +wonderful it seems." + +"I told Philip Vantine I wasn't up to it, and I'm not," I said. + +"Nor I, but I can appreciate it to the extent of my capacity. It's +the Louis Fourteenth ideal of beauty--splendour carried to the nth +degree. Look at the arabesques along the front--can you imagine +anything more graceful? And the engraving--nothing cut-and-dried +about that. It was done by a burin in the hands of a master--perhaps +by Boule himself. I don't wonder Vantine was rather mad about it. But +we haven't found that drawer yet," and he drew his chair close to the +cabinet. + +"I'd point out one thing to you, Godfrey," I said: "if you go on +poking about with the fingers of both hands, as you've been doing, +you are just as apt to get struck on the left hand as on the right." + +"That's true," he agreed. "Stop me if I forget." + +There were three little drawers in the front of the table, and these +Godfrey had removed. He inserted his hand into the space from which +he had taken them, and examined it carefully. Then, inch by inch, he +ran his fingers over the bosses and arabesques with which the sides +and top of the table were incrusted. It seemed to me that, if the +secret drawer were anywhere, it must be somewhere in this part of the +cabinet, and I watched him with breathless interest. Once I thought +he had found the drawer, for a piece of inlay at the side of the +table seemed to give a little under the pressure of his fingers; but +no hidden spring was touched; no drawer sprang open; no poisoned +fangs descended. + +"Well," said Godfrey, sitting back in his chair at last, and wiping +his face again, "there's so much done. If there is any secret drawer +in the lower part of the cabinet, it is mighty cleverly concealed. +Now we'll try the upper part." + +The upper part of the cabinet consisted of a series of drawers, +rising one above the other, and terminated by a triangular pediment, +its tympanum ornamented with some beautiful little bronzes. The +drawers themselves were concealed by two doors, opening in the +centre, and covered with a most intricate design of arabesqued +incrustations. + +"If there is a secret drawer here," said Godfrey, "it is somewhere in +the back, where there seems to be a hollow space. But to discover the +combination...." + +He ran his fingers over the inlay, and then, struck by a sudden +thought, tested each of the little figures along the tympanum, but +they were all set solidly in place. + +"There's one thing sure," he said, "the combination, whatever it is, +is of such a nature that it could not be discovered accidentally--by +a person leaning on the cabinet, for instance. It isn't a question of +merely touching a spring; it is probably a question of releasing a +series of levers, which must be worked in a certain order, or the +drawer won't open. I'm afraid we are up against it." + +"I can't pretend I'm sorry," I said, with a sigh of relief. "As far +as I am concerned, I'm perfectly willing that the drawer should go +undiscovered." + +"Well, I am not!" retorted Godfrey, curtly, and he sat regarding the +cabinet with puckered brows. Then he rose and began tapping at the +back. + +I don't know what it was--for I was conscious of no noise--but some +mysterious attraction drew my eyes to the window at the farther side +of the room. Near the top of the wooden shutter, which Parks and I +had put in place, was a small semi-circular opening, to allow the +passage of a little light, perhaps, and peering through this opening +were two eyes--two burning eyes.... + +They were fixed upon Godfrey with such feverish intentness that they +did not see my glance, and I lowered my head instantly. + +"Godfrey," I said, in a shaking voice, "don't look up; don't move +your head; but there is some one peering through the hole in the +shutter opposite us." + +Godfrey did not answer for quite a minute, but kept calmly on with +his examination of the cabinet. + +"Did he see you look at him?" he asked, at last. + +"No, he was looking at you, with his eyes almost starting out of his +head. I never saw such eyes!" + +"Did you see anything of his face?" + +"No, the hole is too small. I fancy I saw the fingers of one hand, +which he had thrust through to steady himself." + +"How high is the hole?" + +"Near the top of the window." + +Godfrey came back to his chair a moment later, sat down in it, and +passed his handkerchief slowly over his face. Then he leaned forward, +apparently to examine the legs of the cabinet. + +"I saw him," he said. "Or, rather, I saw his eyes. Rather fierce, +aren't they?" + +"They're a tiger's eyes," I said, with conviction. + +"Well, there is no use going ahead with this while he is out there. +Even if we found the drawer, we'd both be dead an instant later." + +"You mean he'd kill us?" + +"He would shoot us instantly. Imagine what a sensation that would +make, Lester. Parks hears two pistol shots, rushes in and finds us +lying here dead. Grady would have a convulsion--and we should both +be famous for a few days." + +"I'll seek fame in some other way," I said drily. "What are you going +to do about it?" + +"We've got to try to capture him; and if we do--well, we shall have +the fame all right! But it's a good deal like trying to pick up a +scorpion--we're pretty sure to get hurt. If that fellow out there is +who I think he is, he's about the most dangerous man on earth." + +He went on tapping the surface of the cabinet. As for me, I would +have given anything for another look at those gleaming eyes. They +seemed to be burning into me; hot flashes were shooting up and down +my back. + +"Why can't I go out as though I were going after something," I +suggested. "Then Parks and I could charge around the corner and get +him." + +"You wouldn't get him, he'd get you. You wouldn't have a chance on +earth. If there is a window upstairs over that one, you might drop +something out on him, or borrow Parks's pistol and shoot him--" + +"That would be pretty cowardly, wouldn't it?" I suggested, mildly. + +"My dear Lester," Godfrey protested, "when you attack a poisonous +snake, you don't do it with bare hands, do you?" + +I couldn't help it--I glanced again at the window.... + +"He's gone!" I cried. + +Godfrey was at the window in two steps. + +"Look at that!" he said, "and then tell me he isn't a genius!" + +I followed the direction of his pointing finger and saw that, just +opposite the opening in the shutter, a little hole had been cut in +the window-pane. + +"That fellow foresees everything," said Godfrey, with enthusiasm. "He +probably cut that hole as soon as it was dark. He must have guessed +we were going to examine the cabinet to-night--and he wanted not only +to see, but to hear. He heard everything we said, Lester!" + +"Let's go after him!" I cried, and, without waiting for an answer, I +sprang across the ante-room and snatched open the door which led into +the hall. + +Parks and Rogers were sitting on the couch just outside and I never +saw two men more thoroughly frightened. + +"For God's sake, Mr. Lester!" gasped Rogers, and stopped, his hand at +his throat. + +"Is it Mr. Godfrey?" cried Parks. + +"There's a man outside. Got your pistol, Parks?" + +"Yes, sir," and he took it from his pocket. + +I snatched it from him, opened the front door, leaped the railing, +and stole along the house to the corner. + +Then, taking my courage in both hands, I charged around it. + +There was no one in sight; but from somewhere near at hand came a +burst of mocking laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GODFREY IS FRIGHTENED + + +I was still staring about me, that mocking laughter in my ears, when +Godfrey joined me. + +"He got away, of course," he said coolly. + +"Yes, and I heard him laugh!" I cried. + +Godfrey looked at me quickly. + +"Come, Lester," he said, soothingly, "don't let your nerves run away +with you." + +"It wasn't my nerves," I protested, a little hotly. "I heard it quite +plainly. He can't be far away." + +"Too far for us to catch him," Godfrey retorted, and, torch in hand, +proceeded to examine the window-sill and the ground beneath it. +"There is where he stood," he added, and the marks on the sill were +evident enough. "Of course he had his line of retreat blocked out," +and he flashed his torch back and forth across the grass, but the +turf was so close that no trace of footsteps was visible. + +We went slowly back to the house, and Godfrey sat down again to a +contemplation of the cabinet. + +"It's too much for me," he said, at last. "The only way I can find +that drawer, I'm afraid, is with an axe. But I don't want to smash +the thing to pieces--" + +"I should say not! It would be like smashing the Venus de Milo." + +"Hardly so bad as that. But we won't smash it yet awhile. I'm going +to look up the subject of secret drawers--perhaps I'll stumble upon +something that will help me." + +"And then, of course," I said, disconsolately, "it is quite possible +that there isn't any such drawer at all." + +But Godfrey shook his head decidedly. + +"I don't agree with you there, Lester. I'll wager that fellow who was +looking in at us could find it in a minute." + +"He seemed mighty frightened lest you should." + +"He had reason to be," Godfrey rejoined grimly. "I'll have another +try at it to-morrow. One thing we've got to take care of, and that is +that our friend of the burning eyes doesn't get a chance at it +first." + +"Those shutters are pretty strong," I pointed out. "And Parks is no +fool." + +"Yes," agreed Godfrey, "the shutters are pretty strong--they might +keep him out for ten minutes--scarcely longer than that. As for +Parks, he wouldn't last ten seconds. You don't seem to understand the +extraordinary character of this fellow." + +"During your period of exaltation last night," I reminded him, "you +referred to him as the greatest criminal of modern times." + +"Well," smiled Godfrey, "perhaps that _was_ a little exaggerated. +Suppose we say one of the greatest--great enough, surely, to walk all +around us, if we aren't on guard. I think I would better drop a word +to Simmonds and get him to send down a couple of men to watch the +house. With them outside, and Parks on the inside, it ought to be +fairly safe." + +"I should think so!" I said. "One would imagine you were getting +ready to repel an army. Who is this fellow, anyway, Godfrey? You seem +to be half afraid of him!" + +"I'm wholly afraid of him, if he's who I think he is--but it's a mere +guess as yet, Lester. Wait a day or two. I'll call up Simmonds." + +He went to the 'phone, while I sat down again and looked at the +cabinet in a kind of stupefaction. What was the intrigue, of which it +seemed to be the centre? Who was this man, that Godfrey should +consider him so formidable? Why should he have chosen Philip Vantine +for a victim? + +Godfrey came back while I was still groping blindly amid this maze of +mystery. + +"It's all right," he said. "Simmonds is sending two of his best men +to watch the house." He stood for a moment gazing down at the +cabinet. "I'm coming back to-morrow to have another try at it," he +added. "I have left the gauntlet there on the chair, so if you feel +like having a try yourself, Lester...." + +"Heaven forbid!" I protested. "But perhaps I would better tell Parks +to let you in. I hope I won't find you a corpse here, Godfrey!" + +"So do I! But I don't believe you will. Yes, tell Parks to let me in +whenever I come around. And now about Rogers." + +"What about him?" + +"I rather thought I might want to grill him to-night. But perhaps I +would better wait till I get a little more to go on." He paused for a +moment's thought. "Yes; I'll wait," he said, finally. "I don't want +to run any risk of failing." + +We went out into the hall together, and I told Parks to admit +Godfrey, whenever he wished to enter. Rogers was still sitting on the +cot, looking so crushed and sorrowful that I could not help pitying +him. I began to think that, if he were left to himself a day or two +longer, he would tell all we wished to know without any grilling. + +I confided this idea to Godfrey as we went down the front steps. + +"Perhaps you're right," he agreed. "I don't believe the fellow is +really crooked. Something has happened to him--something in +connection with that woman--and he has never got over it. Well, we +shall have to find out what it was. Hello, here are Simmonds's men," +he added, as two policemen stopped before the house. + +"Is this Mr. Godfrey?" one of them asked. + +"Yes," said Godfrey. + +"Mr. Simmonds told us to report to you, sir, if you were here." + +"What we want you to do," said Godfrey, "is to watch the house--watch +it from all sides--patrol clear around it, and see that no one +approaches it." + +"Very well, sir," and the men touched their helmets, and one of them +went around to the back of the house, while the other remained in +front. + +"Perhaps if they concealed themselves," I suggested, "the fellow +might venture back and be nabbed." + +But Godfrey shook his head. + +"I don't want him to venture back," he said. "I want to scare him +off. I want him to see we're thoroughly on guard." He hailed a +passing cab, and paused with one foot on the step. "I've already told +you, Lester," he added, over his shoulder, "that I'm afraid of him. +Perhaps you thought I was joking, but I wasn't. I was never more +serious in my life. The _Record_ office," he added to the cabby, and +jingled away, leaving me staring after him. + +As I turned homeward, I could not but ponder over this remarkable and +mysterious being with whom Godfrey was so impressed. Never before had +I known him to hesitate to match himself with any adversary; but now, +it seemed to me, he shunned the contest, or at least feared it +--feared that he might be outwitted and outplayed! How great a +compliment that was to the mysterious unknown only I could guess! + +And then I shivered a little as I recalled that mocking and ironic +laughter. And I quickened my step, with a glance over my shoulder; +for if Godfrey was afraid, how much more reason had I to be! It was +with a sense of relief, of which I was a little ashamed, that I +reached my apartment at the Marathon and locked the door. + +Just before I turned in for the night, I heard from Godfrey again, +for my telephone rang, and it was his voice that answered. + +"I just wanted to tell you, Lester," he said, "that your guess was +right. The mysterious Frenchman came over on _La Touraine_, landing +at noon yesterday. He came in the steerage, and the stewards know +nothing about him. What time was it he got to Vantine's?" + +"About two, I should say." + +"So he probably went directly there from the boat, as you thought. +That accounts for nobody knowing him. The steamship company is +holding a bag belonging to him. I'll get them to open it to-morrow, +and perhaps we shall find out who he was." + +"But, Godfrey," I broke in, "how about this other fellow--the man +with the burning eyes? He's getting on my nerves!" + +"Don't let him do that, Lester!" he laughed. "We're in no danger so +long as we are not around that cabinet! That's the storm centre! I +can't tell you more than that. Good-night!" and he hung up without +waiting for me to answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DISTINGUISHED CALLER + + +It was shortly after I reached the office, next morning, that the +office-boy came in and handed me a card with an awed and reverent air +so at variance with his usual demeanour that I glanced at the square +of pasteboard in some astonishment. Then, I confess, an awed and +reverent feeling crept over me, also, for the card bore the name of +Sereno Hornblower. + +That name is quite unknown outside the legal profession of the three +great cities of the east, New York, Boston and Philadelphia; for +Sereno Hornblower has never held a public office, has never made a +public speech, has never responded to a toast, has never served on a +public committee, has never, so far as I know, conducted a case in +court or addressed a jury--has never, in a word, figured in the +newspapers in any way; and yet his income would make that of any +other lawyer in the country look like thirty cents. + +For Sereno Hornblower is the confidential attorney of most of our +"best families." He has held that position for years, and it is said +that no case placed unreservedly in his hands ever resulted in a +public scandal. He accepts clients with great care; he has +steadfastly refused the business of Pittsburgh millionaires, +remunerative as it was certain to be; but he seems to take a sort of +personal pride in keeping intact the reputations of the old families, +even when their scions embark in the most outrageous escapades. If +you are descended from the Pilgrims or the Patroons, Mr. Hornblower +will ask no further recommendation. + +His reputation for tact and delicacy is tremendous; and yet those who +have found themselves opposed to him have never been long in +realising that there was a most redoubtable mailed fist under the +velvet glove. Altogether a remarkable man, whose memoirs would make +absorbing reading, could he be persuaded to write them--which is +quite beyond the bounds of possibility. I had never met him either +professionally or personally, and it was with some eagerness that I +told the office-boy to show him in at once. + +Sereno Hornblower did not look the part. His reputation led one to +expect a sort of cross between Uriah Heep and Sherlock Holmes, but +there was nothing secretive or insinuating about his appearance. He +was a bluff and hearty man of middle age, rather heavy-set, +fresh-faced and clean-shaven, and with very bright blue eyes--evidently +a man with a good digestion and a comfortable conscience. Had I met him +on Broadway, I should have taken him for a ripe and finished +comedian. There was about him an air which somehow reminded me of +Joseph Jefferson--perhaps it was his bright blue eyes. It may have +been this very appearance of bluff sincerity and honest downrightness +which accounted for his success. + +We shook hands, and he sat down and plunged at once, without an +instant's hesitation, into the business which had brought him. +Looking back at it, understanding as I do now the delicate nature of +that business, I admire more and more that bluff readiness; though +the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that he had thought +out definitely beforehand precisely what he was going to say. The man +who can carry through a carefully premeditated scene with an air of +complete unpremeditation has an immense advantage. + +"Mr. Lester," he began, "I understand that you are the administrator +of the estate of the late Philip Vantine?" + +"Our firm is," I corrected. + +"But you, personally, have been attending to his business?" + +"Yes." + +"He was a collector of old furniture, I believe?" + +"Yes." + +"And on his last trip to Europe, from which he returned only a few +days ago, he purchased of Armand & Son, of Paris, a Boule cabinet?" + +I could not repress a start of astonishment. + +"Are you acting for Armand & Son?" I queried. + +"Not at all. I am acting for a lady whom, for the present, we will +call Madame X." + +The thought flashed through my mind that Madame X. and the mysterious +Frenchwoman might be one and the same person. Then I put aside the +idea as absurd. Sereno Hornblower would never accept such a client. + +"Mr. Vantine did buy such a cabinet," I said. + +"And it is in your possession?" + +"There is at his residence a Boule cabinet which was shipped him from +Paris, but, only a few hours before his death, Mr. Vantine assured me +that it was not the one he had purchased." + +"You mean that a mistake had been made in the shipment?" + +"That is what we supposed, and a cablegram from Armand & Son has +since confirmed it." + +Mr. Hornblower pondered this for a moment. + +"Where is the cabinet which Mr. Vantine did buy?" he asked at last. + +"I have no idea. Perhaps it is still in Paris. But I am expecting a +representative of the Armands to call very soon to straighten things +out." + +Again my companion fell silent, and sat rubbing his chin absently. + +"It is very strange," he said, finally. "If the cabinet was still at +Paris, one would think it would have been discovered before my client +made inquiry about it." + +"There are a good many things which are strange about this whole +matter," I supplemented. + +"Would you have any objection to my client seeing this cabinet, Mr. +Lester?" + +It was my turn to hesitate. + +"Mr. Hornblower," I said, finally, "I will be frank with you. There +is a certain mystery surrounding this cabinet which we have not been +able to solve. I suppose you have read of the mysterious deaths of +Mr. Vantine and of an unknown Frenchman, both in the same room at the +Vantine house, and both apparently from the same cause?" + +He nodded. + +"Do you mean that this cabinet is connected with them in any way?" he +asked quickly. + +"We believe so; though as yet we have been able to prove absolutely +nothing. But we are guarding the cabinet very closely. I should not +object to your client seeing it, but I could not permit her to touch +it--not, at least, without knowing why she wished to do so. You will +remember that you have told me nothing of why she is interested in +it." + +"I am quite ready to tell you the story, Mr. Lester," he said. "It is +only fair that I should do so. After you have heard it, if you agree, +we will take Madame X. to see the cabinet." + +"Very well," I assented. + +He settled back in his chair, and his face became more grave. + +"My client," he began, "is a member of a prominent American family--a +most prominent family. Three years ago, she married a French +nobleman. You can, perhaps, guess her name, but I should prefer that +neither of us utter it." + +I nodded my agreement. + +"This nobleman has been both prodigal and unfaithful. He has +scattered my client's fortune with both hands. He has flaunted his +mistresses in her face. He has even tried to compel her to receive +one of them. I am free to confess that I consider her a fool not to +have left him long ago. At last her trustees interfered, for her +father had been wise enough to place a portion of her fortune in +trust. They paid her husband's debts, placed him on an allowance, and +notified his creditors that his debts would not be paid again." + +I had by this time, of course, guessed the name of his client, since +these details had long been a matter of public notoriety, and, I need +hardly say, listened to the story with a heightened interest. + +"The allowance is a princely one," Mr. Hornblower continued, "but it +does not suffice Monsieur X. No allowance would suffice him--the more +money he had, the more ways he would find of spending it. So he has +become a thief. He has taken to selling the objects of art with which +his residences are filled, and which are really the property of my +client, since they were purchased with her money. About two weeks +ago, my client returned to Paris from a stay at her château in +Normandy to find that he had almost denuded the town house. +Tapestries, pictures, sculptures--everything had been sold. Among +other things which he had taken was a Boule cabinet, which had been +used by my client as her private writing-desk. The cabinet was a most +valuable one; but it is not its monetary value which makes my client +so anxious to recover it." + +He paused an instant and cleared his throat, and I realised that he +was coming to the really delicate part of the story. + +"Monsieur X. had had the decency," he went on, more slowly, "to, as +he thought, retain his wife's private papers. He had caused the +contents of the various drawers to be dumped out upon a chair. But +there was one drawer of which he knew nothing--a secret drawer, known +only to my client. That drawer contained a packet of letters which my +client is most anxious to regain. Of their nature, I will say +nothing--indeed, I know very little about them, for, after all, that +is none of my business. But she has given me to understand that their +recovery is essential to her peace of mind." + +I nodded again; there was really no need that he should say more. +Only, I reflected, a faithless husband has no reason to complain if +his wife repays him in the same coin! + +"My client went to work at once to regain the cabinet," continued Mr. +Hornblower, plainly relieved that the thinnest ice had been crossed. +"She found that it had been sold to Armand & Son. Hastening to their +offices, she learned that it had been resold by them to Mr. Vantine +and sent forward to him here. So she came over on the first boat, +ostensibly to visit her family, but really to ask Mr. Vantine's +permission to open the drawer and take out the letters. His death +interfered with this, and, in despair, she came to me. I need hardly +add, that no member of her family knows anything about this matter, +and it is especially important that her husband should never even +suspect it. On her behalf, I apply to you, as Mr. Vantine's executor, +to restore these letters to their owner." + +I sat for a moment turning this extraordinary story over in my mind, +and trying to make it fit in with the occurrences of the past two +days. But it would not fit--at least, it would not fit with my theory +as to the cause of those occurrences. For, surely, Madame X. would +scarcely guard the secret of that drawer with poison! + +"Does any one besides your client know of the existence of these +letters?" I asked, at last. + +"I think not," answered Mr. Hornblower, smiling drily. "They are not +of a nature which my client would care to communicate to any one. In +fact, Mr. Lester, as you have doubtless suspected, they are +compromising letters. We must get them back at any cost." + +"As a matter of fact," I pointed out, "there are always at least two +people who know of the existence of every letter--the person who +writes it and the person who receives it." + +"I had thought of that, but the person who wrote these letters is +dead." + +"Dead?" I repeated. + +"He was killed in a duel some months ago," explained Mr. Hornblower, +gravely. + +"By Monsieur X.?" I asked quickly. + +"By Monsieur X.," said Mr. Hornblower, and sat regarding me, his lips +pursed, as an indication, perhaps, that he would say no more. + +But there was no necessity that he should. I knew enough of French +law and of French habits of thought to realise that if those letters +ever came into possession of Monsieur X., the game would be entirely +in his hands. His wife would be absolutely at his mercy. And the +thought flashed through my mind that perhaps in some way he had +learned of the existence of the letters, and was trying desperately +to get them. That thought was enough to swing the balance in his +wife's favour. + +"I am sure," I said, "that Mr. Vantine would instantly have consented +to your client opening the drawer and taking out the letters. And, as +his executor, I also consent, for, whoever may own the cabinet, the +letters are the property of Madame X. All this providing, of course, +that this should prove to be the right cabinet. But I must warn you, +Mr. Hornblower, that I believe two men have already been killed +trying to open that drawer," and I told him, while he sat there +staring in profound amazement, of my theory in regard to the death of +Philip Vantine and of the unknown Frenchman. "I am inclined to +think," I concluded, "that Vantine blundered upon the drawer while +examining the cabinet; but there is no doubt that the other man knew +of the drawer, and also, presumably, of its contents." + +"Well!" exclaimed my companion. "I have listened to many astonishing +stories in my life, but never one to equal this. And you know nothing +of this Frenchman?" + +"Nothing except that he came from Havre on _La Touraine_ last +Thursday, and drove from the dock direct to Vantine's house." + +"My client also came on _La Touraine_--but that, no doubt, was a mere +coincidence." + +"That may be," I agreed, "but it is scarcely a coincidence that both +he and your client were after the contents of that drawer." + +"You mean...." + +"I mean that the mysterious Frenchman may very possibly have been an +emissary of Monsieur X. Madame may have betrayed the secret to him in +an unguarded moment." + +Mr. Hornblower rose abruptly. He was evidently much disturbed. + +"You may be right," he agreed. "I will communicate with my client at +once. I take it that she has your permission to see the cabinet; and, +if it proves to be the right one, that she may open the drawer and +remove the letters." + +"If she cares to take the risk," I assented. + +"Very well; I will call you as soon as I have seen her," he said. "In +any event, I thank you for your courtesy," and he left the office. + +He must have driven straight to her family residence on the Avenue; +or perhaps she was awaiting him at his office; at any rate, he called +me up inside the half hour. + +"My client would like to see the cabinet at once," he said. "She is +in a very nervous condition; especially since she learned that some +one else has tried to open the drawer. When will it be convenient for +you to go with us?" + +"I can go at once," I said. + +"Then we will drive around for you. We should be there in fifteen or +twenty minutes." + +"Very well," I said, "I'll be ready. I shall, of course, want to take +a witness with me." + +"That is quite proper," assented Mr. Hornblower. "We can have no +objection to that. In twenty minutes, then." + +I got the _Record_ office as soon as I could, but Godfrey was not +there. He did not come on usually, some one said, until the middle of +the afternoon. I rang his rooms, but there was no reply. Finally I +called up the Vantine house. + +"Parks," I said, "I am bringing up some people to look at that +cabinet. It might be just as well to get that cot out of the way and +have all the lights going?" + +"The lights are already going, sir," he said. + +"Already going? What do you mean?" + +"Mr. Godfrey has been here for quite a while, sir, fooling with that +cabinet thing." + +"He has!" and then I reflected that I ought to have guessed his +whereabouts. "Tell him, Parks, that I am bringing some people up to +see the cabinet, and that I should like him to stay there and be a +witness of the proceedings." + +"Very well, sir," assented Parks. + +"Everything quiet?" + +"Oh, yes, sir; there was two policemen outside all night, and Rogers +and me inside." + +"Mr. Hornblower's carriage is below, sir," announced the office-boy, +opening the door. + +"All right," I said. "We are coming right up, Parks. Good-bye," and I +hung up and slipped into my coat. + +Then, as I took down my hat, a sudden thought struck me. + +If the unknown Frenchman was indeed an emissary of Monsieur X., +Madame might be acquainted with him. It was a long shot, but worth +trying! I stepped to my desk, took out the photograph which Godfrey +had given me, and slipped it into my pocket. Then I hurried out to +the elevator. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VEILED LADY + + +There were three persons in the carriage. Mr. Hornblower sat with his +back to the horses, and two women were on the opposite seat. Both +were dressed in black and heavily veiled, but there was about them +the indefinable distinction of mistress and maid. It would be +difficult to tell precisely in what the distinction consisted, but it +was there. Mr. Hornblower glanced behind me as I entered. + +"You spoke of a witness," he said. + +"He is at the Vantine house," I explained, and sat down beside him. + +"This is Mr. Lester," he said, and the veiled lady opposite him, whom +I had known at once to be the mistress, inclined her head a little. + +Those were the only words spoken. The carriage rolled out to Broadway +and then turned northward, making such progress as was possible along +that crowded thoroughfare. I glanced from time to time at the women +opposite, and was struck by the contrast in their behaviour. One sat +quite still, her hands in her lap, her head bent, admirably +self-contained; the other was restless and uneasy, unable to control +a nervous twitching of the fingers. I wondered why the maid should +seem more upset than her mistress, and decided finally that her +uneasiness was merely lack of breeding. But the contrast interested +me. + +At Tenth Street, the carriage turned westward again, skirted +Washington Square, turned into the Avenue, and stopped before the +Vantine house. Mr. Hornblower assisted the women to alight, and I led +the way up the steps. But as we reached the top and came upon the +funeral wreath on the door, the veiled lady stopped with a little +exclamation. + +"I did not know," she said, quickly. "Perhaps, after all, we would +better wait. I did not realise...." + +"There are no relatives to be hurt, madame," I interrupted. "As for +the dead man, what can it matter to him?" and I rang the bell. + +Parks opened the door, and, nodding to him, I led the way along the +hall and into the ante-room. Godfrey was awaiting us there, and I saw +the flame of interest which leaped into his eyes, as Mr. Hornblower +and the two veiled women entered. + +"This is my witness," I said to the former. "Mr. Godfrey--Mr. +Hornblower." + +Godfrey bowed, and Hornblower regarded him with a good-humoured +smile. + +"If I were not sure of Mr. Godfrey's discretion," he said, "I should +object. But I have tested it before this, and know that it can be +relied upon." + +"There is only one person to whom I yield precedence in the matter of +discretion," rejoined Godfrey, smiling back at him, "and that is Mr. +Hornblower. He is in a class quite by himself." + +"Thank you," said the lawyer, and bowed gravely. + +During this interchange of compliments, the woman I had decided was +the maid had sat down, as though her legs were unable to sustain her, +and was nervously clasping and unclasping her hands; even her +mistress showed signs of impatience. + +"The cabinet is in here," I said, and led the way into the inner +room, the two men and the veiled lady at my heels. + +It stood in the middle of the floor, just as it had stood since the +night of the tragedy, and all the lights were going. As I entered, I +noticed Godfrey's gauntlet lying on a chair. + +"Is it the right one, madame?" I asked. + +She gazed at it a moment, her hands pressed against her breast. + +"Yes!" she answered, with a gasp that was almost a sob. + +I confess I was astonished. I had never thought it could be the right +one; even now I did not see how it could possibly be the right one. + +"You are sure?" I queried incredulously. + +"Do you think I could be mistaken in such a matter, sir? I assure you +that this cabinet at one time belonged to me. You permit me?" she +added, and took a step toward it. + +"One moment, madame," I interposed. "I must warn you that in touching +that cabinet you are running a great risk." + +"A great risk?" she echoed, looking at me. + +"A very great risk, as I have pointed out to Mr. Hornblower. I have +reason to believe that two men met death while trying to open that +secret drawer." + +"I believe Mr. Hornblower did tell me something of the sort," she +murmured; "but of course that is all a mistake." + +"Then the drawer is not guarded by poison?" I questioned. + +"By poison?" she repeated blankly, and carried her handkerchief to +her lips. "I do not understand." + +I knew that my theory was collapsing, utterly, hopelessly. I dared +not look at Godfrey. + +"Is there not, connected with the drawer," I asked, "a mechanism +which, as the drawer is opened, plunges two poisoned fangs into the +hand which opens it?" + +"No, Mr. Lester," she answered, astonishment in her voice, "I assure +you there is no such mechanism." + +I clutched at a last straw, and a sorry one it was! + +"The mechanism may have been placed there since the cabinet passed +from your possession," I suggested. + +"That is, perhaps, possible," she agreed, though I saw that she was +unconvinced. + +"At any rate, madame," I said, "I would ask that, in opening the +drawer, you wear this gauntlet," and I picked up Godfrey's gauntlet +from the chair on which it lay. "It is needless that you should take +any risk, however slight. Permit me," and I slipped the gauntlet over +her right hand. + +As I did so, I glanced at Godfrey. He was staring at the veiled lady +with such a look of stupefaction that I nearly choked with delight. +It had not often been my luck to see Jim Godfrey mystified, but he +was certainly mystified now! + +The veiled lady regarded the steel glove with a little laugh. + +"I am now free to open the drawer?" she asked. + +"Yes, madame." + +She moved toward the cabinet, Godfrey and I close behind her. At last +the secret which had defied us was to be revealed. And with its +revelation would come the end of the picturesque and romantic theory +we had been building up so laboriously. + +Instinctively, I glanced toward the shuttered window, but the +semi-circle of light was unobscured. + +The veiled lady bent above the table and disposed the fingers of her +right hand to fit the metal inlay midway of the left side. + +"It is a little awkward," she said. "I have always been accustomed to +using the left hand. You will notice that I am pressing on three +points; but to open the drawer, one must press these points in a +certain order--- first this one, then this one, and then this one." + +There was a sharp click, and, at the side of the table, a piece of +the metal inlay fell forward. + +"That is the handle," said the veiled lady, and, without an instant's +hesitation, while my heart stood still, she grasped it and drew out a +shallow drawer. "Ah!" and, casting aside the ridiculous gauntlet, she +caught up the packet of papers which lay within. Then, with an +effort, she controlled herself, slipped off the ribbon which held the +packet together, and spread out before my eyes ten or twelve +envelopes. "You will see that they are only letters, Mr. Lester," she +said in a low voice, "and I assure you that they belong to me." + +"I believe you, madame," I said, and with a sigh of relief that was +almost a sob, she rebound the packet and slipped it into the bosom of +her gown. "There is one thing," I added, "which madame can, perhaps, +do for me." + +"I shall be most happy!" she breathed. + +"As I have told Mr. Hornblower," I continued, "two men died in this +room the day before yesterday. Or, rather, it was in the room beyond +that they died; but we believed it was here they received the wounds +which caused death. It seems that we were wrong in this." + +"Undoubtedly," she agreed. "There has never been any such weird +mechanism as you described connected with that drawer, Mr. Lester. At +least, not since I have had it. There is a legend, you know, that the +cabinet was made for Madame de Montespan." + +She was talking more freely now; evidently a great load had been +lifted from her--perhaps I did not guess how great! + +"Mr. Vantine suspected as much," I said. "He was a connoisseur of +furniture, and there was something about this cabinet which told him +it had belonged to the Montespan. He was examining it at the time he +died. What the other man was doing, we do not know, but if we could +identify him, it might help us." + +"You have not identified him?" + +"We know nothing whatever about him, except that he was presumably a +Frenchman, and that he arrived on _La Touraine_, two days ago." + +"That is the boat upon which I came over." + +"It has occurred to me, madame, that you may have seen him--that he +may even be known to you." + +"What was his name?" + +"The card he sent in to Mr. Vantine bore the name of Théophile +d'Aurelle." + +She shook her head. + +"I have never before heard that name, Mr. Lester." + +"We believe it to have been an assumed name," I said; "but perhaps +you will recognise this photograph," and I drew it from my pocket and +handed it to her. + +She took it, looked at it, and again shook her head. Then she looked +at it again, turning aside and raising her veil in order to see it +better. + +"There seems to be something familiar about the face," she said, at +last, "as though I might have seen the man somewhere." + +"On the boat, perhaps," I suggested, but I knew very well it was not +on the boat, since the man had crossed in the steerage. + +"No; it was not on the boat. I did not leave my stateroom on the +boat. But I am quite sure that I have seen him--and yet I can't say +where." + +"Perhaps," I said, in a low voice, "he may have been one of the +friends of your husband." + +I saw her hand tremble under the blow, but it had to be struck. And +she was brave. + +"The same thought occurred to me, Mr. Lester," she answered; "but I +know very few of my husband's friends; certainly not this one. And +yet.... Perhaps my maid can help us." + +Photograph in hand, she stepped through the doorway into the outer +room. The maid was sitting on the chair where we had left her; her +hands clenched tightly together in her lap, as though it was only by +some violent effort she could maintain her self-control. + +"Julie," said the veiled lady, in rapid French, "I have here the +photograph of a man who was killed in this room most mysteriously a +few days ago. These gentlemen wish to identify him. The face seems to +me somehow familiar, but I cannot place it. Look at it." + +Julie put forth a shaking hand, took the photograph, and glanced at +it; then, with a long sigh, slid limply to the floor, before either +Godfrey or I could catch her. + +As she fell, her veil, catching on the chair-back, was torn away; +and, looking down at her, a great emotion burst within me, for I +recognised the mysterious woman whose photograph d'Aurelle had +carried in his watch-case. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SECRET OF THE UNKNOWN FRENCHMAN + + +For a moment, I stood spell-bound, staring down at that jaded and +passion-stained countenance; then Godfrey sprang forward and lifted +the unconscious woman to the couch. + +"Bring some water," he said, and as he turned and looked at me, I saw +that his face was glowing with excitement. + +I rushed to the door and snatched it open. Rogers was standing in the +hall outside, and I sent him hurrying for the water, and turned back +into the room. + +Godfrey was chafing the girl's hands, and the veiled lady was bending +over her, fumbling at the hooks of her bodice. Evidently she could +not see them, for, with a sudden movement, she put back her veil. My +heart warmed to her at that act of sacrifice; and after a single +glance at her, I turned away my eyes. + +I saw Godfrey's start of recognition as he looked down at her; then +he, too, looked aside. + +"Here's the water, sir," said Rogers, and handed me glass and +pitcher. + +The next instant, his eyes fell upon the woman on the couch. He stood +staring, his face turning slowly purple; then, clutching at his +throat, he half-turned and fell, just as I had seen him do once +before. + +Hornblower, who was staring at the unconscious woman and mopping his +face feverishly, spun around at the crash. + +"Well, I'll be damned!" he said, in a hoarse voice, as he saw Rogers +extended on the floor at his feet. "What's the matter with this +house, anyway?" + +So great was the tension on my nerves that I could scarcely restrain +a shout of laughter. I turned it into a shout for Parks; but his +face, when he appeared on the threshold, was too much for me, and I +sank into a chair, laughing hysterically. + +"For God's sake!" Parks began.... + +"It's all right," Godfrey broke in, sharply, "Rogers has had another +fit. Get the ammonia!" + +Parks staggered away, and Mr. Hornblower sat down weakly. + +"I don't see the joke!" he growled, glaring at me, his face crimson. + +"Get a grip of yourself, Lester," said Godfrey, savagely, seized the +pitcher from my hand, and hurried with it to madame. + +I _did_ get a grip of myself, and when Parks came back a moment later +with the ammonia, was able to hold up Rogers's head, while Parks +applied the phial to his nostrils. + +"Give me a whiff of it, too, Parks," I said, unsteadily, and in an +instant my eyes were streaming; but I had escaped hysteria. +"Straighten Rogers out and let him lie there," I gasped, and sat +dizzily down upon the floor. But I dared not look at Hornblower. I +felt that another glance at his dazed countenance would send me off +again. + +Madame, meanwhile, had dashed some water into the face of the +unconscious Julie--much to the detriment of her complexion!--watched +her a moment, then stood erect and lowered her veil. + +"She will soon be all right again," she said; and, truly enough, at +the end of a few seconds, the girl opened her eyes and looked dazedly +about her. Then a violent trembling seized her. + +"What is it, Julie?" asked her mistress, taking her hand. "You knew +this man?" + +A hoarse sob was the only answer. + +"You must tell me," went on madame, quietly but firmly. "Perhaps a +crime has been committed. You must tell me everything. You may rely +upon the discretion of these gentlemen. You knew this man?" + +The girl nodded, and closed her eyes; but the hot tears brimmed from +them and ran down over her cheeks. + +"In Paris?" + +The girl nodded again. + +"He was your lover?" + +A third nod, and a fresh flood of tears. + +"I remember, now," said madame, suddenly. "I saw him with her once. +What was he doing in this house?" she went on, more sternly. "Tell +us!" + +"Madame will never forgive me!" sobbed the girl, and I began to think +that she was more concerned for herself than for her lover. The same +thought occurred to her mistress too, no doubt, for her voice +hardened. + +"Try me," she said. "Understand well, you must tell--if not here, +then before an officer of the police." + +"Oh, no, no!" screamed Julie, sitting suddenly erect. "Never that! I +could not bear that! Madame would not be so cruel!" + +"Then tell us now!" said the veiled lady, inexorably. + +"Very well, madame!" cried the girl, dabbing at her eyes with her +handkerchief, and speaking in a mixture of French and English which I +shall not attempt to transcribe. "I will tell; I will tell +everything. After all, I was not to blame. It was that creature. I +did not love him--but I feared him. He possessed a power over me. He +could make me do anything. He even beat me! And still I went back to +him!" + +"What was his name?" asked the veiled lady. + +"Georges Drouet--he lived in the Rue de la Huchette, just off the Rue +Saint Jacques--on the top floor, under the gutters. He was bad--bad; +--he lived off women. I met him six months ago. He knew how to +fascinate one; I thought he loved me. Then he began to borrow money +from me, until he had taken all that I had saved; then my rings +--every one!" She held up her hands to show their bareness. +"Then...." + +She stopped and glanced at her mistress. + +"Continue!" said the latter. "Tell what you have to tell." + +"I knew that madame also...." + +She stopped again. I walked over to the window and stood staring at +the wooden shutter, strangely moved. + +"Well, why not?" she demanded fiercely, and I felt that she was +addressing my turned back. "Why not? Shall a woman not be loved? +Shall a woman endure what madame endured...." + +"That will do, Julie," broke in the veiled lady, her voice cold as +ice. "Tell your story." + +"I knew of the secret drawer; I had seen madame open it; I knew what +it contained. But I was faithful to madame; I loved her; I was glad +that she had found some one.... Madame will remember her despair, her +horror, when she entered her room to find the cabinet gone, taken +away, sold by that.... I, too, was in despair--I desired with my +whole soul to help madame. That night I had a rendezvous with him," +and she nodded toward the photograph which lay upon the floor. "I +told him." + +Her mistress stood as though turned to stone. I could guess her +anguish and humiliation. + +"He questioned me--he learned everything--the drawer, how it was +opened--all. But I did not suspect what was in his mind--not for an +instant did I suspect. But on the boat I saw him, and then I knew. +Well, he has got what he deserved!" + +She shivered and pressed her hands against her eyes. + +"I think that is all, madame," she added, hoarsely. + +"It is all of that story," said Godfrey, in a crisp voice; "but there +is another." + +"Another?" echoed the veiled lady, looking at him. + +"Ask her, madame, for what purpose she called at this house, night +before last, and saw Philip Vantine in this room." + +"I did not!" shrieked the girl, her face ablaze. "It is a lie!" + +"She does not need to tell!" went on Godfrey inexorably. "Any fool +could guess. She came for the letters! She had resolved herself to +blackmail you, madame!" + +"It is a lie!" shrieked the girl again. "I came hoping to save her +--to...." + +A storm of angry sobbing choked her. + +I could see how the veiled lady was trembling. I placed a chair for +her, and she sank into it with a murmur of thanks. + +"Besides, we have a witness to her visit," added Godfrey. "Shall I +call the police, madame?" + +"No, no!" and the girl sat upright again, her face ghastly. "I will +tell. I will tell all. Give me but a moment!" + +She sat there, struggling for self-control, her streaked and +grotesque countenance contorted with emotion. Then I saw her eyes +widen, and, glancing around, I saw that Rogers had dragged himself to +a sitting posture, and was staring at her, his face livid. + +The sight of him seemed to madden her. + +"It was you!" she shrieked, and shook her clenched fist at him. "It +was you who told! Coward! Coward!" + +But Godfrey, his face very grim, laid a heavy hand upon her arm. + +"Be still!" he cried. "He told us nothing! He tried to shield you +--though why he should wish to do so...." + +Rogers broke in with a hollow and ghastly laugh. + +"It was natural enough, sir," he said hoarsely. "She's my wife!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PHILIP VANTINE'S CALLER + + +It was a sordid story that Rogers gasped out to us; and, as it +concerns this tale only incidentally, I shall pass over it as briefly +as may be. + +Eight or ten years before, the fair Julie--at least, she was fairer +then than now!--had come to New York to enter the employ of a family +whose mistress had decided that life without a French maid was +unendurable. Rogers had met her, had been fascinated by her black +eyes and red lips, had, in the end, proposed honourable marriage +--quite unnecessarily, no doubt!--had been accepted, and for some +months had led an eventful existence as the husband of the siren. +Then, one morning, he awakened to find her gone. + +He had, of course, entrusted his savings to her--that had been one +condition of the marriage!--and the savings were gone, also. Julie, +it seems, had been overcome with longing for the Paris asphalt; no +doubt, too, she had found herself ennuied by the lack of romance in +married life with Rogers; and she had flown back to France. Rogers +had thought of following; but, appalled at the difficulty of finding +her in Paris, not knowing what he should do if he did find her, he +had finally given it up, and had settled gloomily down to live upon +his memories. Some sort of affection for her had kept alive within +him, and when he opened the door of Vantine's house and found her +standing on the steps, he was as wax in her hands. + +Julie had listened to all this indifferently, even disdainfully, +without denying anything, nor seeking to excuse herself. Perhaps the +idea that she needed excuse did not occur to her. And when the story +was finished, she was quite herself again; even a little proud, I +think, of holding the centre of the stage in the rôle of siren. It +was almost a rejuvenescence, and there was gratitude in the gaze she +turned on Rogers. + +"This is all true, I suppose?" asked the veiled lady. + +"All quite true, madame," answered Julie, with a shrug. "I was +younger then and the love of excitement was too strong for me. I am +older now, and have more sense--besides, I am no longer sought after +as I was." + +"And so," said madame, with irony, "you are now, no doubt, willing to +return to your husband." + +"I have been considering it, madame," replied Julie, with astounding +simplicity, "ever since I saw him here the other evening, and learned +that he still cared for me. One must have a harbour in one's old +age." + +I glanced at Rogers and was astonished to see that he was regarding +the woman with affectionate admiration. Evidently the harbour was +waiting, should Julie choose to anchor there. + +"I have hesitated," she added, "only because of madame. Where would +madame get another maid such as I? No one but I can arrange her hair +--no one but I can prepare her bath...." + +"We will discuss it," said the veiled lady, "when we are alone. And +now, perhaps, you will be so good as to tell us of your previous +visit here." + +"Very well, madame," and Julie settled into a more comfortable +posture. "It was one day on the boat as I was looking down at the +passengers of the third class that I perceived Georges--M. Drouet +--strolling about. I was _bouleversée_--what you call upset with +amazement, and then he looked up and our eyes met, and he came +beneath me and commanded that I meet him that evening. It was then +that I learned his plan. It was to secure those letters for himself +and to dispose of them." + +"To whom?" asked Godfrey. + +"To the person that would pay the greatest price for them, most +certainly," answered Julie, surprised that it should have been +thought necessary to ask such a question. "They were to be offered +first to madame at ten thousand francs each; should she refuse, they +were then to be offered to M. le Duc--he would surely desire to +possess them!" + +The veiled lady shivered a little, and her hand instinctively sought +her bosom to assure herself that the precious packet was safe. + +"That night," continued Julie, "in my cabin, I tossed and tossed, +trying to discover a way to prevent this; for I had seen long since +that M. Drouet no longer cared for me--I knew that it was upon some +other woman that money would be spent. I decided that, at the first +moment, I would hasten to this house; I would explain the matter to +M. Vantine, I would persuade him to restore to me the letters, with +which I would fly to madame. I knew, also, that I could rely upon her +gratitude," added the girl. "After all, one must provide for +oneself." + +She paused and glanced around the room, smiling at the interest in +our faces. + +"You have at least one virtue--that of frankness," said the veiled +lady. "Continue." + +"It was not until evening that I found an opportunity to leave +madame," Julie went on. "I hastened here; I rang the bell; but I +confess I should have failed, I should not have secured an entrance, +if it had not been that it was my husband who opened the door to me. +Even after I was inside the door, he refused to permit me to see his +master; but as we were debating together, M. Vantine himself came +into the hall, and I ran to him and begged that he hear me. It was +then that he invited me to enter this room." + +She paused again, and a little shiver of expectancy ran through me. +At last we were to learn how Philip Vantine had met his death! + +"I sat down," continued Julie. "I told him the story from the very +beginning. He listened with much interest; but when I proposed that +he should restore to me the letters, he hesitated. He walked up and +down the room, trying to decide; then he took me through that door +into the room beyond. The cabinet was standing in the centre of the +floor, and all the lights were blazing. + +"'Is that the cabinet?' he asked me, and when I said that most +assuredly it was, he seemed surprised. + +"'It is an easy thing to prove,' I said, and I went to the cabinet +and pressed on the three springs, as I had seen madame do. The little +handle at the side fell out, but suddenly he stopped me. + +"'Yes, it is the cabinet,' he said. 'I see that. And no doubt the +drawer contains the letters, as you say. But those letters do not +belong to you. They belong to your mistress. I cannot permit that you +take them away, for, after all, I do not know you. You may intend to +make some bad use of them.' + +"I protested that such a suspicion was most unjust, that my character +was of the best, that I was devoted to my mistress and desired to +protect her. He listened, but he was not convinced. In the end, he +brought me back into this room. I could have cried with rage! + +"'Return to your mistress,' he said, 'and inform her that I shall be +most happy to return the letters to her. But it must be in her own +hands that I place them. The letters are here, whenever it pleases +her to claim them." + +"I saw that it was of no use to argue further; he was of adamant. So +I left the house, he himself opening the door for me. And that is all +that I know, madame." + +There was a moment's silence; then I heard Godfrey draw a deep +breath. I could see that, like myself, he was convinced that the girl +was telling the truth. + +"Of course," he suggested gently, "as soon as you reached home you +related to your mistress what had occurred?" + +Julie grew a little crimson. + +"No, monsieur," she said, "I told her nothing." + +"I should have thought you would have wished to prove your devotion," +went on Godfrey, in his sweetest tone. + +"I feared that, without the letters, she would misunderstand my +motives," said Julie, sullenly. + +"And then, of course, without the letters, there would be no reward," +Godfrey supplemented. + +Julie did not reply, but she looked very uncomfortable. + +The veiled lady rose. + +"Have you any further questions to ask her?" she said. + +"No, madame," said Godfrey. "The story is complete." + +Julie resumed her veil, shooting at Godfrey a glance anything but +friendly. The veiled lady turned to me and held out her hand. + +"I thank you, Mr. Lester, for your kindness," she said. "Come, +Julie," and she moved toward the door, which Rogers hastened to open. + +Mr. Hornblower nodded and passed out after them, and Godfrey and I +were left alone together. + +We both sat down, and for a moment neither of us spoke. + +"Well!" said Godfrey, at last. "Well! what a story it would make! And +I can't use it! It's a bitter reflection, Lester!" + +"It would certainly shake the pillars of society," I agreed. "I'm +rather shaken myself." + +"So am I! I was all at sea for a while--I was dumb with astonishment +when I heard you and the veiled lady talking about the secret drawer +--I could see you laughing at me! I don't know the whole story yet. +How did she happen to come to you?" + +I told him of Hornblower's visit, of the story he told me, and of the +arrangement we had made. Godfrey nodded thoughtfully when I had +finished. + +"The story is straight, of course," he said. "Hornblower would not be +engaged in anything tricky. Besides, I recognised the lady. I suppose +you did, too." + +"Yes, I have seen pictures of her. And I admired her for putting back +her veil." + +"So did I. She has changed since the day of her wedding, Lester--she +was a smooth-faced girl, then! Three years of life with her duke have +left their mark on her!" + +He fell silent, staring thoughtfully at the carpet. Then he shook +himself. + +"And the maid's story was most interesting," he added. "Nevertheless, +there are still a number of things which are not quite clear to me." + +"There is one thing I don't understand, myself," I said. "I hadn't +any idea this was the right cabinet. I didn't see how it could be." + +"That's it, exactly. How did it happen, when the veiled lady went to +Armand & Son in Paris, that she was directed to Philip Vantine? +According to his own story, he did not purchase this cabinet; he had +never seen it before; it was presumably shipped him by mistake; +Armand & Son cable you that it was a mistake; and yet they cite +Vantine as the purchaser. There is something twisted somewhere, +Lester; just where I'll try to find out." + +"Which reminds me that Armand's representative hasn't been around +yet. No doubt he can straighten the matter out." + +"It won't do any harm to hear his story, anyway," Godfrey agreed. +"Now let's have a look at that drawer." + +It was standing open as we had left it, and Godfrey pushed it back +into place, called my attention to the cunning way in which its +outline was concealed by the inlay about it. Then he worked the +spring, the handle fell into place, and he drew the drawer out again, +as far as it would come, and examined it carefully. + +"The fellow who devised that was a genius," he said, admiringly, +pushing it back into place. "I wonder what its contents have been +from the days of Madame de Montespan down to the present? Love +letters, mostly, I suppose, since they are the things which need +concealment most. Don't you wish this drawer could tell its secrets, +Lester?" + +"There is one I wish it would tell, if it knows it," I said. "I wish +it would tell who killed Philip Vantine. I suppose you will agree +with me that our pretty theory has got a knock-out blow, this time." + +"It looks that way, doesn't it?" + +"There is no poisoned mechanism about that drawer--that's sure," I +added. + +"No, and never has been," Godfrey agreed. + +"And that leaves us all at sea, doesn't it? It leaves the whole +affair more mysterious than ever. I can't understand it," and I sat +down in my bewilderment and rubbed my head. I really felt for an +instant as though I had gone mentally blind. "There is one thing +sure," I added. "The killing, whatever its cause, was done out there +in the ante-room, not in here." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"We believe that Drouet came here to get Vantine's permission to open +this drawer and get the letters, no doubt representing himself as the +agent of their owner." + +"I think it's a pretty good guess," said Godfrey, pensively. + +"Our theory was that, after being shown into the ante-room, he +discovered the cabinet, tried to open the drawer, and was killed in +the attempt. But it is evident enough now that there is nothing about +that drawer to hurt any one." + +"Yes, that's evident, I think," Godfrey agreed. + +"If he had opened the drawer, then, he would have taken the letters, +since there was nothing to prevent him. Since they were not taken, it +follows, doesn't it, that he was killed before he had a chance at the +drawer? Perhaps he never saw the cabinet. He must have been killed +out there in the ante-room, a few minutes after Parks left." + +"And how about Vantine?" Godfrey asked. + +"I don't know," I said, helplessly. "He didn't want the letters--if +he opened the drawer at all, it was merely out of curiosity to see +how it worked. Only, of course, the same agency that killed Drouet, +killed him. Yes--and now that I think of it, it's certain he didn't +open the drawer, either." + +"How do you know it's certain?" + +"If he had opened the drawer," I pointed out, "and been killed in the +act of opening it, it would have been found open. I had thought that +perhaps it closed of itself, but you see that it does not. You have +to push it shut, and then snap the handle up into place." + +"That's true," Godfrey assented, "and it sounds pretty conclusive. If +it is true of Vantine, it is also true of Drouet. The inference is, +then, that neither of them opened the drawer. Well, what follows?" + +"I don't know," I said helplessly. "Nothing seems to follow." + +"There is an alternative," Godfrey suggested. + +"What is it?" I demanded. + +"The hand that killed Drouet and Vantine may also have closed the +drawer," said Godfrey, and looked at me. + +"And left the letters in it?" I questioned. "Surely not!" + +He glanced at the shuttered window, and I understood to whom he +thought that hand belonged. + +"Besides," I protested, "how would he get in? How would he get away? +What was he after, if he left the letters behind?" Then I rose +wearily. "I must be getting back to the office," I said. "This is +Saturday, and we close at two. Are you coming?" + +"No," he answered; "if you don't mind, I'll sit here a while longer +and think things over, Lester. Perhaps I'll blunder on to the truth +yet!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ENTER M. ARMAND + + +I got back to the office to find that M. Félix Armand, of Armand et +Fils, had called, and, finding me out, had left his card with the +pencilled memorandum that he would call again Monday morning. There +was another caller, who had awaited my return--a tall, angular man, +with a long moustache, who introduced himself as Simon W. Morgan, of +Osage City, Iowa. + +"Poor Philip Vantine's nearest living relative, sir," he added. "I +came as soon as possible." + +"It was very good of you," I said. "The funeral will be at ten +o'clock to-morrow morning, from the house." + +"You had a telegram from me?" + +"Yes," I answered. + +He hitched about in his chair uneasily for a moment. I knew what he +wanted to say, but saw no reason to help him. + +"He left a will, I suppose?" he asked, at last. + +"Oh, yes; we have arranged to probate it Monday. You can examine it +then, if you wish." + +"Have you examined it?" + +"I am familiar with its provisions. It was drawn here in the office." + +He was pulling furiously at his moustache. + +"Cousin Philip was a very wealthy man, I understand," he managed to +say. + +"Comparatively wealthy. He had securities worth about a million and a +quarter, besides a number of pieces of real property--and, of course, +the house he lived in. He owned a very valuable collection of art +objects--pictures, furniture, tapestries, and such things; but what +they are worth will probably never be known." + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"Because he left them all to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Outside +of a few legacies to old servants, he left his whole fortune to the +same institution." + +I put it rather brutally, no doubt, but I was anxious to end the +interview. + +Mr. Morgan's face grew very red. + +"He did!" he ejaculated. "Ha--well, I have heard he was rather +crazy." + +"He was as sane as any man I ever knew," I retorted drily. And then I +remembered the doubts which had assailed me that last day, when +Vantine was fingering the Boule cabinet. But I kept those doubts to +myself. + +"Ha--we'll have to see about that!" said my visitor, threateningly. + +"By all means, Mr. Morgan," I assented heartily. "If you have any +doubt about it, you should certainly look into it. And now, if you +will pardon me, I have many things to do, and we close early to-day." + +He got to his feet and went slowly out; and that was the last I ever +saw of him. I suppose he consulted an attorney, learned the hopeless +nature of his case, and took the first train back to Osage City. He +did not even wait for the funeral. + +Few people, indeed, put themselves out for it. There was a sprinkling +of old family friends, representatives of the museum and of various +charities in which Vantine had been interested, a few friends of his +own, and that was all. He had dropped out of the world with scarcely +a ripple; of all who had known him, I dare say Parks felt his +departure most. For Vantine had been, in a sense, a solitary man; not +many men nodded oftener during a walk up the Avenue, and yet not many +dined oftener alone; for there was about him a certain self-detachment +which discouraged intimacy. He was a man, like many another, with +acquaintances in every country on the globe, and friends in none. + +All this I thought over a little sadly, as I sat at home that night; +and not without some self-questioning as to my own place in the +world. Most of us, I think, are a little saddened when we realise our +unimportance; most of us, no doubt, would be a little shocked could +we return a day or two after our death and see how merrily the world +wags on! I would be missed, I knew, scarcely more than Vantine. It +was not a pleasant thought, for it seemed to argue some deficiency in +myself. + +Then, too, the mystery of Vantine's death had a depressing effect +upon me. So long as there seemed some theory to build on, so long as +there was a ray of light ahead, I had hoped that the tragedy would be +explained and expiated; but now my theory had crumbled to pieces; I +was left in utter darkness, from which there seemed no way out. Never +before, in the face of any mystery, had I felt so blind and helpless, +and the feeling took such a grip upon me that it kept me awake for a +long time after I got to bed. It seemed, in some mysterious way, that +I was contending with a power greater than myself, a power +threatening and awful, which could crush me with a turn of the wrist. + +Vantine's will was probated next morning. He had directed that his +collection of art objects be removed to the museum, and that the +house and such portion of its contents as the museum did not care for +be sold for the museum's benefit. I had already notified Sir Caspar +Purdon Clarke of the terms of the will, and the museum's attorney was +present when it was read. He stated that he had been requested to ask +me to remain in charge of things for a week or two, until +arrangements for the removal could be made. It would also be +necessary to make an inventory of Vantine's collection, and the +assistant director of the museum was to get this under way at once. + +I acquiesced in all these arrangements, but I was feeling decidedly +blue when I started back to the office. Vantine's collection had +always seemed to me somehow a part of himself; more especially a part +of the house in which it had been assembled. It would lose much of +its beauty and significance ticketed and arranged stiffly along the +walls of the museum, and the thought came to me that it would be a +splendid thing for New York if this old house and its contents could +be kept intact as an object lesson to the nervous and hurrying +younger generation of the easier and more finished manner of life of +the older one; something after the fashion that the beautiful old +Plantin-Moretus mansion at Antwerp is a rebuke to those present-day +publishers who reckon literature a commodity, along with soap and +cheese. + +That, of course, it would be impossible to do; the last barrier to +the commercial invasion of the Avenue would be removed; that heroic +rear-guard of the old order of things would be destroyed; in a year +or two, a monster of steel and stone would rise on the spot where +three generations of Vantines had lived their lives; and the +collection, so unified and coherent, to which the last Vantine had +devoted his life, would be merged and lost in the vast collections of +the museum. It was a sad ending. + +"Gentleman to see you, sir," said the office-boy, as I sat down at my +desk, and a moment later, M. Félix Armand was shown in to me. + +I have only to close my eyes to call again before me that striking +personality, for Felix Armand was one of the most extraordinary men I +ever had the pleasure of meeting. Ruddy-faced, bright-eyed, with dark +full beard and waving hair almost jet black--hair that crinkled about +his ears in a way that I can describe by no other word than +fascinating--he gave the impression of tremendous strength and +virility. There was about him, too, an air of culture not to be +mistaken; the air of a man who had travelled much, seen much, and +mixed with many people, high and low; the air of a man at home +anywhere, in any society. It is impossible for me, by mere words, to +convey any adequate idea of his vivid personality; but I confess +that, from the first moment, I was both impressed and charmed by him. +And I am still impressed; more, perhaps, than at first, now that I +know the whole story--but you shall hear. + +"I speak English very badly, sir," he said, as he sat down. "If you +speak French...." + +"Not half so well as you speak English," I laughed. "I can tell that +from your first sentence." + +"In that event, I will do the best that I can," he said, smiling, +"and you must pardon my blunders. First, Mr. Lester, on behalf of +Armand et Fils, I must ask your pardon for this mistake, so +inexcusable." + +"It _was_ a mistake, then?" I asked. + +"One most embarrassing to us. We can not find for it an explanation. +Believe me, Mr. Lester, it is not our habit to make mistakes; we have +a reputation of which we are very proud; but the cabinet which was +purchased by Mr. Vantine remained in our warehouse, and this other +one was boxed and shipped to him. We are investigating most rigidly." + +"Then Mr. Vantine's cabinet is still in Paris?" + +"No, Mr. Lester; the error was discovered some days ago and the +cabinet belonging to Mr. Vantine was shipped to me here. It should +arrive next Wednesday on _La Provence_. I shall myself receive it, +and deliver it to Mr. Vantine." + +"Mr. Vantine is dead," I said. "You did not know?" + +He sat staring at me for a moment, as though unable to comprehend. + +"Did I understand that you said Mr. Vantine is dead?" he stammered. + +I told him briefly as much as I knew of the tragedy, while he sat +regarding me with an air of stupefaction. + +"It is curious you saw nothing of it in the papers," I added. "They +were full of it." + +"I have been visiting friends at Quebec," he explained, "It was there +that the message from our house found me, commanding me to hasten +here. I started at once, and reached this city Saturday. I drove here +directly from the station, but was so unfortunate as to miss you." + +"I am sorry to have caused you so much trouble," I said. + +"But, my dear Mr. Lester," he protested, "it is for us to take +trouble. A blunder of this sort we feel as a disgrace. My father, who +is of the old school, is most upset concerning it. But this death of +Mr. Vantine--it is a great blow to me. I have met him many times. He +was a real connoisseur--we have lost one of our most valued patrons. +You say that he was found dead in a room at his house?" + +"Yes, and death resulted from a small wound on the hand, into which +some very powerful poison had been injected." + +"That is most curious. In what manner was such a wound made?" + +"That we don't know. I had a theory...." + +"Yes?" he questioned, his eyes gleaming with interest. + +"A few hours previously, another man had been found in the same room, +killed in the same way." + +"Another man?" + +"A stranger who had called to see Mr. Vantine. My theory was that +both this stranger and Mr. Vantine had been killed while trying to +open a secret drawer in the Boule cabinet. Do you know anything of +the history of that cabinet, Monsieur Armand?" + +"We believe it to have been made for Madame de Montespan by Monsieur +Boule himself," he answered. "It is the original of one now in the +Louvre which is known to have belonged to the Grand Louis." + +"That was Mr. Vantine's belief," I said. "Why he should have arrived +at that conclusion, I don't know--" + +"Mr. Vantine was a connoisseur," said M. Armand, quietly. "There are +certain indications which no connoisseur could mistake." + +"It was his guess at the history of the cabinet," I explained, "which +gave me the basis for my theory. A cabinet belonging to Madame de +Montespan would, of course, have a secret drawer; and, since it was +made in the days of de Brinvilliers and La Voisin, what more natural +than that it should be guarded by a poisoned mechanism?" + +"What more natural, indeed!" breathed my companion, and I fancied +that he looked at me with a new interest in his eyes. "It is good +reasoning, Mr. Lester." + +"It seemed to explain a situation for which no other explanation has +been found," I said. "And it had also the merit of picturesqueness." + +"It is unique," he agreed eagerly, his eyes burning like two coals of +fire, so intense was his interest. "I have been from boyhood," he +added, noticing my glance, "a lover of tales of mystery. They have +for me a fascination I cannot explain; there is in my blood something +that responds to them. I feel sometimes that I would have made a +great detective--or a great criminal. Instead of which, I am merely a +dealer in curios. You can understand how I am fascinated by a story +so outré as this." + +"Perhaps you can assist us," I suggested, "for that theory of mine +has been completely disproved." + +"Disproved? In what way?" he demanded. + +"The secret drawer has been found...." + +"_Comment?_" he cried, his voice sharp with surprise. "Found? The +secret drawer has been found?" + +"Yes, and there was no poisoned mechanism guarding it." + +He breathed deeply for an instant; then he pulled himself together +with a little laugh. + +"Really," he said, "I must not indulge myself in this way. It is a +kind of intoxication. But you say that the drawer was found and that +there was no poison? Was the drawer empty?" + +"No, there was a packet of letters in it." + +"Delicious! Love letters, of a certainty! _Billets-doux_ from the +great Louis to the Montespan, perhaps?" + +"No, unfortunately they were of a much more recent date. They have +been restored to their owner. I hope that you agree with me that that +was the right thing to do?" + +He sat for a moment regarding me narrowly, and I had an uneasy +feeling that, since he undoubtedly knew of whom the cabinet had been +purchased, he was reconstructing the story more completely than I +would have wished him to do. + +"Since the letters have been returned," he said, at last, a little +drily, "it is useless to discuss the matter. But no doubt I should +approve if all the circumstances were known to me. Especially if it +was to assist a lady." + +"It was," I said, and I saw from his face that he understood. + +"Then you did well," he said. "Has no other explanation been found +for the death of Mr. Vantine and of this stranger?" + +"I think not. The coroner will hold his inquest to-morrow. He has +deferred it in the hope that some new evidence would be discovered." + +"And none has been discovered?" + +"I have heard of none." + +"You do not even know who this stranger was?" + +"Oh, yes, we have discovered that. He was a worthless fellow named +Drouet." + +"A Frenchman?" + +"Yes, living in an attic in the Rue de la Huchette, at Paris." + +M. Armand had been gazing at me intently, but now his look relaxed, +and I fancied that he drew a deep breath as a man might do when +relieved of a burden. At the back of my brain a vague and shadowy +suspicion began to form--a suspicion that perhaps M. Armand knew more +of this affair than he had as yet acknowledged. + +"You did not, by any chance, know him?" I asked carelessly. + +"No, I think not. But there is one thing I do not understand, Mr. +Lester, and you will pardon me if I am indiscreet. But I do not +understand what this Drouet, as you call him, was doing in the house +of Mr. Vantine." + +"He was trying to get possession of the letters," I said. + +"Oh, so it was that!" and my companion nodded. "And in trying to get +those letters, he was killed?" + +"Yes, but what none of us understands, M. Armand, is how he was +killed. Who or what killed him? How was that poison administered? Can +you suggest an explanation?" + +He sat for a moment staring thoughtfully out of the window. + +"It is a nice problem," he said, "a most interesting one. I will +think it over, Mr. Lester. Perhaps I may be able to make a +suggestion. I do not know. But, in any event, I shall see you again +Wednesday. If it is agreeable to you, we can meet at the house of Mr. +Vantine and exchange the cabinets." + +"At what time?" + +"I do not know with exactness. There may be some delay in getting the +cabinet from the ship. Perhaps it would be better if I called for +you?" + +"Very well," I assented. + +"Permit me to express again my apologies that such a mistake should +have been made by us. Really, we are most careful; but even we +sometimes suffer from careless servants. It desolates me to think +that I cannot offer these apologies to Mr. Vantine in person. Till +Wednesday, then, Mr. Lester." + +"Till Wednesday," I echoed, and watched his erect and perfectly-garbed +figure until it vanished through the doorway. A fascinating +man, I told myself as I turned back to my desk, and one whom I +should like to know more intimately; a man with a hobby for the +mysteries of crime, with which I could fully sympathise; and I smiled +as I thought of the burning interest with which he had listened to +the story of the double tragedy. How naïvely he had confessed his +thought that he would have made a great detective--or a great +criminal; and here he was only a dealer in curios. Well, I had had +the same thought, more than once--and here was I, merely a +not-too-successful lawyer. Decidedly, M. Armand and myself had much +in common! + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +I PART WITH THE BOULE CABINET + + +The coroner's inquest was held next day, and my surmise proved to be +correct. The police had discovered practically no new evidence; none, +certainly, which shed any light on the way in which Drouet and Philip +Vantine had met death. Each of the witnesses told his story much as I +have told it here, and it was evident that the jury was bewildered by +the seemingly inextricable tangle of circumstances. + +To my relief, Drouet's identity was established without any help from +me. The bag which he had left on the pier had been opened at the +request of the police and a card-case found with his address on it. +Why he had sent in to Vantine a card not his own, and what his +business with Vantine had been, were details concerning which the +police could offer no theory, and which I did not feel called upon to +explain, since neither in any way made clearer the mystery of his +death. + +An amusing incident of the inquest was the attempt made by +Goldberger to heckle Godfrey, evidently at Grady's suggestion. + +"On the morning after the tragedy," Goldberger began sweetly, "you +printed in the _Record_ a photograph which you claimed to be that of +the woman who had called upon Mr. Vantine the night before, and who +was, presumably, the last person to see him alive. Where did you get +that photograph?" + +"It was a copy of one which Drouet carried in his watch-case," +answered Godfrey. + +"Since then," pursued Goldberger, "you have made no further reference +to that feature of the case. I presume you found out that you were +mistaken?" + +"On the contrary, I proved that I was correct." + +Goldberger's face reddened, and his look was not pleasant. + +"'Prove' is rather a strong word, isn't it?" he asked. + +"It is the right word." + +"What was the woman's connection with the man Drouet?" + +"She had been his mistress." + +"You say that very confidently," said Goldberger, his lips curling. +"After all, it is merely a guess, isn't it?" + +"I have reason to say it confidently," retorted Godfrey quietly, +"since the woman confessed as much in my presence." + +Again Goldberger reddened. + +"I suppose she also confessed that it was really she who called upon +Mr. Vantine?" he sneered. + +"She not only confessed that," said Godfrey, still more quietly, "but +she told in detail what occurred during that visit." + +"The confession was made to yourself alone, of course?" queried +Goldberger, in a tone deliberately insulting. + +Godfrey flushed a little at the words, but managed to retain his +self-control. + +"Not at all," he said. "It was made in the presence of Mr. Lester and +of another distinguished lawyer whose name I am not at liberty to +reveal." + +Goldberger swallowed hard, as though he had received a slap in the +face. I dare say, he felt as though he had! + +"This woman is in New York?" he asked. + +"I believe so." + +"What is her name and address?" + +"I am not at liberty to answer." + +Goldberger glared at him. + +"You _will_ answer," he thundered, "or I'll commit you for contempt!" + +Godfrey was quite himself again. + +"Very well," he said, smiling. "I have not the slightest objection. +But I would think it over, if I were you. Mr. Lester will assure you +that the woman was in no way connected with the death either of +Drouet or of Mr. Vantine." + +Goldberger did think it over; he realised the danger of trying to +punish a paper so powerful as the _Record_, and he finally decided to +accept Godfrey's statement as a mitigation of his refusal to answer. + +"That is only one of the details which Commissioner Grady has +missed," Godfrey added, pleasantly. + +"That will do," Goldberger broke in, and Godfrey left the stand. + +I was recalled to confirm his story. I, also, of course, refused to +give the woman's name, explaining to Goldberger that I had learned it +professionally, that I was certain she had been guilty of no crime, +and that to reveal it would seriously embarrass an entirely innocent +woman. With that statement, the coroner was compelled to appear +satisfied. + +Grady did not go on the stand; he was not even at the inquest. In +fact, since the first day, he had not appeared publicly in connection +with the case at all; and I had surmised that he did not care to be +identified with a mystery which there seemed to be no prospect of +solving, and from which no glory was to be won. The case had been +placed in Simmonds's hands, and it was he who testified on behalf of +the police, admitting candidly that they were all at sea. He had made +a careful examination of the Vantine house, he said, particularly of +the room in which the bodies had been found, and had discovered +absolutely nothing in the shape of a clue to the solution of the +mystery. There was something diabolical about it; something almost +supernatural. He had not abandoned hope, and was still working on the +case; but he was inclined to think that, if the mystery was ever +solved, it would be only by some lucky accident or through the +confession of the guilty man. + +Goldberger was annoyed; that was evident enough from the nervous way +in which he gnawed his moustache; but he had no theory any more than +the police; there was not a scintilla of evidence to fasten the crime +upon any one; and the end of the hearing was that the jury brought in +a verdict that Philip Vantine and Georges Drouet had died from the +effects of a poison administered by a person or persons unknown. + +Godfrey joined me at the door as I was leaving, and we went down the +steps together. + +"I was glad to hear Simmonds confess that the police are up a tree," +he said. "Of course, Grady is trying to sneak out of it, and blame +some one else for the failure--but I'll see that he doesn't succeed. +I'll see, anyway, that Simmonds gets a square deal--he's an old +friend of mine, you know." + +"Yes," I said, "I know; but we're all up a tree, aren't we?" + +"For the present," laughed Godfrey, "we do occupy that undignified +position. But you don't expect to stay there forever, do you, +Lester?" + +"Since my theory about the Boule cabinet exploded," I said, "I have +given up hope. By the way, I'm going to turn the cabinet over to its +owner to-morrow." + +"To its owner?" he repeated, his eyes narrowing. "Yes, I thought +he'd be around for it, though I hardly thought he'd come so soon. Who +does it happen to be, Lester?" + +"Why," I said, a little impatiently, "you know as well as I do that +it belongs to Armand & Son." + +"You've seen their representative, then?" he queried, a little flush +of excitement which I could not understand spreading over his face. + +"He came to see me yesterday. I'd like you to meet him, Godfrey. He +is Félix Armand, the 'son' of the firm, and one of the most finished +gentlemen I ever met." + +"I'd like to meet him," said Godfrey, smiling queerly. "Perhaps I +shall, some day; I hope so, anyway. But how did he explain the +blunder, Lester?" + +"In some way, they shipped the wrong cabinet to Vantine. The right +one will get here on _La Provence_ to-morrow," and I told him in +detail the story which Felix Armand had told me. "He was quite upset +over it," I added, "His apologies were almost abject." + +Godfrey listened intently to all this, and he nodded with +satisfaction when I had finished. + +"It is all most interesting," he commented. + +"Did M. Armand happen to mention where he is staying?" + +"No, but he won't be hard to find, if you want to see him. He's at +one of the big hotels, of course--probably the Plaza or the St. +Regis. He's too great a swell for any minor hostelry." + +"What time do you expect him to-morrow?" + +"Sometime in the afternoon. He's to call for me as soon as he gets +Vantine's cabinet off the boat. Godfrey," I added, "I felt yesterday +when I was talking with him that perhaps he knew more about this +affair than he would admit. I could see that he guessed in an instant +who the owner of the letters was, and what they contained. Do you +think I ought to hold on to the cabinet a while longer? I could +invent some pretext for delay, easily enough." + +"Why, no; let him have his cabinet," said Godfrey, with an alacrity +that surprised me. "If your theory about it has been exploded, what's +the use of hanging on to it?" + +"I don't see any use in doing so," I admitted, "but I thought perhaps +you might want more time to examine it." + +"I've examined it all I'm going to," Godfrey answered, and I told +myself that this was the first time I had ever known him to admit +himself defeated. + +"I have a sort of feeling," I explained, "that when we let go of the +cabinet, we give up the only clue we have to this whole affair. It is +like a confession of defeat." + +"Oh, no, it isn't," Godfrey objected. "If there is nothing more to be +learned from the cabinet, there is no reason to retain it. I should +certainly let M. Armand have it. Perhaps I'll see you to-morrow," he +added, and we parted at the corner. + +But I did not see him on the morrow. I was rather expecting a call +from him during the morning, and when none came, I was certain I +should find him awaiting me when I arrived at the Vantine house, in +company with M. Armand. But he was not there, and when I asked for +him, Parks told me that he had not seen him since the day before. + +I confess that Godfrey's indifference to the fate of the cabinet +surprised me greatly; besides, I was hoping that he would wish to +meet the fascinating Frenchman. More fascinating, if possible, than +he had been on Monday, and I soon found myself completely under his +spell. There had been less delay than he had anticipated in getting +the cabinet off the boat and through the customs, and it was not yet +three o'clock when we reached the Vantine house. + +"I haven't seen Mr. Godfrey," Parks repeated, "but there's others +here as it fair breaks my heart to see." + +He motioned toward the door of the music-room, and, stepping to it, I +saw that the inventory was already in progress. The man in charge of +it nodded to me, but I did not go in, for the sight was anything but +a pleasant one. + +"The cabinet is in the room across the hall," I said to M. Armand, +and led the way through the ante-room into the room beyond. + +Parks switched on the lights for us, and my companion glanced with +surprise at the heavy shutters covering the windows. + +"We put those up for a protection," I explained. "We had an idea that +some one would try to enter. In fact, one evening we _did_ find a +wire connecting with the burglar-alarm cut, and, later on, saw some +one peering in through the hole in that shutter yonder." + +"You did?" M. Armand queried quickly. + +"Would you recognise the man, if you were to meet him again?" + +"Oh, no; you see the hole is quite small. There was nothing visible +except a pair of eyes. Yet I might know them again, for I never +before saw such eyes--so bright, so burning. It was the night that +Godfrey and I were trying to find the secret drawer, and those eyes +gleamed like fire as they watched us." + +M. Armand was gazing at the cabinet, apparently only half listening. + +"Ah, yes, the secret drawer," he said. "Will you show me how it is +operated, Mr. Lester? I am most curious about it." + +I placed my hand upon the table and pressed the three points which +the veiled lady had shown us. The first time, I got the order wrong, +but at the second trial, the little handle fell forward with a click, +and I pulled the drawer open. + +"There it is," I said. "You see how cleverly it is constructed. And +how well it is concealed. No one would suspect its existence." + +He examined it with much interest; pushed it back into place, and +then opened it himself. + +"Very clever indeed," he agreed. "I have never seen another so well +concealed. And the idea of opening it only by a certain combination +is most happy and original. Most secret drawers are secret only in +name; a slight search reveals them; but this one...." + +He pushed it shut again, and examined the inlay around it. + +"My friend and I went over the cabinet very carefully and could not +find it," I said. + +"Your friend--I think you mentioned his name?" + +"Yes--his name is Godfrey." + +"A man of the law, like yourself?" + +"Oh, no, a newspaper man. But he had been a member of the detective +force before that. He is extraordinarily keen, and if anybody could +have found that drawer, he could. But that combination was too much +for him." + +M. Armand snapped the drawer back into place with a little crash. + +"I am glad, at any rate, that it _was_ discovered," he said. "I will +not conceal from you, Mr. Lester, that it adds not a little to the +value of the cabinet." + +"What is its value?" I asked. "Mr. Vantine wanted me to buy it for +him, and named a most extravagant figure as the limit he was willing +to pay." + +"Really," M. Armand answered, after an instant's hesitation, "I would +not care to name a figure, Mr. Lester, without further consultation +with my father. The cabinet is quite unique--the most beautiful, +perhaps, that M. Boule ever produced. Did you discover Madame de +Montespan's monogram?" + +"No. Mr. Vantine said he was sure it existed; but Godfrey and I did +not look for it." + +M. Armand opened the doors which concealed the central drawers. + +"_Voilà !_" he said, and traced with his finger the arabesque just +under the pediment. "See how cunningly it has been blended with the +other figures. And here is the emblem of the giver." He pointed to a +tiny golden sun with radiating rays on the base of the pediment, just +above the monogram. "_Le roi soleil!_" + +"_ Le roi soleil!_" I repeated. "Of course. We were stupid not to +have discerned it. That tells the whole story, doesn't it? What is +it, Parks?" I added, as that worthy appeared at the door. + +"There's a van outside, sir," he said, "and a couple of men are +unloading a piece of furniture. Is it all right, sir?" + +"Yes," I answered. "Have them bring it in here. And ask the man in +charge of the inventory to step over here a minute. Mr. Vantine left +his collection of art objects to the Metropolitan Museum," I +explained to M. Armand, "and I should like the representative of the +museum to be present when the exchange is made." + +"Certainly," he assented. "That is very just." + +Parks was back in a moment, piloting two men who carried between them +an object swathed in burlap, and the Metropolitan man followed them +in. + +"I am Mr. Lester," I said to him, "Mr. Vantine's executor; and this +is M. Félix Armand, of Armand & Son, of Paris. We are correcting an +error which was made just before Mr. Vantine died. That cabinet +yonder was shipped him by mistake in place of one which he had +bought. M. Armand has caused the right one to be sent over, and will +take away the one which belongs to him. I have already spoken to the +museum's attorney about the matter, but I wished you to be present +when the exchange was made." + +"I have no doubt it is all right, sir," the museum man hastened to +assure me. "You, of course, have personal knowledge of all this?" + +"Certainly. Mr. Vantine himself told me the story." + +"Very well, sir," but his eyes dwelt lovingly upon the Boule cabinet. +"That is a very handsome piece," he added. "I am sorry the museum is +not to get it." + +"Perhaps you can buy it from M. Armand," I suggested, but the curator +laughed and shook his head. + +"No," he said, "we couldn't afford it. But Sir Caspar might persuade +Mr. Morgan to buy it for us--I'll mention it to him." + +The two men, meanwhile, under M. Armand's direction, had been +stripping the wrappings from the other cabinet, and it finally stood +revealed. It, too, was a beautiful piece of furniture, but even my +untrained eye could see how greatly it fell below the other. + +"We shall be very pleased to have Mr. Morgan see it," said M. Armand, +with a smile. "I will not conceal from you that we had already +thought of him--as what dealer does not when he acquires something +rare and beautiful? I shall endeavour to secure an appointment with +him. Meanwhile...." + +"Meanwhile the cabinet is yours," I said. + +He made a little deprecating gesture, and then proceeded to have the +cabinet very carefully wrapped in the burlap which had been around +the other one. I watched it disappear under the rough covering with +something like regret, for already my eyes were being opened to its +beauty. Besides, I told myself again, with it would disappear the +last hope of solving the mystery of Philip Vantine's death. However +my reason might protest, some instinct told me that, in some way, the +Boule cabinet was connected with that tragedy. + +But at last the packing was done, and M. Armand turned to me and held +out his hand. + +"I shall hope to see you again, Mr. Lester," he said, with a +cordiality which flattered me, "and to renew our very pleasant +acquaintance. Whenever you are in Paris, I trust you will not fail to +honour me by letting me know. I shall count it a very great privilege +to display for you some of the beauties of our city not known to +every one." + +"Thank you," I said. "I shall certainly remember that invitation. +And meanwhile, since you are here in New York...." + +"You are most kind," he broke in, "and I was myself hoping that we +might at least dine together. But I am compelled to proceed to Boston +this evening, and from there I shall go on to Quebec. Whether I shall +get back to New York I do not know--it will depend somewhat upon Mr. +Morgan's attitude; we would scarcely entrust a business so delicate +to our dealer. If I do get back, I shall let you know." + +"Please do," I urged. "It will be a very great pleasure to me. +Besides, I am still hoping that some solution of this mystery may +occur to you." + +He shook his head with a little smile. + +"I fear it is too difficult for a novice like myself," he said. "It +is impenetrable to me. If a solution is discovered, I trust you will +inform me. It is certain to be most interesting." + +"I will," I promised, and we shook hands again. + +Then he signed to the two men to take up the cabinet, and himself +laid a protecting hand upon it as it was carried through the door and +down the steps to the van which was backed up to the curb. It was +lifted carefully inside, the two men clambered in beside it, the +driver spoke to the horses, and the van rolled slowly away up the +Avenue. + +M. Armand watched it for a moment, then mounted into the cab which +was waiting, waved a last farewell to me, and followed after the van. +We watched it until it turned westward at the first cross-street. + +"Mr. Godfrey's occupation will be gone," said Parks, with a little +laugh. "He has fairly lived with that cabinet for the past three or +four days. He was here last night for quite a while." + +"Last night?" I echoed, surprised. "I was sure he would be here +to-day," I added, reflecting that Godfrey might have decided to have +a final look at the cabinet. "He half-promised to be here, but I +suppose something more important detained him." + +The next instant, I was jumping down the steps two at a time, for a +cab in which two men were sitting came down the Avenue, and rolled +slowly around the corner in the direction taken by the van. + +And just as it disappeared, one of its occupants turned toward me and +waved his hand--and I recognised Jim Godfrey. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"LA MORT!" + + +That my legs, without conscious effort of my own, should carry me up +the Avenue and around the corner after the cab in which I had seen +Godfrey was a foregone conclusion, and yet it was with a certain +vexation of spirit that I found myself racing along, for I realised +that Godfrey had not been entirely frank with me. Certainly he had +dropped no hint of his intention to follow Armand; but, I told +myself, that might very well have been because he deemed such a hint +unnecessary. I might have guessed, in spite of his seeming unconcern, +that he would not allow the cabinet to pass from his sight; if he had +been willing for me to turn it over to Armand, it was only because he +expected developments of some sort to follow that transfer. + +And it suddenly dawned upon me that even I did not know the cabinet's +destination! It had not occurred to me to inquire where M. Armand +proposed to take it, and he had volunteered no information. + +So, after a moment, I took up the chase more contentedly, telling +myself that Godfrey would not have waved to me if he had not wanted +me along, and I reached the corner in time to see the van turn +northward into Sixth Avenue. As soon as it and the cabs which +followed it were out of sight, I sprinted along the sidewalk at top +speed, and, on arriving at the corner, had the satisfaction of seeing +them only a little way ahead. Here the congestion of traffic was such +that the van could proceed but slowly, and I had no difficulty in +keeping pace with it, without the necessity of making myself +conspicuous by running. Indeed, I rather hung back, burying myself in +the crowds on the sidewalk, for fear that Armand might chance to +glance around and see me in pursuit. + +I saw that Godfrey and Simmonds had the same fear, for the cab in +which they were drew up at the curb and waited there until the van +had got some distance ahead. At Sixteenth Street, it turned westward +again, and then northward into Seventh Avenue. + +What could Armand be doing in this part of the town, I asked myself? +Did he propose to leave that priceless cabinet in this dingy quarter? +And then I paused abruptly and slipped into an area-way, for the van +had stopped some distance ahead and was backing up to the curb. + +Looking out discreetly, I saw the cab containing Armand stop also, +and that gentleman alighted and paid the driver. The other cab +rattled on at a good pace and disappeared up the Avenue. Then the two +porters lifted out the cabinet, and, with Armand showing them the +way, carried it into the building before which the van had stopped. + +They were gone perhaps five minutes, from which I argued that they +were carrying it upstairs; then they reappeared, with Armand +accompanying them. He tipped them and went out also to tip the driver +of the van. Then the porters climbed aboard and it rattled away out +of sight. Armand stood for a moment on the step, looking up and down +the Avenue, then disappeared indoors. + +An instant later, I saw Godfrey and another man whom I recognised as +Simmonds, come out of a shop across the street and dash over to the +house into which the cabinet had been taken. They were standing on +the door-step when I joined them. + +It was a dingy building, entirely typical of the dingy neighbourhood. +The ground floor was occupied by a laundry which the sign on the +front window declared to be French; and the room which the window +lighted extended the whole width of the building except for a door +which opened presumably on the stairway leading to the upper stories. + +Godfrey's face was flaming with excitement as he turned the knob of +this door gently--gently. The door was locked. He stooped and applied +an eye to the key-hole. + +"The key is in the lock," he whispered. + +Simmonds took from his pocket a pair of slender pliers and passed +them over. + +Godfrey looked up and down the street, saw that for the moment there +was no one near, inserted the pliers in the key-hole, grasped the end +of the key, and turned it slowly. + +"Now!" he said, softly opened the door and slipped inside. I +followed, and Simmonds came after me like a shadow, closing the door +carefully behind him. + +Then we all stopped, and my heart, at least, was in my mouth, for, +from somewhere overhead, came the sound of a man's voice talking +excitedly. + +Even in the semi-darkness, I could see the look of astonishment and +alarm on Godfrey's face, as he stood for a moment motionless, +listening to that voice. I also stood with ears a-strain, but I could +make nothing of what it was saying; then suddenly I realised that it +was speaking in French. And yet it was not Armand's voice--of that I +was certain. + +Fronting us was a narrow stair mounting steeply to the story +overhead, and, after that moment's amazed hesitation, Godfrey sat +down on the bottom step and removed his shoes, motioning us to do the +same. Simmonds obeyed phlegmatically, but my hands were trembling so +with excitement that I was in mortal terror lest I drop one of my +shoes; but I managed to get them both off without mishap, and to set +them softly on the floor at the stair-foot. + +When at last I looked up with a sigh of relief, Godfrey and Simmonds +were stealing slowly up the stair, revolver in hand. I followed them, +but I confess my knees were knocking together, for there was +something weird and chilling in that voice going on and on. It +sounded like the voice of a madman; there was something about it at +once ferocious and triumphant.... + +Godfrey paused an instant at the stairhead, listening intently; then +he moved cautiously forward toward an open door from which the voice +seemed to come, motioning us at the same time to stay where we were. +And as I knelt, bathed in perspiration, I caught one word, repeated +over and over: + +"_Revanche!--Revanche!--Revanche!_" + +Then the voice fell to a sort of low growling, as of a dog which +worries its prey, and I caught a sound as of ripping cloth. + +Godfrey, on hands and knees, was peering into the room. Then he drew +back and motioned us forward. + +I shall never forget the sight which met my eyes as I peeped +cautiously around the corner of the door. + +The room into which I was looking was lighted only by the rays which +filtered between the slats of a closed shutter. In the middle of the +floor stood the Boule cabinet, and before it, with his back to the +door, stood a man ripping savagely away the strips of burlap in which +it had been wrapped, talking to himself the while in a sort of savage +sing-song, and pausing from moment to moment to glance at a huddled +bundle lying on the floor against the opposite wall. For a time, I +could not make out what this bundle was, then, straining my eyes, I +saw that it was the body of a man, wrapped round and round in some +web-like fabric. + +And as I stared at him, I caught the glitter of his eyes as he +watched the man working at the cabinet--a glitter not to be mistaken +--the same glitter which had so frightened me once before.... + +Godfrey drew me back with a firm hand and took my place. As for me, I +retreated to the stair, and sat there feverishly mopping my face and +trying to understand. Who was this man? What was he doing there +against the wall? What was the meaning of this ferocious scene.... + +Then my heart leaped into my throat, for Godfrey, with a sharp cry of +"_Halte-là !_" sprang to his feet and dashed into the room, Simmonds +at his heels. + +I suppose two seconds elapsed before I reached the threshold, and I +stopped there, staring, clutching at the wall to steady myself. + +That scene is so photographed upon my brain that I have only to close +my eyes to see it again in every detail. + +There was the cabinet with its wrappings torn away; but the figure on +the floor had disappeared, and before an open doorway into another +room stood a man, a giant of a man, his hands above his head, his +face working with fear and rage, while Godfrey, his lips curling into +a mocking smile, pressed a pistol against his breast. + +Then, as I stood there staring, it seemed to me that there was a sort +of flicker in the air above the man's head, and he screamed shrilly. + +"_La mort!_" he shrieked. "_La mort!_" + +For one dreadful instant longer he stood there motionless, his hands +still held aloft, his eyes staring horribly; then, with a strangled +cry, he pitched forward heavily at Godfrey's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE ESCAPE + + +I have a confused remembrance of Godfrey stooping for an instant +above the body, staring at it, and then, with a sharp cry, hurling +himself through that open doorway. A door slammed somewhere, there +was a sound of running feet, and before either Simmonds or myself +understood what was happening, Godfrey was back in the room, crossed +it at a bound, and dashed to the door opening into the hall, just as +it was slammed in his face. + +I saw him tear desperately at the knob, then retreat two steps and +hurl himself against it. But it held firm, and from the hall outside +came a burst of mocking laughter that fairly froze my blood. + +"Come here, you fools!" cried Godfrey between clenched teeth. "Don't +you see he's getting away!" + +Simmonds was quicker than I, and together they threw themselves at +the door. It cracked ominously, but still held; again they tried, and +this time it split from top to bottom. Godfrey kicked the pieces to +either side and slipped between them, Simmonds after him. + +Then, in a sort of trance, I staggered to it, and after a moment's +aimless fumbling, was out in the hall again. I reached the stairhead +in time to see Godfrey try the front door, and then turn along the +lower hall leading to the back of the house. An instant later, a +chorus of frenzied women's shrieks made my hair stand on end. + +How I got down the stair I do not know; but I, too, turned back along +the lower hall, expecting any instant to come upon I knew not what +horror; I reached an open door, passed through it, and found myself +in the laundry, in the midst of a group of excited and indignant +women, who greeted my appearance with a fresh series of screams. + +Unable to go farther, I sat limply down upon a box and looked at +them. + +I dare say the figure I made was ridiculous enough, for the screams +gave place to subdued giggles; but I was far from thinking of my +appearance, or of caring what impression I produced. And I was still +sitting there when Godfrey came back, breathing heavily, chagrin and +anger in his eyes. The employes of the laundry, conscious that +something extraordinary was occurring, crowded about him, but he +elbowed his way through them to the desk where the manager sat. + +"A crime has been committed upstairs," he said. "This gentleman with +me is Mr. Simmonds, of the detective bureau," and at the words +Simmonds showed his shield. "We shall have to notify headquarters," +Godfrey went on, "and I would advise that you keep your girls at +their work. I don't suppose you want to be mixed up in it." + +"Sure not," agreed the manager promptly, and while Simmonds went to +the 'phone and called up police headquarters, the manager dismounted +from his throne, went down among the girls, and had them back at +their work in short order. + +Godfrey came over to me and laid his hand on my shoulder. + +"Why, Lester," he said, "you look as though you were at your last +gasp." + +"I am," I said. "I'm going to have nervous prostration if this thing +keeps up. You're not looking particularly happy yourself." + +"I'm not happy. I've let that fellow kill a man right under my nose +--literally, under my nose!--and then get away!" + +"Kill a man?" I repeated. "Do you mean...." + +"Go upstairs and look at the right hand of the man lying there," said +Godfrey, curtly, "and you'll see what I mean!" + +I sat staring at him, unable to believe that I had heard aright; +unable to believe that Godfrey had really uttered those words ... the +right hand of the man lying there ... that could mean only one +thing.... + +Simmonds joined us with a twisted smile on his lips, and I saw that +even he was considerably shaken. + +"I got Grady," he said, "and told him what had happened. He says he's +too busy to come up, and that I'm to take charge of things." + +Godfrey laughed a little mocking laugh. + +"Grady foresees his Waterloo!" he said. "Well, it's not far distant. +But I'm glad for your sake, Simmonds--you're going to get some glory +out of this thing, yet!" + +"I hope so," and Simmonds's eyes gleamed an instant. "The ambulance +will be around at once," he added. "We'd better get our shoes on, and +go back upstairs, and see if anything can be done for that fellow." + +"There can't anything be done for him," said Godfrey wearily; "but +we'd better have a look at him, I guess," and he led the way out into +the hall. + +Not until Simmonds spoke did I remember that I was shoeless. Now I +sat down beside Godfrey, got fumblingly into my shoes again, and then +followed him and Simmonds slowly up the stair. + +I thought I knew what was passing in Godfrey's mind: he was blaming +himself for this latest tragedy; he was telling himself that he +should have foreseen and prevented it; he always blamed himself in +that way when things went wrong--and then, to have the murderer slip +through his very fingers! I could guess what a mighty shock that had +been to his self-confidence! + +The latest victim was lying where he had fallen, just inside the +doorway leading into the inner room. Simmonds stepped to the window, +threw open the shutters, and let a flood of afternoon sunshine into +the room. Then he knelt beside the body, and held up the limp right +hand for us to see. + +Just above the knuckles were two tiny incisions, with a drop or two +of blood oozing away from them, and the flesh about them swollen and +discoloured. + +"I knew what it was the instant he yelled '_La mort!_'" said Godfrey +quietly. "And _he_ knew what it was the instant he felt the stroke. +It is evident enough that he had seen it used before, or heard of it, +and knew that it meant instant death." + +I sat down, staring at the dead man, and tried to collect my senses. +So this fiendish criminal, who slew with poison, had been lurking in +Vantine's house, and had struck down first Drouet and then the master +of the house himself! But why--why! It was incredible, astounding, my +brain reeled at the thought. And yet it must be true! + +I looked again at the third victim, and saw a man roughly dressed, +with bushy black hair and tangled beard; a very giant of a man, whose +physical strength must have been enormous--and yet it had availed him +nothing against that tiny pin-prick on the hand! + +And then a sudden thought brought me bolt upright. + +"But Armand!" I cried. "Where is Armand?" + +Godfrey looked at me with a half-pitying smile. + +"What, Lester!" he said, "don't you understand, even yet? It was your +fascinating M. Armand who did that," and he pointed to the dead man. + +I felt as though I had been struck a heavy blow upon the head; black +circles whirled before my eyes.... + +"Go over to the window," said Godfrey, peremptorily, "and get some +fresh air." + +Mechanically I obeyed, and stood clinging to the window-sill, gazing +down at the busy street, where the tide of humanity was flowing up +and down, all unconscious of the tragedy which had been enacted so +close at hand. And, at last, the calmness of all these people, the +sight of the world going quietly on as usual, restored me a portion +of my self-control. But even yet I did not understand. + +"Was it Armand," I asked, turning back into the room, "who lay there +in the corner?" + +"Certainly it was," Godfrey answered. "Who else could it be?" + +"Godfrey!" I cried, remembering suddenly. "Did you see his eyes as he +lay there watching the man at the cabinet?" + +"Yes; I saw them." + +"They were the same eyes...." + +"The same eyes." + +"And the laugh--did you hear that laugh?" + +"Certainly I heard it." + +"I heard it once before," I said, "and you thought it was a case of +nerves!" + +I fell silent a moment, shivering a little at the remembrance. + +"But why did Armand lie there so quietly?" I asked, at last. "Was he +injured?" + +Godfrey made a little gesture toward the corner. + +"Go see for yourself," he said. + +Something lay along the wall, on the spot where I had seen that +figure, and as I bent over it, I saw that it was a large net, finely +meshed but very strong. + +"That was dropped over Armand's head as he came up the stairs," said +Godfrey, "or flung over him as he came into the room. Then the dead +man yonder jumped upon him and trussed him up with those ropes." + +Pushing the net aside, I saw upon the floor a little pile of severed +cords. + +"Yes," I agreed; "he would be able to do that. Have you noticed his +size, Godfrey? He was almost a giant!" + +"He couldn't have done it if Armand hadn't been willing that he +should," retorted Godfrey, curtly. "You see he had no difficulty in +getting away," and he held up the net and pointed to the great rents +in it. "He cut his way out while he was lying there--I ought to have +known--I ought to have known he wasn't bound--that he was only +waiting--but it was all so sudden...." + +He threw the net down upon the floor with a gesture of disgust and +despair. Then he stopped in front of the Boule cabinet and looked +down at it musingly; and, after a moment, his face brightened. + +The burlap wrappings had been almost wholly torn away, and the +cabinet stood, more insolently beautiful than ever, it seemed to me, +under the rays of the sun, which sparkled and glittered and shimmered +as they fell upon it. + +"But we'll get him, Simmonds," said Godfrey, and his lips broke into +a smile. "In fact, we've got him now. We have only to wait, and he'll +walk into our arms. Simmonds, I want you to lock this cabinet up in +the strongest cell around at your station; and carry the key +yourself." + +"Lock it up?" stammered Simmonds, staring at him. + +"Yes," said Godfrey, "lock it up. That's our one salvation!" His face +was glowing; he was quite himself again, alert, confident of victory. +"You're in charge of this case, aren't you? Well, lock it up, and +give your reasons to nobody." + +"That'll be easy," laughed Simmonds. "I haven't got any reasons." + +"Oh, yes, you have," and Godfrey bent upon him a gaze that was +positively hypnotic. "You will do it because I want you to, and +because I tell you that, sooner or later, if you keep this cabinet +safe where no one can get at it, the man we want will walk into our +hands. And I'll tell you more than that, Simmonds; if we do get him, +I'll have the biggest story I ever had, and you will be world-famous. +France will make you a chevalier of the Legion of Honour, Simmonds, +mark my words. Don't you think the ribbon would look well in your +button-hole?" + +Simmonds was staring at the speaker as though he thought he had +suddenly gone mad. Indeed, the thought flashed through my own brain +that the disappointment, the chagrin of failure, had been too much +for Godfrey. + +He burst into laughter as he saw our faces. + +"No, I'm not mad," he said, more soberly; "and I'm not joking. I'm +speaking in deadly earnest, Simmonds, when I say that this fellow is +the biggest catch we could make. He's the greatest criminal of modern +times--I repeat it, Lester, this time without qualification. And now, +perhaps, you'll agree with me." + +And with Armand, so finished, so self-poised, so distinguished, in my +mind, and the body of his latest victim before my eyes, I nodded +gloomily. + +"But who is he?" I asked. "Do you know who he is, Godfrey?" + +"There's the ambulance," broke in Simmonds, as a knock came at the +street door, and he hurried down to open it. + +"Come on, Lester," and Godfrey hooked his arm through mine. "There's +nothing more we can do here. We'll go down the back way. I've had +enough excitement for the time being--haven't you?" + +"I certainly have," I agreed, and he led the way back along the hall +to another stair, down it and so out through the laundry. + +"But, Godfrey, who is this man?" I repeated. "Why did he kill that +poor fellow up there? Why did he kill Drouet and Vantine? How did he +get into the Vantine house? What is it all about?" + +"Ah!" he said, looking at me with a smile. "That is the important +question--what is it all about! But we can't discuss it here in the +street. Besides, I want to think it over, Lester; and I want you to +think it over. If I can, I'll drop in to-night to see you, and we can +thresh it out! Will that suit you?" + +"Yes," I said; "and for heaven's sake, don't fail to come!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +GODFREY WEAVES A ROMANCE + + +I had begun to fear that Godfrey was going to disappoint me, so late +it was before his welcome knock came at my door that night. I +hastened to let him in, and I could tell by the sigh of relief with +which he sank into a chair that he was thoroughly weary. + +"It does me good to come in here occasionally and have a talk with +you, Lester," he said, accepting the cigar I offered him. "I find it +restful after a hard day," and he smiled across at me good-humouredly. + +"How you keep it up I don't see," I said. "This one case has nearly +given me nervous prostration." + +"Well, I don't often strike one as strenuous as this," and he settled +back comfortably. "As a matter of fact, I haven't had one for a long +time that even touches it. There is nothing really mysterious about +most crimes." + +"This one is certainly mysterious enough," I remarked. + +"What makes it mysterious," Godfrey explained, "is the apparent lack +of motive. As soon as one learns the motive for a crime, one learns +also who committed it. But where the motive can't be discovered, it +is mighty hard to make any progress." + +"It isn't only lack of motive which makes it mysterious," I +commented; "it's everything about it. I can't understand either why +it was done or how it was done. When I get to thinking about it, I +feel as though I were wandering around and around in a maze, from +which I can never escape." + +"Oh, yes, you'll escape, Lester," said Godfrey, quietly, "and that +before very long." + +"If you have an explanation, Godfrey," I protested, "for heaven's +sake tell me! Don't keep me in the maze an instant longer than is +necessary. I've been thinking about it till my brain feels like a +snarl of tangled thread. Do you mean to say you know what it is all +about?" + +"'Know' is perhaps a little strong. There isn't much in this world +that we really know. Suppose we say that I strongly suspect." He +paused a moment, his eyes on the ceiling. "You know you've accused me +of romancing sometimes, Lester--the other evening, for instance; yet +that romance has come true." + +"I take it all back," I said, meekly. + +"There's another thing these talks do," continued Godfrey, going off +rather at a tangent, "and that is to clarify my ideas. You don't know +how it helps me to state my case to you and to try to answer your +objections. Your being a lawyer makes you unusually quick to see +objections, and a lawyer is always harder to convince of a thing than +the ordinary man. You are accustomed to weighing evidence; and so I +never allow myself to be convinced of a theory until I have convinced +you. Not always, even then," he added, with a smile. + +"Well, I'm glad I'm of some use," I said, "if it is only as a sort of +file for you to sharpen your wits on. So please go ahead and romance +some more. Tell me first how you and Simmonds came to be following +Armand." + +"Simply because I had found out he wasn't Armand. Felix Armand is in +Paris at this moment. You were too credulous, Lester." + +"Why, I never had any doubt of his being Armand," I stammered. "He +knew about my cablegram--he knew about the firm's answer...." + +"Of course he did, because your cable was never received by the +Armands, but by a confederate in this fellow's employ; and it was +that confederate who answered it. Our friend, the unknown, foresaw, +of course, that a cable would be sent the Armands as soon as the +mistake was discovered, and he took his precautions accordingly." + +"Then you still believe that the cabinet was sent to Vantine by +design and not by accident?" + +"Absolutely. It was sent by the Armands in good faith, because they +believed that it had been purchased by Vantine--all of which had been +arranged very carefully by the Great Unknown." + +"Tell me how you know all this, Godfrey," I said. + +"Why, it was easy enough. When you told me yesterday of Armand, I +knew, or thought I knew, that it was a plant of some kind. But, in +order to be sure, I cabled our man at Paris to investigate. Our man +went at once to Armand, _père_, and he learned a number of very +interesting things. One was, that the son, Félix Armand, was in +Paris; another was that no member of the firm knew anything about +your cable or the answer to it; a third was, that, had the cable +been received, it would not have been understood, because the +Armands' books show that this cabinet was bought by Philip Vantine +for the sum of fifteen thousand francs." + +"Not this one!" I protested. + +"Yes; this one. And it was cheap at the price. Of course, the Armands +knew nothing about the Montespan story--they were simply selling at a +profit." + +"But I don't understand!" I stammered. "Vantine told me himself that +he did not buy that cabinet." + +"Nor did he. But somebody bought it in his name and directed that it +be sent forward to him." + +"And paid fifteen thousand francs for it?" + +"Certainly--and paid fifteen thousand francs to the Armands." + +"Rather an expensive present," I said, feebly, for my brain was +beginning to whirl again. + +"Oh, it wasn't intended as a present. The purchaser planned to +reclaim it--but Vantine's death threw him out. If it hadn't been for +that--for an accident which no one could foresee--everything would +have gone along smoothly and no one would ever have been the wiser." + +"But what was his object? Was he trying to evade the duty?" + +"Oh, nothing so small as that! Besides, he would have had to refund +the duty to Vantine. Did he refund it to you?" + +"No," I said, "I didn't think there was any to refund. Vantine really +paid the duty only on the cabinet he purchased, since that was the +one shown on his manifest. The other fellow must have paid the duty +on the cabinet he brought in; so I didn't see that there was anything +coming to Vantine's estate. There is probably something due the +government, for the cabinet Vantine brought in was, of course, much +more valuable than his manifest showed." + +"No doubt of that; and the other cabinet is the one which Vantine +really purchased. It was, of course, sent forward to this other +fellow's address, here in New York. His plan is evident enough--to +call upon Vantine, as the representative of the Armands, or perhaps +as the owner of the Montespan cabinet, and make the exchange. +Vantine's death spoiled that, and he had to make the exchange through +you. Even then, he would have been able to pull it off but for the +fact that Vantine's death and that of Drouet had called our attention +to the cabinet; we followed him, and the incidents of this afternoon +ensued." + +"And he accomplished all this by means of a confederate in the employ +of the Armands?" + +"No doubt of it. The clerk who made the supposed sale to Vantine and +got a commission on it, resigned suddenly two days ago--just as soon +as he had intercepted your cable and answered it. The Paris police +are looking for him, but I doubt if they'll find him." + +I paused to think this over; and then a sudden impatience seized me. + +"That's all clear enough," I said. "The cabinets might have been +exchanged just as you say they were--no doubt you are right--but all +that doesn't lead us anywhere. Why were they exchanged? What is there +about that Boule cabinet which makes this unknown willing to do +murder for it? Does he think those letters are still in it?" + +"He knows they are not in it now--you told him. Before that, he knew +nothing about the letters. If he had known of them, he would have had +them out before the cabinet was shipped." + +"What is it, then?" I demanded. "And, above all, Godfrey, why should +this fellow hide himself in Vantine's house and kill two men? Did +they surprise him while he was working over the cabinet?" + +"I see no reason to believe that he was ever inside the Vantine +house," said Godfrey quietly; "that is, until you took him there +yourself this afternoon." + +"But, look here, Godfrey," I protested, "that's nonsense. He must +have been in the house, or he couldn't have killed Vantine and +Drouet." + +"Who said he killed them?" + +"If he didn't kill them, who did?" + +Godfrey took two or three contemplative puffs, while I sat there +staring at him. + +"Well," Godfrey answered, at last, "now I'm going to romance a +little. We will return to your fascinating friend, Armand, as we may +as well call him for the present. He is an extraordinary man." + +"No doubt of it," I agreed. + +"I can only repeat what I have said before--in my opinion, he is the +greatest criminal of modern times." + +"If he is a criminal at all, he is undoubtedly a great one," I +conceded. "But it is hard for me to believe that he is a criminal. +He's the most cultured man I ever met." + +"Of course he is. That's why he's so dangerous. An ignorant criminal +is never dangerous--it's the ignorant criminals who fill the prisons. +But look out for the educated, accomplished ones. It takes brains to +be a great criminal, Lester, and brains of a high order." + +"But why should a man with brains be a criminal?" I queried. "If he +can earn an honest living, why should he be dishonest?" + +"In the first place, most criminals are criminals from choice, not +from necessity; and with a cultured man the incentive is usually the +excitement of it. Have you ever thought what an exciting game it is, +Lester, to defy society, to break the law, to know that the odds +against you are a thousand to one, and yet to come out triumphant? +And then, I suppose, every great criminal is a little insane." + +"No doubt of it," I agreed. + +"Just as every absolutely honest man is a little insane," went on +Godfrey quickly. "Just as every great reformer and enthusiast is a +little insane. The sane men are the average ones, who are fairly +honest and yet tell white lies on occasion, who succumb to temptation +now and then; who temporise and compromise, and try to lead a +comfortable and quiet life. I repeat, Lester, that this fellow is a +great criminal, and that he finds life infinitely more engrossing +than either you or I. I hope I shall meet him some time--not in a +little skirmish like this, but in an out-and-out battle. Of course +I'd be routed, horse, foot and dragoons--but it certainly would be +interesting!" and he looked at me, his eyes glowing. + +"It certainly would!" I agreed. "Go ahead with your romance." + +"Here it is. This M. Armand is a great criminal, and has, of course, +various followers, upon whom he must rely for the performance of +certain details, since he can be in but one place at a time. Abject +and absolute obedience is necessary to his success, and he compels +obedience in the only way in which it can be compelled among +criminals--by fear. For disobedience, there is but one punishment +--death. And the manner of the death is so certain and so mysterious +as to be almost supernatural. For deserters and traitors are found to +have died, inevitably and invariably, from the effects of an +insignificant wound on the right hand, just above the knuckles." + +I was listening intently now, as you may well believe, for I began to +see whither the romance was tending. + +"It is by this secret," Godfrey continued, "that Armand preserves his +absolute supremacy. But occasionally the temptation is too great, and +one of his men deserts. Armand sends this cabinet to America. He +knows that in this case the temptation is very great indeed; he fears +treachery, and he arranges in the cabinet a mechanism which will +inflict death upon the traitor in precisely the same way in which he +himself inflicts it--by means of a poisoned stab in the right hand. +Imagine the effect upon his gang. He is nowhere near when the act of +treachery is performed, and yet the traitor dies instantly and +surely! Why, it was a tremendous idea! And it was carried out with +absolute genius." + +"But," I questioned, "what act of treachery was it that Armand +feared?" + +"The opening of the secret drawer." + +"Then you still believe in the poisoned mechanism?" + +"I certainly do. The tragedy of this afternoon proves the truth of +the theory." + +"I don't see it," I said, helplessly. + +"Why, Lester," protested Godfrey, "it's as plain as day. Who was that +bearded giant who was killed? The traitor, of course. We will find +that he was a member of Armand's gang. He followed Armand to America, +lay in wait for him, caught him in the net and bound him hand and +foot. Do you suppose for an instant that Armand was ignorant of his +presence in that house? Do you suppose he would have been able to +take Armand prisoner if Armand had not been willing that he should?" + +"I don't see how Armand could help himself after that fellow got his +hands on him." + +"You don't? And yet you saw yourself that he was not really bound +--that he had cut himself loose!" + +"That is true," I said, thoughtfully. + +"Let us reconstruct the story," Godfrey went on rapidly. "The traitor +discovers the secret of the cabinet; he follows Armand to New York, +shadows him to the house on Seventh Avenue, waits for him there, and +seizes and binds him. He is half mad with triumph--he chants a crazy +sing-song about revenge, revenge, revenge! And, in order that the +triumph may be complete, he does not kill his prisoner at once. He +rolls him into a corner and proceeds to rip away the burlap. His +triumph will be to open the secret drawer before Armand's eyes. And +Armand lies there in the corner, his eyes gleaming, because it is +really the moment of _his_ triumph which is at hand!" + +"The moment of his triumph?" I repeated. "What do you mean by that, +Godfrey?" + +"I mean that, the instant the traitor opened the drawer, he would be +stabbed by the poisoned mechanism! It was for that that Armand +waited!" + +I lay back in my chair with a gasp of amazement and admiration. I had +been blind not to see it! Armand had merely to lie still and permit +the traitor to walk into the trap prepared for him. No wonder his +eyes had glowed as he lay there watching that frenzied figure at the +cabinet! + +"It was not until the last moment," Godfrey went on, "when the +traitor was bending above the cabinet feeling for the spring, that I +realised what was about to happen. There was no time for hesitation +--I sprang into the room. Armand vanished in an instant, and the +giant also tried to escape; but I caught him at the door. I had no +idea of his danger; I had no thought that Armand would dare linger. +And yet he did. Now that it is too late, I understand. He _had_ to +kill that man; there were no two ways about it. Whatever the risk, he +had to kill him." + +"But why?" I asked. "Why?" + +"To seal his lips. If we had captured him, do you suppose Armand's +secret would have been safe for an instant? So he had to kill him--he +had to kill him with the poisoned barb--and he _did_ kill him, and +got away into the bargain! Never in my life have I felt so like a +fool as when that door was slammed in my face!" + +"Perhaps he had that prepared, too," I suggested timidly, ready to +believe anything of this extraordinary man. "Perhaps he knew that we +were there, all the time." + +"Of course he did," assented Godfrey grimly. "Why else would there be +a snap-lock on the outside of the door? And to think I didn't see it! +To think that I was fool enough to suppose that I could follow him +about the streets of New York without his knowing it! He knew from +the first that he might be followed, and prepared for it!" + +"But it's incredible!" I protested feebly. "It's incredible!" + +"Nothing is incredible in connection with that man!" + +"But the risk--think of the risk he ran!" + +"What does he care for risks? He despises them--and rightly. He got +away, didn't he?" + +"Yes," I said, "he got away; there's no question of that, I guess." + +"Well, that is the story of this afternoon's tragedy, as I understand +it," proceeded Godfrey, more calmly. "And now I'm going to leave you. +I want you to think it over. If it doesn't hold together, show me +where it doesn't. But it _will_ hold together--it _has_ to--because +it's true!" + +"But how about Armand?" I protested. "Aren't you going to try to +capture him? Are you going to let him get away?" + +"He won't get away!" and Godfrey's eyes were gleaming again. "We +don't have to search for him; for we've got our trap, Lester, and +it's baited with a bait he can't resist--the Boule cabinet!" + +"But he knows it's a trap." + +"Of course he knows it!" + +"And you really think he will walk into it?" I asked incredulously. + +"I know he will! One of these days, he will try to get that cabinet +out of the steel cell at the Twenty-third Street station, in which we +have it locked!" + +I shook my head. + +"He's no such fool," I said. "No man is such a fool as that. He'll +give it up and go quietly back to Paris." + +"Not if he's the man I think he is," said Godfrey, his hand on the +door. "He will never give up! Just wait, Lester; we shall know in a +day or two which of us is a true prophet. The only thing I am afraid +of," he added, his face clouding, "is that he'll get away with the +cabinet, in spite of us!" + +And he went away down the hall, leaving me staring after him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +"CROCHARD, L'INVINCIBLE!" + + +It seemed for once that Godfrey was destined to be wrong, for the +days passed and nothing happened--nothing, that is, in so far as the +cabinet was concerned. There was an inquest, of course, over the +victim of the latest tragedy, and once again I was forced to give my +evidence before a coroner's jury. I must confess that, this time, it +made me appear considerable of a fool, and the papers poked sly fun +at the attorney who had walked blindly into a trap which, now that it +was sprung, seemed so apparent. + +The Bertillon measurements of the victim had been cabled to Paris, +and he had been instantly identified as a fellow named Morel, +well-known to the police as a daring and desperate criminal; in fact, +M. Lepine considered the matter so important that he cabled next day +that he was sending Inspector Pigot to New York to investigate the +affair further, and to confer with our bureau as to the best methods +to be taken to apprehend the murderer. Inspector Pigot, it was added, +would sail at once for Havre on _La Savoie._ + +Meanwhile, Grady's men, with Simmonds at their head, strained every +nerve to discover the whereabouts of the fugitive; a net was thrown +over the entire city, but, while a number of fish were captured, the +one which the police particularly wished for was not among them. Not +a single trace of the fugitive was discovered; he had vanished +absolutely, and, after a day or two, Grady asserted confidently that +he had left New York. + +For Grady had come back into the case again, goaded by the papers, +particularly by the _Record_, to efforts which he must have +considered superhuman. The remarkable nature of the mystery, its +picturesque and unique features, the fact that three men had been +killed within a few days in precisely the same manner, and the +absence of any reasonable hypothesis to explain these deaths--all +this served to rivet public attention. Every amateur detective in the +country had a theory to exploit--and far-fetched enough most of them +were! + +Grady did a lot of talking in those days, explaining in detail the +remarkable measures he was taking to capture the criminal; but the +fact remained that three men had been killed, and that no one had +been punished; that a series of crimes had been committed, and that +the criminal was still at large, and seemed likely to remain so; and, +naturally enough, the papers, having exhausted every other phase of +the case, were soon echoing public sentiment that something was wrong +somewhere, and that the detective bureau needed an overhauling, +beginning at the top. + +The Boule cabinet remained locked up in a cell at the Twenty-third +Street station; and Simmonds kept the key in his pocket. I know now +that he was as much in the dark concerning the cabinet as the general +public was; and the general public was very much in the dark indeed, +for the cabinet had not figured in the accounts of the first two +tragedies at all, and only incidentally in the reports of the latest +one. As far as it was concerned, the affair seemed clear enough to +most of the reporters, as an attempt to smuggle into the country an +art object of great value. Such cases were too common to attract +especial attention. + +But Simmonds had come to see that Grady was tottering on his throne; +he realised, perhaps, that his own head was not safe; and he had made +up his mind to pin his faith to Godfrey as the only one at all likely +to lead him out of the maze. And Godfrey laid the greatest stress +upon the necessity of keeping the cabinet under lock and key; so +under lock and key it was kept. As for Grady, I do not believe that, +even at the last, he realised the important part the cabinet had +played in the drama. + +But while the Boule cabinet failed to focus the attention of the +public, and while most of the reporters promptly forgot all about it, +I was amused at the pains which Godfrey took to inform the fugitive +as to its whereabouts and as to how it was guarded. Over and over +again, while the other papers wondered at his imbecility, he told how +it had been placed in the strongest cell at the Twenty-third Street +station; a cell whose bars were made of chrome-nickle steel which no +saw could bite into; a cell whose lock was worked not only by a key +but by a combination, known to one man only; a cell isolated from the +others, standing alone in the middle of the third corridor, in full +view of the officer on guard, so that no one could approach it, day +or night, without being instantly discovered; a cell whose door was +connected with an automatic alarm over the sergeant's desk in the +front room; a cell, in short, from which no man could possibly +escape, and which no man could possibly enter unobserved. + +Of the Boule cabinet itself Godfrey said little, saving his story for +the dénouement which he seemed so sure would come; but the details +which I have given above were dwelt upon in the _Record_, until, +happening to meet Godfrey on the street one day, I protested that he +would only succeed in frightening the fugitive away altogether, even +if he still had any designs on the cabinet, which I very much +doubted. But Godfrey only laughed. + +"There's not the slightest danger of frightening him away," he said. +"This fellow isn't that kind. If I am right in sizing him up, he's +the sort of dare-devil whom an insuperable difficulty only attracts. +The harder the job, the more he is drawn to it. That's the reason I +am making this one just as hard as I can." + +"But a man would be a fool to attempt to get to that cabinet," I +protested. "It's simply impossible." + +"It looks impossible, I'm free to admit," he agreed. "But, just the +same, I wake every morning cold with fear, and run to the 'phone to +make sure the cabinet's safe. If I could think of any further +safeguards, I would certainly employ them." + +I looked at Godfrey searchingly, for it seemed to me that he must be +jesting. He smiled as he caught my glance. + +"I was never more in earnest in my life, Lester," he said. "You don't +appreciate this fellow as I do. He's a genius; nothing is impossible +to him. He disdains easy jobs; when he thinks a job is too easy, he +makes it harder, just as a sporting chance. He has been known to warn +people that they kept their jewels too carelessly, and then, after +they had put them in a safer place, he would go and take them." + +"That seems rather foolish, doesn't it?" I queried. + +"Not from his point of view. He doesn't steal because he needs money, +but because he needs excitement." + +"You know who he is, then?" I demanded. + +"I think I do--I hope I do; but I am not going to tell even you till +I'm sure. I'll say this--if he is who I think he is, it would be a +delight to match one's brains with his. We haven't got any one like +him over here--which is a pity!" + +I was inclined to doubt this, for I have no romantic admiration for +gentlemen burglars, even in fiction. However picturesque and +chivalric, a thief is, after all, a thief. Perhaps it is my training +as a lawyer, or perhaps I am simply narrow, but crime, however +brilliantly carried out, seems to me a sordid and unlovely thing. I +know quite well that there are many people who look at these things +from a different angle, Godfrey is one of them. + +I pointed out to him now that, if his intuitions were correct, he +would soon have a chance to match his wits with those of the Great +Unknown. + +"Yes," he agreed, "and I'm scared to death--I have been ever since I +began to suspect his identity. I feel like a tyro going up against a +master in a game of chess--mate in six moves!" + +"I shouldn't consider you exactly a tyro," I said, drily. + +"It's long odds that the Great Unknown will," Godfrey retorted, and +bade me good-bye. + +Except for that chance meeting, I saw nothing of him, and in this I +was disappointed, for there were many things about the whole affair +which I did not understand. In fact, when I sat down of an evening +and lit my pipe and began to think it over, I found that I understood +nothing at all. Godfrey's theory held together perfectly, so far as I +could see, but it led nowhere. How had Drouet and Vantine been +killed? Why had they been killed? What was the secret of the cabinet? +In a word, what was all this mystery about? Not one of these +questions could I answer; and the solutions I guessed at seemed so +absurd that I dismissed them in disgust. In the end, I found that the +affair was interfering with my work, and I banished it from my mind, +turning my face resolutely away from it whenever it tried to break +into my thoughts. + +But though I could shut it out of my waking hours successfully +enough, I could not control my sleeping ones, and my dreams became +more and more horrible. Always there was the serpent with dripping +fangs, sometimes with Armand's head, sometimes with a face unknown to +me, but hideous beyond description; its slimy body glittered with +inlay and arabesque; its scaly legs were curved like those of the +Boule cabinet; sometimes the golden sun glittered on its forehead +like a great eye. Over and over again I saw this monster slay its +three victims; and always, when that was done, it raised its head and +glared at me, as though selecting me for the fourth.... But I shall +not try to describe those dreams; even yet I cannot recall them +without a shudder. + +It was while I was sitting moodily in my room one night, debating +whether or not to go to bed; weary to exhaustion and yet reluctant to +resign myself to a sleep from which I knew I should wake shrieking, +that a knock came at the door--a knock I recognised; and I arose +joyfully to admit Godfrey. + +I could see by the way his eyes were shining that he had something +unusual to tell me; and then, as he looked at me, his face changed. + +"What's the matter, Lester?" he demanded. "You're looking fagged out. +Working too hard?" + +"It's not that," I said. "I can't sleep. This thing has upset my +nerves, Godfrey. I dream about it--have regular nightmares." + +He sat down opposite me, concern and anxiety in his face. + +"That won't do," he protested. "You must go away somewhere--take a +rest, and a good long one." + +"A rest wouldn't do me any good, as long as this mystery is +unsolved," I said. "It's only by working that I can keep my mind off +of it." + +"Well," he smiled, "just to oblige you, we will solve it first, +then." + +"Do you mean you know...." + +"I know who the Great Unknown is, and I'm going to tell you +presently. Day after to-morrow--Wednesday--I'll know all the rest. +The whole story will be in Thursday morning's paper. Suppose you +arrange to start Thursday afternoon." + +I could only stare at him. He smiled as he met my gaze. + +"You're looking better already," he said, "as though you were taking +a little more interest in life," and he helped himself to a cigar. + +"Godfrey," I protested, "I wish you would pick out somebody else to +practise on. You come up here and explode a bomb just to see how high +I'll jump. It's amusing to you, no doubt, and perhaps a little +instructive; but my nerves won't stand it." + +"My dear Lester," he broke in, "that wasn't a bomb; that was a simple +statement of fact." + +"Are you serious?" + +"Perfectly so." + +"But how do you know...." + +"Before I answer any questions, I want to ask you one. Did you, by +any chance, mention me to the gentleman known to you as M. Félix +Armand?" + +"Yes," I answered, after a moment's thought; "I believe I did. I was +telling him about our trying to find the secret drawer--I mentioned +your name--and he asked who you were. I told him you were a genius at +solving mysteries." + +Godfrey nodded. + +"That," he said, "explains the one thing I didn't understand. Now go +ahead with your questions." + +"You said a while ago that you would know all about this affair day +after to-morrow." + +"Yes." + +"How do you know you will?" + +"Because I have received a letter which sets the date," and he took +from his pocket a sheet of paper and handed it over to me. "Read it!" + +The letter was written in pencil, in a delicate and somewhat feminine +hand, on a sheet of plain, unruled paper. With an astonishment which +increased with every word, I read this extraordinary epistle:-- + + "_My Dear Mr. Godfrey:_ + + "I have been highly flattered by your interest in the affaire of + the cabinet Boule, and admire most deeply your penetration in + arriving at a conclusion so nearly correct regarding it. I must + thank you, also, for your kindness in keeping me informed of the + measures which have been taken to guard the cabinet, and which + seem to me very complete and well thought out. I have myself + visited the station and inspected the cell, and I find that in + every detail you were correct. + + "It is because I so esteem you as an adversary that I tell you, in + confidence, that it is my intention to regain possession of my + property on Wednesday next, and that, having done so, I shall beg + you to accept a small souvenir of the occasion. + + "I am, my dear sir, + + "Most cordially yours, + + "JACQUES CROCHARD, + + "L'Invincible!" + +I looked up to find Godfrey regarding me with a quizzical smile. + +"Of course it's a joke," I said. Then I looked at him again. "Surely, +Godfrey, you don't believe this is genuine!" + +"Perhaps we can prove it," he said, quietly. "That is one reason I +came up. Didn't Armand leave a note for you the day he failed to see +you?" + +"Yes; on his card; I have it here!" and with trembling fingers, I got +out my pocket-book and drew the card from the compartment in which I +had carefully preserved it. + +One glance at it was enough. The pencilled line on the back was +unquestionably written by the same hand which wrote the letter. + +"And now you know his name," Godfrey added, tapping the signature +with his finger. "I have been certain from the first that it was he!" + +I gazed at the signature without answering. I had, of course, read in +the papers many times of the Gargantuan exploits of Crochard--"The +Invincible," as he loved to call himself, and with good reason. But +his achievements, at least as the papers described them, seemed too +fantastic to be true. I had suspected more than once that he was +merely a figment of the Parisian space-writers, a sort of reserve for +the dull season; or else that he was a kind of scape-goat saddled by +the French police with every crime which proved too much for them. +Now, however, it seemed that Crochard really existed; I held his +letter in my hand; I had even talked with him--and as I remembered +the fascination, the finish, the distinguished culture of M. Félix +Armand, I understood something of the reason of his extraordinary +reputation. + +"There can be no two opinions about him," said Godfrey, reaching out +his hand for the letter and sinking back in his chair to contemplate +it. "Crochard is one of the greatest criminals who ever lived, full +of imagination and resource, and with a sense of humour most acute. I +have followed his career for years--it was this fact that gave me my +first clue. He killed a man once before, just as he killed this last +one. The man had betrayed him to the police. He was never betrayed +again." + +"What a fiend he must be!" I said, with a shudder. + +But Godfrey shook his head quickly. + +"Don't get that idea of him," he protested earnestly. "Up to the time +of his arrival in New York, he had never killed any man except that +traitor. Him he had a certain right to kill--according to thieves' +ethics, anyway. His own life has been in peril scores of times, but +he has never killed a man to save himself. Put that down to his +credit." + +"But Drouet and Vantine," I objected. + +"An accident for which he was in no way responsible," said Godfrey +promptly. + +"You mean he didn't kill them?" + +"Most certainly not. This last man he did kill was a traitor like the +first. Crochard, I think, reasons like this; to kill an adversary is +too easy; it is too brutal; it lacks finesse. Besides, it removes the +adversary. And without adversaries, Crochard's life would be of no +interest to him. After he had killed his last adversary, he would +have to kill himself." + +"I can't understand a man like that," I said. + +"Well, look at this," said Godfrey, and tapped the letter again. "He +honours me by considering me an adversary. Does he seek to remove me? +On the contrary, he gives me a handicap. He takes off his queen in +order that it may be a little more difficult to mate me!" + +"But, surely, Godfrey," I protested, "you don't take that letter +seriously! If he wrote it at all, he wrote it merely to throw you off +the track. If he says Wednesday, he really intends to try for the +cabinet to-morrow." + +"I don't think so. I told you he would think me only a tyro. And, +beside him, that is all I am. Do you know where he wrote that letter, +Lester? Right in the _Record_ office. That is a sheet of our copy +paper. He sat down there, right under my nose, wrote that letter, +dropped it into my box, and walked out. And all that sometime this +evening, when the office was crowded." + +"But it's absurd for him to write a letter like that, if he really +means it. You have only to warn the police...." + +"You'll notice he says it is in confidence." + +"And you're going to keep it so?" + +"Certainly I am; I consider that he has paid me a high compliment. I +have shown it to no one but you--also in confidence." + +"It is not the sort of confidence the law recognises," I pointed out. +"To keep a confidence like that is practically to abet a felony." + +"And yet you will keep it," said Godfrey cheerfully. "You see, I am +going to do everything I can to prevent that felony. And we will see +if Crochard is really invincible!" + +"I'll keep it," I agreed, "because I think the letter is just a +blind. And, by the way," I added, "I have a letter from Armand & Son +confirming the fact that their books show that the Boule cabinet was +bought by Philip Vantine. Under the circumstances, I shall have to +claim it and hand it over to the Metropolitan." + +"I hope you won't disturb it until after Wednesday," said Godfrey, +quickly. "I won't have any interest in it after that." + +"You really think Crochard will try for it Wednesday?" + +"I really do." + +I shrugged my shoulders. What was the use of arguing with a man like +that? + +"Till after Wednesday, then," I agreed; and Godfrey, having verified +his letter and secured from me the two promises he was after, bade me +good-night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +WE MEET M. PIGOT + + +I was just getting ready to leave the office the next afternoon when +Godfrey called me up. + +"How are you feeling to-day, Lester?" he asked. + +"Not as fit as I might," I said. + +"Have you arranged to start on that vacation Thursday?" + +"I don't think that's a good joke, Godfrey." + +"It isn't a joke at all. I want you to arrange it. But meanwhile, how +would you like a whiff of salt air this evening?" + +"First rate. How will I get it?" + +"The _Savoie_ will get to quarantine about six o'clock. I'm going +down on our boat to meet her. I want to have a talk with Inspector +Pigot--the French detective. Will you come along?" + +"Will I!" I said. "Where shall I meet you?" + +"At the foot of Liberty Street, at five o'clock." + +"I'll be there," I promised. And I was. + +The boat was cast loose as soon as we got aboard, backed out into the +busy river, her whistle shrieking shrilly, then swung about and +headed down stream. It was a fast boat--the _Record_, which prided +itself on outdistancing its contemporaries in other directions, would +of course try to do so in this--and when she got fairly into her +stride, with her engines throbbing rhythmically, the shore on either +hand slipped past us rapidly. + +The New York sky-line, as seen from the river, is one of the wonders +of the world, and I stood looking at it until we swung out into the +bay. There were two other men on board--the regular ship reporters, I +suppose--and Godfrey had gone into the cabin with them to talk over +some detail of the evening's work; so I went forward to the bow, +where I would get the full benefit of the salt breeze, with the taste +of it on my lips. The Statue of Liberty was just ahead, and already +the great search-light in her torch was winking across the water. +Craft innumerable crossed and re-crossed, their lights reflected in +the waves, and far ahead, a little to the left, I could see the white +glow against the sky which marked the position of Coney Island. + +Godfrey joined me presently, and we stood for some time looking at +this scene in silence. + +"It's a great sight, isn't it?" he said, at last. "Hello! look at +that boat!" he added, as a yacht, coming down the bay, drew abreast +of us and then slowly forged ahead. "She can go some, can't she? This +boat of ours is no slouch, you know; but just look how that one walks +away from us. I wonder who she is? What boat is that, captain?" he +called to the man on the bridge. + +"Don't know, sir," answered the captain, after a look through his +glasses. "Private yacht--can't make out her name--there's a flag or +something hanging over the stern. She's flying the French flag. There +come the other press boats behind us, sir," he added. "And there's +the _Savoie_ just slowing down at quarantine." + +Far ahead we could see the great hull of the liner, dark against the +horizon, and crowned with row upon row of glowing lights. + +"One doesn't appreciate how big those boats are until one sees them +from the water," I remarked. "Isn't she immense?" + +"And yet she's not an especially big boat, either," said Godfrey. "To +swing in under the really big ones--like the _Olympic_--is an +experience to remember." + +The _Savoie_ had by this time slowed down until she was just holding +her own against the tide, and one of her lower ports swung open. A +moment later, a boat puffed up beside her, made fast, and three or +four men clambered aboard and disappeared through the port. + +"There go the doctors," said Godfrey. "And there is that French boat +going alongside." + +The tug from quarantine dropped astern and the French yacht took her +place. After a short colloquy, one man from her was helped aboard the +_Savoie_. Then it was our turn, and after what seemed to me a +tremendous swishing and swirling at imminent risk of collision, we +swung up to the open port, a line was flung out and made fast, and a +moment later Godfrey and I and the other two men were aboard the +liner. + +My companions exchanged greetings with the officer in charge of the +open port, and then we hurried forward along a narrow corridor, +smelling of rubber and heated metal, then up stair after stair, until +at last we came to the main companionway. Here the two men left us, +to seek certain distinguished passengers, I suppose, whose views upon +the questions of the day were (presumably) anxiously awaited by an +expectant public. Godfrey stopped in front of the purser's office, +and passed his card through the little window to the man inside the +cage. + +"I should like to see M. Pigot, of the Paris _Service du Sûreté_" he +said. "Perhaps you will be so kind as to have a steward take my card +to him?" + +"That is unnecessary, sir," replied the purser, courteously. "That is +M. Pigot yonder--the gentleman with the white hair, with his back to +us. You will have to wait for a moment, however; the gentleman +speaking with him is from the French consulate, and has but this +moment come aboard." + +I could not see Inspector Pigot's face, but I could see that he held +himself very erect, in a manner bespeaking military training. The +messenger from the legation was a youngish man, with waxed moustache +and wearing an eyeglass. He was greeting M. Pigot at the moment, and, +after a word or two, produced from an inside pocket an +official-looking envelope, tied with red tape and secured with an +immense red seal. + +M. Pigot looked at it an instant, while his companion added a +sentence in his ear; then, with a nod of assent, the detective turned +down one of the passage-ways, the other man at his heels. + +"Official business, no doubt," commented the purser, who had also +been watching this little scene. "M. Pigot is one of the best of our +officers, and you will find it a pleasure to talk with him. He will +no doubt soon be disengaged." + +"Yes, but meanwhile my esteemed contemporaries will arrive," said +Godfrey, with a grimace. "They are on my heels--here they are now!" + +In fact, for the next twenty minutes, reporters from the other papers +kept arriving, till there was quite a crowd before the purser's +office. And from nearly every paper a special man had been detailed +to interview M. Pigot. Evidently all the papers were alive to the +importance of the subject. There was some good-natured chaffing, and +then one of the stewards was bribed to carry the cards of the +assembled multitude to M. Pigot's stateroom, with the request for an +audience. + +The steward went away laughing, and came back presently to say that +M. Pigot would be pleased to see us in a few minutes. But when five +minutes more passed and he did not appear, impatience broke out anew. +The lords of the press were not accustomed to being kept waiting. + +"I move we storm his castle," suggested the _World_ man. + +And just then, M. Pigot himself stepped out into the companionway. In +an instant he was surrounded. + +"My good friends of the press," he said, speaking slowly, but with +only the faintest accent, and he smiled around at the faces bent upon +him. "You will pardon me for keeping you in waiting, but I had some +matters of the first importance to attend to; and also my bag to +pack. Steward," he added, "you will find my bag outside my door. +Please bring it here, so that I may be ready to go ashore at once." +The steward hurried away, and M. Pigot turned back to us. "Now, +gentlemen," he went on, "what is it that I can do for you?" + +It was to Godfrey that the position of spokesman naturally fell. + +"We wish first to welcome you to America, M. Pigot," he said, "and to +hope that you will have a pleasant and interesting stay in our +country." + +"You are most kind," responded the Frenchman, with a charming smile. +"I am sure that I shall find it most interesting--especially your +wonderful city, of which I have heard many marvellous things." + +"And in the next place," continued Godfrey, "we hope that, with your +assistance, our police may be able to solve the mystery surrounding +the death of the three men recently killed here, and to arrest the +murderer. Of themselves, they seem to be able to do nothing." + +M. Pigot spread out his hands with a little deprecating gesture. + +"I also hope we may be successful," he said; "but if your police have +not been, my poor help will be of little account. I have a profound +admiration for your police; the results which they accomplish are +wonderful, when one considers the difficulties under which they +labour." + +He spoke with an accent so sincere that I was almost convinced he +meant every word of it; but Godfrey only smiled. + +"It is a proverb," he said, "that the French police are the best in +the world. You, no doubt, have a theory in regard to the death of +these men?" + +"I fear it is impossible, sir," said M. Pigot, regretfully, "to +answer that question at present, or to discuss this case with you. I +have my report first to make to the chief of your detective bureau. +To-morrow I shall be most happy to tell you all that I can. But for +to-night my lips are closed, sad as it makes me to seem +discourteous." + +I could hear behind me the little indrawn breath of disappointment at +the failure of the direct attack. M. Pigot's position was, of course, +absolutely correct; but nevertheless Godfrey prepared to attack it on +the flank. + +"You are going ashore to-night?" he inquired. + +"I was expecting a representative of your bureau to meet me here," M. +Pigot explained. "I was hoping to return with him to the city. I have +no time to lose. In addition, the more quickly we get to work, the +more likely we shall be to succeed. Ah! perhaps that is he," he +added, as a voice was heard inquiring loudly for Moosseer Piggott. + +I recognised that voice, and so did Godfrey, and I saw the cloud of +disappointment which fell upon his face. + +An instant later, Grady, with Simmonds in his wake, elbowed his way +through the group. + +"Moosseer Piggott!" he cried, and enveloped the Frenchman's slender +hand in his great paw, and gave it a squeeze which was no doubt +painful. + +"Glad to see you, sir. Welcome to our city, as we say over here in +America. I certainly hope you can speak English, for I don't know a +word of your lingo. I'm Commissioner Grady, in charge of the +detective bureau; and this is Simmonds, one of my men." + +M. Pigot's perfect suavity was not even ruffled. + +"I am most pleased to meet you, sir; and you Monsieur Simmòn," he +said. "Yes--I speak English--though, as you see, with some +difficulty." + +"These reporters bothering your life out, I see," and Grady glanced +about the group, scowling as his eyes met Godfrey's. "Now you boys +might as well fade away. You won't get anything out of either of us +to-night--eh, Moosseer Piggott?" + +"I have but just told them that my first report must be made to you, +sir," assented Pigot. + +"Then let's go somewhere and have a drink," suggested Grady. + +"I was hoping," said M. Pigot, gently, "that we might go ashore at +once. I have my papers ready for you...." + +"All right," agreed Grady. "And after I've looked over your papers, +I'll show you Broadway, and I'll bet you agree with me that it beats +anything in gay Paree. Our boat's waiting, and we can start right +away. This your bag? Yes? Bring it along, Simmonds," and Grady +started for the stair. + +But the attentive steward got ahead of Simmonds. + +M. Pigot turned to us with a little smile. + +"Till to-morrow, gentlemen," he said. "I shall be at the Hotel Astor, +and shall be glad to see you--shall we say at eleven o'clock? I am +truly sorry that I can tell you nothing to-night." + +He shook hands with the purser, waved his hand to us, and joined +Grady, who was watching these amenities with evident impatience. +Together they disappeared down the stair. + +"A contrast in manners, was it not, gentlemen?" asked Godfrey, +looking about him. "Didn't you blush for America?" + +The men laughed, for they knew he was after Grady, and yet it was +evident enough that they agreed with him. + +"Come on, Lester," he added; "we might as well be getting back. I can +send the boat down again after the other boys," and he turned down +the stair. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE SECRET OF THE CABINET + + +Godfrey bade me good-bye at the dock and hastened away to the office +to write his story, which, I could guess, would be concerned with the +manners of Americans, especially with Grady's. As for me, that whiff +of salt air had put an unaccustomed edge to my appetite, and I took a +cab to Murray's, deciding to spend the remainder of the evening +there, over a good dinner. Except in a certain mood, Murray's does +not appeal to me; the pseudo-Grecian temple in the corner, with water +cascading down its steps, the make-believe clouds which float across +the ceiling, the tables of glass lighted from beneath--all this, +ordinarily, seems trivial and banal; but occasionally, in an esoteric +mood, I like Murray's, and can even find something picturesque and +romantic in bright gowns, and gleaming shoulders, and handsome faces +seen amid these bizarre surroundings. And then, of course, there is +always the cooking, which leaves nothing to be desired. + +I was in the right mood to-night for the enjoyment of the place, and +I ambled through the dinner in a fashion so leisurely and trifled so +long over coffee and cigarette that it was far past ten o'clock when +I came out again into Forty-second Street. After an instant's +hesitation, I decided to walk home, and turned back toward Broadway, +already filling with the after-theatre crowd. + +Often as I have seen it, Broadway at night is still a fascinating +place to me, with its blazing signs, its changing crowds, its +clanging street traffic, its bright shop-windows. Grady was right in +saying that "gay Paree" had nothing like it; nor has any other city +that I know. It is, indeed, unique and thoroughly American; and I +walked along it that night in the most leisurely fashion, savouring +it to the full; pausing, now and then, for a glance at a shop-window, +and stopping at the Hoffman House--now denuded, alas! of its +Bouguereau--to replenish my supply of cigarettes. + +Reaching Madison Square, at last, I walked out under the trees, as I +almost always do, to have a look at the Flatiron Building, white +against the sky. Then I glanced up at the Metropolitan tower, higher +but far less romantic in appearance, and saw by the big illuminated +clock that it was nearly half-past eleven. + +I crossed back over Broadway, at last, and turned down Twenty-third +Street in the direction of the Marathon, when, just at the corner, I +came face to face with three men as they swung around the corner in +the same direction, and, with a little start, I recognised Grady and +Simmonds, with M. Pigot between them. Evidently Grady had felt it +incumbent upon himself to make good his promise in the most liberal +manner, and to display the wonders of the Great White Way from end to +end--the ceremony no doubt involving the introduction of the stranger +to a number of typical American drinks--and the result of all this +was that Grady's legs wobbled perceptibly. As a matter of racial +comparison, I glanced at M. Pigot's, but they seemed in every way +normal. + +"Hello, Lester," said Simmonds, in a voice which showed that he had +not wholly escaped the influences of the evening's celebration; and +even Grady condescended to nod, from which I inferred that he was +feeling very unusually happy. + +"Hello, Simmonds," I answered, and, as I turned westward with them, +he dropped back and; fell into step beside me. + +"Piggott is certainly a wonder," he said. "A regular sport--wanted to +see everything and taste everything. He says Paris ain't in the same +class with this town." + +"Where are you going now?" I asked. + +"We're going round to the station. Piggott says he's got a sensation +up his sleeve for us--it's got something to do with that cabinet." + +"With the cabinet?" + +"Yes--that shiny thing Godfrey got me to lock up in a cell." + +"Simmonds," I said, seriously, "does Godfrey know about this?" + +"No," said Simmonds, looking a little uncomfortable. "I told Grady we +ought to 'phone him to come up, but the chief got mad and told me to +mind my own business. Godfrey's been after him, you know, for a long +time." + +"Suppose I 'phone him," I suggested. "There'd be no objection to +that, would there?" + +"_I_ won't object," said Simmonds, "and I don't know who else will, +since nobody else will know about it." + +"All right. And drag out the preliminaries as long as you can, to +give him a chance to get up here." + +Simmonds nodded. + +"I'll do what I can," he agreed, "but I don't see what good it will +do. The chief won't let him in, even if he does come up." + +"We'll have to leave that to Godfrey. But he ought to be told. He's +responsible for the cabinet being where it is." + +"I know he is, and Piggott says it was a mighty wise thing to put it +there, though I'm blessed if I know why. Hurry Godfrey along as much +as you can. Good-night," and he followed his companions into the +station. + +There was a drugstore at the corner with a public telephone station, +and two minutes later, I was asking to be connected with the city-room +at the _Record_ office. + +No, said a supercilious voice, Mr. Godfrey was not there; he had left +some time before; no, the speaker did not know where he was going, +nor when he would be back. + +"Look here," I said, "this is important. I want to talk to the city +editor--and be quick about it." + +There was an instant's astonished silence. + +"What name?" asked the voice. + +"Lester, of Royce and Lester--and you might tell your city editor +that Godfrey is a close friend of mine." + +The city editor seemed to understand, for I was switched on to him a +moment later. But he was scarcely more satisfactory. + +"We sent Godfrey up into Westchester to see a man," he said, "on a +tip that looked pretty good. He started just as soon as he got his +Pigot story written, and he ought to be back almost any time. Is +there a message I can give him?" + +"Yes--tell him Pigot is at the Twenty-third Street station, and that +he'd better come up as soon as he can." + +"Very good. I'll give him the message the moment he comes in." + +"Thank you," I said, but the disappointment was a bitter one. + +In the street again, I paused hesitatingly at the curb, my eyes on +the red light of the police station. What was about to happen there? +What was the sensation M. Pigot had up his sleeve? Had I any excuse +for being present? + +And then, remembering Grady's nod and his wobbly legs--remembering, +too, that, at the worst, he could only put me out!--I turned toward +the light, pushed open the door and entered. + +There was no one in sight except the sergeant at the desk. + +"My name is Lester," I said. "You have a cabinet here belonging to +the estate of the late Philip Vantine." + +"We've got a cabinet, all right; but I don't know who it belongs to." + +"It belongs to Mr. Vantine's estate." + +"Well, what about it?" he asked, looking at me to see if I was drunk. +"You haven't come in here at midnight to tell me that, I hope?" + +"No; but I'd like to see the cabinet a minute." + +"You can't see it to-night. Come around to-morrow. Besides, I don't +know you." + +"Here's my card. Either Mr. Simmonds or Mr. Grady would know me. And +to-morrow won't do." + +The sergeant took the card, looked at it, and looked at me. + +"Wait a minute," he said, at last, and disappeared through a door at +the farther side of the room. He was gone three or four minutes, and +the station-clock struck twelve as I stood there. I counted the +sonorous, deliberate strokes, and then, in the silence that followed, +my hands began to tremble with the suspense. Suppose Grady should +refuse to see me? But at last the sergeant came back. + +"Come along," he said, opening the gate in the railing and motioning +me through. "Straight on through that door," he added, and sat down +again at his desk. + +With a desperate effort at careless unconcern, I opened the door and +passed through. Then, involuntarily, I stopped. For there, in the +middle of the floor, was the Boule cabinet, with M. Pigot standing +beside it, and Grady and Simmonds sitting opposite, flung carelessly +back in their chairs, and puffing at black cigars. + +They all looked at me as I entered, Pigot with an evident contraction +of the brows which showed how strongly his urbanity was strained; +Simmonds with an affectation of surprise, and Grady with a bland and +somewhat vacant smile. My heart rose when I saw that smile. + +"Well, Mr. Lester," he said, "so you want to see this cabinet?" + +"Yes," I answered; "it really belongs to the Vantine estate, you +know; I'm going to put in a claim for it--that is, if you are not +willing to surrender it without contest." + +"Did you just happen to think of this in the middle of the night?" he +inquired quizzically. + +"No," I said, boldly; "but I saw you and Mr. Simmonds and this +gentleman"--with a bow to M. Pigot--"turn in here a moment ago, and +it occurred to me that the cabinet might have something to do with +your visit. Of course, we don't want the cabinet injured. It is very +valuable." + +"Don't worry," said Grady, easily, "we're not going to injure it. And +I think we'll be ready to surrender it to you at any time after +to-night. Moosseer Piggott here wants to do a few tricks with it +first. I suppose you have a certain right to be present--so, if you +like sleight-of-hand, sit down." + +I hastily sought a chair, my heart singing within me. Then I +attempted to assume a mask of indifference, for M. Pigot was +obviously annoyed at my presence, and I feared for a moment that his +Gallic suavity would be strained to breaking. But Grady, if he +noticed his guest's annoyance, paid no heed to it; and I began to +suspect that the Frenchman's courtesy and good-breeding had ended by +rubbing Grady the wrong way, they were in such painful contrast to +his own hob-nailed manners. Whatever the cause, there was a certain +malice in the smile he turned upon the Frenchman. + +"And now, Moosseer Piggott," he said, settling back in his chair a +little farther, "we're ready for the show." + +"What I have to tell you, sir," began M. Pigot, in a voice as hard as +steel and cold as ice, "has, understand well, to be told in +confidence. It must remain between ourselves until the criminal is +secured." + +Grady's smile hardened a little. Perhaps he did not like the +imperatives. At any rate, he ignored the hint. + +"Understand, Mr. Lester?" he asked, looking at me, and I nodded. + +I saw Pigot's eyes flame and his face flush with anger, for Grady's +tone was almost insulting. For an instant I thought that he would +refuse to proceed; but he controlled himself. + +Standing there facing me, in the full light, it was possible for me +to examine him much more closely than had been possible on board the +boat, and I looked at him with interest. He was typically French, +--smooth-shaven, with a face seamed with little wrinkles and very +white, eyes shadowed by enormously bushy lashes, and close-cropped +hair as white as his face. But what attracted me most was the mouth +--a mouth at once delicate and humourous, a little large and with the +lips full enough to betoken vigour, yet not too full for fineness. He +was about sixty years of age, I guessed; and there was about him the +air of a man who had passed through a hundred remarkable experiences, +without once losing his aplomb. Certainly he was not going to lose it +now. + +"The story which I have to relate," he began in his careful English, +clipping his words a little now and then, "has to do with the theft +of the famous Michaelovitch diamonds. You may, perhaps, remember the +case." + +I remembered it, certainly, for the robbery had been conceived and +carried out with such brilliancy and daring that its details had at +once arrested my attention--to say nothing of the fact that the +diamonds, which formed the celebrated collection belonging to the +Grand Duke Michael, of Russia,--sojourning in Paris because +unappreciated in his native land and also because of the supreme +attraction of the French capital to one of his temperament--were +valued at something like eight million francs. + +"That theft," continued M. Pigot, "was accomplished in a manner at +once so bold and so unique that we were certain it could be the work +of but a single man--a rascal named Crochard, who calls himself also +'The Invincible'--a rascal who has given us very great trouble, but +whom we have never been able to convict. In this case, we had against +him no direct evidence; we subjected him to an interrogation and +found that he had taken care to provide a perfect alibi; so we were +compelled to release him. We knew that it would be quite useless to +arrest him unless we should find some of the stolen jewels in his +possession. He appeared as usual upon the boulevards, at the cafés, +everywhere. He laughed in our faces. For us, it was not pleasant; but +our law is strict. For us to accuse a man, to arrest him, and then to +be compelled to own ourselves mistaken, is a very serious matter. But +we did what we could. We kept Crochard under constant surveillance; +we searched his rooms and those of his mistress not once but many +times. On one occasion, when he passed the barrier at Vincennes, our +agents fell upon him and searched him, under pretence of robbing him. + +"He was, understand well, not for an instant deceived. He knew +thoroughly what we were doing, for what we were searching. He knew +also that nowhere in Europe would he dare to attempt to sell a single +one of those jewels. We suspected that he would attempt to bring them +to this country, and we warned your department of customs. For we +knew that here he could sell all but the very largest not only almost +without danger, but at a price far greater than he could obtain for +them in Europe. We closed every avenue to him, as we thought--and +then, all at once, he disappeared. + +"For two weeks we heard nothing--then came the story of this man +Drouet, killed by a stab on the hand. At once we recognised the work +of Crochard, for he alone of living men possesses the secret of the +poison of the Medici. It is a fearful secret, which, in his whole +life, he had used but once--and that upon a man who had betrayed +him." + +M. Pigot paused and passed his hand across his forehead. + +"We were at a loss to understand Crochard's connection with Drouet," +M. Pigot continued. "Drouet, while a mere hanger-on of the cafés of +the boulevards, was not a criminal. Then came the death of that +creature Morel, in an effort to gain possession of this cabinet, and +we began to understand. We made inquiries concerning the cabinet; we +learned its history, and the secret of its construction, and we +arrived at a certain conclusion. It was to ascertain if that +conclusion is correct that I came to America." + +"What is the conclusion?" queried Grady, who had listened to all this +with a manifest impatience in strong contrast to my own absorbed +interest. + +For I had already guessed what the conclusion was, and my pulses were +bounding with excitement. "Our theory," replied M. Pigot, without +the slightest acceleration of speech, "is that the Michaelovitch +diamonds are concealed in this cabinet. Everything points to it--and +we shall soon see." As he spoke, he drew from his pocket a steel +gauntlet, marvellously like the one Godfrey had used, and slipped it +over his right hand. "When one attempts to fathom the secrets of +_L'Invincible_" he said with a smile, "one must go armoured. Already +three men have paid with their lives the penalty of their rashness." +"Three men!" repeated Grady, wonderingly. "Three," and Pigot checked +them off upon his fingers. "First the man who gave his name as +d'Aurelle, but who was really a blackmailer named Drouet; second, M. +Vantine, the connoisseur; and third, the creature Morel. Of these, +the only one that really matters is M. Vantine; his death was most +unfortunate, and I am sure that Crochard regrets it exceedingly. He +might also regret my death, but, at any rate, I have no wish to be +the fourth. Not I," and he adjusted the gauntlet carefully. "One +moment, monsieur," I said, bursting in, unable to remain longer +silent. "This is all so wonderful--so thrilling--will you not tell us +more? For what were these three men searching? For the jewels?" +"Monsieur is as familiar with the facts as I," he answered, in a +sarcastic tone. "He knows that Drouet was killed while searching for +a packet of letters, which would have compromised most seriously a +great lady; he knows that M. Vantine was killed while endeavouring to +open the drawer after its secret had been revealed to him by the maid +of that same great lady, who was hoping to get a reward for them; +Morel met death directly at the hands of Crochard because he was a +traitor and deserved it." More and more fascinated, I stared at him. +What secret was safe, I asked myself, from this astonishing man? Or +was he merely piecing together the whole story from such fragments as +he knew? "But even yet," I stammered, "I do not understand. We have +opened the secret drawer of the cabinet--there was no poison. How +could it have killed Drouet and Mr. Vantine?" + +"Very simply," said M. Pigot, coldly. "Death came to Drouet +and M. Vantine because the maid of Madame la Duchesse mistook +her left hand for her right. The drawer which contained the +letters is at the left of the cabinet--see," and he +pressed the series of springs, caught the little handle, and +pulled the drawer open. "You will notice that the letters are gone, +for the drawer was opened by Madame la Duchesse herself, in the +presence of M. Lestaire, who very gallantly permitted her to resume +possession of them. The drawer which Drouet and M. Vantine opened," +and here his voice became a little strident under the stress of great +emotion, "is on the right side of the cabinet, exactly opposite the +other, and opened by a similar combination. But there is one great +difference. About the first drawer, there is nothing to harm any one; +the other is guarded by the deadliest poison the world has ever +known. Observe me, gentlemen!" Impelled by an excitement so intense +as to be almost painful, I had risen from my chair and drawn near to +him. As he spoke, he bent above the desk and pressed three fingers +along the right edge. There was a sharp click, and a section of the +inlay fell outward, forming a handle, just as I had seen it do on the +other side of the desk. M. Pigot hesitated an instant--any man would +have hesitated before that awful risk!--then, catching the handle +firmly with his armoured hand, he drew it quickly out. There was a +sharp clash, as of steel on steel, and the drawer stood open. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MICHAELOVITCH DIAMONDS + + +M. Pigot, cool and imperturbable, held out to us, with a little +smile, a hand which showed not a quiver of emotion--his gauntleted +hand; and I saw that, on the back of it, were two tiny depressions. +At the bottom of each depression lay a drop of bright red liquid-- +blood-red, I told myself, as I stared at it, fascinated. And what +nerves of steel this man possessed! A sudden warmth of admiration for +him glowed within me. "That liquid, gentlemen," he said in his +smooth voice, "is the most powerful poison ever distilled by man. +Those two tiny drops would kill a score of people, and kill them +instantly. Its odour betrays its origin"--and, indeed, the air was +heavy with the scent of bitter almonds--"but the poison ordinarily +derived from that source is as nothing compared with this. This +poison is said to have been discovered by Rémy, the remarkable man +who brought about the death of the Duc d'Anjou. Its distillation was +supposed to be one of the lost arts, but the secret was rediscovered +by this man Crochard. No secret, indeed, is safe from him; criminal +history, criminal memoirs--the mysteries and achievements of the great +confederacy of crime which has existed for many centuries, and whose +existence few persons even suspect--all this is to him an open book. +It is this which renders him so formidable. No man can stand against +him. Even the secret of this drawer was known to him, and he availed +himself of it when need arose." M. Pigot paused, his head bent in +thought; and I seemed to be gazing with him down long avenues of crime, +extending far into the past--dismal avenues like those of Père Lachaise, +where tombs elbowed each other; where, at every step, one came face to +face with a mystery, a secret, or a tragedy. Only, here, the mysteries +were all solved, the secrets all uncovered, the tragedies all +understood. But only to the elect, to criminals really great, were +these avenues open; to all others they were forbidden. Alone of +living men, perhaps, Crochard was free to wander there unchallenged. + +Some such vision as this, I say, passed before my eyes, and I had a +feeling that M. Pigot shared in it; but, after an instant, he turned +back to the cabinet. + +"Now, M. Simmón," he said, briskly, in an altered voice, "if you will +have the kindness to hold the drawer for a moment in this position, I +will draw the serpent's fangs. There is not the slightest danger," he +added, seeing that Simmonds very naturally hesitated. + +Thus assured, Simmonds grasped the handle of the drawer, and held it +open, while the Frenchman took from his pocket a tiny flask of +crystal. + +"A little farther," he said; and as Simmonds, with evident effort, +drew the drawer out to its full length, a tiny, two-tined prong +pushed itself forward from underneath the cabinet. "There are the +fangs," said M. Pigot. He held the mouth of the flask under first one +and then the other, passing his other hand carefully behind and above +them. "The poison is held in place by what we in French call +_attraction capillaire_--I do not know the English; but I drive it +out by introducing the air behind it--ah, you see!" + +He stood erect and held the flask up to the light. It was half full +of the red liquid. + +"Enough to decimate France," he said, screwed the stopper carefully +into place, and put the flask in his pocket. "Release the drawer, if +you please, monsieur," he added to Simmonds. + +It sprang back into place on the instant, the arabesqued handle +snapping up with a little click. + +"You will observe its ingenuity," said M. Pigot. "It is really most +clever. For whenever the hand, struck by the poisoned fangs, loosened +its hold on the drawer, the drawer sprang shut as you see, and +everything was as before--except that one man more had tasted death. +Now I open it. The fangs fall again; they strike the gauntlet; but +for that, they would pierce the hand, but death no longer follows. By +turning this button, I lock the spring, and the drawer remains open. +The man who devised this mechanism was so proud of it that he +described it in a secret memoir for the entertainment of the Grand +Louis. There is a copy of that memoir among the archives of the +Bibliothèque Nationale; the original is owned by Crochard. It was he +who connected that memoir with this cabinet, who rediscovered the +mechanism, rewound the spring, and renewed the poison. No doubt the +stroke with the poisoned fangs, which he used to punish traitors, was +the result of reading that memoir." + +"This Croshar--or whatever his name is,--seems to be a 'strordinary +feller," observed Grady, relighting his cigar. + +"He is," agreed M. Pigot, quietly; "a most extraordinary man. But +even he is not infallible; for, since the memoir made no mention of +the other secret drawer--the one in which Madame la Duchesse +concealed her love letters--Crochard knew nothing of it. It was that +fact which defeated his combinations--a pure accident which he could +not foresee. And now, gentlemen, it shall be my pleasure to display +before you some very beautiful brilliants." + +Not until that instant had I thought of what the drawer contained; I +had been too fascinated by the poisoned fangs and by the story told +so quietly but so effectively by the French detective; but now I +perceived that the drawer was filled with little rolls of cotton, +which had been pressed into it quite tightly. + +M. Pigot removed the first of these, unrolled it and spread it out +upon the desk, and instantly we caught the glitter of diamonds +--diamonds so large, so brilliant, so faultlessly white that I drew a +deep breath of admiration. Even M. Pigot, evidently as he prided +himself upon his imperturbability, could not look upon those gems +wholly unmoved; a slow colour crept into his cheeks as he gazed down +at them, and he picked up one or two of the larger ones to admire +them more closely. Then he unfolded roll after roll, stopping from +time to time for a look at the larger brilliants. + +"These are from the famous necklace which the Grand Duke inherited +from his grandmother," he said, calling our attention to a little +pile of marvellous gems in one of the last packets. "Crochard, of +course, removed them from their settings--that was inevitable. He +could melt down the settings and sell the gold; but not one of these +brilliants would be marketable in Europe for many years. Each of them +is a marked gem. Here in America, your police regulations are not so +complete; but I fancy that, even here, he would have had difficulty +in marketing this one," and he unfolded the last packet, and held up +to the light a rose-diamond which seemed to me as large as a walnut, +and a-glow with lovely colour. + +"Perhaps you have stopped to admire the Mazarin diamond in the +_galérie d'Apollon_ at the Louvre," said M. Pigot. "There is always a +crowd about that case, and a special attendant is installed there to +guard it, for it contains some articles of great value. But the +Mazarin is not one of them; for it is not a diamond at all; it is +paste--a paste facsimile of which this is the original. Oh, it is all +quite honest," he added, as Grady snorted derisively. "Some years +ago, the directors of the Louvre needed a fund for the purchase of +new paintings; needed also to clean and restore the old ones. They +decided that it was folly to keep three millions of francs imprisoned +in a single gem, when their Michael Angelos and da Vincis and +Murillos were encrusted with dirt and fading daily. So they sought a +purchaser for the Mazarin; they found one in the empress of Russia, +who had a craze for precious stones, and who, at her death, left this +remarkable collection to her favourite son, who had inherited her +passion. A paste replica of the Mazarin was placed in the Louvre for +the crowds to admire, and every one soon forgot that it was not +really the diamond. For myself, I think the directors acted most +wisely. And now," he added, with a gesture toward the glittering +heaps, "what shall we do with all this?" + +"There's only one thing to do," said Grady, awaking suddenly as from +a trance, "and that's to get them in a safe-deposit box as quick as +possible. There's no police-safe I'd trust with 'em! Why, they'd tempt +the angel Gabriel!" and he drew a deep breath. + +"Can we find a box of safe-deposit at this hour of the night?" asked +M. Pigot, glancing at his watch. "It is almost one o'clock and a +half." + +"That's easy in New York," said Grady. "We'll take 'em over to the +Day and Night Bank on Fifth Avenue. It never closes. Wait till I get +something to put 'em in." + +He went out and came back presently with a small valise. + +"This will do," he said. "Stow 'em away, and I'll call up the bank +and arrange for the box." + +Simmonds and Pigot rolled up the packets carefully and placed them in +the valise, while I sat watching them in a kind of daze. And I +understood the temptation which would assail a man in the presence of +so much beauty. It was not the value of the jewels which shook and +dazzled me--I scarcely thought of that; it was their seductive +brilliance, it was the thought that, if I possessed them, I might +take them out at any hour of the day or night and run my fingers +through them and watch them shimmer and quiver in the light. + +"The Grand Duke Michael must have been considerably upset," remarked +Simmonds, who, throughout all this scene, had lost no whit of his +serenity of demeanour. + +"He has been like a madman," said M. Pigot, smiling a little at +Simmonds's unemotional tone. "These jewels are a passion with him; he +worships them; he never has parted with them, even for a day; where +he goes, they have gone. In his most desperate need of money--and he +has had such need many times--he has never sold one of his +brilliants. On the contrary, whenever he has money or credit, and the +opportunity comes to purchase a stone of unusual beauty, he cannot +resist, even though his debts go unpaid. Since the loss of these +stones, he has raved, he has cursed, he has beat his servants--one of +them has died, in consequence. We are all a little mad on some one +subject, I have heard it said; well, the Grand Duke Michael is very +mad on the subject of diamonds." + +"Why didn't he offer a reward for their return?" queried Simmonds. + +"Oh, he did," said M. Pigot. "He offered immediately his whole +fortune for their return. But his fortune was not large enough to +tempt Crochard, for the Grand Duke really has nothing but the income +from his family estates, and you may well believe that he spends all +of it. It will be a great joy to him that we have found them." + +The thought flashed through my mind that doubtless M. Pigot was in +the way of receiving a handsome present. + +"There they are," said Simmonds, and closed the bag with a snap, as +Grady came in again. + +"I've arranged for the box," said Grady, "and one of our wagons is at +the door. I thought we'd better not trust a taxi--might turn over or +run into something, and we can't afford to take any chances--not this +trip. Simmonds, you go along with Moosseer Piggott, and put an extra +man on the seat with the driver. Maybe that Croshar might try to hold +you up." + +The same thought was in my own mind, for Crochard must have learned +of M. Pigot's arrival; and I could scarcely imagine that he would sit +quietly by and permit the jewels to be taken away from him--to say +nothing of his chagrin over his unfulfilled boast to Godfrey. So I +was relieved that Grady was wise enough to take no risk. + +"You'd better get a receipt," Grady went on, "and arrange that the +valise is to be delivered only when you and Moosseer Piggott appear +together. That will be satisfactory, moosseer?" he added, turning to +the Frenchman. + +"Entirely so, sir." + +"Very well, then; I'll see you in the morning. I congratulate you on +the find. It was certainly great work." + +"I thank you, sir," replied M. Pigot, gravely. "Au revoir, monsieur," +and with a bow to me, he followed Simmonds into the outer room. + +Grady sat down and got out a fresh cigar. + +"Well, Mr. Lester," he said, as he struck a match, "what do you think +of these Frenchmen, anyway?" + +"They're marvellous," I said. "Even yet I can't understand how he +knew so much." + +"Maybe he was just guessing at some of it," Grady suggested. + +"I thought of that; but I don't believe anybody could guess so +accurately. For instance, how did he know about those letters?" + +"Fact is," broke in Grady, "that's the first I'd heard of 'em. What +_is_ that story?" + +I told him the story briefly, carefully suppressing everything which +would give him a clue to the identity of the veiled lady. + +"There were certain details," I added, "which I supposed were known +to no one except myself and two other persons--and yet M. Pigot knew +them. Then again, how did he know so certainly just how the mechanism +worked? How did he know which roll of cotton contained that Mazarin +diamond? You will remember he told us what was in that roll before he +opened it." + +Grady smiled good-naturedly and a little patronisingly. + +"That was the last roll, wasn't it?" he demanded. "Since that big +diamond hadn't shown up in any of the others, he knew it had to be in +that roll. It was just one of the little plays for effect them +Frenchies are so fond of." + +"Perhaps you are right," I agreed. "But it seemed to me that he +handled that mechanism as though he was familiar with it. Of course, +he may have prepared himself by studying the drawings which no doubt +accompany the secret memoir. He may even have had a working model +made." + +Grady nodded tolerantly. + +"Them fellers go to a lot of trouble over little things like that," +he said. "They like to slam their cards down on the table with a big +hurrah, even when the cards ain't worth a damn." + +"He certainly held trumps this time, anyway," I commented. "And he +played his hand superbly. He is an extraordinary man." + +"And a great actor," Grady supplemented. "Them fellers always behave +like they was on the stage, right in the spot-light. It makes me a +little tired, sometimes. Hello! Who's that?" + +The front door had been flung open; there was an instant's colloquy +with the desk-sergeant, then a rapid step crossed the outer room, and +Godfrey burst in upon us. + +He cast a rapid glance at the Boule cabinet, at the secret drawer +standing open, empty; and then his eyes rested upon Grady. + +"So he got away with it, did he?" he inquired. + +"Who in hell do you think you are?" shouted Grady, his face purple, +"coming in here like this? Get out, or I'll have you thrown out!" + +"Oh, I'll go," retorted Godfrey coolly. "I've seen all I care to see. +Only I'll tell you one thing, Grady--you've signed your own +death-warrant to-night!" + +"What do you mean by that?" Grady demanded, in a lower tone. + +"I mean that you won't last an hour after the story of this night's +work gets out." + +Grady's colour slowly faded as he met the burning and contemptuous +gaze Godfrey turned upon him. As for me, an awful fear had gripped my +heart. + +"Do you mean to say it wasn't Piggott?" stammered Grady, at last. + +Godfrey laughed scornfully. + +"No, you blithering idiot!" he said. "It wasn't Pigot. It was +Crochard himself!" + +And he stalked out, slamming the door behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE FATE OF M. PIGOT + + +Whatever may have been Grady's defects of insight and imagination, he +was energetic enough when thoroughly aroused. Almost before the echo +of that slamming door had died away, he was beside the sergeant's +desk. + +"Get out the reserves," he ordered, "and have the other wagon around. +'Phone headquarters to rush every man available up to the Day and +Night Bank, and say it's from me!" + +He stood chewing his cigar savagely as the sergeant hastened to obey. +In a moment, the reserves came tumbling out, struggling into their +coats; there was a clatter of hoofs in the street as the wagon dashed +up; the reserves piled into it, permitting me to crowd in beside +them, Grady jumped to the seat beside the driver, and we were off at +a gallop, our gong waking the echoes of the silent street. + +I clung to the hand-rail as the wagon swayed back and forth or +bounded into the air as it struck the car-tracks, and stared out into +the night, struggling to understand. Could Godfrey be right? But of +course he was right! Some intuition told me that; and yet, how had +Crochard managed to substitute himself for the French detective? +Where was Pigot? Was he lying somewhere in a crumpled heap, with a +tiny wound upon his hand? But that could not be--Grady and Simmonds +had been with him all the evening! And could that aged Frenchman with +the white, fine, wrinkled skin be also the bronzed and virile +personage whom I had known as Félix Armand? My reason reeled before +the seeming impossibility of it--and yet, somehow, I knew that +Godfrey was right! + +The wagon came to a stop so suddenly that I was thrown violently +against the man next to me, and the reserves, leaping out, swept me +before them. We were in front of the Day and Night Bank, and at a +word from Grady, the men spread into a close cordon before the +building. + +Another police wagon stood at the curb, with the driver still on the +seat, but as Grady started toward it, a figure appeared at the door +of the bank and shouted to us--shouted in inarticulate words which I +could not understand. But Grady seemed to understand them, and went +up the steps two at a time, with an agility surprising in so large a +man, and which I was hard put to it to match. A little group stood at +one side of the vestibule looking down at some one extended on a +cushioned seat. And, an instant later, I saw that it was Simmonds, +lying on his back, his eyes open and staring apparently at the +ceiling. + +But, at the second glance, I saw that the eyes were sightless. + +Grady elbowed his way savagely through the group. + +"Where's Kelly?" he demanded. + +At the words, a white-faced man in uniform arose from a chair into +which he had plainly dropped exhausted. + +"Oh, there you are!" and Grady glowered at him ferociously. "Now tell +me what happened--and tell it quick!" + +"Why, sir," stammered Kelly, "there wasn't anything happened. Only +when we stopped out there at the curb and I got down and opened the +door, there wasn't nobody in the wagon but Mr. Simmonds. I spoke to +him and he didn't answer--and then I touched him and he kind of fell +over--and then I rushed in here and 'phoned the station; but they +said you'd already started for the bank; and then we went out and +brought him in here--and that's all I know, sir." + +"You didn't hear anything--no sound of a struggle?" + +"Not a sound, sir; not a single sound." + +"And you haven't any idea where the other man got out?" + +"No, sir." + +"Mr. Simmonds had a little valise with him--did you notice it?" + +"Yes, sir; and I looked for it in the wagon, but it ain't there." + +Grady turned away with a curse as four or five men ran in from the +street--the men from headquarters, I told myself. I could hear him +talking to them in sharp, low tones, and then they departed as +suddenly as they had come. The reserves also hurried away, and I +concluded that Grady was trying to throw a net about the territory in +which the fugitive was probably concealed; but my interest in that +manoeuvre was overshadowed, for the time being, by my anxiety for +Simmonds. I picked up his right hand and looked at it; then I drew a +deep breath of relief, for it was uninjured. + +"Has anyone sent for a doctor?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir," one of the bank attaches answered. "We telephoned for one +at once--here he is, now!" he added, as a little black-bearded man +entered, carry the inevitably-identifying medicine case. + +The newcomer glanced at the body, waved us back, fell on one knee, +stripped away the clothing from the breast and applied his ear to the +heart. Then he looked into the staring eyes, drew down the lids, +watched them snap up again, and then hastily opened his case. + +"Let's have some water," he said. + +"Then he's not dead?" I questioned, as one of the clerks sprang to +obey. + +"Dead? No; but he's had a taste or whiff of something that has +stopped the heart action." + +With a queer, creepy feeling over my scalp, I remembered the little +flask half-full of blood-red liquid which Crochard carried in his +pocket. + +But he had not meant murder this time; I remembered that Godfrey had +said he never killed an adversary. The doctor worked briskly away, +and, at the end of a few minutes, Simmonds's eyes suddenly closed, he +drew a long breath, and sat erect. Then his eyes opened, and he sat +swaying unsteadily and staring amazedly about him. + +"Best lie down again," said the doctor soothingly. "You're a little +wobbly yet, you know." + +"Where am I?" gasped Simmonds. Then his eyes encountered mine. +"Lester!" he said. "Where is he--Piggott? Not...." + +He stopped short, looked once around at the gleaming marble of the +bank, fumbled for something at his side, and fell senseless on the +seat. + +I have no recollection of how I got back to the Marathon. I suppose I +must have walked; but my first distinct remembrance is of finding +myself sitting in my favourite chair, pipe in hand. The pipe was lit, +so I suppose I must have lighted it mechanically, and I found that I +had also mechanically changed into my lounging-coat. I glanced at my +watch and saw that it was nearly four o'clock. + +The top of my head was burning as though with fever, and I went into +the bathroom and turned the cold water on it. The shock did me a +world of good, and by the time I had finished a vigorous toweling I +felt immensely better. So I returned to my chair and sat down to +review the events of the evening; but I found that somehow my brain +refused to work, and black circles began to whirl before my eyes +again. + +"I told Godfrey I couldn't stand any more of this," I muttered, and +stumbled into my bedroom, undressed with difficulty, and turned out +the light. + +Then, as I lay there, staring up into the darkness, a stinging +thought brought me upright. + +Godfrey--where was Godfrey? Was he on the track of Crochard? Was he +daring a contest with him? Perhaps, even at this moment.... + +Scarcely knowing what I did, I groped my way to the telephone and +asked for Godfrey's number--hoping against hope absurdly--and at +last, to my intense surprise and relief, I heard his voice--not a +very amiable voice.... + +"Hello!" he said. + +"Godfrey," I began, "it's Lester. He got away." + +"Of course he got away. You didn't call me out of bed to tell me +that, I hope?" + +"Then you knew about it?" + +"I knew he'd get away." + +"When the wagon got to the bank there was nobody inside but Simmonds. +Simmonds went along, you know." + +"Was he hurt?" + +"He was unconscious, but he came around all right." + +"That's good--but Crochard wouldn't hurt him. He got away with the +jewels, of course?" + +"Of course," I assented, surprised that Godfrey should take it so +coolly. "When you rushed out that way," I added, "I thought maybe you +were going after him." + +"With him twenty minutes in the lead? I'm no such fool! He got away +from me the other day with a start of about half a second." + +"I tried to get you," I explained, "as soon as Simmonds told me they +were going to look at the cabinet. I 'phoned the office. The city +editor said he had sent you out into Westchester." + +Godfrey laughed shortly. + +"It was a wild-goose chase," he said, "cooked up by our friend +Crochard. But even then, I'd have got back, if we hadn't punctured a +tire when we were five miles from anywhere. I knew what was up--but +there I was. Oh, he's made fools of us all, Lester. I told you he +would!" + +"Then you didn't get my message?" + +"Yes--they gave it to me when I 'phoned in that the Westchester +business was a fake. I rushed for the station, though I knew I'd be +too late." + +"But, Godfrey," I said, "I can't understand, even yet, how he did it. +Grady and Simmonds left the boat with Pigot and were with him all +evening, showing him the sights. How did Crochard get into it? What +did he do with Pigot? Where _is_ Pigot?" + +"He's on the _Savoie._ I rushed a wireless down to her as soon as I +left the station. They made a search and found Pigot bound and gagged +under the berth in his stateroom." + +I could only gasp. + +"And to think I didn't suspect!" added Godfrey, bitterly. "We stood +there and saw that yacht with the French flag walk away from us; we +saw her put a man aboard the _Savoie_; we saw that man talking to +Pigot...." + +"Yes," I said, breathlessly; "yes." + +"Well, that man was Crochard. He got Pigot into his stateroom--gave +him a whiff of the same stuff he used on Simmonds, no doubt; put him +out of the way under the berth; got into his clothes, made up his +face, _put_ on a wig--and all that while we were kicking our heels +outside waiting for him." + +"But it was a tremendous risk," I said. "There were so many people on +board who knew Pigot--it would have to be a perfect disguise." + +"Crochard wouldn't stop for that. But it wasn't much of a risk. None +of us had seen Pigot closely; all we had seen of him was the back of +his head; and the passengers were all on deck watching the quarantine +men. And yet, of course, the disguise was a perfect one. Crochard is +an artist in that line, and he was, no doubt, thoroughly familiar +with Pigot's appearance. He deceived the purser--but the purser +wouldn't suspect anything!" + +"So it was really Crochard...." + +"But _we_ ought to have suspected. We ought to have suspected +everything, questioned everything; I ought to have looked up that +visitor and found out what became of him. Instead of which, Crochard +put Pigot's papers in his pocket, set his bag outside the stateroom +door, and then came out calmly to meet his dear friends of the press; +and I stood there talking to him like a little schoolboy--no wonder +he thinks I'm a fool!" + +"But nobody would have suspected!" I gasped. "Why, that man is- +is...." + +"A genius," said Godfrey. "An absolute and unquestioned genius. But I +knew that all the time, and I ought to have been on guard. You +remember he said he would come to-day?" + +"Yes." + +"And you didn't believe it." + +"I can't believe it yet." + +"There's one consolation--it will break Grady." + +"But, Godfrey," I said, "if you could have seen those diamonds--those +beautiful diamonds--and to think he should be able to get away with +them from right under our noses!" + +"It's pretty bad, isn't it? But there's no use crying over spilt +milk. Lester," he added, in another tone, "I want you to be in your +office at noon to-morrow--or rather, to-day." + +"All right," I promised; "I'll be there." + +"Don't fail me. There is one act of the comedy still to be played." + +"I'll be there," I said again. "But I'm afraid the last act will be +an anti-climax. Look here, Godfrey...." + +"Now go to bed," he broke in; "you're talking like a somnambulist. +Get some sleep. Have you arranged for that vacation?" + +"Godfrey," I said, "tell me...." + +"I won't tell you anything. Only I've got one more bomb to explode, +Lester, and it's a big one. It will make you jump!" + +I could hear him chuckling to himself. + +"Good-night," he said, and hung up. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE LAST ACT OF THE DRAMA + + +I overslept, next morning, so outrageously that it was not until I +had got a seat in a subway express that I had time to open my paper. +My first glance was for the big head that would tell of the diamond +robbery; and then I realised that no morning paper would have a word +of it. For the robbery was only a few hours old--and yet, it seemed +to me an age had passed since that moment when Godfrey had rushed in +upon Grady and me. So the city moved on, as yet blissfully +unconscious of the sensation which would be sprung with the first +afternoon editions, and over which reporters and artists and +photographers were even now, no doubt, labouring. I promised myself a +happy half hour in reading Godfrey's story! + +It was then that I remembered the appointment for twelve o'clock. The +last act of the drama was yet to be staged, Godfrey had said, and he +had also spoken of a bomb--a big one! I wondered what it could be, +One thing was certain: if Godfrey had prepared it, its explosion +would be startling enough! + +There were a number of things at the office demanding my attention, +and I was so late in getting there and the morning passed so rapidly +that when the office-boy came in and announced that Mr. Grady and Mr. +Simmonds were outside and wished to see me, I did not, for a moment, +connect their visit with Godfrey. Then I looked at my watch, saw that +it was five minutes to twelve, and realised that the actors were +assembling. + +"Show them in," I said, and they entered together a minute later. + +Grady was evidently much perturbed. His usually florid face was drawn +and haggard, his cheeks hung in ugly lines, there were dark pouches +under his eyes, and the eyes themselves were blood-shot. I guessed +that he had not been to bed; that he had spent the night searching +for Crochard--and it was easy enough to see that the search had been +unsuccessful. Simmonds, too, was looking rather shaky, and no doubt +still felt the after-effects of that whiff of poison. + +"I'm glad to see you are better, Simmonds," I said, shaking hands +with him. "That was a close call." + +"It certainly was," Simmonds agreed, sinking into a chair. "If I had +got a little more of it, I'd never have waked up." + +"Do you remember anything about it?" + +"Not a thing. One minute we were sitting there talking together as +nice as you please--and the next thing I knew was when I woke up in +the bank." + +"Where's that man Godfrey?" broke in Grady. + +"He said he'd be here at noon," I said, and glanced at my watch. +"It's noon now. Were you to meet him here?" + +Grady glanced at me suspiciously. + +"Don't you know nothing about it?" he asked. + +"I only know that Godfrey asked me to be here at noon to-day. What's +up?" + +"Blamed if I know," said Grady sulkily. "I got word from him that I'd +better be here, and I thought maybe he might know something. I'm so +dizzy over last night's business that I'm running around in circles +this morning. But I won't wait for him. He can't make me do that! +Come along, Simmonds." + +"Wait a minute," I broke in, as the outer door opened. "Perhaps +that's Godfrey, now." + +And so it proved. He came in accompanied by a man whom I knew to be +Arthur Shearrow, chief counsel for the _Record_. + +Godfrey nodded all around. + +"I think you know Mr. Shearrow," he said, placing on my desk a small +leather bag he was carrying. "This is Mr. Lester, Mr. Shearrow," he +added, and we shook hands. "The object of this conference, Lester," +he concluded, "is to straighten out certain matters connected with +the Michaelovitch diamonds--and incidentally to give the _Record_ the +biggest scoop it has had for months." + +"I ain't here to fix up no scoop for the _Record_", broke in Grady. +"That paper never did treat me right." + +"It has treated you as well as you deserved," retorted Godfrey. "I'm +going to talk plainly to you, Grady. Your goose is cooked. You can't +hold on for an hour after last night's get-away becomes public." + +"We'll see about that!" growled Grady, but the fight had evidently +been taken out of him. + +"I understand you wouldn't let Simmonds telephone for me last night?" +queried Godfrey. + +"That's right--it wasn't none of your business." + +"Perhaps not. And yet, if I had been there, the cleverest thief in +Paris, if not in the world, would be safe behind those chrome-nickle +steel bars at the Twenty-third Street station, instead of at liberty +to go ahead and rob somebody else." + +"You're mighty cocksure," retorted Grady. "It's easy to be wise after +it's all over." + +"Well, I'm not going to argue with you," said Godfrey. "I admit it +was a good disguise, and a clever idea--but, just the same, you ought +to have seen through it. That's your business." + +Grady mopped his face. + +"Oh, of course!" he sneered. "I ought to have seen through it! I +ought to have suspected, even when I found you tryin' to interview +him; even when I got him off the boat myself; even when I went +through his papers and found them all right--yes, even to the +photograph on his passport! That's plain enough now, ain't it! If +people only had as good foresight as they have hindsight, how easy it +would be!" + +"Look here, Grady," said Godfrey, more kindly, "I haven't anything +against you personally, and I admit that it was foolish of me to +stand there talking to Crochard and never suspect who he was. But +that's all beside the mark. You're at the head of the detective +bureau, and you're the man who is responsible for all this. You're +energetic enough and all that; but you're not fit for your job--it's +too big for you, and you know it. Take my advice, and go to the +'phone there and send in your resignation." + +Grady stared at him as though unable to believe his ears. + +"'Phone in my resignation!" he echoed. "What kind of a fool do you +think I am?" + +"I see you're a bigger one than I thought you were! Your pull can't +help you any longer, Grady." + +"Was it to tell me that you got me over here?" + +"No," said Godfrey, "all this is just incidental--you began the +discussion yourself, didn't you? I got you here to meet...." + +The outer door opened again, and Godfrey looked toward it, smiling. + +"Moosseer Piggott!" announced the office-boy. + +And then I almost bounced from my seat, for I would have sworn that +the man who stood on the threshold was the man who had opened the +secret drawer. + +He came forward, looking from face to face; then his eyes met +Godfrey's and he smiled. + +"Behold that I am here, monsieur," he said and I started anew at the +voice, for it was the voice of Crochard. "I hope that I have not kept +you waiting." + +"Not at all, M. Pigot," Godfrey assured him, and placed a chair for +him. + +I could see Grady and Simmonds gripping the arms of their chairs and +staring at the newcomer, their mouths open; and I knew the thought +that was flashing through their brains. Was this Pigot? Or was the +man who had opened the cabinet Pigot? Or was neither Pigot? Was it +possible that this could be a different man than the one who had +opened the cabinet? + +I confess that some such thought flashed through my own mind--a +suspicion that Godfrey, in some way, was playing with us. + +Godfrey looked about at us, smiling as he saw our expressions. + +"I went down the bay this morning and met the _Savoie_," he said. "I +related to M. Pigot last night's occurrences, and begged him to be +present at this meeting. He was good enough to agree. I assure you," +he added, seeing Grady's look, "that this _is_ M. Pigot, of the Paris +_Service du Sûreté,_ and not Crochard." + +"Oh, yes," said M. Pigot, with a deprecating shrug. "I am myself--and +greatly humiliated that I should have fallen so readily into the trap +which Crochard set for me. But he is a very clever man." + +"It was certainly a marvellous disguise," I said. "It was more than +that--it was an impersonation." + +"Crochard has had occasion to study me," explained M. Pigot, drily. +"And he is an artist in whatever he does. But some day I shall get +him--every pitcher to the well goes once too often. There is no hope +of finding him here in New York?" + +"I am afraid not," said Godfrey. + +"Don't be too sure of that!" broke in Grady ponderously. "I ain't +done yet--not by no manner of means!" + +"Pardon me for not introducing you, M. Pigot," said Godfrey. "This +gentleman is Mr. Grady, who has been the head of our detective +bureau; this is Mr. Simmonds, a member of his staff; this is Mr. +Lester, an attorney and friend of mine; and this is Mr. Shearrow, my +personal counsel. Mr. Grady, Mr. Simmonds and Mr. Lester were +present, last night," he added blandly, "when Crochard opened the +secret drawer." + +Grady reddened visibly, and even I felt my face grow hot. M. Pigot +looked at us with a smile of amusement. + +"It must have been a most interesting experience," he said, "to have +seen Crochard at work. I have never had that privilege. But I regret +that he should have made good his escape." + +"More especially since he took the Michaelovitch diamonds with him," +I added. + +"Before we go into that," said Godfrey, with a little smile, "there +are one or two questions I should like to ask you, M. Pigot, in order +to clear up some minor details which are as yet a little obscure. Is +it true that the theft of the Michaelovitch diamonds was planned by +Crochard?" + +"Undoubtedly. No other thief in France would be capable of it." + +"Is it also true that no direct evidence could be found against him?" + +"That also is true, monsieur. He had arranged the affair so cleverly +that we were wholly unable to convict him, unless we should find him +with the stolen brilliants in his possession." + +"And you were not able to do that?" + +"No; we could discover no trace of the brilliants, though we searched +for them everywhere." + +"But you did not know of the Boule cabinet and of the secret drawer?" + +"No; of that we knew nothing. I must examine that famous cabinet." + +"It is worth examining. And it has an interesting history. But you +did know, of course, that Crochard would seek a market for the +diamonds here in America?" + +"We knew that he would try to do so, and we did everything in our +power to prevent it. We especially relied upon your customs +department to search most thoroughly the belongings of every person +with whom they were not personally acquainted." + +"The customs people did their part," said Godfrey with a chuckle. +"They have quite upset the country! But the diamonds got in, in spite +of them. For, of course, a cabinet imported by a man so well known +and so above suspicion as Mr. Vantine was passed without question!" + +"Yes," agreed M. Pigot, a little bitterly. "It was a most clever +plan; and now, no doubt, Crochard can sell the brilliants at his +leisure." + +"Not if you've got a good description of them," protested Grady. +"I'll make it a point to warn every dealer in the country; I'll keep +my whole force on the job; I'll get Chief Wilkie to lend me some of +his men...." + +"Oh, there is no use taking all that trouble," broke in Godfrey, +negligently. "Crochard won't try to sell them." + +"Won't try to sell them?" echoed Grady. "What's the reason he won't?" + +"Because he hasn't got them," answered Godfrey, smiling with an +evidently deep enjoyment of Grady's dazed countenance. + +"Oh, come off!" said that worthy disgustedly. "If he hasn't got 'em +I'd like to know who has!" + +"I have," said Godfrey, and cleared my desk with a sweep of his arm. +"Spread out your handkerchief, Lester," and as I dazedly obeyed, he +picked up the little leather bag, opened it, and poured out its +contents in a sparkling flood. "There," he added, turning to Grady, +"are the Michaelovitch diamonds." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +CROCHARD WRITES AN EPILOGUE + + +For an instant, we gazed at the glittering heap with dazzled eyes; +then Grady, with an inarticulate cry, sprang to his feet and picked +up a handful of the diamonds, as though to convince himself of their +reality. + +"But I don't understand!" he gasped. "Have you got Croshar too?" + +"No such luck," said Godfrey. + +"Do you mean to say he'd give these up without a fight!" + +The same thought was in my own mind; if Godfrey had run down Crochard +and got the diamonds, without a life-and-death struggle, that +engaging rascal must be much less formidable than I had supposed. + +"My dear Grady," said Godfrey, "I haven't seen Crochard since the +minute you took him off the boat. I'd have had him, if you had let +Simmonds call me. That's what I had planned. But he was too clever +for us. I knew that he would come to-day...." + +"You knew that he would come to-day?" repeated Grady blankly. "How +did you know that--or is it merely hot air?" + +"I knew that he would come," said Godfrey, curtly, "because he wrote +and told me so." + +M. Pigot laughed a dry little laugh. + +"That is a favourite device of his," he said; "and he always keeps +his word." + +"The trouble was," continued Godfrey, "that I didn't look for him so +early in the day, and so he was able to send me on a wild-goose chase +after a sensation that didn't exist. There's where I was a fool. But +I discovered the secret drawer ten days ago--while the cabinet was +still at Vantine's--the evening after the veiled lady got her +letters. It was easy enough. I am surprised you didn't think of it, +Lester." + +"Think of what?" I asked. + +"Of the key to the mystery. The drawer containing the letters was on +the left side of the desk; I saw at once that there must be another +drawer, opened in the same way, on the right side." + +"I didn't see it," I said. "I don't see it yet." + +"Think a minute. Why was Drouet killed? Because he opened the wrong +drawer. He pressed the combination at the right side of the desk, +instead of that at the left side. The fair Julie must have thought +the drawer was on the right side, instead of the left. It was a +mistake very easy to make, since her mistress doubtless had her back +turned when Julie saw her open the drawer. The suspicion that it was +Julie's mistake becomes certainty when she shows the combination to +Vantine, and he is killed, too. Besides, the veiled lady herself made +a remark which revealed the whole story." + +"I didn't notice it," I said, resignedly. "What was it?" + +"That she was accustomed to opening the drawer with her left hand, +instead of with her right. After that, there could be no further +doubt. So I discovered the drawer very simply. It had to be there." + +"Yes," I said; "and then?" + +"Then I removed the jewels, took them down to a dealer in paste gems +and duplicated them as closely as I could. I had a hard time getting +a good copy of this big rose-diamond." + +He picked it from the heap and held it up between his fingers. + +"It's a beauty, isn't it?" he asked. + +M. Pigot smiled a dry smile. + +"It is the Mazarin," he said, "and is worth three million francs. +There is a copy of it at the Louvre." + +"So that's true, is it?" I asked. "Crochard told us the story." + +"It is unquestionably true," said M. Pigot. "It is not a secret--it +is merely something which every one has forgotten." + +"Well," continued Godfrey, "after I got the duplicates, I rolled them +up in the cotton packets, and placed them back in the drawer, being +careful to put the Mazarin at the bottom, where I had found it." + +"It was lucky you thought of that," I said, "or Crochard would have +suspected something." + +Godfrey looked at me with a smile. + +"My dear Lester," he said, "he knew that the game was up the instant +he opened the first packet. Do you suppose he would be deceived? Not +by the best reproduction ever made!" + +And then I remembered the slow flush which had crept into Crochard's +cheeks as he opened that first packet! + +"I didn't expect to deceive him," Godfrey explained. "I just wanted +to give him a little surprise. And to think I wasn't there to see +it!" + +"But if he knew they were imitations," I protested, "why should he go +to all that trouble to steal them?" + +"That is what puzzled me last night," said Godfrey; "and, for that +matter, it puzzles me yet." + +"Maybe he's got the real stones, after all," suggested Grady, who had +been listening to all this with incredulous countenance. "The story +sounds fishy to me. Maybe these are the imitations." + +M. Pigot came forward and picked up the Mazarin and looked at it. + +"This one, at least, is real," he said, after a moment. "And I have +no doubt the others are," he added, turning them over with his +finger. + +Grady, still incredulous, picked up one of the brilliants, went to +the window, and drew it down the pane. It left a deep scratch behind +it. + +"Yes," he admitted reluctantly, "I guess they're diamonds, all +right," and he sat down again. + +"And now, gentlemen," continued Godfrey, who had watched Grady's +byplay with a tolerant smile, "I am ready to turn these diamonds over +to you. I should like you to count them, and give me a receipt for +them." + +"And then, of course, you will write the story," sneered Grady, "and +give yourself all the credit." + +"Well," asked Godfrey, looking at him, "do you think you deserve +any?" And Grady could only crimson and keep silent. "As for the +story, it is already written. It will be on the streets in ten +minutes--and it will create a sensation. Please count the diamonds. +You will find two hundred and ten of them." + +"That is the exact number stolen from the Grand Duke," remarked M. +Pigot, and fell to counting. The number was two hundred and ten. + +"Mr. Shearrow has the receipt," Godfrey added, and Shearrow took a +paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and read the contents. + +It proved to be not only a receipt, but a full statement of the facts +of the case, without omitting the details of the robbery and the +credit due the _Record_ for the recovery of the diamonds. Grady's +face grew redder and redder as the reading proceeded. + +"I won't sign no such testimonial as that," he blustered. "Not on +your life I won't!" + +"You will sign it, will you not, M. Pigot?" asked Godfrey. + +"Certainly," said the Frenchman; "it is a recognition of your +services very well deserved," and he stepped forward and signed it +with a flourish. + +"Now, Simmonds," said Godfrey. + +"No you don't!" broke in Grady. "Stay where you are, Simmonds. I +forbid you to sign that. Remember, I'm your superior officer." + +"No, he's not, Simmonds," said Godfrey, quietly. "He hasn't been an +officer at all for an hour and more." + +Grady sprang to his feet, his eyes blazing, and strode toward +Godfrey. + +"What do you mean by that?" he shouted. + +"I mean," said Godfrey, looking him squarely in the eye, "that Mr. +Shearrow and myself had a talk with the mayor this morning, and laid +before him certain evidence in our possession--this latest case among +others--and that your resignation was accepted at noon to-day." + +"My resignation!" snorted Grady. "I never wrote one!" + +"Tell the public that, if you want to," retorted Godfrey coldly. +"That's your affair. You ought to have 'phoned it in when I told you +to. Now, Simmonds." + +Grady stood glaring about him an instant, like an enraged bull, and I +half expected him to hurl himself on Godfrey; instead, he crushed his +hat upon his head, strode to the door, jerked it open, and banged it +behind him. + +"Now, Simmonds," Godfrey repeated, as the echo died away, and +Simmonds came forward and signed. I witnessed the signatures, and +Godfrey, with more eagerness than he had shown in the whole affair, +caught up the paper and sprang with it to the door. + +"Get that down to the office, as quick as you can," he said, to a man +outside. "I'll 'phone instructions. That," he added, closing the door +and turning back to us, "is my reward for all this--or, rather, the +_Record's_ reward. And now, gentlemen, Mr. Shearrow has his car +below, and I think we would better drive around to some safe-deposit +box with this plunder." + +It was perhaps ten days afterwards that Godfrey dropped in to see me +one evening. I was just back from a week on Cape Cod, which had done +me a world of good; and, I need hardly say, was glad to see him. + +"You're looking normal again," he said, surveying me, as he sat +down. "I was worried about you for a while." + +"I never felt better. I told you that all I needed was to have that +mystery solved." + +"And it was solved on schedule time, wasn't it," he smiled; "though +not quite in the way I had anticipated. Do you know, Lester," he +added, "I am going to claim that cabinet." + +"On what grounds?" I demanded. + +"Because the man who owned it gave it to me," and he got a paper out +of his pocket-book and handed it across to me. + +I opened it and recognised the delicate and feminine writing which I +had seen once before. + + "_My dear sir_ [the letter ran]: + + "I find that I made the mistake of underestimating you, and I + present you my sincere apologies. I trust that, at some future + time, it may be my privilege to be again engaged with you--the + result is certain to be most interesting. But at present I find + that I must return to Europe by _La Bretagne_; since, after the + trouble I have taken, it is impossible that I should consent to + part with the brilliants of His Highness the Grand Duke. As a + slight souvenir of my high regard, I trust you will be willing + to accept the cabinet Boule, which I am certain that good M. + Lester will surrender to you if you will show to him this letter. + The cabinet is not only interesting in itself, but will be doubly + so to you because of the part it has played in our little comedy. + And I should like to know that it adorns a corner of your home. + + "Till we meet again, dear sir, believe me + + "Your sincere admirer, + + "CROCHARD, L'Invincible!" + +"He's a good sport, isn't he?" asked Godfrey, as I silently handed +the letter back to him. "What do you say about the cabinet?" + +"I suppose there is no doubt that Crochard bought it," I said. + +"So that it is mine now?" + +"Yes; but I'm going to solicit a bribe." + +"Go ahead and solicit it." + +"I want a souvenir, too," I said. "I'd like awfully well to have that +letter--besides," I added, "it will be a kind of receipt, you know, +if anybody ever questions my giving you the cabinet." + +Godfrey laughed and threw the letter across the table to me. + +"It's yours," he said. "And I'll send for the cabinet to-morrow. I +suppose it is still at the station?" + +"Yes; I haven't had time to put in a claim for it. But, Godfrey," I +added, "when did _La Bretagne_ sail?" + +"A week ago to-day. She is due at Havre in the morning." + +"Did you warn them?" + +"Warn them of what?" + +"That Crochard is after the diamonds. They went back on _La +Bretagne_, I suppose?" + +"Yes--and Pigot went with them. So why should I warn any one? Surely +they know that Crochard will get those diamonds if he can. It has +become a sort of point of honour with him, I imagine. It is up to +them to take care of them." + +"That oughtn't to be difficult," I said. "The strong-room of a liner +is about the safest place on earth." + +"Yes," Godfrey agreed, and blew a meditative ring toward the ceiling. + +And presently he went away without saying anything more. + +But the more I thought of it, the more the inflection he had given +that word seemed an interrogation rather than an affirmation. + +And when I opened my paper next morning, I more than half expected to +be greeted with a black headline announcing the looting of the +strong-room of _La Bretagne_. But there was no such headline, and +with a sigh, half of relief and half of disappointment, I turned to +the other news. + +But two weeks later, a black headline _did_ catch my eye: + + MICHAELOVITCH JEWELS FALSE! + + FRENCH DETECTIVE TAKES BACK PASTE IMITATIONS FROM AMERICA. + + Fraud Discovered When the Grand Duke Michael Sends them to a + Jeweller to be Reset. + +I had no need to read the article which followed, for I saw in a +flash what had occurred. I saw, too, why Crochard had retained the +paste jewels--he had a use for them! How or where the substitution +had been made, I could only guess; but one thing was certain: the two +weeks which had elapsed before the theft was discovered had given him +ample opportunity to dispose of his plunder. I felt sorry for the +Grand Duke; sorrier still for that admirable M. Pigot; but, after +all, one could not but admire the cleverness of the man who had +despoiled them. + +Who, I wondered, had bought the Mazarin? Surely there was a diamond +most difficult to sell. + +It could, of course, be cut up--- but that would be sacrilege! + +That question was answered, before long, in an unexpected way--a way +which filled many columns in the papers, which delighted the +comedy-loving French, and which gave Crochard a unique advertisement. +One morning, in the personal column of _Le Matin_, appeared a notice, +of which this is the English: + + "To M. the Director of the Museum of the Louvre: + + "It has been my good fortune to come into possession of the + rose-diamond known as the Mazarin. It is my wish to restore it + to your collection, in order that it may no longer be necessary + to delude the public with an imitation of coloured glass. It will + give me great pleasure to present this brilliant to you, with my + compliments, provided His Highness, the Grand Duke Michael, who + preceded me in possession of the diamond, will join me in the gift. + Should he refuse, it will be my melancholy duty to cleave the + diamond into a number of smaller stones, as it is too large for + my use. But I hope that he will not refuse. + + "CROCHARD, L'Invincible!" + +What could the Grand Duke do? To have refused, would have made him +the butt of the boulevards. Besides, he was, after all, losing +nothing which he had not already lost. So, with a better grace than +one might have expected, he consented to join in the restoration. Two +days later, the director of the Louvre discovered a packet upon his +desk. He opened it and found within the Mazarin. When you visit the +Louvre, you will see it in the place of honour in the glass case in +the centre of the Gallery of Apollo, with an attendant on guard +beside it. But already the circumstances of its restoration are +fading from the public memory. + +And Crochard? I do not know. Each morning, I read first the news from +Paris, searching for L'Invincible in some new incarnation. I have his +letter framed and hanging above my desk, and every day I read it +over. One sentence, especially, is forever running in my head: + + "I trust that, at some future time, it may be my privilege to be + again engaged with you--the result is certain to be most + interesting." + +And I trust that it may be my privilege, also, to be present at that +engagement! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mystery Of The Boule Cabinet +by Burton Egbert Stevenson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10067 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..67e2c6e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10067 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10067) diff --git a/old/10067-8.txt b/old/10067-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b79d34c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10067-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9563 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mystery Of The Boule Cabinet +by Burton Egbert Stevenson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mystery Of The Boule Cabinet + A Detective Story + +Author: Burton Egbert Stevenson + +Release Date: November 12, 2003 [EBook #10067] +[Date last updated: February 27, 2005] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERY OF THE BOULE CABINET *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE MYSTERY OF THE BOULE CABINET + +_A Detective Story_ + + +BY + +BURTON E. STEVENSON + + +With Illustrations by THOMAS FOGARTY + +1911 + + +To + +A.B.M. +Fellow-Sherlockian + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I A CONNOISSEUR'S VAGARY + II THE FIRST TRAGEDY + III THE WOUNDED HAND + IV THE THUNDERBOLT + V GRADY TAKES A HAND + VI THE WOMAN IN THE CASE + VII ROGERS GETS A SHOCK + VIII PRECAUTIONS + IX GUESSES AT THE RIDDLE + X PREPARATIONS + XI THE BURNING EYES + XII GODFREY IS FRIGHTENED + XIII A DISTINGUISHED CALLER + XIV THE VEILED LADY + XV THE SECRET OF THE UNKNOWN FRENCHMAN + XVI PHILIP VANTINE'S CALLER + XVII ENTER M. ARMAND + XVIII I PART WITH THE BOULE CABINET + XIX "LA MORT!" + XX THE ESCAPE + XXI GODFREY WEAVES A ROMANCE + XXII "CROCHARD, L'INVINCIBLE!" + XXIII WE MEET M. PIGOT + XXIV THE SECRET OF THE CABINET + XXV THE MICHAELOVITCH DIAMONDS + XXVI THE FATE OF M. PIGOT + XXVII THE LAST ACT OF THE DRAMA + XXVIII CROCHARD WRITES AN EPILOGUE + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +CLUTCHING AT HIS THROAT, HE HALF-TURNED AND FELL + +"I GRABBED HER AGAIN, AND JUST THEN MR. VANTINE OPENED THE DOOR AND +CAME OUT INTO THE HALL." + +"A MOMENT LATER M. FÉLIX ARMAND WAS SHOWN IN" + +WITH HIS BACK TO THE DOOR, STOOD A MAN RIPPING SAVAGELY AWAY THE +STRIPS OF BURLAP + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A CONNOISSEUR'S VAGARY + + +"Hello!" I said, as I took down the receiver of my desk 'phone, in +answer to the call. + +"Mr. Vantine wishes to speak to you, sir," said the office-boy. + +"All right," and I heard the snap of the connection. + +"Is that you, Lester?" asked Philip Vantine's voice. + +"Yes. So you're back again?" + +"Got in yesterday. Can you come up to the house and lunch with me +to-day?" + +"I'll be glad to," I said, and meant it, for I liked Philip Vantine. + +"I'll look for you, then, about one-thirty." + +And that is how it happened that, an hour later, I was walking over +toward Washington Square, just above which, on the Avenue, the old +Vantine mansion stood. It was almost the last survival of the old +régime; for the tide of business had long since overflowed from the +neighbouring streets into the Avenue and swept its fashionable folk +far uptown. Tall office and loft buildings had replaced the +brownstone houses; only here and there did some old family hold on, +like a sullen and desperate rear-guard defying the advancing enemy. + +Philip Vantine was one of these. He had been born in the house where +he still lived, and declared that he would die there. He had no one +but himself to please in the matter, since he was unmarried and lived +alone, and he mitigated the increasing roar and dust of the +neighbourhood by long absences abroad. It was from one of these that +he had just returned. + +I may as well complete this pencil-sketch. Vantine was about fifty +years of age, the possessor of a comfortable fortune, something of a +connoisseur in art matters, a collector of old furniture, a little +eccentric--though now that I have written the word, I find that I +must qualify it, for his only eccentricity was that he persisted, in +spite of many temptations, in remaining a bachelor. Marriageable +women had long since ceased to consider him; mothers with maturing +daughters dismissed him with a significant shake of the head. It was +from them that he got the reputation of being an eccentric. But his +reasons for remaining single in no way concerned his lawyers--a +position which our firm had held for many years, and the active work +of which had come gradually into my hands. + +It was not very arduous work, consisting for the most part of the +drawing of leases, the collecting of rents, the reinvestment of +funds, and the adjustment of minor differences with tenants--all of +which were left to our discretion. But occasionally it was necessary +to consult our client on some matter of unusual importance, or to get +his signature to some paper, and, at such times, I always enjoyed the +talk which followed the completion of the business; for Vantine was a +good talker, with a knowledge of men and of the world gained by much +travel and by a detached, humourous and penetrating habit of mind. + +He came forward to meet me, as I gave his man my hat and stick, and +we shook hands heartily. I was glad to see him, and I think he was +glad to see me. He was looking in excellent health, and brown from +the voyage over. + +"It's plain to see that the trip did you good," I said. + +"Yes," he agreed; "I never felt more fit. But come along; we can talk +at table. There's a little difficulty I want you to untangle for me." +I followed him upstairs to his study, where a table laid for two had +been placed near a low window. + +"I had lunch served up here," Vantine explained, as we sat down, +"because this is the only really pleasant room left in the house. If +I didn't own that plot of ground next door, this place would be +impossible. As it is, I can keep the sky-scrapers far enough away to +get a little sunshine now and then. I've had to put in an air filter, +too; and double windows in the bedrooms to keep out the noise; but I +dare say I can manage to hang on." + +"I can understand how you'd hate to move into a new house," I said. + +Vantine made a grimace. + +"I couldn't endure a new house. I'm used to this one--I can find my +way about in it; I know where things are. I've grown up here, you +know; and, as a man gets older, he values such associations more and +more. Besides, a new house would mean new fittings, new furniture--" + +He paused and glanced about the room. Every piece of furniture in it +was the work of a master. + +"I suppose you found some new things while you were away?" I said. +"You always do. Your luck's proverbial." + +"Yes--and it's that I wanted to talk to you about, I brought back six +or eight pieces; I'll show them to you presently. They are all pretty +good, and one is a thing of beauty. It's more than that--it's an +absolutely unique work of art. Only, unfortunately, it isn't mine." + +"It isn't yours?" + +"No; and I don't know whose it is. If I did, I'd go buy it. That's +what I want you to do for me. It's a Boule cabinet--the most +exquisite I ever saw." + +"Where did it come from?" I questioned, more and more surprised. + +"It came from Paris, and it was addressed to me. The only explanation +I can think of is that my shippers at Paris made a mistake, sent me a +cabinet belonging to some one else, and sent mine to the other +person." + +"You had bought one, then?" + +"Yes; and it hasn't turned up. But beside this one, it's a mere daub. +My man Parks got it through the customs yesterday. As there was a +Boule cabinet on my manifest, the mistake wasn't discovered until the +whole lot was brought up here and uncrated this morning." + +"Weren't they uncrated in the customs?" + +"No; I've been bringing things in for a good many years, and the +customs people know I'm not a thief." + +"That's quite a compliment," I pointed out. "They've been tearing +things wide open lately." + +"They've had a tip of some sort, I suppose. Come in," he added, +answering a tap at the door. + +The door opened and Vantine's man came in. + +"A gentleman to see you, sir," he said, and handed Vantine a card. + +Vantine looked at it a little blankly. + +"I don't know him," he said. "What does he want?" + +"He wants to see you, sir; very bad, I should say." + +"What about?" + +"Well, I couldn't just make out, sir; but it seems to be important." + +"Couldn't make out? What do you mean, Parks?" + +"I think he's a Frenchman, sir; anyway, he don't know much English. +He ain't much of a looker, sir--I've seen hundreds like him sitting +out in front of the cafés along the boulevards, taking all afternoon +to drink a bock." + +Vantine seemed struck by a sudden idea, and he looked at the card +again. Then he tapped it meditatively on the table. + +"Shall I show him out, sir?" asked Parks, at last. + +"No," said Vantine, after an instant's hesitation. "Tell him to +wait," and he dropped the card on the table beside his plate. + +"I tell you, Lester," he went on, as Parks withdrew, "when I went +downstairs this morning and saw that cabinet, I could hardly believe +my eyes. I thought I knew furniture, but I hadn't any idea such a +cabinet existed. The most beautiful I had ever seen is at the Louvre. +It stands in the Salle Louis Fourteenth, to the left as you enter. It +belonged to Louis himself. Of course I can't be certain without a +careful examination, but I believe that cabinet, beautiful as it is, +is merely the counterpart of this one." + +He paused and looked at me, his eyes bright with the enthusiasm of +the connoisseur. + +"I'm not sure I understand your jargon," I said. "What do you mean by +'counterpart?'" + +"Boule furniture," he explained, "is usually of ebony inlaid with +tortoise-shell, and incrusted with arabesques in metals of various +kinds. The incrustation had to be very exact, and to get it so, the +artist clamped together two plates of equal size and thickness, one +of metal, the other of tortoise-shell, traced his design on the top +one, and then cut them both out together. The result was two +combinations, the original, with a tortoise-shell ground and metal +applications; and the counterpart, appliqué metal with tortoise-shell +arabesques. The original was really the one which the artist designed +and whose effects he studied; the counterpart was merely a resultant +accident with which he was not especially concerned. Understand?" + +"Yes, I think so," I said. "It's a good deal as though Michael +Angelo, when he made one of his sketches, white on black, put a sheet +of carbon under his paper and made a copy at the same time, black on +white." + +"Precisely. And it's the original which has the real artistic value. +Of course, the counterpart is often beautiful, too, but in a much +lower degree." + +"I can understand that," I said. + +"And now, Lester," Vantine went on, his eyes shining more and more, +"if my supposition is correct--if the Grand Louis was content with +the counterpart of this cabinet for the long gallery at Versailles, +who do you suppose owned the original?" + +I saw what he was driving at. + +"You mean one of his mistresses?" + +"Yes, and I think I know which one--it belonged to Madame de +Montespan." + +I stared at him in astonishment, as he sat back in his chair, smiling +across at me. + +"But," I objected, "you can't be sure--" + +"Of course I'm not sure," he agreed quickly. "That is to say, I +couldn't prove it. But there is some--ah--contributory evidence, I +think you lawyers call it Boule and the Montespan were in their glory +at the same time, and I can imagine that flamboyant creature +commissioning the flamboyant artist to build her just such a +cabinet." + +"Really, Vantine," I exclaimed, "I didn't know you were so romantic. +You quite take my breath away." + +He flushed a little at the words, and I saw how deeply in earnest he +was. + +"The craze of the collector takes him a long way sometimes," he said. +"But I believe I know what I'm talking about. I am going to make a +careful examination of the cabinet as soon as I can. Perhaps I'll +find something--there ought to be a monogram on it somewhere. What I +want you to do is to cable my shippers, Armand et Fils, Rue du +Temple, find out who owns this cabinet, and buy it for me." + +"Perhaps the owner won't sell," I suggested. + +"Oh yes, he will. Anything can be bought--for a price." + +"You mean you're going to have this cabinet, whatever the cost?" + +"I mean just that." + +"But, surely, there's a limit." + +"No, there isn't." + +"At least you'll tell me where to begin," I said. "I don't know +anything of the value of such things." + +"Well," said Vantine, "suppose you begin at ten thousand francs. We +mustn't seem too eager. It's because I'm so eager, I want you to +carry it through for me. I can't trust myself." + +"And the other end?" + +"There isn't any other end. Of course, strictly speaking, there is, +because my money isn't unlimited; but I don't believe you will have +to go over five hundred thousand francs." + +I gasped. + +"You mean you're willing to give a hundred thousand dollars for this +cabinet?" + +Vantine nodded. + +"Maybe a little more. If the owner won't accept that, you must let me +know before you break off negotiations. I'm a little mad about it, I +fancy--all collectors are a little mad. But I want that cabinet, and +I'm going to have it." + +I did not reply. I only looked at him. And he laughed as he caught my +glance. + +"I can see you share that opinion, Lester," he said. "You fear for +me. I don't blame you--but come and see it." + +He led the way out of the room and down the stairs; but when we +reached the lower hall, he paused. + +"Perhaps I'd better see my visitor first," he said. "You'll find a +new picture or two over there in the music-room--I'll be with you in +a minute." + +I started on, and he turned through a doorway at the left. + +An instant later, I heard a sharp exclamation; then his voice calling +me. + +"Lester! Come here!" he cried. + +I ran back along the hall, into the room which he had entered. He was +standing just inside the door. + +"Look there," he said, with a queer catch in his voice, and pointed +with a trembling hand to a dark object on the floor. + +I moved aside to see it better. Then my heart gave a sickening throb; +for the object on the floor was the body of a man. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FIRST TRAGEDY + + +It needed but a glance to tell me that the man was dead. There could +be no life in that livid face, in those glassy eyes. + +"Don't touch him," I said, for Vantine had started forward. "It's too +late." + +I drew him back, and we stood for a moment shaken as one always is by +sudden and unexpected contact with death. + +"Who is he?" I asked, at last. + +"I don't know," answered Vantine hoarsely. "I never saw him before." +Then he strode to the bell and rang it violently. "Parks," he went on +sternly, as that worthy appeared at the door, "what has been going on +in here?" + +"Going on, sir?" repeated Parks, with a look of amazement, not only +at the words, but at the tone in which they were uttered. "I'm sure I +don't know what--" + +Then his glance fell upon the huddled body, and he stopped short, his +eyes staring, his mouth open. + +"Well," said his master, sharply. "Who is he? What is he doing here?" + +"Why--why," stammered Parks, thickly, "that's the man who was waiting +to see you, sir." + +"You mean he has been killed in this house?" demanded Vantine. + +"He was certainly alive when he came in, sir," said Parks, recovering +something of his self-possession. "Maybe he was just looking for a +quiet place where he could kill himself. He seemed kind of excited." + +"Of course," agreed Vantine, with a sigh of relief, "that's the +explanation. Only I wish he had chosen some place else. I suppose we +shall have to call the police, Lester?" + +"Yes," I said, "and the coroner. Suppose you leave it to me. We'll +lock up this room, and nobody must leave the house until the police +arrive." + +"Very well," assented Vantine, visibly relieved, "I'll see to that," +and he hastened away, while I went to the 'phone, called up police +headquarters, and told briefly what had happened. + +Twenty minutes later, there was a ring at the bell, and Parks opened +the door and admitted four men. + +"Why, hello, Simmonds," I said, recognising in the first one the +detective-sergeant who had assisted in clearing up the Marathon +mystery. And back of him was Coroner Goldberger, whom I had met in +two previous cases; while the third countenance, looking at me with a +quizzical smile, was that of Jim Godfrey, the _Record's_ star +reporter. The fourth man was a policeman in uniform, who, at a word +from Simmonds, took his station at the door. + +"Yes," said Godfrey, as we shook hands, "I happened to be talking to +Simmonds when the call came in, and I thought I might as well come +along. What is it?" + +"Just a suicide, I think," and I unlocked the door into the room +where the dead man lay. + +Simmonds, Goldberger and Godfrey stepped inside. I followed and +closed the door. + +"Nothing has been disturbed," I said. "No one has touched the body." + +Simmonds nodded, and glanced inquiringly about the room; but +Godfrey's eyes, I noticed, were on the face of the dead man. +Goldberger dropped to his knees beside the body, looked into the eyes +and touched his fingers to the left wrist. Then he stood erect again +and looked down at the body, and as I followed his gaze, I noted its +attitude more accurately than I had done in the first shock of +discovering it. + +It was lying on its right side, half on its stomach, with its right +arm doubled under it, and its left hand clutching at the floor above +its head. The knees were drawn up as though in a convulsion, and the +face was horribly contorted, with a sort of purple tinge under the +skin, as though the blood had been suddenly congealed. The eyes were +wide open, and their glassy stare added not a little to the apparent +terror and suffering of the face. It was not a pleasant sight, and +after a moment, I turned my eyes away with a shiver of repugnance. + +The coroner glanced at Simmonds. + +"Not much question as to the cause," he said. "Poison of course." + +"Of course," nodded Simmonds. + +"But what kind?" asked Godfrey. + +"It will take a post-mortem to tell that," and Goldberger bent for +another close look at the distorted face. "I'm free to admit the +symptoms aren't the usual ones." + +Godfrey shrugged his shoulders. + +"I should say not," he agreed, and turned away to an inspection of +the room. + +"What can you tell us about it, Mr. Lester?" Goldberger questioned. + +I told all I knew--how Parks had announced a man's arrival, how +Vantine and I had come downstairs together, how Vantine had called +me, and finally how Parks had identified the body as that of the +strange caller. + +"Have you any theory about it?" Goldberger asked. + +"Only that the call was merely a pretext--that what the man was +really looking for was a place where he could kill himself +unobserved." + +"How long a time elapsed after Parks announced the man before you and +Mr. Vantine came downstairs?" + +"Half an hour, perhaps." + +Goldberger nodded. + +"Let's have Parks in," he said. + +I opened the door and called to Parks, who was sitting on the bottom +step of the stair. + +Goldberger looked him over carefully as he stepped into the room; but +there could be no two opinions about Parks. He had been with Vantine +for eight or ten years, and the earmarks of the competent and +faithful servant were apparent all over him. + +"Do you know this man?" Goldberger asked, with a gesture toward the +body. + +"No, sir," said Parks. "I never saw him till about an hour ago, when +Rogers called me downstairs and said there was a man to see Mr. +Vantine." + +"Who is Rogers?" + +"He's the footman, sir. He answered the door when the man rang." + +"Well, and then what happened?" + +"I took his card up to Mr. Vantine, sir." + +"Did Mr. Vantine know him?" + +"No, sir; he wanted to know what he wanted." + +"What _did_ he want?" + +"I don't know, sir; he couldn't speak English hardly at all--he was +French, I think." + +Goldberger looked down at the body again and nodded. + +"Go ahead," he said. + +"And he was so excited," Parks added, "that he couldn't remember what +little English he did know." + +"What made you think he was excited?" + +"The way he stuttered, and the way his eyes glinted. That's what +makes me think he just come in here to kill hisself quiet like--I +shouldn't be surprised if you found that he'd escaped from +somewhere. I had a notion to put him out without bothering Mr. +Vantine--I wish now I had--but I took his card up, and Mr. Vantine +said for him to wait; so I come downstairs again, and showed the man +in here, and said Mr. Vantine would see him presently, and then +Rogers and me went back to our lunch and we sat there eating till the +bell rang, and I came in and found Mr. Vantine here." + +"Do you mean to say that you and Rogers went away and left this +stranger here by himself?" + +"The servants' dining-room is right at the end of the hall, sir. We +left the door open so that we could see right along the hall, clear +to the front door. If he'd come out into the hall, we'd have seen +him." + +"And he didn't come out into the hall while you were there?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did anybody come in?" + +"Oh, no, sir; the front door has a snap-lock. It can't be opened from +the outside without a key." + +"So you are perfectly sure that no one either entered or left the +house by the front door while you and Rogers were sitting there?" + +"Nor by the back door either, sir; to get out the back way, you have +to pass through the room where we were." + +"Where were the other servants?" + +"The cook was in the kitchen, sir. This is the housemaid's afternoon +out." + +The coroner paused. Godfrey and Simmonds had both listened to this +interrogation, but neither had been idle. They had walked softly +about the room, had looked through a door opening into another room +beyond, had examined the fastenings of the windows, and had ended by +looking minutely over the carpet. + +"What is the room yonder used for?" asked Godfrey, pointing to the +connecting door. + +"It's a sort of store-room just now, sir," said Parks. "Mr. Vantine +is just back from Europe, and we've been unpacking in there some of +the things he bought while abroad." + +"I guess that's all," said Goldberger, after a moment. "Send in Mr. +Vantine, please." + +Parks went out, and Vantine came in a moment later. He corroborated +exactly the story told by Parks and myself, but he added one detail. + +"Here is the man's card," he said, and held out a square of +pasteboard. + +Goldberger took the card, glanced at it, and passed it on to +Simmonds. + +"That don't tell us much," said the latter, and gave the card to +Godfrey. I looked over his shoulder and saw that it contained a +single engraved line: + + M. THÉOPHILE D'AURELLE + +"Except that he's French, as Parks suggested," said Godfrey. "That's +evident, too, from the cut of his clothes." + +"Yes, and from the cut of his hair," added Goldberger. "You say you +didn't know him, Mr. Vantine?" + +"I never before saw him, to my knowledge," answered Vantine. "The +name is wholly unknown to me." + +"Well," said Goldberger, taking possession of the card again and +slipping it into his pocket, "suppose we lift him onto that couch by +the window and take a look through his clothes." + +The man was slightly built, so that Simmonds and Goldberger raised +the body between them without difficulty and placed it on the couch. +I saw Godfrey's eyes searching the carpet. + +"What I should like to know," he said, after a moment, "is this: if +this fellow took poison, what did he take it out of? Where's the +paper, or bottle, or whatever it was?" + +"Maybe it's in his hand," suggested Simmonds, and lifted the right +hand, which hung trailing over the side of the couch. + +Then, as he raised it into the light, a sharp cry burst from him. + +"Look here," he said, and held the hand so that we all could see. + +It was swollen and darkly discoloured. + +"See there," said Simmonds, "something bit him," and he pointed to +two deep incisions on the back of the hand, just above the knuckles, +from which a few drops of blood had oozed and dried. + +With a little exclamation of surprise and excitement, Godfrey bent +for an instant above the injured hand. Then he turned and looked at +us. + +"This man didn't take poison," he said, in a low voice. "He was +killed!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WOUNDED HAND + + +"He was killed!" repeated Godfrey, with conviction; and, at the +words, we drew together a little, with a shiver of repulsion. Death +is awesome enough at any time; suicide adds to its horror; murder +gives it the final touch. + +So we all stood silent, staring as though fascinated at the hand +which Simmonds held up to us; at those tiny wounds, encircled by +discoloured flesh and with a sinister dash of clotted blood running +away from them. Then Goldberger, taking a deep breath, voiced the +thought which had sprung into my own brain. + +"Why, it looks like a snake-bite!" he said, his voice sharp with +astonishment. + +And, indeed, it did. Those two tiny incisions, scarcely half an inch +apart, might well have been made by a serpent's fangs. + +The quick glance which all of us cast about the room was, of course, +as involuntary as the chill which ran up our spines; yet Godfrey and +I--yes, and Simmonds--had the excuse that, once upon a time, we had +had an encounter with a deadly snake which none of us was likely ever +to forget. We all smiled a little sheepishly as we caught each +other's eyes. + +"No, I don't think it was a snake," said Godfrey, and again bent +close above the hand. "Smell it, Mr. Goldberger," he added. + +The coroner put his nose close to the hand and sniffed. + +"Bitter almonds!" he said. + +"Which means prussic acid," said Godfrey, "and not snake poison." He +fell silent a moment, his eyes on the swollen hand. The rest of us +stared at it too; and I suppose all the others were labouring as I +was with the effort to find some thread of theory amid this chaos. +"It might, of course, have been self-inflicted," Godfrey added, quite +to himself. + +Goldberger sneered a little. No doubt he found the +incomprehensibility of the problem rather trying to his temper. + +"A man doesn't usually commit suicide by sticking himself in the hand +with a fork," he said. + +"No," agreed Godfrey, blandly; "but I would point out that we don't +know as yet that it _is_ a case of suicide; and I'm quite sure that, +whatever it may be, it isn't usual." + +Goldberger's sneer deepened. + +"Did any reporter for the _Record_ ever find a case that _was_ +usual?" he queried. + +It was a shrewd thrust, and one that Godfrey might well have winced +under. For the _Record_ theory was that nothing was news unless it +was strange and startling, and the inevitable result was that the +_Record_ reporters endeavoured to make everything strange and +startling, to play up the outré details at the expense of the rest of +the story, and even, I fear, to invent such details when none +existed. + +Godfrey himself had been accused more than once of a too-luxuriant +imagination. It was, perhaps, a realisation of this which had +persuaded him, years before, to quit the detective force and take +service with the _Record_. What might have been a weakness in the +first position, was a mighty asset in the latter one, and he had won +an immense success. + +Please understand that I set this down in no spirit of criticism. I +had known Godfrey rather intimately ever since the days when we were +thrown together in solving the Holladay case, and I admired sincerely +his ready wit, his quick insight, and his unshakable aplomb. He used +his imagination in a way which often caused me to reflect that the +police would be far more efficient if they possessed a dash of the +same quality; and I had noticed that they were usually glad of his +assistance, while his former connection with the force and his +careful maintenance of the friendships formed at that time gave him +an entrée to places denied to less-fortunate reporters. I had never +known him to do a dishonourable thing--to fight for a cause he +thought unjust, to print a fact given to him in confidence, or to +make a statement which he knew to be untrue. Moreover, a lively sense +of humour made him an admirable companion, and it was this quality, +perhaps, which enabled him to receive Goldberger's thrust with a +good-natured smile. + +"We've got our living to make, you know," he said. "We make it as +honestly as we can. What do _you_ think, Simmonds?" + +"I think," said Simmonds, who, if he possessed an imagination, never +permitted it to be suspected, "that those little cuts on the hand are +merely an accident. They might have been caused in half a dozen ways. +Maybe he hit his hand on something when he fell; maybe he jabbed it +on a buckle; maybe he had a boil on his hand and lanced it with his +knife." + +"What killed him, then?" Godfrey demanded. + +"Poison--and it's in his stomach. We'll find it there." + +"How about the odour?" Godfrey persisted. + +"He spilled some of the poison on his hand as he lifted it to his +mouth. Maybe he had those cuts on his hand and the poison inflamed +them. Or maybe he's got some kind of blood disease." + +Goldberger nodded his approval, and Godfrey smiled as he looked at +him. + +"It's easy to find explanations, isn't it?" he queried. + +"It's a blamed sight easier to find a natural and simple +explanation," retorted Goldberger hotly, "than it is to find an +unnatural and far-fetched one--such as how one man could kill another +by scratching him on the hand. I suppose you think this fellow was +murdered? That's what you said a minute ago." + +"Perhaps I was a little hasty," Godfrey admitted, and I suspected +that, whatever his thoughts, he had made up his mind to keep them to +himself. "I'm not going to theorise until I've got something to start +with. The facts seem to point to suicide; but if he swallowed prussic +acid, where's the bottle? He didn't swallow that too, did he?" + +"Maybe we'll find it in his clothes," suggested Simmonds. + +Thus reminded, Goldberger fell to work looking through the dead man's +pockets. The clothes were of a cheap material and not very new, so +that, in life, he must have presented an appearance somewhat shabby. +There was a purse in the inside coat pocket containing two bills, one +for ten dollars and one for five, and there were two or three dollars +in silver and four five-centime pieces in a small coin purse which he +carried in his trousers' pocket. The larger purse had four or five +calling cards in one of its compartments, each bearing a different +name, none of them his. On the back of one of them, Vantine's address +was written in pencil. + +There were no letters, no papers, no written documents of any kind in +the pockets, the remainder of whose contents consisted of such odds +and ends as any man might carry about with him--a cheap watch, a +pen-knife, a half-empty packet of French tobacco, a sheaf of +cigarette paper, four or five keys on a ring, a silk handkerchief, +and perhaps some other articles which I have forgotten--but not a +thing to assist in establishing his identity. + +"We'll have to cable over to Paris," remarked Simmonds. "He's French, +all right--that silk handkerchief proves it." + +"Yes--and his best girl proves it, too," put in Godfrey. + +"His best girl?" + +For answer, Godfrey held up the watch, which he had been examining. +He had opened the case, and inside it was a photograph--the +photograph of a woman with bold, dark eyes and full lips and oval +face--a face so typically French that it was not to be mistaken. + +"A lady's-maid, I should say," added Godfrey, looking at it again. +"Rather good-looking at one time, but past her first youth, and so +compelled perhaps to bestow her affections on a man a little beneath +her--no doubt compelled also to contribute to his support in order to +retain him. A woman with many pasts and no future--" + +"Oh, come," broke in Goldberger impatiently, "keep your second-hand +epigrams for the _Record_. What we want are facts." + +Godfrey flushed a little at the words and laid down the watch. + +"There is one fact which you have apparently overlooked," he said +quietly, "but it proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that this fellow +didn't drift in here by accident. He came here of intention, and the +intention wasn't to kill himself, either." + +"How do you know that?" demanded Goldberger, incredulously. + +Godfrey picked up the purse, opened it, and took out one of the +cards. + +"By this," he said, and held it up. "You have already seen what is +written on the back of it--Mr. Vantine's name and the number of this +house. That proves, doesn't it, that this fellow came to New York +expressly to see Mr. Vantine?" + +"Perhaps you think Mr. Vantine killed him," suggested Goldberger, +sarcastically. + +"No," said Godfrey; "he didn't have time. You understand, Mr. +Vantine," he added, smiling at that gentleman, who was listening to +all this with perplexed countenance, "we are simply talking now about +possibilities. You couldn't possibly have killed this fellow because +Lester has testified that he was with you constantly from the moment +this man entered the house until his body was found, with the +exception of the few seconds which elapsed between the time you +entered this room and the time he joined you here, summoned by your +cry. So you are out of the running." + +"Thanks," said Vantine, drily. + +"I suppose, then, you think it was Parks," said Goldberger. + +"It may quite possibly have been Parks," agreed Godfrey, gravely. + +"Nonsense!" broke in Vantine, impatiently. "Parks is as straight as a +string--he's been with me for eight years." + +"Of course it's nonsense," assented Goldberger. "It's nonsense to say +that he was killed by anybody. He killed himself. We'll learn the +cause when we identify him--jealousy maybe, or maybe just hard luck +--he doesn't look affluent." + +"I'll cable to Paris," said Simmonds. "If he belongs there, we'll soon +find out who he is." + +"You'd better call an ambulance and have him taken to the morgue," +went on Goldberger. "Somebody may identify him there. There'll be a +crowd to-morrow, for, of course, the papers will be full of this +affair--" + +"The _Record_, at least, will have a very full account," Godfrey +assured him. + +"And I'll call the inquest for the day after," Goldberger continued. +"I'll send my physician down to make a post-mortem right away. If +there's any poison in this fellow's stomach, we'll find it." + +Godfrey did not speak; but I knew what was in his mind. He was +thinking that, if such poison existed, the vessel which had contained +it had not yet been found. The same thought, no doubt, occurred to +Simmonds, for, after ordering the policeman in the hall to call the +ambulance, he returned and began a careful search of the room, using +his electric torch to illumine every shadowed corner. Godfrey devoted +himself to a similar search; but both were without result. Then +Godfrey made a minute inspection of the injured hand, while +Goldberger looked on with ill-concealed impatience; and finally he +moved toward the door. + +"I think I'll be going," he said. "But I'm interested in what your +physician will find, Mr. Coroner." + +"He'll find poison, all right," asserted Goldberger, with decision. + +"Perhaps he will," admitted Godfrey. "Strange things happen in this +world. Will you be at home to-night, Lester?" + +"Yes, I expect to be," I answered. + +"You're still at the Marathon?" + +"Yes," I said; "suite fourteen." + +"Perhaps I'll drop around to see you," he said, and a moment later we +heard the door close behind him as Parks let him out. + +"Godfrey's a good man," said Goldberger, "but he's too romantic. He +looks for a mystery in every crime, whereas most crimes are merely +plain, downright brutalities. Take this case. Here's a man kills +himself, and Godfrey wants us to believe that death resulted from a +scratch on the hand. Why, there's no poison on earth would kill a man +as quick as that--for he must have dropped dead before he could get +out of the room to summon help. If it was prussic acid, he swallowed +it. Remember, he wasn't in this room more than fifteen or twenty +minutes, and he was quite dead when Mr. Vantine found him. Men don't +die as easily as all that--not from a scratch on the hand. They don't +die easily at all. It's astonishing how much it takes to kill a man +--how the spirit, or whatever you choose to call it, clings to +life." + +"How do you explain the address on the card, Mr. Goldberger?" I +asked. + +"My theory is that this fellow really had some business with Mr. +Vantine; probably he wanted to borrow some money, or ask for help; +and then, while he was waiting, he suddenly gave the thing up and +killed himself. The address has no bearing whatever, that I can see, +on the question of suicide. And I'll say this, Mr. Lester, if this +isn't suicide, it's the strangest case I ever had anything to do +with." + +"Yes," I agreed, "if it isn't suicide, we come to a blank wall right +away." + +"That's it," and Goldberger nodded emphatically. "Here's the +ambulance," he added, as the bell rang. + +The bearers entered with the stretcher, placed the body on it, and +carried it away. Goldberger paused to gather up the articles he had +taken from the dead man's pockets. + +"You gentlemen will have to give your testimony at the inquest," he +said. "So will Parks and Rogers. It will be day after to-morrow, +probably at ten o'clock, but I'll notify you of the hour." + +"Very well," I said; "we'll be there," and Goldberger bade us +good-bye, and left the house. "And now," I added, to Vantine, "I must +be getting back to the office. They'll be asking the police to look +for me next. Man alive!" and I glanced at my watch, "it's after four +o'clock." + +"Too late for the office," said Vantine. "Better come upstairs and +have a drink. Besides, I want to talk with you." + +"At least, I'll let them know I'm still alive," I said, and I called +up the office and allayed any anxiety that may have been felt there +concerning me. I must admit that it did not seem acute. + +"I feel the need of a bracer after all this excitement," Vantine +remarked, as he opened the cellarette. "Help yourself. I dare say +you're used to this sort of thing--" + +"Finding dead men lying around?" I queried, with a smile. "No--it's +not so common as you seem to think." + +"Tell me, Lester," and he looked at me earnestly, "do you think that +poor devil came in here just to get a chance to kill himself +quietly?" + +"No, I don't," I said. + +"Then what did he come in for?" + +"I think Goldberger's theory a pretty good one--that he had heard of +you as a generous fellow and came in here to ask help; and while he +was waiting, suddenly gave it up--" + +"And killed himself?" Vantine completed. + +I hesitated. I was astonished to find, at the back of my mind, a +growing doubt. + +"See here, Lester," Vantine demanded, "if he didn't kill himself, +what happened to him?" + +"Heaven only knows," I answered, in despair. "I've been asking myself +the same question, without finding a reasonable answer to it. As I +said to Goldberger, it's a blank wall. But if anybody can see through +it, Jim Godfrey can." + +Vantine seemed deeply perturbed. He took a turn or two up and down +the room, then stopped in front of me and looked me earnestly in the +eye. + +"Tell me, Lester," he said, "do you believe that theory of Godfrey's +--that that insignificant wound on the hand caused death?" + +"It seems absurd, doesn't it? But Godfrey is a sort of genius at +divining such things." + +"Then you _do_ believe it?" + +I asked myself the same question before I answered. + +"Yes, I do," I said, finally. + +Vantine walked up and down the room again, his eyes on the floor, his +brows contracted. + +"Lester," he said, at last, "I have a queer feeling that the business +which brought this man here in some way concerned the Boule cabinet I +was telling you about. Perhaps it belonged to him." + +"Hardly," I protested, recalling his shabby appearance. + +"At any rate, I remember, as I was looking at his card, that some +such thought occurred to me. It was for that reason I told Parks to +ask him to wait." + +"It's possible, of course," I admitted. "But that wouldn't explain +his excitement. And that reminds me," I added, "I haven't sent off +that cable." + +"Any time to-night will do. It will be delivered in the morning. But +you haven't seen the cabinet yet. Come down and look at it." + +He led the way down the stair. Parks met us in the lower hall. + +"There's a delegation of reporters outside, sir," he said. "They say +they've got to see you." + +Vantine made a movement of impatience. + +"Tell them," he said, "that I positively refuse to see them or to +allow my servants to see them. Let them get their information from +the police." + +"Very well, sir," said Parks, and turned away grinning. + +Vantine passed on through the ante-room in which we had found the +body of the unfortunate Frenchman, and into the room beyond. Five or +six pieces of furniture, evidently just unpacked, stood there, but, +ignorant as I am of such things, he did not have to point out to me +the Boule cabinet. It dominated the room, much as Madame de +Montespan, no doubt, dominated the court at Versailles. + +I looked at it for some moments, for it was certainly a beautiful +piece of work, with a wealth of inlay and incrustation little short +of marvellous. But I may as well say here that I never really +appreciated it. The florid style of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth +Louis is not at all to my taste; and I am too little of a connoisseur +to admire a beauty which has no personal appeal for me. So I am +afraid that Vantine found me a little cold. + +Certainly there was nothing cold about the way he regarded it. His +eyes gleamed with a strange fire as he looked at it; he ran his +fingers over the inlay with a touch almost reverent; he pulled out +for me the little drawers with much the same air that another friend +of mine takes down his Kilmarnock Burns from his bookshelves; he +pointed out to me the grace of its curves in the same tone that one +uses to discuss the masterpiece of a great artist. And then, finding +no echo to his enthusiasm, he suddenly stopped. + +"You don't seem to care for it," he said, looking at me. + +"That's my fault and not the fault of the cabinet," I pointed out. +"I'm not educated up to it; I'm too little of an artist, perhaps." + +He was flushed, as a man might be should another make a disparaging +remark about his wife, and he led the way from the room at once. + +"Remember, Lester," he said, a little sternly, pausing with his hand +on the front door, "there is to be no foolishness about securing that +cabinet for me. Don't you let it get away. I'm in deadly earnest." + +"I won't let it get away," I promised. "Perhaps it's just as well I'm +not over-enthusiastic about it." + +"Let me know as soon as you have any news," he said, and opened the +door for me. + +I had intended walking home, but as I turned up the Avenue, I met +sweeping down it a flood of girls just released from the workshops of +the neighbourhood. I struggled against it for a few moments, then +gave it up, hailed a cab, and settled back against the cushions with +a sigh of relief. I was glad to be out of Vantine's house; something +there oppressed me and left me ill at ease. Was Vantine quite normal, +I wondered? Could any man be normal who was willing to pay a hundred +thousand dollars for a piece of furniture? Especially a man who could +not afford such extravagance? I knew the size of Vantine's fortune; +it was large, but a hundred thousand dollars represented more than a +year's income. And then I smiled to myself. Of course Vantine had +been merely jesting when he named that limit. The cabinet could be +bought for a tenth of it, at the most. And, still smiling, I left the +cab, paid the driver, and mounted to my rooms. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE THUNDERBOLT + + +It was about eight o'clock that evening that Godfrey tapped at my +door, and when I let him in, I could tell by the way his eyes were +shining that he had some news. + +"I can't stay long," he said. "I've got to get down to the office and +put the finishing touches on that story;" but nevertheless he took +the cigar I proffered him and sank into the chair opposite my own. + +I knew Godfrey, so I waited patiently until the cigar was going +nicely, then-- + +"Well?" I asked. + +"It's like old times, isn't it, Lester?" and he smiled across at me. +"How many conferences have we had in this room? How many of your +cigars have I made away with?" + +"Not half enough recently," I said. "You haven't been here for +months." + +"I'm sure to drift back, sooner or later, because you seem to have a +knack of getting in on the interesting cases. And I want to say this, +Lester, that of all I ever had, not one has promised better than +this one does. If it only keeps up--but one mustn't expect too much!" + +"You've been working on it, of course?" + +"I haven't been idle, and just now I'm feeling rather pleased with +myself. The coroner's physician finished his post-mortem half an hour +or so ago." + +"Well?" I said again. + +"The stomach was absolutely normal. It showed no trace of poison of +any kind." + +He stretched himself, lay back in his chair, sent a smoke-ring +circling toward the ceiling, and watched it, smiling absently. + +"Rather a facer for our friend Goldberger," he added, after a minute. + +"What's the matter with Goldberger? He seemed rather peeved with you +this afternoon." + +"No wonder. He's Grady's man, and we're after Grady. Grady isn't fit +to head the detective bureau--he got the job through his pull with +Tammany--he's stupid, and I suspect he's crooked. The _Record_ says +he has got to go." + +"So, of course, he _will_ go," I commented, smiling. + +"He certainly will," assented Godfrey seriously, "and that before +long. But meanwhile it's a little difficult for me, because his +people don't know which way to jump. Once he's out, everything will +be serene again." + +I wasn't interested in Grady, so I came back to the case in hand. + +"Look here, Godfrey," I said, "if it wasn't poison, what was it?" + +"But it _was_ poison." + +"Inserted at the hand?" + +He nodded. + +"Goldberger says there's no poison known which could be used that way +and which would act so quickly." + +"Goldberger is right in that," agreed Godfrey; "but there's a poison +unknown that will--because it did." + +"It wasn't a snake bite?" + +"Oh, no; snake poison wouldn't kill a man that quickly--not even a +fer-de-lance. That fellow practically dropped where he was struck." + +"Then what was it?" + +Godfrey was sitting erect again. He was not smiling now. His face was +very stern. + +"That is what I am going to find out, Lester," he said; "that is the +problem I've set myself to solve--and it's a pretty one. There is one +thing certain--that fellow was killed by some agency outside himself. +In some way, a drop or two of poison was introduced into his blood by +an instrument something like a hypodermic needle; and that poison was +so powerful that almost instantly it caused paralysis of the heart. +After all, that isn't so remarkable as it might seem. The blood in +the veins of the hand would be carried back to the heart in four or +five seconds." + +"But you've already said there's no poison so powerful as all that." + +"I said we didn't know of any. I wouldn't be so sure that Catherine +de Medici didn't." + +"What has Catherine de Medici to do with it?" + +"Nothing--except that what has been done may always be done again. +Those old stories are, no doubt, exaggerated; but it seems fairly +certain that the Queen of Navarre was killed with a pair of poisoned +gloves, the Duc d'Anjou with the scent of a poisoned rose, and the +Prince de Porcian with the smoke of a poisoned lamp. This case isn't +as extraordinary as those." + +"No," I agreed, and fell silent, shivering a little, for there is +something horrible and revolting about the poisoner. + +"After all," went on Godfrey, at last, "there is one thing that +neither you nor I nor any reasonable man can believe, and that is +that this Frenchman came from heaven knows where--from Paris, +perhaps--with Vantine's address in his pocket, and hunted up the +house and made his way into it simply to kill himself there. He had +some other object, and he met his death while trying to accomplish +it." + +"Have you found out who he is?" + +"No; he's not registered at any of the hotels; the French consul +never heard of him; he belongs to none of the French societies; he's +not known in the French quarter. He seems to have dropped in from the +clouds. We've cabled our Paris office to look him up; we may hear +from there to-night. But even if we discover the identity of +Théophile d'Aurelle, it won't help us any." + +"Why not?" I demanded. + +"Because it is evident that that isn't his name." + +"Go ahead and tell me, Godfrey," I said, as he looked at me, smiling. +"I don't see it." + +"Why, it's plain enough. He had five cards in his pocket, no two +alike. The sixth, selected probably at random, he had sent up to +Vantine." + +I saw it then, of course; and I felt a good deal as the Spanish +savants must have felt when Columbus stood the egg on end. Godfrey +smiled again at my expression. + +"The real d'Aurelle, whoever he may turn out to be, may be able to +help us," he added. "If he can't, we may learn something from the +Paris police. The dead man's Bertillon measurements have been cabled +over to them. Even that won't help, if he has never been arrested. +And, of course, we can't get at motives until we find out something +about him." + +"But, Godfrey," I said, "suppose you knew who he was and what he +wanted with Vantine--suppose you could make a guess at who killed +him and why--how was it done? That is what stumps me. How was it +done?" + +"Ah!" agreed Godfrey. "That's it! How was it done? I told you it was +a pretty case, Lester. But wait till we hear from Paris." + +"That reminds me," I said, sitting up suddenly, "I've got to cable to +Paris myself, on some business for Mr. Vantine." + +"Not connected with this affair?" + +"Oh, no; his shippers over there sent him a piece of furniture that +doesn't belong to him. He asked me to straighten the matter out." + +I rang for the hall-boy, asked for a cable-blank, and sent off a +message to Armand & Son, telling them of the mistake and asking them +to cable the name of the owner of the cabinet now in Mr. Vantine's +possession. Godfrey sat smoking reflectively while I was thus +engaged, staring straight before him with eyes that saw nothing; but +as I sat down again and took up my pipe, ready to continue the +conversation, he gave himself a sort of shake, put on his hat, and +got to his feet. + +"I must be moving along," he said. "There's no use sitting here +theorising until we have some sort of foundation to build on." + +"Goldberger was right in one thing," I remarked. "He pointed out, +after you left, that most crimes are not romances, but mere +brutalities. Perhaps this one--" + +The ringing of my telephone stopped me. + +"Hello," I said, taking down the receiver. + +"Is that you, Mr. Lester?" asked a voice. + +"Yes." + +"This is Parks," and I suddenly realised that his voice was +unfamiliar because it was hoarse and quivering with emotion. "Could +you come down to the house right away, sir?" + +"Why, yes," I said, wonderingly, "if it's important. Does Mr. Vantine +need me?" + +"We all need you!" said the voice, and broke into a dry sob. "For +God's sake, come quick, Mr. Lester!" + +"All right," I said without further parley, for evidently he had lost +his self-control. "Something has happened down at Vantine's," I added +to Godfrey, as I hung up the receiver. "Parks seems to be scared to +death. He wants me to come down right away," and I reached for my hat +and coat. + +"Shall I come, too?" asked Godfrey. + +Even under the stress of the moment, I could not but smile at the +question and at the tone in which it was uttered. + +"Perhaps you'd better," I agreed. "It sounded pretty serious." + +We went down together in the elevator, and three minutes later we had +hailed a taxi and were speeding eastward toward the Avenue. It had +started to drizzle, and the asphalt shone like a black mirror, +dancing with the lights along either side. The streets were almost +empty, for the theatre-crowd had passed, and as we reached the Avenue +and turned down-town, the driver pushed up his spark, and we hurtled +along toward Fourteenth street at a speed which made me think of the +traffic regulations. But no policeman interfered, and five minutes +later we drew up before the Vantine place. + +Parks must have been on the front steps looking for me, for he came +running down them almost before the car had stopped. I caught a +glimpse of his face under the street lights, as I thrust a bill into +the driver's hand, and it fairly startled me. + +"Is it you, Mr. Lester?" he gasped. "Good God, but I'm glad you're +here--" + +I caught him by the arm. + +"Steady, man," I said. "Don't let yourself go to pieces. Now--what +has happened?" + +He seemed to take a sort of desperate grip of himself. + +"I'll show you, sir," he said, and ran up the steps, along the hall, +to the door of the ante-room where we had found the Frenchman's body. +"In there, sir!" he sobbed. "In there!" and clung to the wall as I +opened the door and stepped inside. + +The room was ablaze with light, and for an instant my eyes were so +dazzled that I could distinguish nothing. Dimly I saw Godfrey spring +forward and drop to his knees. + +Then my eyes cleared, and I saw, on the very spot where d'Aurelle had +died, another body--or was it the same, brought back that the +tragedy of the afternoon might, in some mysterious way, be re-enacted? + +I remember bending over and peering into the face-- + +It was the face of Philip Vantine. + +A minute must have passed as I stood there dazed and shaken. I was +conscious, in a way, that Godfrey was examining him. Then I heard his +voice. + +"He's dead," he said. + +Then there was an instant's silence. + +"Lester, look here!" cried Godfrey's voice, sharp, insistent. "For +God's sake, look here!" + +Godfrey was kneeling there holding something toward me. + +"Look here!" he cried again. + +It was the dead man's hand he was holding; the right hand; a swollen +and discoloured hand. And on the back of it, just above the knuckles, +were two tiny wounds, from which a few drops of blood had trickled. + +And as I stared at this ghastly sight, scarce able to believe my +eyes, I heard a choking voice behind me, saying over and over again: + +"It was that woman done it! It was that woman done it! Damn her! It +was that woman done it!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GRADY TAKES A HAND + + +I have no very clear remembrance of what happened after that. The +shock was so great that I had just strength enough to totter to a +chair and drop into it, and sit there staring vaguely at that dark +splotch on the carpet. I told myself that I was the victim of a +dreadful nightmare; that all this was the result of over-wrought +nerves and that I should wake presently. No doubt I had been working +too hard. I needed a vacation--well, I would take it.... + +And all the time I knew that it was not a nightmare, but grim +reality; that Philip Vantine was dead--killed by a woman. Who had +told me that? And then I remembered the sobbing voice.... + +Two or three persons came into the room--Parks and the other +servants, I suppose; I heard Godfrey's voice giving orders; and +finally someone held a glass to my lips and commanded me to drink. I +did so mechanically; coughed, spluttered, was conscious of a grateful +warmth, and drank eagerly again. And then I saw Godfrey standing over +me. + +"Feel better?" he asked. + +I nodded. + +"I don't wonder it knocked you out," he went on. "I'm feeling shaky +myself. I had them call Vantine's physician--but he can't do +anything." + +"He's dead, then?" I murmured, my eyes on that dark and crumpled +object which had been Philip Vantine. + +"Yes--just like the other." + +Then I remembered, and I caught his arm and drew him down to me. + +"Godfrey," I whispered, "whose voice was it--or did I dream it +--something about a woman?" + +"You didn't dream it--it was Rogers--he's almost hysterical. We'll +get the story, as soon as he quiets down." + +Someone called him from the door, and he turned away, leaving me +staring blankly at nothing. So there had been a woman in Vantine's +life! Perhaps that was why he had never married. What ugly skeleton +was to be dragged from its closet? + +But if a woman killed Vantine, the same woman also killed d'Aurelle. +Where was her hiding-place? From what ambush did she strike? + +I glanced about the room, as a tremor of horror seized me. I arose, +shaking, from the chair and groped my way toward the door. Godfrey +heard me coming, swung around, and, with one glance at my face, came +to me and caught me by the arms. + +"What is it, Lester?" he asked. + +"I can't stand it here," I gasped. "It's too horrible!" + +"Don't think about it. Come out here and have another drink." + +He led me into the hall, and a second glass of brandy gave me back +something of my self-control. I was ashamed of my weakness, but when +I glanced at Godfrey, I saw how white his face was. + +"Better take a drink yourself," I said. + +I heard the decanter rattle on the glass. + +"I don't know when I have been so shaken," he said, setting the glass +down empty. "It was so gruesome--so unexpected--and then Rogers +carrying on like a madman. Ah, here's the doctor," he added, as the +front door opened and Parks showed a man in. + +I knew Dr. Hughes, of course, returned his nod, and followed him and +Godfrey into the ante-room. But I had not yet sufficiently recovered +to do more than sit and stare at him as he knelt beside the body and +assured himself that life had fled. Then I heard Godfrey telling him +all we knew, while Hughes listened with incredulous face. + +"But it's absurd, you know!" he protested, when Godfrey had finished. +"Things like this don't happen here in New York. In Florence, +perhaps, in the Middle Ages; but not here in the twentieth century!" + +"I can scarcely believe my own senses," Godfrey agreed. "But I saw +the Frenchman lying here this afternoon; and now here's Vantine." + +"On the same spot?" + +"As nearly as I can tell." + +"And killed in the same way?" + +"Killed in precisely the same way." + +Hughes turned back to the body again, and looked long and earnestly +at the injured hand. + +"What sort of instrument made this wound, would you say, Mr. +Godfrey?" he questioned, at last. + +"A sharp instrument, with two prongs. My theory is that the prongs +are hollow, like a hypodermic needle, and leave a drop or two of +poison at the bottom of the wound. You see a vein has been cut." + +"Yes," Hughes assented. "It would scarcely be possible to pierce the +hand here without striking a vein. One of the prongs would be sure to +do it." + +"That's the reason there are two of them, I fancy." + +"But you are, of course, aware that no poison exists which would act +so quickly?" Hughes inquired. + +Godfrey looked at him strangely. + +"You yourself mentioned Florence a moment ago," he said. "You meant, +I suppose, that such a poison did, at one time, exist there?" + +"Something of the sort, perhaps," agreed Hughes. "The words were +purely instinctive, but I suppose some such thought was running +through my head." + +"Well, the poison that existed in Florence five centuries ago, exists +here to-day. There's the proof of it," and Godfrey pointed to the +body. + +Hughes drew a deep breath of wonder and horror. + +"But what sort of devilish instrument is it?" he cried, his nerves +giving way for an instant, his voice mounting shrilly. "Above all, +who wields it?" + +He stared about the room, as though half-expecting to see some mighty +and remorseless arm poised, ready to strike. Then he shook himself +together. + +"I beg pardon," he said, mopping the sweat from his face; "but I'm +not used to this sort of thing; and I'm frightened--yes, I really +believe I'm frightened," and he laughed, a little unsteady laugh. + +"So am I," said Godfrey; "so is Lester; so is everybody. You needn't +be ashamed of it." + +"What frightens me," went on Hughes, evidently studying his own +symptoms, "is the mystery of it--there is something supernatural +about it--something I can't understand. How does it happen that each +of the victims is struck on the right hand? Why not the left hand? +Why the hand at all?" + +Godfrey answered with a despairing shrug. + +"That is what we've got to find out," he said. + +"We shall have to call in the police," suggested Hughes. "Maybe they +can solve it." + +Godfrey smiled, a little sceptical smile, quickly suppressed. + +"At least, they will have to be given the chance," he agreed. "Shall +I attend to it?" + +"Yes," said Hughes; "and you would better do it right away. The +sooner they get here the better." + +"Very well," assented Godfrey, and left the room. + +Hughes sat down heavily on the couch near the window, and mopped his +face again, with a shaking hand. Death he was accustomed to--but +death met decently in bed and resulting from some understood cause. +Death in this horrible and mysterious form shook him; he could not +understand it, and his failure to understand appalled him. He was a +physician; it was his business to understand; and yet here was death +in a form as mysterious to him as to the veriest layman. It compelled +him to pause and take stock of himself--always a disconcerting +process to the best of us! + +That was a trying half hour. Hughes sat on the couch, breathing +heavily, staring at the floor, perhaps passing his own ignorance in +review, perhaps wondering if he had always been right in prescribing +this or that. As for me, I was thinking of my dead friend. I +remembered Philip Vantine as I had always known him--a kindly, witty, +Christian gentleman. I could see his pleasant eyes looking at me in +friendship, as they had looked a few hours before; I could hear his +voice, could feel the clasp of his hand. That such a man should be +killed like this, struck down by a mysterious assassin, armed with a +poisoned weapon.... + +A woman! Always my mind came back to that. A woman! Poison was a +woman's weapon. But who was she? How had she escaped? Where had she +concealed herself? How was she able to strike so surely? Above all, +why should she have chosen Philip Vantine, of all men, for her +victim--Philip Vantine, who had never injured any woman--and then I +paused. For I realised that I knew nothing of Vantine, except what he +had chosen to tell me. Parks would know. And then I shrank from the +thought. Must we probe that secret? Must we compel a man to betray +his master? + +My face was burning. No, we could not do that--that would be +abominable.... + +The door opened and Godfrey came in. This time, he was not alone. +Simmonds and Goldberger followed him, and their faces showed that +they were as shaken and nonplussed as I. There was a third man with +them whom I did not know; but I soon found out that it was +Freylinghuisen, the coroner's physician. + +They all looked at the body, and Freylinghuisen knelt beside it and +examined the injured hand; then he sat down by Dr. Hughes, and they +were soon deep in a low-toned conversation, whose subject I could +guess. I could also guess what Simmonds and Godfrey were talking +about in the farther corner; but I could not guess why Goldberger, +instead of getting to work, should be walking up and down, pulling +impatiently at his moustache and glancing at his watch now and then. +He seemed to be waiting for some one, but not until twenty minutes +later did I suspect who it was. Then the door opened again to admit a +short, heavy-set man, with florid face, stubbly black moustache, and +little, close-set eyes, preternaturally bright. He glanced about the +room, nodded to Goldberger, and then looked inquiringly at me. + +"This is Mr. Lester, Commissioner Grady," said Goldberger, and I +realised that the chief of the detective bureau had come up from +headquarters to take personal charge of the case. + +"Mr. Lester is Mr. Vantine's attorney," the coroner added, in +explanation. + +"Glad to know you, Mr. Lester," said Grady, shortly. + +"And now, I guess, we're ready to begin," went on the coroner. + +"Not quite," said Grady, grimly. "We'll excuse all reporters, first," +and he looked across at Godfrey, his face darkening. + +I felt my own face flushing, and started to protest, but Godfrey +silenced me with a little gesture. + +"It's all right, Lester," he said. "Mr. Grady is quite within his +rights. I'll withdraw--until he sends for me." + +"You'll have a long wait, then!" retorted Grady, with a sarcastic +laugh. + +"The longer I wait, the worse it will be for you, Mr. Grady," said +Godfrey quietly, opened the door and closed it behind him. + +Grady stared after him for a moment in crimson amazement. Then, +mastering himself with an effort, he turned to the coroner. + +"All right, Goldberger," he said, and sat down to watch the +proceedings. + +A very few minutes sufficed for Hughes and Freylinghuisen and I to +tell all we knew of this tragedy and of the one which had preceded +it. Grady seemed already acquainted with the details of d'Aurelle's +death, for he listened without interrupting, only nodding from time +to time. + +"You've got a list of the servants here, of course, Simmonds," he +said, when we had finished the story. + +"Yes, sir," and Simmonds handed it to him. "H-m," said Grady, as he +glanced it over. "Five of 'em. Know anything about 'em?" + +"They've all been with Mr. Vantine a long time, sir," replied +Simmonds. "So far as I've been able to judge, they're all right." + +"Which one of 'em found Vantine's body?" + +"Parks, I think," I said. "It was he who called me." + +"Better have him in," said Grady, and doubled up the list and slipped +it into his pocket. + +Parks came in looking decidedly shaky; but answered Grady's questions +clearly and concisely. He told first of the events of the afternoon, +and then passed on to the evening. + +"Mr. Vantine had dinner at home, sir," he said. "It was served, I +think, at seven o'clock. He must have finished a little after +seven-thirty. I didn't see him, for I was straightening things around +up in his room and putting his clothes away. But he told Rogers--" + +"Never mind what he told Rogers," broke in Grady. "Just tell us what +you know." + +"Very well, sir," said Parks, submissively. "I had a lot of work to +do--we just got back from Europe yesterday, you know--and I kept on, +putting things in their places and straightening around, and it must +have been half-past eight when I heard Rogers yelling for me. I +thought the house was on fire, and I come down in a hurry. Rogers was +standing out there in the hall, looking like he'd seen a ghost. He +kind of gasped and pointed to this room, and I looked in and saw Mr. +Vantine laying there--" + +His voice choked at the words, but he managed to go on, after a +moment. + +"Then I telephoned for Mr. Lester," he added, "and that's all I +know." + +"Very well," said Grady. "That's all for the present. Send Rogers +in." + +Rogers's face, as he entered the room, gave me a kind of shock, for +it was that of a man on the verge of hysteria. He was a man of about +fifty, with iron-grey hair, and a smooth-shaven face, ordinarily +ruddy with health. But now his face was livid, his cheeks lined and +shrunken, his eyes blood-shot and staring. He reeled rather than +walked into the room, one hand clutching at his throat, as though he +were choking. + +"Get him a chair," said Grady, and Simmonds brought one forward and +remained standing beside it. "Now, my man," Grady continued, "you'll +have to brace up. What's the matter with you, anyhow? Didn't you ever +see a dead man before?" + +"It ain't that," gasped Rogers. "It ain't that--though I never saw a +murdered man before." + +"What?" demanded Grady, sharply. "Didn't you see that fellow this +afternoon?" + +"That was different," Rogers moaned. "I didn't know him. Besides, I +thought he'd killed himself. We all thought so." + +"And you don't think Vantine did?" + +"I know he didn't," and Rogers's voice rose to a shrill scream. "It +was that woman done it! Damn her! She done it! I knowed she was up to +some crooked work when I let her in!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE WOMAN IN THE CASE + + +It was coming now; the secret, however sordid, however ugly, was to +be unveiled. I saw Grady's face set in hard lines; I could hear the +stir of interest with which the others leaned forward.... + +Grady took a flask from his pocket and opened it. + +"Take a drink of this," he said, and placed it in Rogers's hand. + +I could hear the mouth of the flask clattering against his teeth, as +he put it eagerly to his mouth and took three or four long swallows. + +"Thank you, sir," he said, more steadily, and handed the flask back +to its owner. A little colour crept into his face; but I fancied +there was a new look in his eyes--for, as the horror faded, fear took +its place. + +Grady screwed the cap on the flask with great deliberation, and +returned it to his pocket. And all the time Rogers was watching him +furtively, wiping his mouth mechanically with a trembling hand. + +"Now, Rogers," Grady began, "I want you to take your time and tell us +in detail everything that happened here to-night. You say a woman did +it. Well, we want to hear all about that woman. Now go ahead; and +remember there's no hurry." + +"Well, sir," began Rogers slowly, as though carefully considering his +words, "Mr. Vantine came out from dinner about half-past seven--maybe +a little later than that--and told me to light all the lights in here +and in the next room. You see there are gas and electrics both, sir, +and I lighted them all. He had gone into the music-room on the other +side of the hall, so I went over there and told him the lights were +all lit. He was looking at a new picture he'd bought, but he left it +right away and come out into the hall. + +"'I don't want to be disturbed, Rogers,' he said, and come in here +and shut the door after him. + +"It was maybe twenty minutes after that that the door-bell rung, and +when I opened the door, there was a woman standing on the steps." + +He stopped and swallowed once or twice, as though his throat was dry, +and I saw that his fingers were twitching nervously. + +"Did you know her?" questioned Grady. + +Rogers loosened his collar with a convulsive movement. + +"No, sir, I'd never seen her before," he answered hoarsely. + +"Describe her." + +Rogers closed his eyes, as though in an effort of recollection. + +"She wore a heavy veil, sir, so that I couldn't see her very well; +but the first thing I noticed was her eyes--they were so bright, they +seemed to burn right through me. Her face looked white behind her +veil, and I could see how red her lips were--I didn't like her looks, +sir, from the first." + +"How was she dressed?" + +"In a dark gown, sir, cut so skimpy that I knowed she was French +before she spoke." + +"Ah!" said Grady. "She was French, was she?" + +"Yes, sir; though she could speak some English. She asked for Mr. +Vantine. I told her Mr. Vantine was busy. And then she said something +very fast about how she must see him, and all the time she kept +edging in and in, till the first thing I knowed she was inside the +door, and then she just pulled the door out of my hand and shut it. I +ask you, sir, is that the way a lady would behave?" + +"No," said Grady, "I dare say not. But go ahead,--and take your +time." + +Rogers had regained his self-confidence, and he went ahead almost +glibly. + +"'See here, madam,' says I, 'we've had enough trouble here to-day +with Frenchies, and if you don't get out quietly, why, I'll have to +put you out.' + +"'I must see Mistaire Vangtine,' she says, very fast. 'I must see +Mistaire Vangtine. It is most necessaire that I see Mistaire +Vangtine.' + +"'Then I'll have to put you out,' says I, and took hold of her arm. +And at that she screamed and jerked herself away; and I grabbed her +again, and just then Mr. Vantine opened the door there and came out +into the hall. + +"'What's all this, Rogers?' he says. 'Who is this party?' + +"But before I could answer, that wild cat had rushed over to him and +begun to reel off a string of French so fast I wondered how she got +her breath. And Mr. Vantine looked at her kind of surprised at first, +and then he got more interested, and finally he asked her in here and +shut the door, and that was the last I saw of them." + +"You mean you didn't let the woman out?" demanded Grady. + +"Yes, sir, that's just what I mean. I thought if Mr. Vantine wanted +to talk with her, well and good; that was his business, not mine; so +I went back to the pantry to help the cook with the silver, expecting +to hear the bell every minute. But the bell didn't ring, and after +maybe half an hour, I came out into the hall again to see if the +woman had gone; and I walked past the door of this room but didn't +hear nothing; and then I went on to the front door, and was surprised +to find it wasn't latched." + +"Maybe you hadn't latched it," suggested Grady. + +"It has a snap-lock, sir; when that woman slammed it shut, I heard it +catch." + +"You're sure of that?" + +"Quite sure, sir." + +"What did you do then?" + +"I closed the door, sir, and then come back along the hall. I felt +uneasy, some way; and I stood outside the door there listening; but I +couldn't hear nothing; and then I tapped, but there wasn't no answer; +so I tapped louder, with my heart somehow working right up into my +mouth. And still there wasn't no answer, so I just opened the door +and looked in--and the first thing I see was him--" + +Rogers stopped suddenly, and caught at his throat again. + +"I'll be all right in a minute, sir," he gasped. "It takes me this +way sometimes." + +"No hurry," Grady assured him, and then, when his breath was coming +easier, "What did you do then?" + +"I was so scared I couldn't scarcely stand, sir; but I managed to get +to the foot of the stairs and yell for Parks, and he come running +down--and that's all I remember, sir." + +"The woman wasn't here?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did you look through the rooms?" + +"No, sir; when I found the front door open, I knowed she'd gone out. +She hadn't shut the door because she was afraid I'd hear her." + +"That sounds probable," agreed Grady. "But what makes you think she +killed Vantine?" + +"Well, sir," answered Rogers, slowly, "I guess I oughtn't to have +said that; but finding the door open that way, and then coming on Mr. +Vantine sort of upset me--I didn't know just what I was saying." + +"You don't think so now, then?" questioned Grady, sharply. + +"I don't know what to think, sir." + +"You say you never saw the woman before?" + +"Never, sir." + +"Had she ever been here before?" + +"I don't think so, sir. The first thing she asked was if this was +where Mr. Vantine lived." + +Grady nodded. + +"Very good, Rogers," he said. "I'll be offering you a place on the +force next. Would you know this woman if you saw her again?" + +Rogers hesitated. + +"I wouldn't like to say sure, sir," he answered, at last. "I might +and I might not." + +"Red lips and a white face and bright eyes aren't much to go on," +Grady pointed out. "Can't you give us a closer description?" + +"I'm afraid not, sir. I just got a general impression, like, of her +face through her veil." + +"You say you didn't search these rooms?" + +"No, sir, I didn't come inside the door." + +"Why not?" + +"I was afraid to, sir." + +"Afraid to?" + +"Yes, sir; I'm afraid to be here now." + +"Did Parks come in?" + +"No, sir; I guess he felt the same way I did." + +"Then how did you know Vantine was dead? Why didn't you try to help +him?" + +"One look was enough to tell me that wasn't no use," said Rogers, and +glanced, with visible horror, at the crumpled form on the floor. + +Grady looked at him keenly for a moment; but there seemed to be no +reason to doubt his story. Then the detective looked about the room. + +"There's one thing I don't understand," he said, "and that is why +Vantine should want all these lights. What was he doing in here?" + +"I couldn't be sure, sir; but I suppose he was looking at the +furniture he brought over from Europe. He was a collector, you know, +sir. There are five or six pieces in the next room." + +Without a word, Grady arose and passed into the room adjoining, we +after him; only Rogers remained seated where he was. I remember +glancing back over my shoulder and noting how he huddled forward in +his chair, as though crushed by a great weight, the instant our backs +were turned. + +But I forgot Rogers in contemplation of the scene before me. + +The inner room was ablaze with light, and the furniture stood +hap-hazard about it, just as I had seen it earlier in the day. Only +one thing had been moved. That was the Boule cabinet. + +It had been carried to the centre of the room, and placed in the full +glare of the light from the chandelier. It stood there blazing with +arrogant beauty, a thing apart. + +Who had helped Vantine place it there, I wondered? Neither Rogers nor +Parks had mentioned doing so. I turned back to the outer room. + +Rogers was sitting crouched forward in his chair, his hands over his +eyes, and I could feel him jerk with nervousness as I touched him on +the shoulder. + +"Oh, is it you, Mr. Lester?" he gasped. "Pardon me, sir; I'm not at +all myself, sir." + +"I can see that," I said, soothingly; "and no wonder. I just wanted +to ask you--did you help move any of the furniture in the room +yonder?" + +"Help move it, sir?" + +"Yes--help change the position of any of it since this afternoon?" + +"No, sir; I haven't touched any of it, sir." + +"That's all right, then," I said, and turned back into the inner +room. + +Vantine had said that he intended examining the cabinet in detail at +the first opportunity; I remembered how his eyes had gleamed as he +looked at it; how his hand had trembled as he caressed the +arabesques. No doubt he was making that examination when he had heard +a woman's cry and had gone out into the hall to see what the matter +was. + +Then he and the woman had entered the ante-room together; he had +closed the door; and then.... + +Like a lightning-flash, a thought leaped into my brain--a reason--an +explanation--wild, improbable, absurd, but still an explanation! + +I choked back the cry which rose to my lips; I gripped my hands +behind me, in a desperate attempt to hold myself in check; and, +fascinated as by a deadly serpent, I stood staring at the cabinet. + +For there, I felt certain, lay the clue to the mystery! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ROGERS GETS A SHOCK + + +Grady, Simmonds and Goldberger examined the room minutely, for they +seemed to feel that the secret of the tragedy lay somewhere within +its four walls; but I watched them only absently, for I had lost +interest in the procedure. I was perfectly sure that they would find +nothing in any way bearing upon the mystery. I heard Grady comment +upon the fact that there was no door except the one opening into the +ante-room, and saw them examine the window-catches. + +"Nobody could raise these windows without alarming the house," Grady +said, and pointed to a tiny wire running along the woodwork. "There's +a burglar alarm." + +Simmonds assented, and finally the trio returned to the ante-room. + +"We'd like to look over the rest of the house," Grady said to Rogers, +who was sitting erect again, looking more like himself, and the four +men went out into the hall together. I remained behind with Hughes +and Freylinghuisen. They had lifted the body to the couch and were +making a careful examination of it. Heavy at heart, I sat down near +by and watched them. + +That Philip Vantine should have been killed by enthusiasm for the +hobby which had given him so much pleasure seemed the very irony of +fate, yet such I believed to be the case. To be sure, there were +various incidents which seemed to conflict with such a theory, and +the theory itself seemed wild to the point of absurdity; but at least +it was a ray of light in what had been utter darkness. I turned it +over and over in my mind, trying to fit into it the happenings of the +day--I must confess with very poor success. Freylinghuisen's voice +brought me out of my reverie. + +"The two cases are precisely alike," he was saying. "The symptoms are +identical. And I'm certain we shall find paralysis of the heart and +spinal cord in this case, just as I did in the other. Both men were +killed by the same poison." + +"Can you make a guess as to the nature of the poison?" Hughes +inquired. + +"Some variant of hydrocyanic acid, I fancy--the odour indicates +that; but it must be about fifty times as deadly as hydrocyanic acid +is." + +They wandered away into a discussion of possible variants, so +technical and be-sprinkled with abstruse words and formulae that I +could not follow them. Freylinghuisen, of course, had all this sort +of thing at his fingers' ends--post-mortems were his every-day +occupation, and no doubt he had been furbishing himself up, since +this last one, in preparation for the inquest, where he would +naturally wish to shine. I could see that he enjoyed displaying his +knowledge before Hughes, who, although a family practitioner of high +standing, with an income greater than Freylinghuisen's many times +over, had no such expert knowledge of toxicology as a coroner's +physician would naturally possess. + +The two detectives and the coroner came back while the discussion was +still in progress and listened in silence to Freylinghuisen's +statement of the case. Grady's mahogany face told absolutely nothing +of what was passing in his brain, but Simmonds was plainly +bewildered. It was evident from his look that nothing had been found +to shed any light on the mystery; and now that his suicide theory had +fallen to pieces, he was completely at sea. So, I suspected, was +Grady, but he was too self-composed to betray it. + +The coroner drew the two physicians aside and talked to them for a +few moments in a low tone. Then he turned to Grady. + +"Freylinghuisen thinks there is no necessity for a post-mortem," he +said. "The symptoms are in every way identical with those of the +other man who was killed here this afternoon. There can be no +question that both of them died from the same cause. He is ready to +make his return to that effect." + +"Very well," assented Grady. "The body can be turned over to the +relatives, then." + +"There aren't any relatives," I said; "at least, no near ones. +Vantine was the last of this branch of the family. I happen to know +that our firm has been named as his executors in his will, so, if +there is no objection, I'll take charge of things." + +"Very well, Mr. Lester," said Grady again; and then he looked at me. +"Do you know the provisions of the will?" he asked. + +"I do." + +"In the light of those provisions, do you know of any one who would +have an interest in Vantine's death?" + +"I think I may tell you the provisions," I said, after a moment. +"With the exception of a few legacies to his servants, his whole +fortune is left to the Metropolitan Museum of Art." + +"You have been his attorney for some time?" + +"We have been his legal advisers for many years." + +"Have you ever learned that he had an enemy?" + +"No," I answered instantly; "so far as I know, he had not an enemy on +earth." + +"He was never married, I believe?" + +"No." + +"Was he ever, to your knowledge, involved with a woman?" + +"No," I said again. "I was astounded when I heard Rogers's story." + +"So you can give us no hint as to this woman's identity?" + +"I only wish I could!" I said, with fervour. + +"Thank you, Mr. Lester," and Grady turned to Simmonds. "I don't see +that there is anything more we can do here," he added. "There's one +thing, though, Mr. Lester, I will have to ask you to do. That is to +keep all the servants here until after the inquest. If you think +there is any doubt of your ability to do that, we can, of course, put +them under arrest--" + +"Oh, that isn't necessary," I broke in. "I will be responsible for +their appearance at the inquest." + +"I'll have to postpone it a day," said Goldberger. "I want +Freylinghuisen to make some tests to-morrow. Besides, we've got to +identify d'Aurelle, and these gentlemen seem to have their work cut +out for them in finding this woman--" + +Grady looked at Goldberger in a way which indicated that he thought +he was talking too much, and the coroner stopped abruptly. A moment +later, all four men left the house. + +Dr. Hughes lingered for a last word. + +"The undertaker had better be called at once," he said. "It won't do +to delay too long." + +I knew what he meant. Already the face of the dead man was showing +certain ugly discolourations. + +"I can send him around on my way home," he added, and I thanked him +for assuming this unpleasant duty. + +As the door closed behind him, I heard a step on the stair, and +turned to see Godfrey calmly descending. + +"I came in a few minutes ago," he explained, in answer to my look, +"and have been glancing around upstairs. Nothing there. How did our +friend Grady get along?" + +"Fairly well; but if he guesses anything, his face didn't show it." + +"His face never shows anything, because there's nothing to show. He +has cultivated that sibylline look until people think he's a wonder. +But he's simply a stupid ignoramus." + +"Oh, come, Godfrey," I protested, "you're prejudiced. He went right +to the point. Do you know Rogers's story?" + +"About the woman? Certainly. Rogers told it to me before Grady +arrived." + +"Well," I commented, "you didn't lose any time." + +"I never do," he assented blandly. "And now I'm going to prove to you +that Grady is merely a stupid ignoramus. He has heard all the +evidence, but does he know who that woman was?" + +"Of course not," I said, and then I looked at him. "Do you mean that +you do? Then I'm an ignoramus, too!" + +"My dear Lester," protested Godfrey, "you are not a detective--that's +not your business; but it _is_ Grady's. At least, it is supposed to +be, and the safety of this city as a place of residence depends more +or less upon the truth of that assumption. On the strength of it, he +has been made deputy police commissioner, in charge of the detective +bureau." + +"Then you mean that you _do_ know who she was?" + +"I'm pretty sure I do--that is what I came back to prove. Where's +Rogers?" + +"I'll ring for him," I said, and did so, and presently he appeared. + +"Did you ring, sir?" he asked. + +He was still miserably nervous, but much more self-controlled than he +had been earlier in the evening. + +"Yes," I said. "Mr. Godfrey wishes to speak to you." + +It seemed to me that Rogers turned visibly paler; there was certainly +fear in the glance he turned upon my companion. But Godfrey smiled +reassuringly. + +"We'd better give him his instructions about the reporters, first +thing, hadn't we, Lester?" he inquired. + +"Which reporters?" I queried. + +"All the others, of course. They will be storming this house, Rogers, +before long. You will meet them at the door, you will refuse to admit +one of them; you will tell them that there is nothing to be learned +here, and that they must go to the police. Tell them that +Commissioner Grady himself is in charge of the case and will no doubt +be glad to talk to them. Is that right, Lester?" + +"Yes, Ulysses," I agreed, smiling. + +"And now," continued Godfrey, watching Rogers keenly, "I have a +photograph here that I want you to look at. Did you ever see that +person before?" and he handed a print to Rogers. + +The latter hesitated an instant, and then took the print with a +trembling hand. Stark fear was in his eyes again; then slowly he +raised the print to the light, glanced at it.... + +"Catch him, Lester!" Godfrey cried, and sprang forward. + +For Rogers, clutching wildly at his collar, spun half around and fell +with a crash. Godfrey's arm broke the fall somewhat, but as for me, I +was too dazed to move. + +"Get some water, quick!" Godfrey commanded sharply, as Parks came +running up. "Rogers has been taken ill." + +And then, as Parks sped down the hall again, I saw Godfrey loosen the +collar of the unconscious man and begin to chafe his temples +fiercely. + +"I hope it isn't apoplexy," he muttered. "I oughtn't to have shocked +him like that." + +At the words, I remembered; and, stooping, picked up the photograph +which had fluttered from Rogers's nerveless fingers. And then I, too, +uttered a smothered exclamation as I gazed at the dark eyes, the full +lips, the oval face--the face which d'Aurelle had carried in his +watch! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PRECAUTIONS + + +But it wasn't apoplexy. It was Parks who reassured us, when he came +hurrying back a minute later with a glass of water in one hand and a +small phial in the other. + +"He has these spells," he said. "It's a kind of vertigo. Give him a +whiff of this." + +He uncorked the phial and handed it to Godfrey, and I caught the +penetrating fumes of ammonia. A moment later, Rogers gasped +convulsively. + +"He'll be all right pretty soon," remarked Parks, with ready +optimism. "Though I never saw him quite so bad." + +"We can't leave him lying here on the floor," said Godfrey. + +"There's a couch-seat in the music-room," Parks suggested, and the +three of us bore the still unconscious man to it. + +Then Godfrey and I sat down and waited, while he gasped his way back +to life. + +"Though he can't really tell us much," Godfrey observed. "In fact, I +doubt if he'll be willing to tell anything. But his face, when he +looked at the picture, told us all we need to know." + +Thus reminded, I took the photograph out of the pocket into which I +had slipped it, and looked at it again. + +"Where did you get it?" I asked. + +"The police photographer made some copies. This is one of them." + +"But what made you suspect that the two women were the same?" + +"I don't just know," answered Godfrey, reflectively. "They were both +French--and Rogers spoke of the red lips; somehow it seemed probable. +Mr. Grady will find some things he doesn't know in to-morrow's +_Record_. But then he usually does. This time, I'm going to rub it +in. Hello," he added, "our friend is coming around." + +I looked at Rogers and saw that his eyes were open. They were staring +at us as though wondering who we were. Godfrey passed an arm under +his head and held the glass of water to his lips. + +"Take a swallow of this," he said, and Rogers obeyed mechanically, +still staring at him over the rim of the glass, "How do you feel?" + +"Pretty weak," Rogers answered, almost in a whisper. "Did I have a +fit?" + +"Something like that," said Godfrey, cheerfully; "but don't worry. +You'll soon be all right again." + +"What sent me off?" asked Rogers, and stared up at him. Then his face +turned purple, and I thought he was going off again. But after a +moment's heavy breathing, he lay quiet. "I remember now," he said. +"Let me see that picture again." + +I passed it to him. His hand was trembling so he could hardly take +it; but I saw he was struggling desperately to control himself, and +he managed to hold the picture up before his eyes and look at it with +apparent unconcern. + +"Do you know her?" Godfrey asked. + +To my infinite amazement, Rogers shook his head. + +"Never saw her before," he muttered. "When I first looked at her, I +thought I knew her; but it ain't the same woman." + +"Do you mean to say," Godfrey demanded sternly, "that that is not the +woman who called on Mr. Vantine to-night?" + +Again Rogers shook his head. + +"Oh, no," he protested; "it's not the same woman at all. This one is +younger." + +Godfrey made no reply; but he sat down and looked at Rogers, and +Rogers lay and gazed at the picture, and gradually his face softened, +as though at some tender memory. + +"Come, Rogers," I urged, at last. "You'd better tell us all you know. +If this is the woman, don't hesitate to say so." + +"I've told you all I know, Mr. Lester," said Rogers, but he did not +meet my eyes. "And I'm feeling pretty bad. I think I'd better be +getting to bed." + +"Yes, that's best," agreed Godfrey promptly. "Parks will help you," +and he held out his hand for the photograph. + +Rogers relinquished it with evident reluctance. He opened his lips as +though to ask a question; then closed them again, and got slowly to +his feet, Parks aiding him. + +"Good-night, gentlemen," he said weakly, and shuffled away, leaning +heavily on Parks's shoulder. + +"Well!" said I, looking at Godfrey. "What do you think of that?" + +"He's lying, of course. We've got to find out why he's lying and +bring it home to him. But it's getting late--I must get down to the +office. One word, Lester--be sure Rogers doesn't give you the slip." + +"I'll have him looked after," I promised. "But I fancy he'll be +afraid to run away. Besides, it is possible he's telling the truth. I +don't believe any woman had anything to do with either death." + +Godfrey turned, as he was starting away, and stopped to look at me. + +"Who did then?" he asked. + +"Nobody." + +"You mean they both suicided in that abnormal way?" + +"No, it wasn't suicide--they were killed--but not by a human being +--at least, not directly." I felt that I was floundering hopelessly, +and stopped. "I can't tell you now, Godfrey," I pleaded. "I haven't +had time to think it out. You've got enough for one day." + +"Yes," he smiled; "I've got enough for one day. And now good-bye. +Perhaps I'll look in on you about midnight, on my way home, if I get +through by then." + +I sighed. Godfrey's energy became a little wearing sometimes. I was +already longing for bed, and there remained so much to be done. But +he, after a day which I knew had been a hard one, and with a +many-column story still to write, was apparently as fresh and eager +as ever. + +"All right," I agreed. "If you see a light, come up. If there isn't +any light, I'll be in bed, and I'll kill you if you wake me." + +"Conditions accepted," he laughed, as I opened the door for him. + +Parks joined me as I turned back into the house. + +"I got Rogers to bed, sir," he said. "He'll be all right in the +morning. But he's a queer duck." + +"How long have you known him, Parks?" + +"He's been with Mr. Vantine about five years. I don't know much about +him; he's a silent kind of fellow, keeping to hisself a good deal and +sort of brooding over things. But he did his work all right, except +once in a while when he keeled over like he did to-night." + +"Parks," I said, suddenly, "I'm going to ask you a question. You know +that Mr. Vantine was a friend of mine, and I thought a great deal of +him. Now, what with this story Rogers tells, and one or two other +things, there is talk of a woman. Is there any foundation for talk of +that kind?" + +"No, sir," said Parks, emphatically. "I've been Mr. Vantine's valet +for eight years and more, and in all that time he has never been +mixed up with a woman in any shape or form. I always fancied he'd +loved a lady who died--I don't know what made me think so; but +anyhow, since I've known him, he never looked at a woman--not in +that way." + +"Thank you, Parks," I said, with a sigh of relief. "I've been through +so much to-day, that I felt I couldn't endure that; and now--" + +"Beg pardon, sir," said a voice at my elbow; "we have everything +ready, sir." + +I turned with a start to see a little, clean-shaven man standing +there, rubbing his hands softly together and gazing blandly up at me. + +"The undertaker's assistant, sir," explained Parks, seeing my look of +astonishment. "He came while you and Mr. Godfrey were in the +music-room. Dr. Hughes sent him." + +"Yes, sir," added the little man; "and we have the corpse ready for +the coffin. Very nice it looks, too; though it was a hard job. Was it +poison killed him, sir?" + +"Yes," I answered, with a feeling of nausea, "it was poison." + +"Very powerful poison, too, I should say, sir; we didn't get here +none too soon. Where shall we put the body, sir?" + +"Why not leave it where it is?" I asked, impatiently. + +"Very good, sir," said the man, and presently he and his assistant +took themselves off, to my intense relief. + +"And now, Parks," I began, "there is something I want to say to you. +Let us go somewhere and sit down." + +"Suppose we go up to the study, sir. You're looking regularly done +up, if you'll permit me to say so, sir. Shall I get you something?" + +"A brandy-and-soda," I assented; "and bring one for yourself." + +"Very good, sir," and a few minutes later we were sitting opposite +each other in the room where Vantine had offered me similar +refreshment not many hours before. I looked at Parks as he sat there, +and turned over in my mind what I had to say to him. I liked the man, +and I felt he could be trusted. At any rate, I had to take the risk. + +"Now, Parks," I began again, setting down my glass, "what I have to +say to you is very serious, and I want you to keep it to yourself: I +know that you were devoted to Mr. Vantine--I may as well tell you +that he has remembered you in his will--and I am sure you are willing +to do anything in your power to help solve the mystery of his death." + +"That I am, sir," Parks agreed, warmly. "I was very fond of him, sir; +nobody will miss him more than I will." + +I realised that the tragedy meant far more to Parks than it did even +to me, for he had lost not only a friend, but a means of livelihood, +and I looked at him with heightened sympathy. + +"I know how you feel," I said, "and I am counting on you to help me. +I have a sort of idea how his death came about. Only the vaguest +possible idea," I added hastily, as his eyes widened with interest; +"altogether too vague to be put into words. But I can say this much +--the mystery, whatever it is, is in the ante-room where the bodies +were found, or in the room next to it where the furniture is. Now, I +am going to lock up those rooms, and I want you to see that nobody +enters them without your knowledge." + +"Not very likely that anybody will want to enter them, sir," and +Parks laughed a grim little laugh. + +"I am not so sure of that," I dissented, speaking very seriously. "In +fact, I am of the opinion that there _is_ somebody who wants to enter +those rooms very badly. I don't know who he is, and I don't know what +he is after; but I am going to make it your business to keep him out, +and to capture him if you catch him trying to get in." + +"Trust me for that, sir," said Parks promptly. "What is it you want +me to do?" + +"I want you to put a cot in the hallway outside the door of the +ante-room and sleep there to-night. To-morrow I will decide what further +precautions are necessary." + +"Very good, sir," said Parks. "I'll get the cot up at once." + +"There is one thing more," I went on. "I have given the coroner my +personal assurance that none of the servants will leave the house +until after the inquest. I suppose I can rely on them?" + +"Oh, yes, sir. I'll see they understand how important it is." + +"Rogers, especially," I added, looking at him. + +"I understand, sir," said Parks, quietly. + +"Very well. And now let us go down and lock up those rooms." + +They were still ablaze with light; but both of us faltered a little, +I think, on the threshold of the ante-room. For in the middle of the +floor stood a stretcher, and on it was an object covered with a +sheet, its outlines horribly suggestive. But I took myself in hand +and entered. Parks followed me and closed the door. + +The ante-room had two windows, and the room beyond, which was a +corner one, had three. All of them were locked, but a pane of glass +seemed to me an absurdly fragile barrier against any one who really +wished to enter. + +"Aren't there some wooden shutters for these windows?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir; they were taken down yesterday and put in the basement. +Shall I get them?" + +"I think you'd better," I said. "Will you need any help?" + +"No, sir; they're not heavy. If you'll wait here, you can snap the +bolts into place when I lift them up from the outside." + +"Very well," I agreed, and Parks hurried away. + +I entered the inner room and stopped before the Boule cabinet. There +was a certain air of arrogance about it, as it stood there in that +blaze of light, its inlay aglow with a thousand subtle reflections; a +flaunting air, the air of a courtesan conscious of her beauty and +pleased to attract attention--just the air with which Madame de +Montespan must have sauntered down the mirror gallery at Versailles, +ablaze with jewels, her skirts rustling, her figure swaying +suggestively. Something threatening, too; something sinister and +deadly-- + +There was a rattle at the window, and I saw Parks lifting one of the +shutters into place. I threw up the sash, and pressed the heavy bolts +carefully into their sockets, then closed the sash and locked it. The +two other windows were secured in their turn, and with a last look +about the room, I turned out the lights. The ante-room windows were +soon shuttered in the same way, and with a sigh of relief I told +myself that no entrance to the house could be had from that +direction. With Parks outside the only door, the rooms ought to be +safe from invasion. + +Then, before extinguishing the lights, I approached that silent +figure on the stretcher, lifted the sheet and looked for the last +time upon the face of my dead friend. It was no longer staring and +terrible, but calm and peaceful as in sleep--almost smiling. With +wet eyes and contracted throat, I covered the face again, turned out +the lights, and left the room. Parks met me in the hall, carrying a +cot, which he placed close across the doorway. + +"There," he said; "nobody will get into that room without my knowing +it." + +"No," I agreed; and then a sudden thought occurred to me. "Parks," I +said, "is it true that there is a burglar-alarm on all the windows?" + +"Yes, sir. It rings a bell in Mr. Vantine's bedroom, and another in +mine, and sends in a call to the police." + +"Is it working?" + +"Yes, sir; Mr. Vantine himself tested it this evening just before +dinner." + +"Then why didn't it work when I opened those windows just now?" I +demanded. + +Parks laughed. + +"Because I threw off the switch, sir," he explained, "when I came out +to get the shutters. The switch is in a little iron box on the wall +just back of the stairs, sir. It's one of my duties to turn it on +every night before I go to bed." + +I breathed a sigh of relief. + +"Is it on again, now?" + +"It certainly is, sir. After what you told me, I'd not be likely to +forget it." + +"You'd better have a weapon handy, too," I suggested. + +"I have a revolver, sir." + +"That's good. And don't hesitate to use it. I'm going home--I'm dead +tired." + +"Shall I call a cab, sir?" + +"No, the walk will do me good. I'll see you to-morrow." + +Parks helped me into my coat and opened the door for me. Glancing +back, after a moment, I saw that he was standing on the steps gazing +after me. I could understand his reluctance to go back into that +death-haunted house; and I found myself breathing deeply with the +relief of getting out of it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GUESSES AT THE RIDDLE + + +The walk uptown did me good. The rain had ceased, and the air felt +clean and fresh as though it had been washed. I took deep breaths of +it, and the feeling of fatigue and depression which had weighed upon +me gradually vanished. I was in no hurry--went out of my way a +little, indeed, to walk out into Madison Square and look back at the +towering mass of the Flatiron building, creamy and delicate as carved +ivory under the rays of the moon--and it was long past midnight when +I finally turned in at the Marathon. Higgins, the janitor, was just +closing the outer doors, and he joined me in the elevator a moment +later. + +"There's a gentleman waiting to see you, sir," he said, as the car +started upward. "Mr. Godfrey, sir. He came in about ten minutes ago. +He said you were expecting him, so I let him into your rooms." + +"That was right," I said, and reflected again upon Godfrey's +exhaustless energy. + +I found him lolling in an easy chair, and he looked up with a smile +at my entrance. "Higgins said you hadn't come in yet," he explained, +"so I thought I'd wait a few minutes on the off chance that you +mightn't be too tired to talk. If you are, say so, and I'll be moving +along." + +"I'm not too tired," I said, hanging up my coat. "I feel a good deal +better than I did an hour ago." + +"I saw that you were about all in." + +"How do you keep it up, Godfrey?" I asked, sitting down opposite him. +"You don't seem tired at all." + +"I _am_ tired, though," he said, "a little. But I've got a fool brain +that won't let my body go to sleep so long as there is work to be +done. Then, as soon as everything is finished, the brain lets go and +the body sleeps like a log. Now I knew I couldn't go to sleep +properly to-night until I had heard the very interesting theory you +are going to confide to me. Besides, I have a thing or two to tell +you." + +"Go ahead," I said. + +"We had a cable from our Paris office just before I left. It seems +that M. Théophile d'Aurelle plays the fiddle in the orchestra of the +Café de Paris. He played as usual to-night, so that it is manifestly +impossible that he should also be lying in the New York morgue. +Moreover, none of his friends, so far as he knows, is in America. No +doubt he may be able to identify the photograph of the dead man, and +we've already started one on the way, but we can't hear from it for +six or eight days. But my guess was right--the fellow's name isn't +d'Aurelle." + +"You say you have a photograph?" + +"Yes, I had some taken of the body this afternoon. Here's one of +them. Keep it; you may have a use for it." + +I took the card, and, as I gazed at the face depicted upon it, I +realised that the distorted countenance I had seen in the afternoon +had given me no idea of the man's appearance. Now the eyes were +closed and the features composed and peaceful, but even death failed +to give them any dignity. It was a weak and dissipated face, the face +of a hanger-on of cafés, as Parks had said--of a loiterer along the +boulevards, of a man without ambition, and capable of any depth of +meanness and deceit. At least, that is how I read it. + +"He's evidently low-class," said Godfrey, watching me. "One of those +parasites, without work and without income, so common in Paris. +Shop-girls and ladies' maids have a weakness for them." + +"I think you are right," I agreed; "but, at the same time, if he was +of that type, I don't see what business he could have had with Philip +Vantine." + +"Neither do I; but there are a lot of other things I don't see, +either. We're all in the dark, Lester; have you thought of that? +Absolutely in the dark." + +"Yes, I have thought of it," I said, slowly. + +"No doubt we can establish this fellow's identity in time--sooner +than we think, perhaps, for most of the morning papers will run his +picture, and if he is known here in New York at all, it will be +recognised by some one. When we find out who he is, we can probably +guess at the nature of his business with Vantine. We can find out who +the woman was who called to see Vantine to-night--that is just a case +of grilling Rogers; then we can run her down and get her secret out +of her. We can find why Rogers is trying to shield her. All that is +comparatively simple. But when we have done it all, when we have all +these facts in hand, I am afraid we shall find that they are utterly +unimportant." + +"Unimportant?" I echoed. "But surely--" + +"Unimportant because we don't want to know these things. What we want +to know is how Philip Vantine and this unknown Frenchman were killed. +And that is just the one thing which, I am convinced, neither the man +nor the woman nor Rogers nor anybody else we have come across in this +case can tell us. There's a personality behind all this that we +haven't even suspected yet, and which, I am free to confess, I don't +know how to get at. It puzzles me; it rather frightens me; it's like +a threatening shadow which one can't get hold of." + +There was a moment's silence; then, I decided, the time had come for +me to speak. + +"Godfrey," I said, "what I am about to tell you is told in +confidence, and must be held in confidence until I give you +permission to use it. Do you agree?" + +"Go on," he said, his eyes on my face. + +"Well, I believe I know how these two men were killed. Listen." + +And I told him in detail the story of the Boule cabinet; I repeated +Vantine's theory of its first ownership; I named the price which he +was ready to pay for it; I described the difference between an +original and a counterpart, and dwelt upon Vantine's assertion that +this was an original of unique and unquestionable artistry. Long +before I had finished, Godfrey was out of his chair and pacing up and +down the room, his face flushed, his eyes glowing. + +"Beautiful!" he murmured from time to time. "Immense! What a case it +will make, Lester!" he cried, stopping before my chair and beaming +down upon me, as I finished the story. "Unique, too; that's the +beauty of it! As unique as this adorable Boule cabinet!" + +"Then you see it, too?" I questioned, a little disappointed that my +theory should seem so evident. + +"See it?" and he dropped into his chair again. "A man would be blind +not to see it. But all the same, Lester, I give you credit for +putting the facts together. So many of us--Grady, for instance! +--aren't able to do that, or to see which facts are essential and +which are negligible. Now the fact that Vantine had accidentally come +into possession of a Boule cabinet would probably seem negligible to +Grady, whereas it is the one big essential fact in this whole case. +And it was you who saw it." + +"You saw it, too," I pointed out, "as soon as I mentioned it." + +"Yes; but you mentioned it in a way which made its importance +manifest. I couldn't help seeing it. And I believe that we have both +arrived at practically the same conclusions. Here they are," and he +checked them off on his fingers. "The cabinet contains a secret +drawer. This is inevitable, if it really belonged to Madame de +Montespan. Any cabinet made for her would be certain to have a secret +drawer--she would require it, just as she would require lace on her +underwear or jewelled buttons on her gloves. That drawer, since it +was, perhaps, to contain such priceless documents as the love letters +of a king--even more so, if the love letters were from another man! +--must be adequately guarded, and therefore a mechanism was devised to +stab the person attempting to open it and to inject into the wound a +poison so powerful as to cause instant death. Am I right so far?" + +"Wonderfully right," I nodded. "I had not put it so clearly, even to +myself. Go ahead." + +"We come to the conclusion, then," continued Godfrey, "that the +business of this unknown Frenchman with Vantine in some way concerned +this cabinet." + +"Vantine himself thought so," I broke in. "He told me afterwards that +it was because he thought so he consented to see him." + +"Good! That would seem to indicate that we are on the right track. +The Frenchman's business, then, had something to do with this +cabinet, and with this secret drawer. Left to himself, he discovered +the cabinet in the room adjoining the ante-room, attempted to open +the drawer, and was killed." + +"Yes," I agreed; "and now how about Vantine?" + +"Vantine's death isn't so simply explained. Presumably the unknown +woman also called on business relating to the cabinet. She, also, +wanted to open the secret drawer, in order to secure its contents +--that seems fairly certain from her connection with the first +caller." + +"You still think it was her photograph he carried in his watch?" + +"I am sure of it. But how did it happen that it was Vantine who was +killed? Did the woman, warned by the fate of the man, deliberately +set Vantine to open the drawer in order that she might run no risk? +Or was she also ignorant of the mechanism? Above all, did she succeed +in getting away with the contents of the drawer?" + +"What _was_ the contents of the drawer?" I demanded. + +"Ah, if we only knew!" + +"Perhaps the woman had nothing to do with it. Vantine himself told me +that he was going to make a careful examination of the cabinet. No +doubt that is exactly what he was doing when the woman's arrival +interrupted him. He might have let her out of the house himself, and +then, returning to the cabinet, stumbled upon the secret drawer after +she had gone." + +"Yes; that is quite possible, too. At any rate, you agree with me +that both men were killed in some such way as I have described?" + +"Absolutely. I think there can be no doubt of it." + +"There are objections--and rather weighty ones. The theory explains +the two deaths, it explains the similarity of the wounds, it explains +how both should be on the right hand just above the knuckles, it +explains why both bodies were found in the same place since both men +started to summon help. But, in the first place, if the Frenchman got +the drawer open, who closed it?" + +"Perhaps it closed itself when he let go of it." + +"And closed again after Vantine opened it?" + +"Yes." + +"It would take a very clever mechanism to do that." + +"But at least it's possible." + +"Oh, yes; it's possible. And we must remember that the poisoners of +those days were very ingenious. That was the heydey of La Voisin and +the Marquise de Brinvilliers, of Elixi, and heaven knows how many +other experts who had followed Catherine de Medici to France. So +that's all quite possible. But there is one thing that isn't +possible, and that is that a poison which, if it is administered as +we think it is, must be a liquid, could remain in that cabinet fresh +and ready for use for more than three hundred years. It would have +dried up centuries ago. Nor would the mechanism stay in order so +long. It must be both complicated and delicate. Therefore it would +have to be oiled and overhauled from time to time. If it is worked by +a spring--and I don't see how else it can be worked--the spring would +have to be renewed and wound up." + +"Well?" I asked, as he paused. + +"Well, it is evident that the drawer contains something more recent +than the love letters of Louis Fourteenth. It must have been put in +working order quite recently. But by whom and for what purpose? That +is the mystery we have to solve--and it is a mighty pretty one. And +here's another objection," he added. "That Frenchman knew about the +secret drawer, because, according to our theory, he opened it and got +killed. Why didn't he also know about the poison?" + +That was an objection, truly, and the more I thought of it, the more +serious it seemed. + +"It may be," said Godfrey, at last, "that d'Aurelle was going it +alone--that he had broken with the gang--" + +"The gang?" + +"Of course there is a gang. This thing has taken careful planning and +concerted effort. And the leader of the gang is a genius! I wonder if +you understand how great a genius? Think: he knows the secret of the +drawer of Madame de Montespan's cabinet; but above all he knows the +secret of the poison--the poison of the Medici! Do you know what that +means, Lester?" + +"What _does_ it mean?" I asked, for Godfrey was getting ahead of me. + +"It means he is a great criminal--a really great criminal--one of the +elect from whom crime has no secrets. Observe. He alone knows the +secret of the poison; one of his men breaks away from him, and pays +for his mutiny with his life. He is the brain; the others are merely +the instruments!" + +"Then you don't believe it was by accident that cabinet was sent to +Vantine?" + +"By accident? Not for an instant! It was part of a plot--and a +splendid plot!" + +"Can you explain that to me, too?" I queried, a little ironically, +for I confess it seemed to me that Godfrey was permitting his +imagination to run away with him. + +He smiled good-naturedly at my tone. + +"Of course, this is all mere romancing," he admitted. "I am the first +to acknowledge that. I was merely following out our theory to what +seemed its logical conclusion. But perhaps we are on the wrong track +altogether. Perhaps d'Aurelle, or whatever his name is, just +blundered in, like a moth into a candle-flame. As for the plot--well, +I can only guess at it. But suppose you and I had pulled off some big +robbery--" + +He stopped suddenly, and his face went white and then red. + +"What is it, Godfrey?" I cried, for his look frightened me. + +He lay back in his chair, his hands pressed over his eyes. I could +see how they were trembling--how his whole body was trembling. + +"Wait!" he said, hoarsely. "Wait!" Then he sat upright, his face +tense with anxiety. "Lester!" he cried, his voice shrill with fear. +"The cabinet--it isn't guarded!" + +"Yes, it is," I said. "At least I thought of that!" + +And I told him of the precautions I had taken to keep it safe. He +heard me out with a sigh of relief. + +"That's better," he said. "Parks wouldn't stand much show, I'm +afraid, if worst came to worst; but I think the cabinet is safe--for +to-night. And before another night, Lester, we will have a look for +ourselves." + +"A look?" + +"Yes; for the secret drawer!" + +I stared at him fascinated, shrinking. + +"And we shall find it!" he added. + +"D'Aurelle and Vantine found it," I muttered thickly. + +"Well?" + +"And they're both dead!" + +"It won't kill us. We will go about it armoured, Lester. That +poisoned fang may strike--" + +"Don't!" I cried, and cowered back into my chair. "I--I can't do it, +Godfrey. God knows, I'm no coward--but not that!" + +"You shall watch me do it!" he said. + +"That would be even worse!" + +"But I'll be ready, Lester. There will be no danger. Come, man! Why, +it's the chance of a lifetime--to rifle the secret drawer of Madame +de Montespan! Yes!" he added, his eyes glowing, "and to match +ourselves against the greatest criminal of modern times!" + +His shrill laugh told how excited he was. + +"And do you know what we shall find in that drawer, Lester? But no +--it is only a guess--the wildest sort of a guess--but if it is +right--if it is right!" + +He sprang from his chair, biting his lips, his whole frame quivering. +But he was calmer in a moment. + +"Anyway, you will help me, Lester? You will come?" + +There was a wizardry in his manner not to be resisted. Besides--to +rifle the secret drawer of Madame de Montespan! To match oneself +against the greatest criminal of modern times! What an adventure! + +"Yes," I answered, with a quick intaking of the breath; "I'll come!" + +He clapped me on the shoulder, his face beaming. + +"I knew you would! To-morrow night, then--I'll call for you here at +seven o'clock. We'll have dinner together--and then, hey for the +great secret! Agreed?" + +"Agreed!" I said. + +He caught up coat and hat and started for the door. + +"There are things to do," he said; "that armour to prepare--the plan +of campaign to consider, you know. Good-night, then, till--this +evening!" + +The door closed behind him, and his footsteps died away down the +hall. I looked at my watch--it was nearly two o'clock. + +Dizzily I went to bed. But my sleep was broken by a fearful dream--a +dream of a serpent, with blazing eyes and dripping fangs, poised to +strike! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PREPARATIONS + + +My first thought, when I awoke next morning, was for Parks, for +Godfrey's manner had impressed me with the feeling that Parks was in +much more serious danger than either he or I suspected. It was with a +lively sense of relief, therefore, that I heard Parks's voice answer +my call on the 'phone. + +"This is Mr. Lester," I said. "Is everything all right?" + +"Everything serene, sir," he answered. "It would take a mighty smooth +burglar to get in here now, sir." + +"How is that?" I asked. + +"Reporters are camped all around the house, sir. They seem to think +somebody else will be killed here to-day." + +He laughed as he spoke the words, but I was far from thinking the +idea an amusing one. + +"I hope not," I said, quickly. "And don't let any of the reporters +in, nor talk to them. Tell them they must go to the police for their +information. If they get too annoying, let me know, and I'll have an +officer sent around." + +"Very good, sir." + +"And, Parks." + +"Yes, sir?" + +"Don't let anybody in the house--no matter what he wants--unless Mr. +Grady or Mr. Simmonds or Mr. Goldberger accompanies him. Don't let +anybody in you don't know. If there is any trouble, call me up. I +want you to be careful about this." + +"I understand, sir." + +"How is Rogers?" I asked. + +"Much better, sir. He wanted to get up, but I told him he might as +well stay in bed, and I'd look after things. I thought that was the +best place for him, sir." + +"It is," I agreed. "Keep him there as long as you can. I'll come in +during the day, if possible; in any event, Mr. Godfrey and I will be +there this evening. Call me at the office, if you need me for +anything." + +"Very good, sir," said Parks again, and I hung up. + +I glanced through Godfrey's account of the affair while I ate my +breakfast, and noted with amusement the sly digs taken at +Commissioner Grady. Under the photograph of the unknown woman was the +legend: + + MR. VANTINE'S MYSTERIOUS CALLER + + (Grady Please Notice) + +And it was intimated that when Grady wanted any real information +about an especially puzzling case, he had to go to the _Record_ to +get it. + +This, however, was merely by the way, for the story of the double +tragedy, fully illustrated, was flung across many columns, and was +plainly considered the great news feature of the day. + +I glanced at two or three other papers on my way down-town. All of +them featured the tragedy with a riot of pictures--pictures of +d'Aurelle and Vantine, of Grady (very large), of Simmonds, of +Goldberger, of Freylinghuisen, of the Vantine house, diagrams of the +ante-room showing the position in which the bodies were found, +anatomical charts showing the exact nature of the wounds, pictures of +the noted poisoners of history with a highly-coloured list of their +achievements--but, when it came to the story of the tragedy itself, +their accounts were far less detailed and intimate than that in the +_Record_. They were, indeed, for the most part, mere farragos of +theories, guesses, blood-curdling suggestions, and mysterious hints +of important information confided to the reporters but withheld from +the public until the criminal had been run to earth. That this would +soon be accomplished not a single paper doubted, for had not Grady, +the mighty Grady, taken personal charge of the case? (Here followed a +glowing history of Grady's career.) + +It was evident enough that all these reporters had been compelled to +go to Grady for their information, and I could fancy them damning him +between their teeth as they penned these panegyrics. I could also +fancy their city editors damning as they compared these incoherent +imaginings with the admirable and closely-written story in the +_Record_, and I suspected that it was the realisation of the +_Record's_ triumph which had caused the descent of the phalanx of +reporters upon the Vantine place. + +I went over the whole affair with Mr. Royce, as soon as he reached +the office, and spent the rest of the day arranging the papers +relating to Vantine's affairs and getting them ready to probate. +Parks called me up once or twice for instructions as to various +details, and Vantine's nearest relative, a third or fourth cousin, +wired from somewhere in the west that he was starting for New York at +once. And then, toward the middle of the afternoon, came the +cablegram from Paris which I had almost forgotten to expect: + + "Royce & Lester, New York. + + "Regret mistake in shipment exceedingly. Our representative will + call to explain. + + "Armand et Fils." + +So there was an end of the romance Godfrey had woven, and which I had +been almost ready to believe--the romance of design, of a carefully +laid plot, and all that. It had been merely accident, after all. And +I smiled a little sarcastically at myself for my credulity. No doubt +my own romance of a secret drawer and a poisoned mechanism would +prove equally fabulous. In my over-wrought state of the night before, +it had seemed reasonable enough; but here, in the cold light of day, +it seemed preposterous. How Grady and Goldberger would have laughed +at it! + +I put the whole thing impatiently away from me, and turned to other +work; but I found I could not conquer a certain deep-seated +nervousness; so at last I locked my desk, told the boy I would not be +back, and took a cab for a long drive through the park. The fresh +air, the smell of the trees, the sight of the children playing along +the paths, did me good, and I was able to greet Godfrey with a smile +when he called for me at seven o'clock. + +"I've engaged a table at a little place around the corner," he said. +"It is managed by a friend of mine, and I think you'll like it." + +I did. Indeed, the dinner was so good that it demanded undivided +attention, and not until the coffee was on the table and the cigars +lighted did we speak of the business which had brought us together. + +"Anything new?" I asked, as we pushed back our chairs. + +"No, nothing of any importance. The man at the morgue has not been +identified. In the first place, the Paris police have never taken his +Bertillon measurements." + +"Then he's not a criminal?" + +"He has never been arrested," Godfrey qualified. "More peculiar is +the fact that he hasn't been recognised here. Two million people, +probably, saw his photograph in the papers this morning. Some of +them thought they knew him and went around to the morgue to see his +body, but nothing came of it. The police have no report of any such +man missing." + +"That _is_ peculiar, isn't it!" I commented. + +"It's very peculiar. It means one of two things--either the fellow's +friends are keeping dark purposely, or he didn't have any friends, +here in New York, at least. But even then, one would think that +whoever rented him a room would wonder what had become of him, and +would make some inquiries." + +"Perhaps he hadn't rented a room," I suggested. "Perhaps he had just +reached New York, and went direct to Vantine's." + +Godfrey's face lighted up. + +"From the steamer, of course! I ought to have guessed as much from +the cut of his hair. He hasn't been out of France more than ten days +or so. Excuse me a moment." + +He hurried away, and five minutes passed before he came back. + +"I 'phoned the office to send some men around to the boats which came +in yesterday. If he was a passenger, some one of the stewards will +recognise his photograph. There were three boats he might have come +on--the _Adriatic_ and _Cecelie_ from Cherbourg, and _La Touraine_ +from Havre. There is nothing else that I know of," he added +thoughtfully, "except that Freylinghuisen thinks he has discovered +the nature of the poison. He says it is some very powerful variant of +prussic acid." + +"Yes," I said, "I heard him say something of the sort last night." + +"I had a talk with him this afternoon about it, and he was quite +learned," Godfrey went on. "This is a great chance for him to get +before the public, and he's making the most of it. I gathered from +what he said that ordinary prussic acid, which is deadly enough, +heaven knows, contains only two per cent. of the poison; while the +strongest solution yet obtained contains only four per cent. +Freylinghuisen says that whoever concocted this particular poison has +evidently discovered a new way of doing it--or rediscovered an old +way--so that it is at least fifty per cent. effective. In other +words, if you can get a fraction of a drop of it in a man's blood, +you kill him by paralysis quicker than if you put a bullet through +his heart." + +"Nothing can save a man, then?" I questioned. + +"Nothing on earth. Oh, I don't say that if somebody had an axe handy +and chopped your arm off at the shoulder an instant after you were +struck on the hand, you mightn't have a chance to live; but it would +take mighty quick work, and even then, it would be nip and tuck. +Freylinghuisen thinks it is a new discovery. I don't. I think some +one has dug up one of the old Medici formulae. Maybe it was placed in +the secret drawer, so that there would never be any lack of +ammunition for the mechanism." + +"Godfrey," I said, "are you still bent on fooling with that thing?" + +"More than ever; I'm going to find that secret drawer. And if the +fangs strike--well, I'm ready for them. See here what I had made +today." + +He drew from his pocket something that looked like a steel gauntlet, +such as one sees on suits of old armour. He slipped it over his right +hand. + +"You see it covers the back of the hand completely," he said, "half +way down the first joint of the fingers. It is made of the toughest +steel and would turn a bullet. And do you see how it is depressed in +the middle, Lester?" + +"Yes," I said, "I was wondering why you had it made in that shape." + +"I want to get a sample of that poison. My theory is that when the +fangs strike the hand, the shock drives out a drop or two of the +poison. I don't want those drops to get away; I want them to roll +into this depression, and I shall very carefully bottle them. Think +what they are, Lester--the poison of the Medici!" + +I sat for a moment looking at him, half in amusement, half in sorrow. +It seemed a pity that his theory must come tumbling down, it was so +picturesque, and he was so interested and enthusiastic over it. And +it would make such a good story! He caught my glance, and put the +gauntlet back into his pocket. + +"Well, what is it?" he asked quietly. + +For answer, I got out the cablegram and passed it across to him. He +read it with brows contracted. + +"That seems to put a puncture in our little romance, doesn't it?" I +asked, at last. + +He nodded thoughtfully. + +"Yes, it does," and he read the message again, word by word. +"Armand's man hasn't called yet?" + +"No, I didn't get the message till about three o'clock. I suppose +he'll be around to-morrow." + +"You will have to turn the cabinet over to him, of course?" + +"Why, yes, it belongs to him. At least, it doesn't belong to +Vantine." + +He slipped the message into its envelope and handed it back to me. I +could see that he was perplexed and upset. + +"Well, in spite of this," he said finally, "I am still interested in +that cabinet, Lester, and I wish you would keep possession of it as +long as you can. At least, I wouldn't give it up until he delivered +to you the other cabinet which Vantine really bought." + +"Oh, I'll make him do that," I agreed quickly. "That will no doubt +take a few days--longer than that if Vantine's cabinet is in Paris." + +Godfrey raised a finger to the waiter, asked for the check, and paid +it. + +"And now let us go down and have a look at this one," he said, "as we +intended doing. You will think me foolish, Lester, but even that +cablegram hasn't shaken my belief in the existence of that secret +drawer." + +"And all the rest?" I asked. + +"Yes," he answered slowly, "and all the rest." He said nothing more +until we stopped before the Vantine house, but I could see, from his +puckered brows, how desperately he was trying to untangle this quirk +in the mystery. + +"The siege seems to have been lifted," I remarked, as we alighted. + +"The siege?" + +"Parks telephoned me that your esteemed contemporaries had the place +surrounded. I told him to hold the fort!" + +"Poor boys!" he commented, smiling. "To think that all they know is +what Grady is able to tell them!" Then he stopped before the house +and made a careful survey of it. + +"Which room is the cabinet in?" he asked. + +"The ante-room is there at the left where those two shuttered windows +are. The cabinet is in the corner room--there is one window on this +side and two on the other." + +"Wait till I take a look at them," he said, and, vaulting the low +railing, he walked quickly along the front of the house and around +the corner. He was gone only a minute. "They're all right," he said, +in a tone of relief. + +"Of course they're all right. You didn't suppose--" + +"If that cabinet contains what I thought it did, Lester--yes," he +added, a little savagely, as he saw my look, "and what I still think +it does--it wouldn't be safe in the strongest vault of the National +City Bank," and he motioned for me to ring the bell. + +I did so, in silence. + +Parks answered it almost instantly, and I could tell from the way his +face changed how glad he was to see me. + +"Well, Parks," I said, as we stepped inside, "everything is all +right, I hope?" + +"Yes, sir," he answered. "But--but it gets on the nerves a little, +sir." + +I heard a movement behind me, as I gave Parks my coat, and turned to +see Rogers sitting on the cot. + +"Hello," I said, "so you're able to be up, are you?" + +"Yes, sir," he answered, without looking at me. "I thought I'd come +down and keep Parks company." + +Parks smiled a little sheepishly. + +"I asked him to, Mr. Lester," he said. "I got so lonesome and jumpy +here by myself that I just had to have somebody to talk to. +Especially, after the burglar-alarm rang." + +"The burglar-alarm?" repeated Godfrey quickly. "What do you mean?" + +"We've got a burglar-alarm on the windows, sir. It's usually turned +off in the day-time, but I thought I'd better leave it on to-day, and +it rang about the middle of the afternoon. I thought at first that +one of the other servants had raised a window, but none of them had. +Something went wrong with it, I guess." + +"Did you take a look at the windows?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir; a policeman came to see what was the matter and we went +around and examined the windows, but they were all locked. It made me +feel kind of scary for a while." + +"Does the alarm work now?" + +"No, sir; the policeman said there must be a short circuit somewhere, +and that he'd notify the people who put it in; but nobody has come +around yet to fix it." + +"We'd better take a look at the windows, ourselves," said Godfrey. +"You stay here, Parks. We can find them, all right; and I don't want +you to leave that door unguarded for a single instant." + +We went from window to window, and Godfrey examined each of them with +a minuteness that astonished me, for I had no idea what he expected +to find. But we completed the circuit of the ground floor without his +apparently discovering anything out of the way. + +"Let's take a look at the basement," he said, and led the way +downstairs with a readiness which told me that he had been over the +house before. + +In the kitchen, we came upon the cook and housemaid sitting close +together and talking in frightened whispers. They watched us +apprehensively, and I stopped to reassure them, while Godfrey +proceeded with his search. Then I heard him calling me. + +I found him in a kind of lumber-room, standing before its single +small window, his electric torch in his hand. + +"Look there," he said, his voice quivering with excitement, and threw +a circle of light on the jamb of the window at the spot where the +upper and lower sashes met. + +"What is it?" I asked, after a moment. "I don't see anything wrong." + +"You don't? You don't see that this house was to be entered to-night? +Then what does this mean?" + +With his finger-nail, he turned up the end of a small insulated wire. +And then I saw that the wire had been cut. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BURNING EYES + + +For an instant, I did not grasp the full significance of that severed +wire. Then I understood. + +"Yes," said Godfrey drily, "that romance of mine is looking up again. +Somebody was preparing for a quiet invasion of the house to-night +--somebody, of course, interested in that cabinet." + +"He wasn't losing any time," I ventured. + +"He knew he hadn't any to lose. When you put those wooden shutters +up, you warned him that you suspected his game. He knew, if the alarm +was on, it would ring when he cut the wire, but he also knew that the +chances were a hundred to one against the cut being discovered, or +the alarm put in working order, before to-morrow." + +"Why can't we ambush him?" I suggested. + +"We might try, but it will be a mighty risky undertaking, Lester." + +"One risky undertaking is enough for to-night," I said, with a sigh, +for my belief in the existence of the secret drawer and the poison +and all the rest of it had come back with a rush. I felt almost +apologetic toward Godfrey for ever doubting him. "We'd better wait +and see if we survive the first one before we arrange for any more." + +"All right," Godfrey laughed. "But I'll fix this break." + +He got out his pen-knife, loosened two or three of the staples which +held the wire in place, drew it out, scraped back the insulation, and +twisted the ends tightly together. + +"There," he added, "that's done. If the invader tampers with the +window again, he will set off the alarm. But I don't believe he'll +touch it. I fancy he already knows his little game is discovered." + +"How would he know it?" I demanded, incredulously. + +"If he is keeping an eye on this window, as he naturally would do, he +has seen my light. Perhaps he is watching us now." + +I glanced at the dark square of the window with a little shiver. This +business was getting on my nerves again. But Godfrey turned away with +a shrug of the shoulders. + +"Now for the cabinet," he said, and led the way back upstairs. + +Rogers was still sitting dejectedly on the cot, and, looking at him +more closely, I could see that he was white and shaken. His trouble, +whatever its nature, plainly lay heavy on his mind. + +"Have you anything to tell us, this evening, Rogers?" I asked, +kindly, but he only shook his head. + +"I've told you everything I know, sir," he answered, in a low voice. + +"I'm not going to worry you, Rogers," I went on, "but I want you to +think it over. You can rely upon me to help you, if I can." + +He looked up quickly, but caught himself, and turned his eyes away. + +"Thank you, sir," was all he said. + +"And now," I added, briskly, "I'll have to ask you to get up. Move +the cot away from the door, Parks." + +Parks obeyed me with astonished face. + +"You're not going in there, sir!" he protested, as I turned the knob. + +"Yes, we are," I said, and opened the door. "Is--is...." + +"No, sir," broke in Parks, understanding. "The undertakers brought +the coffin and put him in it and moved him over to the drawing-room +this afternoon, sir." + +"I'm glad of that. I want all the lights lit, Parks, just as they +were last night." + +Parks reached inside the door and switched on the electrics. Then he +went away, came back in a moment with a taper, and proceeded to light +the gas-lights. A moment later, the lights in the inner room were +also blazing. + +"There you are, sir," said Parks, and retreated to the door. "Will +you need me?" + +"Not now. But wait in the hall outside. We may need you." I had a +notion to tell him to have an axe handy, but I saw Godfrey smiling. + +"Very good, sir," said Parks, evidently relieved, and went out and +closed the door. + +I led the way into the inner room. + +"Well, there it is," I said, and nodded toward the Boule cabinet, +standing in the full glare of the light, every inlay and incrustation +glittering like the eyes of a basilisk. "It isn't too late to give it +up, Godfrey." + +"Oh, yes, it is," he said, coolly, removing his coat "It was too late +the moment you told me that story. Why, Lester, if I gave it up, I +should never sleep again!" + +"And if you don't, you may never wake again," I pointed out. + +He laughed lightly. + +"What a dismal prophet you are! Draw up a chair and watch me." + +He pulled back his shirt-sleeves, and placed his electric torch on +the floor beside the cabinet. Then he paused with folded arms to +contemplate this masterpiece of M. Boule. + +"It _is_ a beauty," he said, at last, and then drew out the little +drawers, one after another, looked them over, and placed them +carefully on a chair. "Now," he added, "let us see if there is any +space that isn't accounted for." + +He took from his pocket a folding rule of ivory, opened it, and began +a series of measurements so searching and intricate that half an hour +passed without a word being spoken. Then he pulled up another chair, +and sat down beside me. + +"I seem to be pretty much up against it," he said, "no doubt just as +the designer of the cabinet would wish me to be. The whole bottom of +the desk is inclosed, and those three little drawers take up only a +small part of the space. Then the back of the cabinet seems to be +double--at least, there's a space of three inches I can't account +for. So there's room for a dozen secret drawers, if the Montespan +required so many. And now to find the combination." + +He adjusted the steel gauntlet carefully to his right hand and sat +down on the floor before the cabinet. + +"I'll begin at the bottom," he said. "If there is any spot I miss, +tell me of it." + +He ran his fingers up and down the graceful legs, carefully feeling +every inequality of the elaborate bronze ornamentation. Particularly +did his fingers linger on every boss and point, striving to push it +in or move it up or down; but they were all immovable. Then he +examined the bottom of the table minutely, using his torch to +illumine every crevice; but again without result. + +Another half hour passed so, and when at last he came out from under +the table, his face was dripping with sweat. + +"It's trying work," he said, sitting down again and mopping his face. +"But isn't it a beauty, Lester? The more I look at it, the more +wonderful it seems." + +"I told Philip Vantine I wasn't up to it, and I'm not," I said. + +"Nor I, but I can appreciate it to the extent of my capacity. It's +the Louis Fourteenth ideal of beauty--splendour carried to the nth +degree. Look at the arabesques along the front--can you imagine +anything more graceful? And the engraving--nothing cut-and-dried +about that. It was done by a burin in the hands of a master--perhaps +by Boule himself. I don't wonder Vantine was rather mad about it. But +we haven't found that drawer yet," and he drew his chair close to the +cabinet. + +"I'd point out one thing to you, Godfrey," I said: "if you go on +poking about with the fingers of both hands, as you've been doing, +you are just as apt to get struck on the left hand as on the right." + +"That's true," he agreed. "Stop me if I forget." + +There were three little drawers in the front of the table, and these +Godfrey had removed. He inserted his hand into the space from which +he had taken them, and examined it carefully. Then, inch by inch, he +ran his fingers over the bosses and arabesques with which the sides +and top of the table were incrusted. It seemed to me that, if the +secret drawer were anywhere, it must be somewhere in this part of the +cabinet, and I watched him with breathless interest. Once I thought +he had found the drawer, for a piece of inlay at the side of the +table seemed to give a little under the pressure of his fingers; but +no hidden spring was touched; no drawer sprang open; no poisoned +fangs descended. + +"Well," said Godfrey, sitting back in his chair at last, and wiping +his face again, "there's so much done. If there is any secret drawer +in the lower part of the cabinet, it is mighty cleverly concealed. +Now we'll try the upper part." + +The upper part of the cabinet consisted of a series of drawers, +rising one above the other, and terminated by a triangular pediment, +its tympanum ornamented with some beautiful little bronzes. The +drawers themselves were concealed by two doors, opening in the +centre, and covered with a most intricate design of arabesqued +incrustations. + +"If there is a secret drawer here," said Godfrey, "it is somewhere in +the back, where there seems to be a hollow space. But to discover the +combination...." + +He ran his fingers over the inlay, and then, struck by a sudden +thought, tested each of the little figures along the tympanum, but +they were all set solidly in place. + +"There's one thing sure," he said, "the combination, whatever it is, +is of such a nature that it could not be discovered accidentally--by +a person leaning on the cabinet, for instance. It isn't a question of +merely touching a spring; it is probably a question of releasing a +series of levers, which must be worked in a certain order, or the +drawer won't open. I'm afraid we are up against it." + +"I can't pretend I'm sorry," I said, with a sigh of relief. "As far +as I am concerned, I'm perfectly willing that the drawer should go +undiscovered." + +"Well, I am not!" retorted Godfrey, curtly, and he sat regarding the +cabinet with puckered brows. Then he rose and began tapping at the +back. + +I don't know what it was--for I was conscious of no noise--but some +mysterious attraction drew my eyes to the window at the farther side +of the room. Near the top of the wooden shutter, which Parks and I +had put in place, was a small semi-circular opening, to allow the +passage of a little light, perhaps, and peering through this opening +were two eyes--two burning eyes.... + +They were fixed upon Godfrey with such feverish intentness that they +did not see my glance, and I lowered my head instantly. + +"Godfrey," I said, in a shaking voice, "don't look up; don't move +your head; but there is some one peering through the hole in the +shutter opposite us." + +Godfrey did not answer for quite a minute, but kept calmly on with +his examination of the cabinet. + +"Did he see you look at him?" he asked, at last. + +"No, he was looking at you, with his eyes almost starting out of his +head. I never saw such eyes!" + +"Did you see anything of his face?" + +"No, the hole is too small. I fancy I saw the fingers of one hand, +which he had thrust through to steady himself." + +"How high is the hole?" + +"Near the top of the window." + +Godfrey came back to his chair a moment later, sat down in it, and +passed his handkerchief slowly over his face. Then he leaned forward, +apparently to examine the legs of the cabinet. + +"I saw him," he said. "Or, rather, I saw his eyes. Rather fierce, +aren't they?" + +"They're a tiger's eyes," I said, with conviction. + +"Well, there is no use going ahead with this while he is out there. +Even if we found the drawer, we'd both be dead an instant later." + +"You mean he'd kill us?" + +"He would shoot us instantly. Imagine what a sensation that would +make, Lester. Parks hears two pistol shots, rushes in and finds us +lying here dead. Grady would have a convulsion--and we should both +be famous for a few days." + +"I'll seek fame in some other way," I said drily. "What are you going +to do about it?" + +"We've got to try to capture him; and if we do--well, we shall have +the fame all right! But it's a good deal like trying to pick up a +scorpion--we're pretty sure to get hurt. If that fellow out there is +who I think he is, he's about the most dangerous man on earth." + +He went on tapping the surface of the cabinet. As for me, I would +have given anything for another look at those gleaming eyes. They +seemed to be burning into me; hot flashes were shooting up and down +my back. + +"Why can't I go out as though I were going after something," I +suggested. "Then Parks and I could charge around the corner and get +him." + +"You wouldn't get him, he'd get you. You wouldn't have a chance on +earth. If there is a window upstairs over that one, you might drop +something out on him, or borrow Parks's pistol and shoot him--" + +"That would be pretty cowardly, wouldn't it?" I suggested, mildly. + +"My dear Lester," Godfrey protested, "when you attack a poisonous +snake, you don't do it with bare hands, do you?" + +I couldn't help it--I glanced again at the window.... + +"He's gone!" I cried. + +Godfrey was at the window in two steps. + +"Look at that!" he said, "and then tell me he isn't a genius!" + +I followed the direction of his pointing finger and saw that, just +opposite the opening in the shutter, a little hole had been cut in +the window-pane. + +"That fellow foresees everything," said Godfrey, with enthusiasm. "He +probably cut that hole as soon as it was dark. He must have guessed +we were going to examine the cabinet to-night--and he wanted not only +to see, but to hear. He heard everything we said, Lester!" + +"Let's go after him!" I cried, and, without waiting for an answer, I +sprang across the ante-room and snatched open the door which led into +the hall. + +Parks and Rogers were sitting on the couch just outside and I never +saw two men more thoroughly frightened. + +"For God's sake, Mr. Lester!" gasped Rogers, and stopped, his hand at +his throat. + +"Is it Mr. Godfrey?" cried Parks. + +"There's a man outside. Got your pistol, Parks?" + +"Yes, sir," and he took it from his pocket. + +I snatched it from him, opened the front door, leaped the railing, +and stole along the house to the corner. + +Then, taking my courage in both hands, I charged around it. + +There was no one in sight; but from somewhere near at hand came a +burst of mocking laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GODFREY IS FRIGHTENED + + +I was still staring about me, that mocking laughter in my ears, when +Godfrey joined me. + +"He got away, of course," he said coolly. + +"Yes, and I heard him laugh!" I cried. + +Godfrey looked at me quickly. + +"Come, Lester," he said, soothingly, "don't let your nerves run away +with you." + +"It wasn't my nerves," I protested, a little hotly. "I heard it quite +plainly. He can't be far away." + +"Too far for us to catch him," Godfrey retorted, and, torch in hand, +proceeded to examine the window-sill and the ground beneath it. +"There is where he stood," he added, and the marks on the sill were +evident enough. "Of course he had his line of retreat blocked out," +and he flashed his torch back and forth across the grass, but the +turf was so close that no trace of footsteps was visible. + +We went slowly back to the house, and Godfrey sat down again to a +contemplation of the cabinet. + +"It's too much for me," he said, at last. "The only way I can find +that drawer, I'm afraid, is with an axe. But I don't want to smash +the thing to pieces--" + +"I should say not! It would be like smashing the Venus de Milo." + +"Hardly so bad as that. But we won't smash it yet awhile. I'm going +to look up the subject of secret drawers--perhaps I'll stumble upon +something that will help me." + +"And then, of course," I said, disconsolately, "it is quite possible +that there isn't any such drawer at all." + +But Godfrey shook his head decidedly. + +"I don't agree with you there, Lester. I'll wager that fellow who was +looking in at us could find it in a minute." + +"He seemed mighty frightened lest you should." + +"He had reason to be," Godfrey rejoined grimly. "I'll have another +try at it to-morrow. One thing we've got to take care of, and that is +that our friend of the burning eyes doesn't get a chance at it +first." + +"Those shutters are pretty strong," I pointed out. "And Parks is no +fool." + +"Yes," agreed Godfrey, "the shutters are pretty strong--they might +keep him out for ten minutes--scarcely longer than that. As for +Parks, he wouldn't last ten seconds. You don't seem to understand the +extraordinary character of this fellow." + +"During your period of exaltation last night," I reminded him, "you +referred to him as the greatest criminal of modern times." + +"Well," smiled Godfrey, "perhaps that _was_ a little exaggerated. +Suppose we say one of the greatest--great enough, surely, to walk all +around us, if we aren't on guard. I think I would better drop a word +to Simmonds and get him to send down a couple of men to watch the +house. With them outside, and Parks on the inside, it ought to be +fairly safe." + +"I should think so!" I said. "One would imagine you were getting +ready to repel an army. Who is this fellow, anyway, Godfrey? You seem +to be half afraid of him!" + +"I'm wholly afraid of him, if he's who I think he is--but it's a mere +guess as yet, Lester. Wait a day or two. I'll call up Simmonds." + +He went to the 'phone, while I sat down again and looked at the +cabinet in a kind of stupefaction. What was the intrigue, of which it +seemed to be the centre? Who was this man, that Godfrey should +consider him so formidable? Why should he have chosen Philip Vantine +for a victim? + +Godfrey came back while I was still groping blindly amid this maze of +mystery. + +"It's all right," he said. "Simmonds is sending two of his best men +to watch the house." He stood for a moment gazing down at the +cabinet. "I'm coming back to-morrow to have another try at it," he +added. "I have left the gauntlet there on the chair, so if you feel +like having a try yourself, Lester...." + +"Heaven forbid!" I protested. "But perhaps I would better tell Parks +to let you in. I hope I won't find you a corpse here, Godfrey!" + +"So do I! But I don't believe you will. Yes, tell Parks to let me in +whenever I come around. And now about Rogers." + +"What about him?" + +"I rather thought I might want to grill him to-night. But perhaps I +would better wait till I get a little more to go on." He paused for a +moment's thought. "Yes; I'll wait," he said, finally. "I don't want +to run any risk of failing." + +We went out into the hall together, and I told Parks to admit +Godfrey, whenever he wished to enter. Rogers was still sitting on the +cot, looking so crushed and sorrowful that I could not help pitying +him. I began to think that, if he were left to himself a day or two +longer, he would tell all we wished to know without any grilling. + +I confided this idea to Godfrey as we went down the front steps. + +"Perhaps you're right," he agreed. "I don't believe the fellow is +really crooked. Something has happened to him--something in +connection with that woman--and he has never got over it. Well, we +shall have to find out what it was. Hello, here are Simmonds's men," +he added, as two policemen stopped before the house. + +"Is this Mr. Godfrey?" one of them asked. + +"Yes," said Godfrey. + +"Mr. Simmonds told us to report to you, sir, if you were here." + +"What we want you to do," said Godfrey, "is to watch the house--watch +it from all sides--patrol clear around it, and see that no one +approaches it." + +"Very well, sir," and the men touched their helmets, and one of them +went around to the back of the house, while the other remained in +front. + +"Perhaps if they concealed themselves," I suggested, "the fellow +might venture back and be nabbed." + +But Godfrey shook his head. + +"I don't want him to venture back," he said. "I want to scare him +off. I want him to see we're thoroughly on guard." He hailed a +passing cab, and paused with one foot on the step. "I've already told +you, Lester," he added, over his shoulder, "that I'm afraid of him. +Perhaps you thought I was joking, but I wasn't. I was never more +serious in my life. The _Record_ office," he added to the cabby, and +jingled away, leaving me staring after him. + +As I turned homeward, I could not but ponder over this remarkable and +mysterious being with whom Godfrey was so impressed. Never before had +I known him to hesitate to match himself with any adversary; but now, +it seemed to me, he shunned the contest, or at least feared it +--feared that he might be outwitted and outplayed! How great a +compliment that was to the mysterious unknown only I could guess! + +And then I shivered a little as I recalled that mocking and ironic +laughter. And I quickened my step, with a glance over my shoulder; +for if Godfrey was afraid, how much more reason had I to be! It was +with a sense of relief, of which I was a little ashamed, that I +reached my apartment at the Marathon and locked the door. + +Just before I turned in for the night, I heard from Godfrey again, +for my telephone rang, and it was his voice that answered. + +"I just wanted to tell you, Lester," he said, "that your guess was +right. The mysterious Frenchman came over on _La Touraine_, landing +at noon yesterday. He came in the steerage, and the stewards know +nothing about him. What time was it he got to Vantine's?" + +"About two, I should say." + +"So he probably went directly there from the boat, as you thought. +That accounts for nobody knowing him. The steamship company is +holding a bag belonging to him. I'll get them to open it to-morrow, +and perhaps we shall find out who he was." + +"But, Godfrey," I broke in, "how about this other fellow--the man +with the burning eyes? He's getting on my nerves!" + +"Don't let him do that, Lester!" he laughed. "We're in no danger so +long as we are not around that cabinet! That's the storm centre! I +can't tell you more than that. Good-night!" and he hung up without +waiting for me to answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DISTINGUISHED CALLER + + +It was shortly after I reached the office, next morning, that the +office-boy came in and handed me a card with an awed and reverent air +so at variance with his usual demeanour that I glanced at the square +of pasteboard in some astonishment. Then, I confess, an awed and +reverent feeling crept over me, also, for the card bore the name of +Sereno Hornblower. + +That name is quite unknown outside the legal profession of the three +great cities of the east, New York, Boston and Philadelphia; for +Sereno Hornblower has never held a public office, has never made a +public speech, has never responded to a toast, has never served on a +public committee, has never, so far as I know, conducted a case in +court or addressed a jury--has never, in a word, figured in the +newspapers in any way; and yet his income would make that of any +other lawyer in the country look like thirty cents. + +For Sereno Hornblower is the confidential attorney of most of our +"best families." He has held that position for years, and it is said +that no case placed unreservedly in his hands ever resulted in a +public scandal. He accepts clients with great care; he has +steadfastly refused the business of Pittsburgh millionaires, +remunerative as it was certain to be; but he seems to take a sort of +personal pride in keeping intact the reputations of the old families, +even when their scions embark in the most outrageous escapades. If +you are descended from the Pilgrims or the Patroons, Mr. Hornblower +will ask no further recommendation. + +His reputation for tact and delicacy is tremendous; and yet those who +have found themselves opposed to him have never been long in +realising that there was a most redoubtable mailed fist under the +velvet glove. Altogether a remarkable man, whose memoirs would make +absorbing reading, could he be persuaded to write them--which is +quite beyond the bounds of possibility. I had never met him either +professionally or personally, and it was with some eagerness that I +told the office-boy to show him in at once. + +Sereno Hornblower did not look the part. His reputation led one to +expect a sort of cross between Uriah Heep and Sherlock Holmes, but +there was nothing secretive or insinuating about his appearance. He +was a bluff and hearty man of middle age, rather heavy-set, +fresh-faced and clean-shaven, and with very bright blue eyes--evidently +a man with a good digestion and a comfortable conscience. Had I met him +on Broadway, I should have taken him for a ripe and finished +comedian. There was about him an air which somehow reminded me of +Joseph Jefferson--perhaps it was his bright blue eyes. It may have +been this very appearance of bluff sincerity and honest downrightness +which accounted for his success. + +We shook hands, and he sat down and plunged at once, without an +instant's hesitation, into the business which had brought him. +Looking back at it, understanding as I do now the delicate nature of +that business, I admire more and more that bluff readiness; though +the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that he had thought +out definitely beforehand precisely what he was going to say. The man +who can carry through a carefully premeditated scene with an air of +complete unpremeditation has an immense advantage. + +"Mr. Lester," he began, "I understand that you are the administrator +of the estate of the late Philip Vantine?" + +"Our firm is," I corrected. + +"But you, personally, have been attending to his business?" + +"Yes." + +"He was a collector of old furniture, I believe?" + +"Yes." + +"And on his last trip to Europe, from which he returned only a few +days ago, he purchased of Armand & Son, of Paris, a Boule cabinet?" + +I could not repress a start of astonishment. + +"Are you acting for Armand & Son?" I queried. + +"Not at all. I am acting for a lady whom, for the present, we will +call Madame X." + +The thought flashed through my mind that Madame X. and the mysterious +Frenchwoman might be one and the same person. Then I put aside the +idea as absurd. Sereno Hornblower would never accept such a client. + +"Mr. Vantine did buy such a cabinet," I said. + +"And it is in your possession?" + +"There is at his residence a Boule cabinet which was shipped him from +Paris, but, only a few hours before his death, Mr. Vantine assured me +that it was not the one he had purchased." + +"You mean that a mistake had been made in the shipment?" + +"That is what we supposed, and a cablegram from Armand & Son has +since confirmed it." + +Mr. Hornblower pondered this for a moment. + +"Where is the cabinet which Mr. Vantine did buy?" he asked at last. + +"I have no idea. Perhaps it is still in Paris. But I am expecting a +representative of the Armands to call very soon to straighten things +out." + +Again my companion fell silent, and sat rubbing his chin absently. + +"It is very strange," he said, finally. "If the cabinet was still at +Paris, one would think it would have been discovered before my client +made inquiry about it." + +"There are a good many things which are strange about this whole +matter," I supplemented. + +"Would you have any objection to my client seeing this cabinet, Mr. +Lester?" + +It was my turn to hesitate. + +"Mr. Hornblower," I said, finally, "I will be frank with you. There +is a certain mystery surrounding this cabinet which we have not been +able to solve. I suppose you have read of the mysterious deaths of +Mr. Vantine and of an unknown Frenchman, both in the same room at the +Vantine house, and both apparently from the same cause?" + +He nodded. + +"Do you mean that this cabinet is connected with them in any way?" he +asked quickly. + +"We believe so; though as yet we have been able to prove absolutely +nothing. But we are guarding the cabinet very closely. I should not +object to your client seeing it, but I could not permit her to touch +it--not, at least, without knowing why she wished to do so. You will +remember that you have told me nothing of why she is interested in +it." + +"I am quite ready to tell you the story, Mr. Lester," he said. "It is +only fair that I should do so. After you have heard it, if you agree, +we will take Madame X. to see the cabinet." + +"Very well," I assented. + +He settled back in his chair, and his face became more grave. + +"My client," he began, "is a member of a prominent American family--a +most prominent family. Three years ago, she married a French +nobleman. You can, perhaps, guess her name, but I should prefer that +neither of us utter it." + +I nodded my agreement. + +"This nobleman has been both prodigal and unfaithful. He has +scattered my client's fortune with both hands. He has flaunted his +mistresses in her face. He has even tried to compel her to receive +one of them. I am free to confess that I consider her a fool not to +have left him long ago. At last her trustees interfered, for her +father had been wise enough to place a portion of her fortune in +trust. They paid her husband's debts, placed him on an allowance, and +notified his creditors that his debts would not be paid again." + +I had by this time, of course, guessed the name of his client, since +these details had long been a matter of public notoriety, and, I need +hardly say, listened to the story with a heightened interest. + +"The allowance is a princely one," Mr. Hornblower continued, "but it +does not suffice Monsieur X. No allowance would suffice him--the more +money he had, the more ways he would find of spending it. So he has +become a thief. He has taken to selling the objects of art with which +his residences are filled, and which are really the property of my +client, since they were purchased with her money. About two weeks +ago, my client returned to Paris from a stay at her château in +Normandy to find that he had almost denuded the town house. +Tapestries, pictures, sculptures--everything had been sold. Among +other things which he had taken was a Boule cabinet, which had been +used by my client as her private writing-desk. The cabinet was a most +valuable one; but it is not its monetary value which makes my client +so anxious to recover it." + +He paused an instant and cleared his throat, and I realised that he +was coming to the really delicate part of the story. + +"Monsieur X. had had the decency," he went on, more slowly, "to, as +he thought, retain his wife's private papers. He had caused the +contents of the various drawers to be dumped out upon a chair. But +there was one drawer of which he knew nothing--a secret drawer, known +only to my client. That drawer contained a packet of letters which my +client is most anxious to regain. Of their nature, I will say +nothing--indeed, I know very little about them, for, after all, that +is none of my business. But she has given me to understand that their +recovery is essential to her peace of mind." + +I nodded again; there was really no need that he should say more. +Only, I reflected, a faithless husband has no reason to complain if +his wife repays him in the same coin! + +"My client went to work at once to regain the cabinet," continued Mr. +Hornblower, plainly relieved that the thinnest ice had been crossed. +"She found that it had been sold to Armand & Son. Hastening to their +offices, she learned that it had been resold by them to Mr. Vantine +and sent forward to him here. So she came over on the first boat, +ostensibly to visit her family, but really to ask Mr. Vantine's +permission to open the drawer and take out the letters. His death +interfered with this, and, in despair, she came to me. I need hardly +add, that no member of her family knows anything about this matter, +and it is especially important that her husband should never even +suspect it. On her behalf, I apply to you, as Mr. Vantine's executor, +to restore these letters to their owner." + +I sat for a moment turning this extraordinary story over in my mind, +and trying to make it fit in with the occurrences of the past two +days. But it would not fit--at least, it would not fit with my theory +as to the cause of those occurrences. For, surely, Madame X. would +scarcely guard the secret of that drawer with poison! + +"Does any one besides your client know of the existence of these +letters?" I asked, at last. + +"I think not," answered Mr. Hornblower, smiling drily. "They are not +of a nature which my client would care to communicate to any one. In +fact, Mr. Lester, as you have doubtless suspected, they are +compromising letters. We must get them back at any cost." + +"As a matter of fact," I pointed out, "there are always at least two +people who know of the existence of every letter--the person who +writes it and the person who receives it." + +"I had thought of that, but the person who wrote these letters is +dead." + +"Dead?" I repeated. + +"He was killed in a duel some months ago," explained Mr. Hornblower, +gravely. + +"By Monsieur X.?" I asked quickly. + +"By Monsieur X.," said Mr. Hornblower, and sat regarding me, his lips +pursed, as an indication, perhaps, that he would say no more. + +But there was no necessity that he should. I knew enough of French +law and of French habits of thought to realise that if those letters +ever came into possession of Monsieur X., the game would be entirely +in his hands. His wife would be absolutely at his mercy. And the +thought flashed through my mind that perhaps in some way he had +learned of the existence of the letters, and was trying desperately +to get them. That thought was enough to swing the balance in his +wife's favour. + +"I am sure," I said, "that Mr. Vantine would instantly have consented +to your client opening the drawer and taking out the letters. And, as +his executor, I also consent, for, whoever may own the cabinet, the +letters are the property of Madame X. All this providing, of course, +that this should prove to be the right cabinet. But I must warn you, +Mr. Hornblower, that I believe two men have already been killed +trying to open that drawer," and I told him, while he sat there +staring in profound amazement, of my theory in regard to the death of +Philip Vantine and of the unknown Frenchman. "I am inclined to +think," I concluded, "that Vantine blundered upon the drawer while +examining the cabinet; but there is no doubt that the other man knew +of the drawer, and also, presumably, of its contents." + +"Well!" exclaimed my companion. "I have listened to many astonishing +stories in my life, but never one to equal this. And you know nothing +of this Frenchman?" + +"Nothing except that he came from Havre on _La Touraine_ last +Thursday, and drove from the dock direct to Vantine's house." + +"My client also came on _La Touraine_--but that, no doubt, was a mere +coincidence." + +"That may be," I agreed, "but it is scarcely a coincidence that both +he and your client were after the contents of that drawer." + +"You mean...." + +"I mean that the mysterious Frenchman may very possibly have been an +emissary of Monsieur X. Madame may have betrayed the secret to him in +an unguarded moment." + +Mr. Hornblower rose abruptly. He was evidently much disturbed. + +"You may be right," he agreed. "I will communicate with my client at +once. I take it that she has your permission to see the cabinet; and, +if it proves to be the right one, that she may open the drawer and +remove the letters." + +"If she cares to take the risk," I assented. + +"Very well; I will call you as soon as I have seen her," he said. "In +any event, I thank you for your courtesy," and he left the office. + +He must have driven straight to her family residence on the Avenue; +or perhaps she was awaiting him at his office; at any rate, he called +me up inside the half hour. + +"My client would like to see the cabinet at once," he said. "She is +in a very nervous condition; especially since she learned that some +one else has tried to open the drawer. When will it be convenient for +you to go with us?" + +"I can go at once," I said. + +"Then we will drive around for you. We should be there in fifteen or +twenty minutes." + +"Very well," I said, "I'll be ready. I shall, of course, want to take +a witness with me." + +"That is quite proper," assented Mr. Hornblower. "We can have no +objection to that. In twenty minutes, then." + +I got the _Record_ office as soon as I could, but Godfrey was not +there. He did not come on usually, some one said, until the middle of +the afternoon. I rang his rooms, but there was no reply. Finally I +called up the Vantine house. + +"Parks," I said, "I am bringing up some people to look at that +cabinet. It might be just as well to get that cot out of the way and +have all the lights going?" + +"The lights are already going, sir," he said. + +"Already going? What do you mean?" + +"Mr. Godfrey has been here for quite a while, sir, fooling with that +cabinet thing." + +"He has!" and then I reflected that I ought to have guessed his +whereabouts. "Tell him, Parks, that I am bringing some people up to +see the cabinet, and that I should like him to stay there and be a +witness of the proceedings." + +"Very well, sir," assented Parks. + +"Everything quiet?" + +"Oh, yes, sir; there was two policemen outside all night, and Rogers +and me inside." + +"Mr. Hornblower's carriage is below, sir," announced the office-boy, +opening the door. + +"All right," I said. "We are coming right up, Parks. Good-bye," and I +hung up and slipped into my coat. + +Then, as I took down my hat, a sudden thought struck me. + +If the unknown Frenchman was indeed an emissary of Monsieur X., +Madame might be acquainted with him. It was a long shot, but worth +trying! I stepped to my desk, took out the photograph which Godfrey +had given me, and slipped it into my pocket. Then I hurried out to +the elevator. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VEILED LADY + + +There were three persons in the carriage. Mr. Hornblower sat with his +back to the horses, and two women were on the opposite seat. Both +were dressed in black and heavily veiled, but there was about them +the indefinable distinction of mistress and maid. It would be +difficult to tell precisely in what the distinction consisted, but it +was there. Mr. Hornblower glanced behind me as I entered. + +"You spoke of a witness," he said. + +"He is at the Vantine house," I explained, and sat down beside him. + +"This is Mr. Lester," he said, and the veiled lady opposite him, whom +I had known at once to be the mistress, inclined her head a little. + +Those were the only words spoken. The carriage rolled out to Broadway +and then turned northward, making such progress as was possible along +that crowded thoroughfare. I glanced from time to time at the women +opposite, and was struck by the contrast in their behaviour. One sat +quite still, her hands in her lap, her head bent, admirably +self-contained; the other was restless and uneasy, unable to control +a nervous twitching of the fingers. I wondered why the maid should +seem more upset than her mistress, and decided finally that her +uneasiness was merely lack of breeding. But the contrast interested +me. + +At Tenth Street, the carriage turned westward again, skirted +Washington Square, turned into the Avenue, and stopped before the +Vantine house. Mr. Hornblower assisted the women to alight, and I led +the way up the steps. But as we reached the top and came upon the +funeral wreath on the door, the veiled lady stopped with a little +exclamation. + +"I did not know," she said, quickly. "Perhaps, after all, we would +better wait. I did not realise...." + +"There are no relatives to be hurt, madame," I interrupted. "As for +the dead man, what can it matter to him?" and I rang the bell. + +Parks opened the door, and, nodding to him, I led the way along the +hall and into the ante-room. Godfrey was awaiting us there, and I saw +the flame of interest which leaped into his eyes, as Mr. Hornblower +and the two veiled women entered. + +"This is my witness," I said to the former. "Mr. Godfrey--Mr. +Hornblower." + +Godfrey bowed, and Hornblower regarded him with a good-humoured +smile. + +"If I were not sure of Mr. Godfrey's discretion," he said, "I should +object. But I have tested it before this, and know that it can be +relied upon." + +"There is only one person to whom I yield precedence in the matter of +discretion," rejoined Godfrey, smiling back at him, "and that is Mr. +Hornblower. He is in a class quite by himself." + +"Thank you," said the lawyer, and bowed gravely. + +During this interchange of compliments, the woman I had decided was +the maid had sat down, as though her legs were unable to sustain her, +and was nervously clasping and unclasping her hands; even her +mistress showed signs of impatience. + +"The cabinet is in here," I said, and led the way into the inner +room, the two men and the veiled lady at my heels. + +It stood in the middle of the floor, just as it had stood since the +night of the tragedy, and all the lights were going. As I entered, I +noticed Godfrey's gauntlet lying on a chair. + +"Is it the right one, madame?" I asked. + +She gazed at it a moment, her hands pressed against her breast. + +"Yes!" she answered, with a gasp that was almost a sob. + +I confess I was astonished. I had never thought it could be the right +one; even now I did not see how it could possibly be the right one. + +"You are sure?" I queried incredulously. + +"Do you think I could be mistaken in such a matter, sir? I assure you +that this cabinet at one time belonged to me. You permit me?" she +added, and took a step toward it. + +"One moment, madame," I interposed. "I must warn you that in touching +that cabinet you are running a great risk." + +"A great risk?" she echoed, looking at me. + +"A very great risk, as I have pointed out to Mr. Hornblower. I have +reason to believe that two men met death while trying to open that +secret drawer." + +"I believe Mr. Hornblower did tell me something of the sort," she +murmured; "but of course that is all a mistake." + +"Then the drawer is not guarded by poison?" I questioned. + +"By poison?" she repeated blankly, and carried her handkerchief to +her lips. "I do not understand." + +I knew that my theory was collapsing, utterly, hopelessly. I dared +not look at Godfrey. + +"Is there not, connected with the drawer," I asked, "a mechanism +which, as the drawer is opened, plunges two poisoned fangs into the +hand which opens it?" + +"No, Mr. Lester," she answered, astonishment in her voice, "I assure +you there is no such mechanism." + +I clutched at a last straw, and a sorry one it was! + +"The mechanism may have been placed there since the cabinet passed +from your possession," I suggested. + +"That is, perhaps, possible," she agreed, though I saw that she was +unconvinced. + +"At any rate, madame," I said, "I would ask that, in opening the +drawer, you wear this gauntlet," and I picked up Godfrey's gauntlet +from the chair on which it lay. "It is needless that you should take +any risk, however slight. Permit me," and I slipped the gauntlet over +her right hand. + +As I did so, I glanced at Godfrey. He was staring at the veiled lady +with such a look of stupefaction that I nearly choked with delight. +It had not often been my luck to see Jim Godfrey mystified, but he +was certainly mystified now! + +The veiled lady regarded the steel glove with a little laugh. + +"I am now free to open the drawer?" she asked. + +"Yes, madame." + +She moved toward the cabinet, Godfrey and I close behind her. At last +the secret which had defied us was to be revealed. And with its +revelation would come the end of the picturesque and romantic theory +we had been building up so laboriously. + +Instinctively, I glanced toward the shuttered window, but the +semi-circle of light was unobscured. + +The veiled lady bent above the table and disposed the fingers of her +right hand to fit the metal inlay midway of the left side. + +"It is a little awkward," she said. "I have always been accustomed to +using the left hand. You will notice that I am pressing on three +points; but to open the drawer, one must press these points in a +certain order--- first this one, then this one, and then this one." + +There was a sharp click, and, at the side of the table, a piece of +the metal inlay fell forward. + +"That is the handle," said the veiled lady, and, without an instant's +hesitation, while my heart stood still, she grasped it and drew out a +shallow drawer. "Ah!" and, casting aside the ridiculous gauntlet, she +caught up the packet of papers which lay within. Then, with an +effort, she controlled herself, slipped off the ribbon which held the +packet together, and spread out before my eyes ten or twelve +envelopes. "You will see that they are only letters, Mr. Lester," she +said in a low voice, "and I assure you that they belong to me." + +"I believe you, madame," I said, and with a sigh of relief that was +almost a sob, she rebound the packet and slipped it into the bosom of +her gown. "There is one thing," I added, "which madame can, perhaps, +do for me." + +"I shall be most happy!" she breathed. + +"As I have told Mr. Hornblower," I continued, "two men died in this +room the day before yesterday. Or, rather, it was in the room beyond +that they died; but we believed it was here they received the wounds +which caused death. It seems that we were wrong in this." + +"Undoubtedly," she agreed. "There has never been any such weird +mechanism as you described connected with that drawer, Mr. Lester. At +least, not since I have had it. There is a legend, you know, that the +cabinet was made for Madame de Montespan." + +She was talking more freely now; evidently a great load had been +lifted from her--perhaps I did not guess how great! + +"Mr. Vantine suspected as much," I said. "He was a connoisseur of +furniture, and there was something about this cabinet which told him +it had belonged to the Montespan. He was examining it at the time he +died. What the other man was doing, we do not know, but if we could +identify him, it might help us." + +"You have not identified him?" + +"We know nothing whatever about him, except that he was presumably a +Frenchman, and that he arrived on _La Touraine_, two days ago." + +"That is the boat upon which I came over." + +"It has occurred to me, madame, that you may have seen him--that he +may even be known to you." + +"What was his name?" + +"The card he sent in to Mr. Vantine bore the name of Théophile +d'Aurelle." + +She shook her head. + +"I have never before heard that name, Mr. Lester." + +"We believe it to have been an assumed name," I said; "but perhaps +you will recognise this photograph," and I drew it from my pocket and +handed it to her. + +She took it, looked at it, and again shook her head. Then she looked +at it again, turning aside and raising her veil in order to see it +better. + +"There seems to be something familiar about the face," she said, at +last, "as though I might have seen the man somewhere." + +"On the boat, perhaps," I suggested, but I knew very well it was not +on the boat, since the man had crossed in the steerage. + +"No; it was not on the boat. I did not leave my stateroom on the +boat. But I am quite sure that I have seen him--and yet I can't say +where." + +"Perhaps," I said, in a low voice, "he may have been one of the +friends of your husband." + +I saw her hand tremble under the blow, but it had to be struck. And +she was brave. + +"The same thought occurred to me, Mr. Lester," she answered; "but I +know very few of my husband's friends; certainly not this one. And +yet.... Perhaps my maid can help us." + +Photograph in hand, she stepped through the doorway into the outer +room. The maid was sitting on the chair where we had left her; her +hands clenched tightly together in her lap, as though it was only by +some violent effort she could maintain her self-control. + +"Julie," said the veiled lady, in rapid French, "I have here the +photograph of a man who was killed in this room most mysteriously a +few days ago. These gentlemen wish to identify him. The face seems to +me somehow familiar, but I cannot place it. Look at it." + +Julie put forth a shaking hand, took the photograph, and glanced at +it; then, with a long sigh, slid limply to the floor, before either +Godfrey or I could catch her. + +As she fell, her veil, catching on the chair-back, was torn away; +and, looking down at her, a great emotion burst within me, for I +recognised the mysterious woman whose photograph d'Aurelle had +carried in his watch-case. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SECRET OF THE UNKNOWN FRENCHMAN + + +For a moment, I stood spell-bound, staring down at that jaded and +passion-stained countenance; then Godfrey sprang forward and lifted +the unconscious woman to the couch. + +"Bring some water," he said, and as he turned and looked at me, I saw +that his face was glowing with excitement. + +I rushed to the door and snatched it open. Rogers was standing in the +hall outside, and I sent him hurrying for the water, and turned back +into the room. + +Godfrey was chafing the girl's hands, and the veiled lady was bending +over her, fumbling at the hooks of her bodice. Evidently she could +not see them, for, with a sudden movement, she put back her veil. My +heart warmed to her at that act of sacrifice; and after a single +glance at her, I turned away my eyes. + +I saw Godfrey's start of recognition as he looked down at her; then +he, too, looked aside. + +"Here's the water, sir," said Rogers, and handed me glass and +pitcher. + +The next instant, his eyes fell upon the woman on the couch. He stood +staring, his face turning slowly purple; then, clutching at his +throat, he half-turned and fell, just as I had seen him do once +before. + +Hornblower, who was staring at the unconscious woman and mopping his +face feverishly, spun around at the crash. + +"Well, I'll be damned!" he said, in a hoarse voice, as he saw Rogers +extended on the floor at his feet. "What's the matter with this +house, anyway?" + +So great was the tension on my nerves that I could scarcely restrain +a shout of laughter. I turned it into a shout for Parks; but his +face, when he appeared on the threshold, was too much for me, and I +sank into a chair, laughing hysterically. + +"For God's sake!" Parks began.... + +"It's all right," Godfrey broke in, sharply, "Rogers has had another +fit. Get the ammonia!" + +Parks staggered away, and Mr. Hornblower sat down weakly. + +"I don't see the joke!" he growled, glaring at me, his face crimson. + +"Get a grip of yourself, Lester," said Godfrey, savagely, seized the +pitcher from my hand, and hurried with it to madame. + +I _did_ get a grip of myself, and when Parks came back a moment later +with the ammonia, was able to hold up Rogers's head, while Parks +applied the phial to his nostrils. + +"Give me a whiff of it, too, Parks," I said, unsteadily, and in an +instant my eyes were streaming; but I had escaped hysteria. +"Straighten Rogers out and let him lie there," I gasped, and sat +dizzily down upon the floor. But I dared not look at Hornblower. I +felt that another glance at his dazed countenance would send me off +again. + +Madame, meanwhile, had dashed some water into the face of the +unconscious Julie--much to the detriment of her complexion!--watched +her a moment, then stood erect and lowered her veil. + +"She will soon be all right again," she said; and, truly enough, at +the end of a few seconds, the girl opened her eyes and looked dazedly +about her. Then a violent trembling seized her. + +"What is it, Julie?" asked her mistress, taking her hand. "You knew +this man?" + +A hoarse sob was the only answer. + +"You must tell me," went on madame, quietly but firmly. "Perhaps a +crime has been committed. You must tell me everything. You may rely +upon the discretion of these gentlemen. You knew this man?" + +The girl nodded, and closed her eyes; but the hot tears brimmed from +them and ran down over her cheeks. + +"In Paris?" + +The girl nodded again. + +"He was your lover?" + +A third nod, and a fresh flood of tears. + +"I remember, now," said madame, suddenly. "I saw him with her once. +What was he doing in this house?" she went on, more sternly. "Tell +us!" + +"Madame will never forgive me!" sobbed the girl, and I began to think +that she was more concerned for herself than for her lover. The same +thought occurred to her mistress too, no doubt, for her voice +hardened. + +"Try me," she said. "Understand well, you must tell--if not here, +then before an officer of the police." + +"Oh, no, no!" screamed Julie, sitting suddenly erect. "Never that! I +could not bear that! Madame would not be so cruel!" + +"Then tell us now!" said the veiled lady, inexorably. + +"Very well, madame!" cried the girl, dabbing at her eyes with her +handkerchief, and speaking in a mixture of French and English which I +shall not attempt to transcribe. "I will tell; I will tell +everything. After all, I was not to blame. It was that creature. I +did not love him--but I feared him. He possessed a power over me. He +could make me do anything. He even beat me! And still I went back to +him!" + +"What was his name?" asked the veiled lady. + +"Georges Drouet--he lived in the Rue de la Huchette, just off the Rue +Saint Jacques--on the top floor, under the gutters. He was bad--bad; +--he lived off women. I met him six months ago. He knew how to +fascinate one; I thought he loved me. Then he began to borrow money +from me, until he had taken all that I had saved; then my rings +--every one!" She held up her hands to show their bareness. +"Then...." + +She stopped and glanced at her mistress. + +"Continue!" said the latter. "Tell what you have to tell." + +"I knew that madame also...." + +She stopped again. I walked over to the window and stood staring at +the wooden shutter, strangely moved. + +"Well, why not?" she demanded fiercely, and I felt that she was +addressing my turned back. "Why not? Shall a woman not be loved? +Shall a woman endure what madame endured...." + +"That will do, Julie," broke in the veiled lady, her voice cold as +ice. "Tell your story." + +"I knew of the secret drawer; I had seen madame open it; I knew what +it contained. But I was faithful to madame; I loved her; I was glad +that she had found some one.... Madame will remember her despair, her +horror, when she entered her room to find the cabinet gone, taken +away, sold by that.... I, too, was in despair--I desired with my +whole soul to help madame. That night I had a rendezvous with him," +and she nodded toward the photograph which lay upon the floor. "I +told him." + +Her mistress stood as though turned to stone. I could guess her +anguish and humiliation. + +"He questioned me--he learned everything--the drawer, how it was +opened--all. But I did not suspect what was in his mind--not for an +instant did I suspect. But on the boat I saw him, and then I knew. +Well, he has got what he deserved!" + +She shivered and pressed her hands against her eyes. + +"I think that is all, madame," she added, hoarsely. + +"It is all of that story," said Godfrey, in a crisp voice; "but there +is another." + +"Another?" echoed the veiled lady, looking at him. + +"Ask her, madame, for what purpose she called at this house, night +before last, and saw Philip Vantine in this room." + +"I did not!" shrieked the girl, her face ablaze. "It is a lie!" + +"She does not need to tell!" went on Godfrey inexorably. "Any fool +could guess. She came for the letters! She had resolved herself to +blackmail you, madame!" + +"It is a lie!" shrieked the girl again. "I came hoping to save her +--to...." + +A storm of angry sobbing choked her. + +I could see how the veiled lady was trembling. I placed a chair for +her, and she sank into it with a murmur of thanks. + +"Besides, we have a witness to her visit," added Godfrey. "Shall I +call the police, madame?" + +"No, no!" and the girl sat upright again, her face ghastly. "I will +tell. I will tell all. Give me but a moment!" + +She sat there, struggling for self-control, her streaked and +grotesque countenance contorted with emotion. Then I saw her eyes +widen, and, glancing around, I saw that Rogers had dragged himself to +a sitting posture, and was staring at her, his face livid. + +The sight of him seemed to madden her. + +"It was you!" she shrieked, and shook her clenched fist at him. "It +was you who told! Coward! Coward!" + +But Godfrey, his face very grim, laid a heavy hand upon her arm. + +"Be still!" he cried. "He told us nothing! He tried to shield you +--though why he should wish to do so...." + +Rogers broke in with a hollow and ghastly laugh. + +"It was natural enough, sir," he said hoarsely. "She's my wife!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PHILIP VANTINE'S CALLER + + +It was a sordid story that Rogers gasped out to us; and, as it +concerns this tale only incidentally, I shall pass over it as briefly +as may be. + +Eight or ten years before, the fair Julie--at least, she was fairer +then than now!--had come to New York to enter the employ of a family +whose mistress had decided that life without a French maid was +unendurable. Rogers had met her, had been fascinated by her black +eyes and red lips, had, in the end, proposed honourable marriage +--quite unnecessarily, no doubt!--had been accepted, and for some +months had led an eventful existence as the husband of the siren. +Then, one morning, he awakened to find her gone. + +He had, of course, entrusted his savings to her--that had been one +condition of the marriage!--and the savings were gone, also. Julie, +it seems, had been overcome with longing for the Paris asphalt; no +doubt, too, she had found herself ennuied by the lack of romance in +married life with Rogers; and she had flown back to France. Rogers +had thought of following; but, appalled at the difficulty of finding +her in Paris, not knowing what he should do if he did find her, he +had finally given it up, and had settled gloomily down to live upon +his memories. Some sort of affection for her had kept alive within +him, and when he opened the door of Vantine's house and found her +standing on the steps, he was as wax in her hands. + +Julie had listened to all this indifferently, even disdainfully, +without denying anything, nor seeking to excuse herself. Perhaps the +idea that she needed excuse did not occur to her. And when the story +was finished, she was quite herself again; even a little proud, I +think, of holding the centre of the stage in the rôle of siren. It +was almost a rejuvenescence, and there was gratitude in the gaze she +turned on Rogers. + +"This is all true, I suppose?" asked the veiled lady. + +"All quite true, madame," answered Julie, with a shrug. "I was +younger then and the love of excitement was too strong for me. I am +older now, and have more sense--besides, I am no longer sought after +as I was." + +"And so," said madame, with irony, "you are now, no doubt, willing to +return to your husband." + +"I have been considering it, madame," replied Julie, with astounding +simplicity, "ever since I saw him here the other evening, and learned +that he still cared for me. One must have a harbour in one's old +age." + +I glanced at Rogers and was astonished to see that he was regarding +the woman with affectionate admiration. Evidently the harbour was +waiting, should Julie choose to anchor there. + +"I have hesitated," she added, "only because of madame. Where would +madame get another maid such as I? No one but I can arrange her hair +--no one but I can prepare her bath...." + +"We will discuss it," said the veiled lady, "when we are alone. And +now, perhaps, you will be so good as to tell us of your previous +visit here." + +"Very well, madame," and Julie settled into a more comfortable +posture. "It was one day on the boat as I was looking down at the +passengers of the third class that I perceived Georges--M. Drouet +--strolling about. I was _bouleversée_--what you call upset with +amazement, and then he looked up and our eyes met, and he came +beneath me and commanded that I meet him that evening. It was then +that I learned his plan. It was to secure those letters for himself +and to dispose of them." + +"To whom?" asked Godfrey. + +"To the person that would pay the greatest price for them, most +certainly," answered Julie, surprised that it should have been +thought necessary to ask such a question. "They were to be offered +first to madame at ten thousand francs each; should she refuse, they +were then to be offered to M. le Duc--he would surely desire to +possess them!" + +The veiled lady shivered a little, and her hand instinctively sought +her bosom to assure herself that the precious packet was safe. + +"That night," continued Julie, "in my cabin, I tossed and tossed, +trying to discover a way to prevent this; for I had seen long since +that M. Drouet no longer cared for me--I knew that it was upon some +other woman that money would be spent. I decided that, at the first +moment, I would hasten to this house; I would explain the matter to +M. Vantine, I would persuade him to restore to me the letters, with +which I would fly to madame. I knew, also, that I could rely upon her +gratitude," added the girl. "After all, one must provide for +oneself." + +She paused and glanced around the room, smiling at the interest in +our faces. + +"You have at least one virtue--that of frankness," said the veiled +lady. "Continue." + +"It was not until evening that I found an opportunity to leave +madame," Julie went on. "I hastened here; I rang the bell; but I +confess I should have failed, I should not have secured an entrance, +if it had not been that it was my husband who opened the door to me. +Even after I was inside the door, he refused to permit me to see his +master; but as we were debating together, M. Vantine himself came +into the hall, and I ran to him and begged that he hear me. It was +then that he invited me to enter this room." + +She paused again, and a little shiver of expectancy ran through me. +At last we were to learn how Philip Vantine had met his death! + +"I sat down," continued Julie. "I told him the story from the very +beginning. He listened with much interest; but when I proposed that +he should restore to me the letters, he hesitated. He walked up and +down the room, trying to decide; then he took me through that door +into the room beyond. The cabinet was standing in the centre of the +floor, and all the lights were blazing. + +"'Is that the cabinet?' he asked me, and when I said that most +assuredly it was, he seemed surprised. + +"'It is an easy thing to prove,' I said, and I went to the cabinet +and pressed on the three springs, as I had seen madame do. The little +handle at the side fell out, but suddenly he stopped me. + +"'Yes, it is the cabinet,' he said. 'I see that. And no doubt the +drawer contains the letters, as you say. But those letters do not +belong to you. They belong to your mistress. I cannot permit that you +take them away, for, after all, I do not know you. You may intend to +make some bad use of them.' + +"I protested that such a suspicion was most unjust, that my character +was of the best, that I was devoted to my mistress and desired to +protect her. He listened, but he was not convinced. In the end, he +brought me back into this room. I could have cried with rage! + +"'Return to your mistress,' he said, 'and inform her that I shall be +most happy to return the letters to her. But it must be in her own +hands that I place them. The letters are here, whenever it pleases +her to claim them." + +"I saw that it was of no use to argue further; he was of adamant. So +I left the house, he himself opening the door for me. And that is all +that I know, madame." + +There was a moment's silence; then I heard Godfrey draw a deep +breath. I could see that, like myself, he was convinced that the girl +was telling the truth. + +"Of course," he suggested gently, "as soon as you reached home you +related to your mistress what had occurred?" + +Julie grew a little crimson. + +"No, monsieur," she said, "I told her nothing." + +"I should have thought you would have wished to prove your devotion," +went on Godfrey, in his sweetest tone. + +"I feared that, without the letters, she would misunderstand my +motives," said Julie, sullenly. + +"And then, of course, without the letters, there would be no reward," +Godfrey supplemented. + +Julie did not reply, but she looked very uncomfortable. + +The veiled lady rose. + +"Have you any further questions to ask her?" she said. + +"No, madame," said Godfrey. "The story is complete." + +Julie resumed her veil, shooting at Godfrey a glance anything but +friendly. The veiled lady turned to me and held out her hand. + +"I thank you, Mr. Lester, for your kindness," she said. "Come, +Julie," and she moved toward the door, which Rogers hastened to open. + +Mr. Hornblower nodded and passed out after them, and Godfrey and I +were left alone together. + +We both sat down, and for a moment neither of us spoke. + +"Well!" said Godfrey, at last. "Well! what a story it would make! And +I can't use it! It's a bitter reflection, Lester!" + +"It would certainly shake the pillars of society," I agreed. "I'm +rather shaken myself." + +"So am I! I was all at sea for a while--I was dumb with astonishment +when I heard you and the veiled lady talking about the secret drawer +--I could see you laughing at me! I don't know the whole story yet. +How did she happen to come to you?" + +I told him of Hornblower's visit, of the story he told me, and of the +arrangement we had made. Godfrey nodded thoughtfully when I had +finished. + +"The story is straight, of course," he said. "Hornblower would not be +engaged in anything tricky. Besides, I recognised the lady. I suppose +you did, too." + +"Yes, I have seen pictures of her. And I admired her for putting back +her veil." + +"So did I. She has changed since the day of her wedding, Lester--she +was a smooth-faced girl, then! Three years of life with her duke have +left their mark on her!" + +He fell silent, staring thoughtfully at the carpet. Then he shook +himself. + +"And the maid's story was most interesting," he added. "Nevertheless, +there are still a number of things which are not quite clear to me." + +"There is one thing I don't understand, myself," I said. "I hadn't +any idea this was the right cabinet. I didn't see how it could be." + +"That's it, exactly. How did it happen, when the veiled lady went to +Armand & Son in Paris, that she was directed to Philip Vantine? +According to his own story, he did not purchase this cabinet; he had +never seen it before; it was presumably shipped him by mistake; +Armand & Son cable you that it was a mistake; and yet they cite +Vantine as the purchaser. There is something twisted somewhere, +Lester; just where I'll try to find out." + +"Which reminds me that Armand's representative hasn't been around +yet. No doubt he can straighten the matter out." + +"It won't do any harm to hear his story, anyway," Godfrey agreed. +"Now let's have a look at that drawer." + +It was standing open as we had left it, and Godfrey pushed it back +into place, called my attention to the cunning way in which its +outline was concealed by the inlay about it. Then he worked the +spring, the handle fell into place, and he drew the drawer out again, +as far as it would come, and examined it carefully. + +"The fellow who devised that was a genius," he said, admiringly, +pushing it back into place. "I wonder what its contents have been +from the days of Madame de Montespan down to the present? Love +letters, mostly, I suppose, since they are the things which need +concealment most. Don't you wish this drawer could tell its secrets, +Lester?" + +"There is one I wish it would tell, if it knows it," I said. "I wish +it would tell who killed Philip Vantine. I suppose you will agree +with me that our pretty theory has got a knock-out blow, this time." + +"It looks that way, doesn't it?" + +"There is no poisoned mechanism about that drawer--that's sure," I +added. + +"No, and never has been," Godfrey agreed. + +"And that leaves us all at sea, doesn't it? It leaves the whole +affair more mysterious than ever. I can't understand it," and I sat +down in my bewilderment and rubbed my head. I really felt for an +instant as though I had gone mentally blind. "There is one thing +sure," I added. "The killing, whatever its cause, was done out there +in the ante-room, not in here." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"We believe that Drouet came here to get Vantine's permission to open +this drawer and get the letters, no doubt representing himself as the +agent of their owner." + +"I think it's a pretty good guess," said Godfrey, pensively. + +"Our theory was that, after being shown into the ante-room, he +discovered the cabinet, tried to open the drawer, and was killed in +the attempt. But it is evident enough now that there is nothing about +that drawer to hurt any one." + +"Yes, that's evident, I think," Godfrey agreed. + +"If he had opened the drawer, then, he would have taken the letters, +since there was nothing to prevent him. Since they were not taken, it +follows, doesn't it, that he was killed before he had a chance at the +drawer? Perhaps he never saw the cabinet. He must have been killed +out there in the ante-room, a few minutes after Parks left." + +"And how about Vantine?" Godfrey asked. + +"I don't know," I said, helplessly. "He didn't want the letters--if +he opened the drawer at all, it was merely out of curiosity to see +how it worked. Only, of course, the same agency that killed Drouet, +killed him. Yes--and now that I think of it, it's certain he didn't +open the drawer, either." + +"How do you know it's certain?" + +"If he had opened the drawer," I pointed out, "and been killed in the +act of opening it, it would have been found open. I had thought that +perhaps it closed of itself, but you see that it does not. You have +to push it shut, and then snap the handle up into place." + +"That's true," Godfrey assented, "and it sounds pretty conclusive. If +it is true of Vantine, it is also true of Drouet. The inference is, +then, that neither of them opened the drawer. Well, what follows?" + +"I don't know," I said helplessly. "Nothing seems to follow." + +"There is an alternative," Godfrey suggested. + +"What is it?" I demanded. + +"The hand that killed Drouet and Vantine may also have closed the +drawer," said Godfrey, and looked at me. + +"And left the letters in it?" I questioned. "Surely not!" + +He glanced at the shuttered window, and I understood to whom he +thought that hand belonged. + +"Besides," I protested, "how would he get in? How would he get away? +What was he after, if he left the letters behind?" Then I rose +wearily. "I must be getting back to the office," I said. "This is +Saturday, and we close at two. Are you coming?" + +"No," he answered; "if you don't mind, I'll sit here a while longer +and think things over, Lester. Perhaps I'll blunder on to the truth +yet!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ENTER M. ARMAND + + +I got back to the office to find that M. Félix Armand, of Armand et +Fils, had called, and, finding me out, had left his card with the +pencilled memorandum that he would call again Monday morning. There +was another caller, who had awaited my return--a tall, angular man, +with a long moustache, who introduced himself as Simon W. Morgan, of +Osage City, Iowa. + +"Poor Philip Vantine's nearest living relative, sir," he added. "I +came as soon as possible." + +"It was very good of you," I said. "The funeral will be at ten +o'clock to-morrow morning, from the house." + +"You had a telegram from me?" + +"Yes," I answered. + +He hitched about in his chair uneasily for a moment. I knew what he +wanted to say, but saw no reason to help him. + +"He left a will, I suppose?" he asked, at last. + +"Oh, yes; we have arranged to probate it Monday. You can examine it +then, if you wish." + +"Have you examined it?" + +"I am familiar with its provisions. It was drawn here in the office." + +He was pulling furiously at his moustache. + +"Cousin Philip was a very wealthy man, I understand," he managed to +say. + +"Comparatively wealthy. He had securities worth about a million and a +quarter, besides a number of pieces of real property--and, of course, +the house he lived in. He owned a very valuable collection of art +objects--pictures, furniture, tapestries, and such things; but what +they are worth will probably never be known." + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"Because he left them all to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Outside +of a few legacies to old servants, he left his whole fortune to the +same institution." + +I put it rather brutally, no doubt, but I was anxious to end the +interview. + +Mr. Morgan's face grew very red. + +"He did!" he ejaculated. "Ha--well, I have heard he was rather +crazy." + +"He was as sane as any man I ever knew," I retorted drily. And then I +remembered the doubts which had assailed me that last day, when +Vantine was fingering the Boule cabinet. But I kept those doubts to +myself. + +"Ha--we'll have to see about that!" said my visitor, threateningly. + +"By all means, Mr. Morgan," I assented heartily. "If you have any +doubt about it, you should certainly look into it. And now, if you +will pardon me, I have many things to do, and we close early to-day." + +He got to his feet and went slowly out; and that was the last I ever +saw of him. I suppose he consulted an attorney, learned the hopeless +nature of his case, and took the first train back to Osage City. He +did not even wait for the funeral. + +Few people, indeed, put themselves out for it. There was a sprinkling +of old family friends, representatives of the museum and of various +charities in which Vantine had been interested, a few friends of his +own, and that was all. He had dropped out of the world with scarcely +a ripple; of all who had known him, I dare say Parks felt his +departure most. For Vantine had been, in a sense, a solitary man; not +many men nodded oftener during a walk up the Avenue, and yet not many +dined oftener alone; for there was about him a certain self-detachment +which discouraged intimacy. He was a man, like many another, with +acquaintances in every country on the globe, and friends in none. + +All this I thought over a little sadly, as I sat at home that night; +and not without some self-questioning as to my own place in the +world. Most of us, I think, are a little saddened when we realise our +unimportance; most of us, no doubt, would be a little shocked could +we return a day or two after our death and see how merrily the world +wags on! I would be missed, I knew, scarcely more than Vantine. It +was not a pleasant thought, for it seemed to argue some deficiency in +myself. + +Then, too, the mystery of Vantine's death had a depressing effect +upon me. So long as there seemed some theory to build on, so long as +there was a ray of light ahead, I had hoped that the tragedy would be +explained and expiated; but now my theory had crumbled to pieces; I +was left in utter darkness, from which there seemed no way out. Never +before, in the face of any mystery, had I felt so blind and helpless, +and the feeling took such a grip upon me that it kept me awake for a +long time after I got to bed. It seemed, in some mysterious way, that +I was contending with a power greater than myself, a power +threatening and awful, which could crush me with a turn of the wrist. + +Vantine's will was probated next morning. He had directed that his +collection of art objects be removed to the museum, and that the +house and such portion of its contents as the museum did not care for +be sold for the museum's benefit. I had already notified Sir Caspar +Purdon Clarke of the terms of the will, and the museum's attorney was +present when it was read. He stated that he had been requested to ask +me to remain in charge of things for a week or two, until +arrangements for the removal could be made. It would also be +necessary to make an inventory of Vantine's collection, and the +assistant director of the museum was to get this under way at once. + +I acquiesced in all these arrangements, but I was feeling decidedly +blue when I started back to the office. Vantine's collection had +always seemed to me somehow a part of himself; more especially a part +of the house in which it had been assembled. It would lose much of +its beauty and significance ticketed and arranged stiffly along the +walls of the museum, and the thought came to me that it would be a +splendid thing for New York if this old house and its contents could +be kept intact as an object lesson to the nervous and hurrying +younger generation of the easier and more finished manner of life of +the older one; something after the fashion that the beautiful old +Plantin-Moretus mansion at Antwerp is a rebuke to those present-day +publishers who reckon literature a commodity, along with soap and +cheese. + +That, of course, it would be impossible to do; the last barrier to +the commercial invasion of the Avenue would be removed; that heroic +rear-guard of the old order of things would be destroyed; in a year +or two, a monster of steel and stone would rise on the spot where +three generations of Vantines had lived their lives; and the +collection, so unified and coherent, to which the last Vantine had +devoted his life, would be merged and lost in the vast collections of +the museum. It was a sad ending. + +"Gentleman to see you, sir," said the office-boy, as I sat down at my +desk, and a moment later, M. Félix Armand was shown in to me. + +I have only to close my eyes to call again before me that striking +personality, for Felix Armand was one of the most extraordinary men I +ever had the pleasure of meeting. Ruddy-faced, bright-eyed, with dark +full beard and waving hair almost jet black--hair that crinkled about +his ears in a way that I can describe by no other word than +fascinating--he gave the impression of tremendous strength and +virility. There was about him, too, an air of culture not to be +mistaken; the air of a man who had travelled much, seen much, and +mixed with many people, high and low; the air of a man at home +anywhere, in any society. It is impossible for me, by mere words, to +convey any adequate idea of his vivid personality; but I confess +that, from the first moment, I was both impressed and charmed by him. +And I am still impressed; more, perhaps, than at first, now that I +know the whole story--but you shall hear. + +"I speak English very badly, sir," he said, as he sat down. "If you +speak French...." + +"Not half so well as you speak English," I laughed. "I can tell that +from your first sentence." + +"In that event, I will do the best that I can," he said, smiling, +"and you must pardon my blunders. First, Mr. Lester, on behalf of +Armand et Fils, I must ask your pardon for this mistake, so +inexcusable." + +"It _was_ a mistake, then?" I asked. + +"One most embarrassing to us. We can not find for it an explanation. +Believe me, Mr. Lester, it is not our habit to make mistakes; we have +a reputation of which we are very proud; but the cabinet which was +purchased by Mr. Vantine remained in our warehouse, and this other +one was boxed and shipped to him. We are investigating most rigidly." + +"Then Mr. Vantine's cabinet is still in Paris?" + +"No, Mr. Lester; the error was discovered some days ago and the +cabinet belonging to Mr. Vantine was shipped to me here. It should +arrive next Wednesday on _La Provence_. I shall myself receive it, +and deliver it to Mr. Vantine." + +"Mr. Vantine is dead," I said. "You did not know?" + +He sat staring at me for a moment, as though unable to comprehend. + +"Did I understand that you said Mr. Vantine is dead?" he stammered. + +I told him briefly as much as I knew of the tragedy, while he sat +regarding me with an air of stupefaction. + +"It is curious you saw nothing of it in the papers," I added. "They +were full of it." + +"I have been visiting friends at Quebec," he explained, "It was there +that the message from our house found me, commanding me to hasten +here. I started at once, and reached this city Saturday. I drove here +directly from the station, but was so unfortunate as to miss you." + +"I am sorry to have caused you so much trouble," I said. + +"But, my dear Mr. Lester," he protested, "it is for us to take +trouble. A blunder of this sort we feel as a disgrace. My father, who +is of the old school, is most upset concerning it. But this death of +Mr. Vantine--it is a great blow to me. I have met him many times. He +was a real connoisseur--we have lost one of our most valued patrons. +You say that he was found dead in a room at his house?" + +"Yes, and death resulted from a small wound on the hand, into which +some very powerful poison had been injected." + +"That is most curious. In what manner was such a wound made?" + +"That we don't know. I had a theory...." + +"Yes?" he questioned, his eyes gleaming with interest. + +"A few hours previously, another man had been found in the same room, +killed in the same way." + +"Another man?" + +"A stranger who had called to see Mr. Vantine. My theory was that +both this stranger and Mr. Vantine had been killed while trying to +open a secret drawer in the Boule cabinet. Do you know anything of +the history of that cabinet, Monsieur Armand?" + +"We believe it to have been made for Madame de Montespan by Monsieur +Boule himself," he answered. "It is the original of one now in the +Louvre which is known to have belonged to the Grand Louis." + +"That was Mr. Vantine's belief," I said. "Why he should have arrived +at that conclusion, I don't know--" + +"Mr. Vantine was a connoisseur," said M. Armand, quietly. "There are +certain indications which no connoisseur could mistake." + +"It was his guess at the history of the cabinet," I explained, "which +gave me the basis for my theory. A cabinet belonging to Madame de +Montespan would, of course, have a secret drawer; and, since it was +made in the days of de Brinvilliers and La Voisin, what more natural +than that it should be guarded by a poisoned mechanism?" + +"What more natural, indeed!" breathed my companion, and I fancied +that he looked at me with a new interest in his eyes. "It is good +reasoning, Mr. Lester." + +"It seemed to explain a situation for which no other explanation has +been found," I said. "And it had also the merit of picturesqueness." + +"It is unique," he agreed eagerly, his eyes burning like two coals of +fire, so intense was his interest. "I have been from boyhood," he +added, noticing my glance, "a lover of tales of mystery. They have +for me a fascination I cannot explain; there is in my blood something +that responds to them. I feel sometimes that I would have made a +great detective--or a great criminal. Instead of which, I am merely a +dealer in curios. You can understand how I am fascinated by a story +so outré as this." + +"Perhaps you can assist us," I suggested, "for that theory of mine +has been completely disproved." + +"Disproved? In what way?" he demanded. + +"The secret drawer has been found...." + +"_Comment?_" he cried, his voice sharp with surprise. "Found? The +secret drawer has been found?" + +"Yes, and there was no poisoned mechanism guarding it." + +He breathed deeply for an instant; then he pulled himself together +with a little laugh. + +"Really," he said, "I must not indulge myself in this way. It is a +kind of intoxication. But you say that the drawer was found and that +there was no poison? Was the drawer empty?" + +"No, there was a packet of letters in it." + +"Delicious! Love letters, of a certainty! _Billets-doux_ from the +great Louis to the Montespan, perhaps?" + +"No, unfortunately they were of a much more recent date. They have +been restored to their owner. I hope that you agree with me that that +was the right thing to do?" + +He sat for a moment regarding me narrowly, and I had an uneasy +feeling that, since he undoubtedly knew of whom the cabinet had been +purchased, he was reconstructing the story more completely than I +would have wished him to do. + +"Since the letters have been returned," he said, at last, a little +drily, "it is useless to discuss the matter. But no doubt I should +approve if all the circumstances were known to me. Especially if it +was to assist a lady." + +"It was," I said, and I saw from his face that he understood. + +"Then you did well," he said. "Has no other explanation been found +for the death of Mr. Vantine and of this stranger?" + +"I think not. The coroner will hold his inquest to-morrow. He has +deferred it in the hope that some new evidence would be discovered." + +"And none has been discovered?" + +"I have heard of none." + +"You do not even know who this stranger was?" + +"Oh, yes, we have discovered that. He was a worthless fellow named +Drouet." + +"A Frenchman?" + +"Yes, living in an attic in the Rue de la Huchette, at Paris." + +M. Armand had been gazing at me intently, but now his look relaxed, +and I fancied that he drew a deep breath as a man might do when +relieved of a burden. At the back of my brain a vague and shadowy +suspicion began to form--a suspicion that perhaps M. Armand knew more +of this affair than he had as yet acknowledged. + +"You did not, by any chance, know him?" I asked carelessly. + +"No, I think not. But there is one thing I do not understand, Mr. +Lester, and you will pardon me if I am indiscreet. But I do not +understand what this Drouet, as you call him, was doing in the house +of Mr. Vantine." + +"He was trying to get possession of the letters," I said. + +"Oh, so it was that!" and my companion nodded. "And in trying to get +those letters, he was killed?" + +"Yes, but what none of us understands, M. Armand, is how he was +killed. Who or what killed him? How was that poison administered? Can +you suggest an explanation?" + +He sat for a moment staring thoughtfully out of the window. + +"It is a nice problem," he said, "a most interesting one. I will +think it over, Mr. Lester. Perhaps I may be able to make a +suggestion. I do not know. But, in any event, I shall see you again +Wednesday. If it is agreeable to you, we can meet at the house of Mr. +Vantine and exchange the cabinets." + +"At what time?" + +"I do not know with exactness. There may be some delay in getting the +cabinet from the ship. Perhaps it would be better if I called for +you?" + +"Very well," I assented. + +"Permit me to express again my apologies that such a mistake should +have been made by us. Really, we are most careful; but even we +sometimes suffer from careless servants. It desolates me to think +that I cannot offer these apologies to Mr. Vantine in person. Till +Wednesday, then, Mr. Lester." + +"Till Wednesday," I echoed, and watched his erect and perfectly-garbed +figure until it vanished through the doorway. A fascinating +man, I told myself as I turned back to my desk, and one whom I +should like to know more intimately; a man with a hobby for the +mysteries of crime, with which I could fully sympathise; and I smiled +as I thought of the burning interest with which he had listened to +the story of the double tragedy. How naïvely he had confessed his +thought that he would have made a great detective--or a great +criminal; and here he was only a dealer in curios. Well, I had had +the same thought, more than once--and here was I, merely a +not-too-successful lawyer. Decidedly, M. Armand and myself had much +in common! + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +I PART WITH THE BOULE CABINET + + +The coroner's inquest was held next day, and my surmise proved to be +correct. The police had discovered practically no new evidence; none, +certainly, which shed any light on the way in which Drouet and Philip +Vantine had met death. Each of the witnesses told his story much as I +have told it here, and it was evident that the jury was bewildered by +the seemingly inextricable tangle of circumstances. + +To my relief, Drouet's identity was established without any help from +me. The bag which he had left on the pier had been opened at the +request of the police and a card-case found with his address on it. +Why he had sent in to Vantine a card not his own, and what his +business with Vantine had been, were details concerning which the +police could offer no theory, and which I did not feel called upon to +explain, since neither in any way made clearer the mystery of his +death. + +An amusing incident of the inquest was the attempt made by +Goldberger to heckle Godfrey, evidently at Grady's suggestion. + +"On the morning after the tragedy," Goldberger began sweetly, "you +printed in the _Record_ a photograph which you claimed to be that of +the woman who had called upon Mr. Vantine the night before, and who +was, presumably, the last person to see him alive. Where did you get +that photograph?" + +"It was a copy of one which Drouet carried in his watch-case," +answered Godfrey. + +"Since then," pursued Goldberger, "you have made no further reference +to that feature of the case. I presume you found out that you were +mistaken?" + +"On the contrary, I proved that I was correct." + +Goldberger's face reddened, and his look was not pleasant. + +"'Prove' is rather a strong word, isn't it?" he asked. + +"It is the right word." + +"What was the woman's connection with the man Drouet?" + +"She had been his mistress." + +"You say that very confidently," said Goldberger, his lips curling. +"After all, it is merely a guess, isn't it?" + +"I have reason to say it confidently," retorted Godfrey quietly, +"since the woman confessed as much in my presence." + +Again Goldberger reddened. + +"I suppose she also confessed that it was really she who called upon +Mr. Vantine?" he sneered. + +"She not only confessed that," said Godfrey, still more quietly, "but +she told in detail what occurred during that visit." + +"The confession was made to yourself alone, of course?" queried +Goldberger, in a tone deliberately insulting. + +Godfrey flushed a little at the words, but managed to retain his +self-control. + +"Not at all," he said. "It was made in the presence of Mr. Lester and +of another distinguished lawyer whose name I am not at liberty to +reveal." + +Goldberger swallowed hard, as though he had received a slap in the +face. I dare say, he felt as though he had! + +"This woman is in New York?" he asked. + +"I believe so." + +"What is her name and address?" + +"I am not at liberty to answer." + +Goldberger glared at him. + +"You _will_ answer," he thundered, "or I'll commit you for contempt!" + +Godfrey was quite himself again. + +"Very well," he said, smiling. "I have not the slightest objection. +But I would think it over, if I were you. Mr. Lester will assure you +that the woman was in no way connected with the death either of +Drouet or of Mr. Vantine." + +Goldberger did think it over; he realised the danger of trying to +punish a paper so powerful as the _Record_, and he finally decided to +accept Godfrey's statement as a mitigation of his refusal to answer. + +"That is only one of the details which Commissioner Grady has +missed," Godfrey added, pleasantly. + +"That will do," Goldberger broke in, and Godfrey left the stand. + +I was recalled to confirm his story. I, also, of course, refused to +give the woman's name, explaining to Goldberger that I had learned it +professionally, that I was certain she had been guilty of no crime, +and that to reveal it would seriously embarrass an entirely innocent +woman. With that statement, the coroner was compelled to appear +satisfied. + +Grady did not go on the stand; he was not even at the inquest. In +fact, since the first day, he had not appeared publicly in connection +with the case at all; and I had surmised that he did not care to be +identified with a mystery which there seemed to be no prospect of +solving, and from which no glory was to be won. The case had been +placed in Simmonds's hands, and it was he who testified on behalf of +the police, admitting candidly that they were all at sea. He had made +a careful examination of the Vantine house, he said, particularly of +the room in which the bodies had been found, and had discovered +absolutely nothing in the shape of a clue to the solution of the +mystery. There was something diabolical about it; something almost +supernatural. He had not abandoned hope, and was still working on the +case; but he was inclined to think that, if the mystery was ever +solved, it would be only by some lucky accident or through the +confession of the guilty man. + +Goldberger was annoyed; that was evident enough from the nervous way +in which he gnawed his moustache; but he had no theory any more than +the police; there was not a scintilla of evidence to fasten the crime +upon any one; and the end of the hearing was that the jury brought in +a verdict that Philip Vantine and Georges Drouet had died from the +effects of a poison administered by a person or persons unknown. + +Godfrey joined me at the door as I was leaving, and we went down the +steps together. + +"I was glad to hear Simmonds confess that the police are up a tree," +he said. "Of course, Grady is trying to sneak out of it, and blame +some one else for the failure--but I'll see that he doesn't succeed. +I'll see, anyway, that Simmonds gets a square deal--he's an old +friend of mine, you know." + +"Yes," I said, "I know; but we're all up a tree, aren't we?" + +"For the present," laughed Godfrey, "we do occupy that undignified +position. But you don't expect to stay there forever, do you, +Lester?" + +"Since my theory about the Boule cabinet exploded," I said, "I have +given up hope. By the way, I'm going to turn the cabinet over to its +owner to-morrow." + +"To its owner?" he repeated, his eyes narrowing. "Yes, I thought +he'd be around for it, though I hardly thought he'd come so soon. Who +does it happen to be, Lester?" + +"Why," I said, a little impatiently, "you know as well as I do that +it belongs to Armand & Son." + +"You've seen their representative, then?" he queried, a little flush +of excitement which I could not understand spreading over his face. + +"He came to see me yesterday. I'd like you to meet him, Godfrey. He +is Félix Armand, the 'son' of the firm, and one of the most finished +gentlemen I ever met." + +"I'd like to meet him," said Godfrey, smiling queerly. "Perhaps I +shall, some day; I hope so, anyway. But how did he explain the +blunder, Lester?" + +"In some way, they shipped the wrong cabinet to Vantine. The right +one will get here on _La Provence_ to-morrow," and I told him in +detail the story which Felix Armand had told me. "He was quite upset +over it," I added, "His apologies were almost abject." + +Godfrey listened intently to all this, and he nodded with +satisfaction when I had finished. + +"It is all most interesting," he commented. + +"Did M. Armand happen to mention where he is staying?" + +"No, but he won't be hard to find, if you want to see him. He's at +one of the big hotels, of course--probably the Plaza or the St. +Regis. He's too great a swell for any minor hostelry." + +"What time do you expect him to-morrow?" + +"Sometime in the afternoon. He's to call for me as soon as he gets +Vantine's cabinet off the boat. Godfrey," I added, "I felt yesterday +when I was talking with him that perhaps he knew more about this +affair than he would admit. I could see that he guessed in an instant +who the owner of the letters was, and what they contained. Do you +think I ought to hold on to the cabinet a while longer? I could +invent some pretext for delay, easily enough." + +"Why, no; let him have his cabinet," said Godfrey, with an alacrity +that surprised me. "If your theory about it has been exploded, what's +the use of hanging on to it?" + +"I don't see any use in doing so," I admitted, "but I thought perhaps +you might want more time to examine it." + +"I've examined it all I'm going to," Godfrey answered, and I told +myself that this was the first time I had ever known him to admit +himself defeated. + +"I have a sort of feeling," I explained, "that when we let go of the +cabinet, we give up the only clue we have to this whole affair. It is +like a confession of defeat." + +"Oh, no, it isn't," Godfrey objected. "If there is nothing more to be +learned from the cabinet, there is no reason to retain it. I should +certainly let M. Armand have it. Perhaps I'll see you to-morrow," he +added, and we parted at the corner. + +But I did not see him on the morrow. I was rather expecting a call +from him during the morning, and when none came, I was certain I +should find him awaiting me when I arrived at the Vantine house, in +company with M. Armand. But he was not there, and when I asked for +him, Parks told me that he had not seen him since the day before. + +I confess that Godfrey's indifference to the fate of the cabinet +surprised me greatly; besides, I was hoping that he would wish to +meet the fascinating Frenchman. More fascinating, if possible, than +he had been on Monday, and I soon found myself completely under his +spell. There had been less delay than he had anticipated in getting +the cabinet off the boat and through the customs, and it was not yet +three o'clock when we reached the Vantine house. + +"I haven't seen Mr. Godfrey," Parks repeated, "but there's others +here as it fair breaks my heart to see." + +He motioned toward the door of the music-room, and, stepping to it, I +saw that the inventory was already in progress. The man in charge of +it nodded to me, but I did not go in, for the sight was anything but +a pleasant one. + +"The cabinet is in the room across the hall," I said to M. Armand, +and led the way through the ante-room into the room beyond. + +Parks switched on the lights for us, and my companion glanced with +surprise at the heavy shutters covering the windows. + +"We put those up for a protection," I explained. "We had an idea that +some one would try to enter. In fact, one evening we _did_ find a +wire connecting with the burglar-alarm cut, and, later on, saw some +one peering in through the hole in that shutter yonder." + +"You did?" M. Armand queried quickly. + +"Would you recognise the man, if you were to meet him again?" + +"Oh, no; you see the hole is quite small. There was nothing visible +except a pair of eyes. Yet I might know them again, for I never +before saw such eyes--so bright, so burning. It was the night that +Godfrey and I were trying to find the secret drawer, and those eyes +gleamed like fire as they watched us." + +M. Armand was gazing at the cabinet, apparently only half listening. + +"Ah, yes, the secret drawer," he said. "Will you show me how it is +operated, Mr. Lester? I am most curious about it." + +I placed my hand upon the table and pressed the three points which +the veiled lady had shown us. The first time, I got the order wrong, +but at the second trial, the little handle fell forward with a click, +and I pulled the drawer open. + +"There it is," I said. "You see how cleverly it is constructed. And +how well it is concealed. No one would suspect its existence." + +He examined it with much interest; pushed it back into place, and +then opened it himself. + +"Very clever indeed," he agreed. "I have never seen another so well +concealed. And the idea of opening it only by a certain combination +is most happy and original. Most secret drawers are secret only in +name; a slight search reveals them; but this one...." + +He pushed it shut again, and examined the inlay around it. + +"My friend and I went over the cabinet very carefully and could not +find it," I said. + +"Your friend--I think you mentioned his name?" + +"Yes--his name is Godfrey." + +"A man of the law, like yourself?" + +"Oh, no, a newspaper man. But he had been a member of the detective +force before that. He is extraordinarily keen, and if anybody could +have found that drawer, he could. But that combination was too much +for him." + +M. Armand snapped the drawer back into place with a little crash. + +"I am glad, at any rate, that it _was_ discovered," he said. "I will +not conceal from you, Mr. Lester, that it adds not a little to the +value of the cabinet." + +"What is its value?" I asked. "Mr. Vantine wanted me to buy it for +him, and named a most extravagant figure as the limit he was willing +to pay." + +"Really," M. Armand answered, after an instant's hesitation, "I would +not care to name a figure, Mr. Lester, without further consultation +with my father. The cabinet is quite unique--the most beautiful, +perhaps, that M. Boule ever produced. Did you discover Madame de +Montespan's monogram?" + +"No. Mr. Vantine said he was sure it existed; but Godfrey and I did +not look for it." + +M. Armand opened the doors which concealed the central drawers. + +"_Voilà!_" he said, and traced with his finger the arabesque just +under the pediment. "See how cunningly it has been blended with the +other figures. And here is the emblem of the giver." He pointed to a +tiny golden sun with radiating rays on the base of the pediment, just +above the monogram. "_Le roi soleil!_" + +"_ Le roi soleil!_" I repeated. "Of course. We were stupid not to +have discerned it. That tells the whole story, doesn't it? What is +it, Parks?" I added, as that worthy appeared at the door. + +"There's a van outside, sir," he said, "and a couple of men are +unloading a piece of furniture. Is it all right, sir?" + +"Yes," I answered. "Have them bring it in here. And ask the man in +charge of the inventory to step over here a minute. Mr. Vantine left +his collection of art objects to the Metropolitan Museum," I +explained to M. Armand, "and I should like the representative of the +museum to be present when the exchange is made." + +"Certainly," he assented. "That is very just." + +Parks was back in a moment, piloting two men who carried between them +an object swathed in burlap, and the Metropolitan man followed them +in. + +"I am Mr. Lester," I said to him, "Mr. Vantine's executor; and this +is M. Félix Armand, of Armand & Son, of Paris. We are correcting an +error which was made just before Mr. Vantine died. That cabinet +yonder was shipped him by mistake in place of one which he had +bought. M. Armand has caused the right one to be sent over, and will +take away the one which belongs to him. I have already spoken to the +museum's attorney about the matter, but I wished you to be present +when the exchange was made." + +"I have no doubt it is all right, sir," the museum man hastened to +assure me. "You, of course, have personal knowledge of all this?" + +"Certainly. Mr. Vantine himself told me the story." + +"Very well, sir," but his eyes dwelt lovingly upon the Boule cabinet. +"That is a very handsome piece," he added. "I am sorry the museum is +not to get it." + +"Perhaps you can buy it from M. Armand," I suggested, but the curator +laughed and shook his head. + +"No," he said, "we couldn't afford it. But Sir Caspar might persuade +Mr. Morgan to buy it for us--I'll mention it to him." + +The two men, meanwhile, under M. Armand's direction, had been +stripping the wrappings from the other cabinet, and it finally stood +revealed. It, too, was a beautiful piece of furniture, but even my +untrained eye could see how greatly it fell below the other. + +"We shall be very pleased to have Mr. Morgan see it," said M. Armand, +with a smile. "I will not conceal from you that we had already +thought of him--as what dealer does not when he acquires something +rare and beautiful? I shall endeavour to secure an appointment with +him. Meanwhile...." + +"Meanwhile the cabinet is yours," I said. + +He made a little deprecating gesture, and then proceeded to have the +cabinet very carefully wrapped in the burlap which had been around +the other one. I watched it disappear under the rough covering with +something like regret, for already my eyes were being opened to its +beauty. Besides, I told myself again, with it would disappear the +last hope of solving the mystery of Philip Vantine's death. However +my reason might protest, some instinct told me that, in some way, the +Boule cabinet was connected with that tragedy. + +But at last the packing was done, and M. Armand turned to me and held +out his hand. + +"I shall hope to see you again, Mr. Lester," he said, with a +cordiality which flattered me, "and to renew our very pleasant +acquaintance. Whenever you are in Paris, I trust you will not fail to +honour me by letting me know. I shall count it a very great privilege +to display for you some of the beauties of our city not known to +every one." + +"Thank you," I said. "I shall certainly remember that invitation. +And meanwhile, since you are here in New York...." + +"You are most kind," he broke in, "and I was myself hoping that we +might at least dine together. But I am compelled to proceed to Boston +this evening, and from there I shall go on to Quebec. Whether I shall +get back to New York I do not know--it will depend somewhat upon Mr. +Morgan's attitude; we would scarcely entrust a business so delicate +to our dealer. If I do get back, I shall let you know." + +"Please do," I urged. "It will be a very great pleasure to me. +Besides, I am still hoping that some solution of this mystery may +occur to you." + +He shook his head with a little smile. + +"I fear it is too difficult for a novice like myself," he said. "It +is impenetrable to me. If a solution is discovered, I trust you will +inform me. It is certain to be most interesting." + +"I will," I promised, and we shook hands again. + +Then he signed to the two men to take up the cabinet, and himself +laid a protecting hand upon it as it was carried through the door and +down the steps to the van which was backed up to the curb. It was +lifted carefully inside, the two men clambered in beside it, the +driver spoke to the horses, and the van rolled slowly away up the +Avenue. + +M. Armand watched it for a moment, then mounted into the cab which +was waiting, waved a last farewell to me, and followed after the van. +We watched it until it turned westward at the first cross-street. + +"Mr. Godfrey's occupation will be gone," said Parks, with a little +laugh. "He has fairly lived with that cabinet for the past three or +four days. He was here last night for quite a while." + +"Last night?" I echoed, surprised. "I was sure he would be here +to-day," I added, reflecting that Godfrey might have decided to have +a final look at the cabinet. "He half-promised to be here, but I +suppose something more important detained him." + +The next instant, I was jumping down the steps two at a time, for a +cab in which two men were sitting came down the Avenue, and rolled +slowly around the corner in the direction taken by the van. + +And just as it disappeared, one of its occupants turned toward me and +waved his hand--and I recognised Jim Godfrey. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"LA MORT!" + + +That my legs, without conscious effort of my own, should carry me up +the Avenue and around the corner after the cab in which I had seen +Godfrey was a foregone conclusion, and yet it was with a certain +vexation of spirit that I found myself racing along, for I realised +that Godfrey had not been entirely frank with me. Certainly he had +dropped no hint of his intention to follow Armand; but, I told +myself, that might very well have been because he deemed such a hint +unnecessary. I might have guessed, in spite of his seeming unconcern, +that he would not allow the cabinet to pass from his sight; if he had +been willing for me to turn it over to Armand, it was only because he +expected developments of some sort to follow that transfer. + +And it suddenly dawned upon me that even I did not know the cabinet's +destination! It had not occurred to me to inquire where M. Armand +proposed to take it, and he had volunteered no information. + +So, after a moment, I took up the chase more contentedly, telling +myself that Godfrey would not have waved to me if he had not wanted +me along, and I reached the corner in time to see the van turn +northward into Sixth Avenue. As soon as it and the cabs which +followed it were out of sight, I sprinted along the sidewalk at top +speed, and, on arriving at the corner, had the satisfaction of seeing +them only a little way ahead. Here the congestion of traffic was such +that the van could proceed but slowly, and I had no difficulty in +keeping pace with it, without the necessity of making myself +conspicuous by running. Indeed, I rather hung back, burying myself in +the crowds on the sidewalk, for fear that Armand might chance to +glance around and see me in pursuit. + +I saw that Godfrey and Simmonds had the same fear, for the cab in +which they were drew up at the curb and waited there until the van +had got some distance ahead. At Sixteenth Street, it turned westward +again, and then northward into Seventh Avenue. + +What could Armand be doing in this part of the town, I asked myself? +Did he propose to leave that priceless cabinet in this dingy quarter? +And then I paused abruptly and slipped into an area-way, for the van +had stopped some distance ahead and was backing up to the curb. + +Looking out discreetly, I saw the cab containing Armand stop also, +and that gentleman alighted and paid the driver. The other cab +rattled on at a good pace and disappeared up the Avenue. Then the two +porters lifted out the cabinet, and, with Armand showing them the +way, carried it into the building before which the van had stopped. + +They were gone perhaps five minutes, from which I argued that they +were carrying it upstairs; then they reappeared, with Armand +accompanying them. He tipped them and went out also to tip the driver +of the van. Then the porters climbed aboard and it rattled away out +of sight. Armand stood for a moment on the step, looking up and down +the Avenue, then disappeared indoors. + +An instant later, I saw Godfrey and another man whom I recognised as +Simmonds, come out of a shop across the street and dash over to the +house into which the cabinet had been taken. They were standing on +the door-step when I joined them. + +It was a dingy building, entirely typical of the dingy neighbourhood. +The ground floor was occupied by a laundry which the sign on the +front window declared to be French; and the room which the window +lighted extended the whole width of the building except for a door +which opened presumably on the stairway leading to the upper stories. + +Godfrey's face was flaming with excitement as he turned the knob of +this door gently--gently. The door was locked. He stooped and applied +an eye to the key-hole. + +"The key is in the lock," he whispered. + +Simmonds took from his pocket a pair of slender pliers and passed +them over. + +Godfrey looked up and down the street, saw that for the moment there +was no one near, inserted the pliers in the key-hole, grasped the end +of the key, and turned it slowly. + +"Now!" he said, softly opened the door and slipped inside. I +followed, and Simmonds came after me like a shadow, closing the door +carefully behind him. + +Then we all stopped, and my heart, at least, was in my mouth, for, +from somewhere overhead, came the sound of a man's voice talking +excitedly. + +Even in the semi-darkness, I could see the look of astonishment and +alarm on Godfrey's face, as he stood for a moment motionless, +listening to that voice. I also stood with ears a-strain, but I could +make nothing of what it was saying; then suddenly I realised that it +was speaking in French. And yet it was not Armand's voice--of that I +was certain. + +Fronting us was a narrow stair mounting steeply to the story +overhead, and, after that moment's amazed hesitation, Godfrey sat +down on the bottom step and removed his shoes, motioning us to do the +same. Simmonds obeyed phlegmatically, but my hands were trembling so +with excitement that I was in mortal terror lest I drop one of my +shoes; but I managed to get them both off without mishap, and to set +them softly on the floor at the stair-foot. + +When at last I looked up with a sigh of relief, Godfrey and Simmonds +were stealing slowly up the stair, revolver in hand. I followed them, +but I confess my knees were knocking together, for there was +something weird and chilling in that voice going on and on. It +sounded like the voice of a madman; there was something about it at +once ferocious and triumphant.... + +Godfrey paused an instant at the stairhead, listening intently; then +he moved cautiously forward toward an open door from which the voice +seemed to come, motioning us at the same time to stay where we were. +And as I knelt, bathed in perspiration, I caught one word, repeated +over and over: + +"_Revanche!--Revanche!--Revanche!_" + +Then the voice fell to a sort of low growling, as of a dog which +worries its prey, and I caught a sound as of ripping cloth. + +Godfrey, on hands and knees, was peering into the room. Then he drew +back and motioned us forward. + +I shall never forget the sight which met my eyes as I peeped +cautiously around the corner of the door. + +The room into which I was looking was lighted only by the rays which +filtered between the slats of a closed shutter. In the middle of the +floor stood the Boule cabinet, and before it, with his back to the +door, stood a man ripping savagely away the strips of burlap in which +it had been wrapped, talking to himself the while in a sort of savage +sing-song, and pausing from moment to moment to glance at a huddled +bundle lying on the floor against the opposite wall. For a time, I +could not make out what this bundle was, then, straining my eyes, I +saw that it was the body of a man, wrapped round and round in some +web-like fabric. + +And as I stared at him, I caught the glitter of his eyes as he +watched the man working at the cabinet--a glitter not to be mistaken +--the same glitter which had so frightened me once before.... + +Godfrey drew me back with a firm hand and took my place. As for me, I +retreated to the stair, and sat there feverishly mopping my face and +trying to understand. Who was this man? What was he doing there +against the wall? What was the meaning of this ferocious scene.... + +Then my heart leaped into my throat, for Godfrey, with a sharp cry of +"_Halte-là!_" sprang to his feet and dashed into the room, Simmonds +at his heels. + +I suppose two seconds elapsed before I reached the threshold, and I +stopped there, staring, clutching at the wall to steady myself. + +That scene is so photographed upon my brain that I have only to close +my eyes to see it again in every detail. + +There was the cabinet with its wrappings torn away; but the figure on +the floor had disappeared, and before an open doorway into another +room stood a man, a giant of a man, his hands above his head, his +face working with fear and rage, while Godfrey, his lips curling into +a mocking smile, pressed a pistol against his breast. + +Then, as I stood there staring, it seemed to me that there was a sort +of flicker in the air above the man's head, and he screamed shrilly. + +"_La mort!_" he shrieked. "_La mort!_" + +For one dreadful instant longer he stood there motionless, his hands +still held aloft, his eyes staring horribly; then, with a strangled +cry, he pitched forward heavily at Godfrey's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE ESCAPE + + +I have a confused remembrance of Godfrey stooping for an instant +above the body, staring at it, and then, with a sharp cry, hurling +himself through that open doorway. A door slammed somewhere, there +was a sound of running feet, and before either Simmonds or myself +understood what was happening, Godfrey was back in the room, crossed +it at a bound, and dashed to the door opening into the hall, just as +it was slammed in his face. + +I saw him tear desperately at the knob, then retreat two steps and +hurl himself against it. But it held firm, and from the hall outside +came a burst of mocking laughter that fairly froze my blood. + +"Come here, you fools!" cried Godfrey between clenched teeth. "Don't +you see he's getting away!" + +Simmonds was quicker than I, and together they threw themselves at +the door. It cracked ominously, but still held; again they tried, and +this time it split from top to bottom. Godfrey kicked the pieces to +either side and slipped between them, Simmonds after him. + +Then, in a sort of trance, I staggered to it, and after a moment's +aimless fumbling, was out in the hall again. I reached the stairhead +in time to see Godfrey try the front door, and then turn along the +lower hall leading to the back of the house. An instant later, a +chorus of frenzied women's shrieks made my hair stand on end. + +How I got down the stair I do not know; but I, too, turned back along +the lower hall, expecting any instant to come upon I knew not what +horror; I reached an open door, passed through it, and found myself +in the laundry, in the midst of a group of excited and indignant +women, who greeted my appearance with a fresh series of screams. + +Unable to go farther, I sat limply down upon a box and looked at +them. + +I dare say the figure I made was ridiculous enough, for the screams +gave place to subdued giggles; but I was far from thinking of my +appearance, or of caring what impression I produced. And I was still +sitting there when Godfrey came back, breathing heavily, chagrin and +anger in his eyes. The employes of the laundry, conscious that +something extraordinary was occurring, crowded about him, but he +elbowed his way through them to the desk where the manager sat. + +"A crime has been committed upstairs," he said. "This gentleman with +me is Mr. Simmonds, of the detective bureau," and at the words +Simmonds showed his shield. "We shall have to notify headquarters," +Godfrey went on, "and I would advise that you keep your girls at +their work. I don't suppose you want to be mixed up in it." + +"Sure not," agreed the manager promptly, and while Simmonds went to +the 'phone and called up police headquarters, the manager dismounted +from his throne, went down among the girls, and had them back at +their work in short order. + +Godfrey came over to me and laid his hand on my shoulder. + +"Why, Lester," he said, "you look as though you were at your last +gasp." + +"I am," I said. "I'm going to have nervous prostration if this thing +keeps up. You're not looking particularly happy yourself." + +"I'm not happy. I've let that fellow kill a man right under my nose +--literally, under my nose!--and then get away!" + +"Kill a man?" I repeated. "Do you mean...." + +"Go upstairs and look at the right hand of the man lying there," said +Godfrey, curtly, "and you'll see what I mean!" + +I sat staring at him, unable to believe that I had heard aright; +unable to believe that Godfrey had really uttered those words ... the +right hand of the man lying there ... that could mean only one +thing.... + +Simmonds joined us with a twisted smile on his lips, and I saw that +even he was considerably shaken. + +"I got Grady," he said, "and told him what had happened. He says he's +too busy to come up, and that I'm to take charge of things." + +Godfrey laughed a little mocking laugh. + +"Grady foresees his Waterloo!" he said. "Well, it's not far distant. +But I'm glad for your sake, Simmonds--you're going to get some glory +out of this thing, yet!" + +"I hope so," and Simmonds's eyes gleamed an instant. "The ambulance +will be around at once," he added. "We'd better get our shoes on, and +go back upstairs, and see if anything can be done for that fellow." + +"There can't anything be done for him," said Godfrey wearily; "but +we'd better have a look at him, I guess," and he led the way out into +the hall. + +Not until Simmonds spoke did I remember that I was shoeless. Now I +sat down beside Godfrey, got fumblingly into my shoes again, and then +followed him and Simmonds slowly up the stair. + +I thought I knew what was passing in Godfrey's mind: he was blaming +himself for this latest tragedy; he was telling himself that he +should have foreseen and prevented it; he always blamed himself in +that way when things went wrong--and then, to have the murderer slip +through his very fingers! I could guess what a mighty shock that had +been to his self-confidence! + +The latest victim was lying where he had fallen, just inside the +doorway leading into the inner room. Simmonds stepped to the window, +threw open the shutters, and let a flood of afternoon sunshine into +the room. Then he knelt beside the body, and held up the limp right +hand for us to see. + +Just above the knuckles were two tiny incisions, with a drop or two +of blood oozing away from them, and the flesh about them swollen and +discoloured. + +"I knew what it was the instant he yelled '_La mort!_'" said Godfrey +quietly. "And _he_ knew what it was the instant he felt the stroke. +It is evident enough that he had seen it used before, or heard of it, +and knew that it meant instant death." + +I sat down, staring at the dead man, and tried to collect my senses. +So this fiendish criminal, who slew with poison, had been lurking in +Vantine's house, and had struck down first Drouet and then the master +of the house himself! But why--why! It was incredible, astounding, my +brain reeled at the thought. And yet it must be true! + +I looked again at the third victim, and saw a man roughly dressed, +with bushy black hair and tangled beard; a very giant of a man, whose +physical strength must have been enormous--and yet it had availed him +nothing against that tiny pin-prick on the hand! + +And then a sudden thought brought me bolt upright. + +"But Armand!" I cried. "Where is Armand?" + +Godfrey looked at me with a half-pitying smile. + +"What, Lester!" he said, "don't you understand, even yet? It was your +fascinating M. Armand who did that," and he pointed to the dead man. + +I felt as though I had been struck a heavy blow upon the head; black +circles whirled before my eyes.... + +"Go over to the window," said Godfrey, peremptorily, "and get some +fresh air." + +Mechanically I obeyed, and stood clinging to the window-sill, gazing +down at the busy street, where the tide of humanity was flowing up +and down, all unconscious of the tragedy which had been enacted so +close at hand. And, at last, the calmness of all these people, the +sight of the world going quietly on as usual, restored me a portion +of my self-control. But even yet I did not understand. + +"Was it Armand," I asked, turning back into the room, "who lay there +in the corner?" + +"Certainly it was," Godfrey answered. "Who else could it be?" + +"Godfrey!" I cried, remembering suddenly. "Did you see his eyes as he +lay there watching the man at the cabinet?" + +"Yes; I saw them." + +"They were the same eyes...." + +"The same eyes." + +"And the laugh--did you hear that laugh?" + +"Certainly I heard it." + +"I heard it once before," I said, "and you thought it was a case of +nerves!" + +I fell silent a moment, shivering a little at the remembrance. + +"But why did Armand lie there so quietly?" I asked, at last. "Was he +injured?" + +Godfrey made a little gesture toward the corner. + +"Go see for yourself," he said. + +Something lay along the wall, on the spot where I had seen that +figure, and as I bent over it, I saw that it was a large net, finely +meshed but very strong. + +"That was dropped over Armand's head as he came up the stairs," said +Godfrey, "or flung over him as he came into the room. Then the dead +man yonder jumped upon him and trussed him up with those ropes." + +Pushing the net aside, I saw upon the floor a little pile of severed +cords. + +"Yes," I agreed; "he would be able to do that. Have you noticed his +size, Godfrey? He was almost a giant!" + +"He couldn't have done it if Armand hadn't been willing that he +should," retorted Godfrey, curtly. "You see he had no difficulty in +getting away," and he held up the net and pointed to the great rents +in it. "He cut his way out while he was lying there--I ought to have +known--I ought to have known he wasn't bound--that he was only +waiting--but it was all so sudden...." + +He threw the net down upon the floor with a gesture of disgust and +despair. Then he stopped in front of the Boule cabinet and looked +down at it musingly; and, after a moment, his face brightened. + +The burlap wrappings had been almost wholly torn away, and the +cabinet stood, more insolently beautiful than ever, it seemed to me, +under the rays of the sun, which sparkled and glittered and shimmered +as they fell upon it. + +"But we'll get him, Simmonds," said Godfrey, and his lips broke into +a smile. "In fact, we've got him now. We have only to wait, and he'll +walk into our arms. Simmonds, I want you to lock this cabinet up in +the strongest cell around at your station; and carry the key +yourself." + +"Lock it up?" stammered Simmonds, staring at him. + +"Yes," said Godfrey, "lock it up. That's our one salvation!" His face +was glowing; he was quite himself again, alert, confident of victory. +"You're in charge of this case, aren't you? Well, lock it up, and +give your reasons to nobody." + +"That'll be easy," laughed Simmonds. "I haven't got any reasons." + +"Oh, yes, you have," and Godfrey bent upon him a gaze that was +positively hypnotic. "You will do it because I want you to, and +because I tell you that, sooner or later, if you keep this cabinet +safe where no one can get at it, the man we want will walk into our +hands. And I'll tell you more than that, Simmonds; if we do get him, +I'll have the biggest story I ever had, and you will be world-famous. +France will make you a chevalier of the Legion of Honour, Simmonds, +mark my words. Don't you think the ribbon would look well in your +button-hole?" + +Simmonds was staring at the speaker as though he thought he had +suddenly gone mad. Indeed, the thought flashed through my own brain +that the disappointment, the chagrin of failure, had been too much +for Godfrey. + +He burst into laughter as he saw our faces. + +"No, I'm not mad," he said, more soberly; "and I'm not joking. I'm +speaking in deadly earnest, Simmonds, when I say that this fellow is +the biggest catch we could make. He's the greatest criminal of modern +times--I repeat it, Lester, this time without qualification. And now, +perhaps, you'll agree with me." + +And with Armand, so finished, so self-poised, so distinguished, in my +mind, and the body of his latest victim before my eyes, I nodded +gloomily. + +"But who is he?" I asked. "Do you know who he is, Godfrey?" + +"There's the ambulance," broke in Simmonds, as a knock came at the +street door, and he hurried down to open it. + +"Come on, Lester," and Godfrey hooked his arm through mine. "There's +nothing more we can do here. We'll go down the back way. I've had +enough excitement for the time being--haven't you?" + +"I certainly have," I agreed, and he led the way back along the hall +to another stair, down it and so out through the laundry. + +"But, Godfrey, who is this man?" I repeated. "Why did he kill that +poor fellow up there? Why did he kill Drouet and Vantine? How did he +get into the Vantine house? What is it all about?" + +"Ah!" he said, looking at me with a smile. "That is the important +question--what is it all about! But we can't discuss it here in the +street. Besides, I want to think it over, Lester; and I want you to +think it over. If I can, I'll drop in to-night to see you, and we can +thresh it out! Will that suit you?" + +"Yes," I said; "and for heaven's sake, don't fail to come!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +GODFREY WEAVES A ROMANCE + + +I had begun to fear that Godfrey was going to disappoint me, so late +it was before his welcome knock came at my door that night. I +hastened to let him in, and I could tell by the sigh of relief with +which he sank into a chair that he was thoroughly weary. + +"It does me good to come in here occasionally and have a talk with +you, Lester," he said, accepting the cigar I offered him. "I find it +restful after a hard day," and he smiled across at me good-humouredly. + +"How you keep it up I don't see," I said. "This one case has nearly +given me nervous prostration." + +"Well, I don't often strike one as strenuous as this," and he settled +back comfortably. "As a matter of fact, I haven't had one for a long +time that even touches it. There is nothing really mysterious about +most crimes." + +"This one is certainly mysterious enough," I remarked. + +"What makes it mysterious," Godfrey explained, "is the apparent lack +of motive. As soon as one learns the motive for a crime, one learns +also who committed it. But where the motive can't be discovered, it +is mighty hard to make any progress." + +"It isn't only lack of motive which makes it mysterious," I +commented; "it's everything about it. I can't understand either why +it was done or how it was done. When I get to thinking about it, I +feel as though I were wandering around and around in a maze, from +which I can never escape." + +"Oh, yes, you'll escape, Lester," said Godfrey, quietly, "and that +before very long." + +"If you have an explanation, Godfrey," I protested, "for heaven's +sake tell me! Don't keep me in the maze an instant longer than is +necessary. I've been thinking about it till my brain feels like a +snarl of tangled thread. Do you mean to say you know what it is all +about?" + +"'Know' is perhaps a little strong. There isn't much in this world +that we really know. Suppose we say that I strongly suspect." He +paused a moment, his eyes on the ceiling. "You know you've accused me +of romancing sometimes, Lester--the other evening, for instance; yet +that romance has come true." + +"I take it all back," I said, meekly. + +"There's another thing these talks do," continued Godfrey, going off +rather at a tangent, "and that is to clarify my ideas. You don't know +how it helps me to state my case to you and to try to answer your +objections. Your being a lawyer makes you unusually quick to see +objections, and a lawyer is always harder to convince of a thing than +the ordinary man. You are accustomed to weighing evidence; and so I +never allow myself to be convinced of a theory until I have convinced +you. Not always, even then," he added, with a smile. + +"Well, I'm glad I'm of some use," I said, "if it is only as a sort of +file for you to sharpen your wits on. So please go ahead and romance +some more. Tell me first how you and Simmonds came to be following +Armand." + +"Simply because I had found out he wasn't Armand. Felix Armand is in +Paris at this moment. You were too credulous, Lester." + +"Why, I never had any doubt of his being Armand," I stammered. "He +knew about my cablegram--he knew about the firm's answer...." + +"Of course he did, because your cable was never received by the +Armands, but by a confederate in this fellow's employ; and it was +that confederate who answered it. Our friend, the unknown, foresaw, +of course, that a cable would be sent the Armands as soon as the +mistake was discovered, and he took his precautions accordingly." + +"Then you still believe that the cabinet was sent to Vantine by +design and not by accident?" + +"Absolutely. It was sent by the Armands in good faith, because they +believed that it had been purchased by Vantine--all of which had been +arranged very carefully by the Great Unknown." + +"Tell me how you know all this, Godfrey," I said. + +"Why, it was easy enough. When you told me yesterday of Armand, I +knew, or thought I knew, that it was a plant of some kind. But, in +order to be sure, I cabled our man at Paris to investigate. Our man +went at once to Armand, _père_, and he learned a number of very +interesting things. One was, that the son, Félix Armand, was in +Paris; another was that no member of the firm knew anything about +your cable or the answer to it; a third was, that, had the cable +been received, it would not have been understood, because the +Armands' books show that this cabinet was bought by Philip Vantine +for the sum of fifteen thousand francs." + +"Not this one!" I protested. + +"Yes; this one. And it was cheap at the price. Of course, the Armands +knew nothing about the Montespan story--they were simply selling at a +profit." + +"But I don't understand!" I stammered. "Vantine told me himself that +he did not buy that cabinet." + +"Nor did he. But somebody bought it in his name and directed that it +be sent forward to him." + +"And paid fifteen thousand francs for it?" + +"Certainly--and paid fifteen thousand francs to the Armands." + +"Rather an expensive present," I said, feebly, for my brain was +beginning to whirl again. + +"Oh, it wasn't intended as a present. The purchaser planned to +reclaim it--but Vantine's death threw him out. If it hadn't been for +that--for an accident which no one could foresee--everything would +have gone along smoothly and no one would ever have been the wiser." + +"But what was his object? Was he trying to evade the duty?" + +"Oh, nothing so small as that! Besides, he would have had to refund +the duty to Vantine. Did he refund it to you?" + +"No," I said, "I didn't think there was any to refund. Vantine really +paid the duty only on the cabinet he purchased, since that was the +one shown on his manifest. The other fellow must have paid the duty +on the cabinet he brought in; so I didn't see that there was anything +coming to Vantine's estate. There is probably something due the +government, for the cabinet Vantine brought in was, of course, much +more valuable than his manifest showed." + +"No doubt of that; and the other cabinet is the one which Vantine +really purchased. It was, of course, sent forward to this other +fellow's address, here in New York. His plan is evident enough--to +call upon Vantine, as the representative of the Armands, or perhaps +as the owner of the Montespan cabinet, and make the exchange. +Vantine's death spoiled that, and he had to make the exchange through +you. Even then, he would have been able to pull it off but for the +fact that Vantine's death and that of Drouet had called our attention +to the cabinet; we followed him, and the incidents of this afternoon +ensued." + +"And he accomplished all this by means of a confederate in the employ +of the Armands?" + +"No doubt of it. The clerk who made the supposed sale to Vantine and +got a commission on it, resigned suddenly two days ago--just as soon +as he had intercepted your cable and answered it. The Paris police +are looking for him, but I doubt if they'll find him." + +I paused to think this over; and then a sudden impatience seized me. + +"That's all clear enough," I said. "The cabinets might have been +exchanged just as you say they were--no doubt you are right--but all +that doesn't lead us anywhere. Why were they exchanged? What is there +about that Boule cabinet which makes this unknown willing to do +murder for it? Does he think those letters are still in it?" + +"He knows they are not in it now--you told him. Before that, he knew +nothing about the letters. If he had known of them, he would have had +them out before the cabinet was shipped." + +"What is it, then?" I demanded. "And, above all, Godfrey, why should +this fellow hide himself in Vantine's house and kill two men? Did +they surprise him while he was working over the cabinet?" + +"I see no reason to believe that he was ever inside the Vantine +house," said Godfrey quietly; "that is, until you took him there +yourself this afternoon." + +"But, look here, Godfrey," I protested, "that's nonsense. He must +have been in the house, or he couldn't have killed Vantine and +Drouet." + +"Who said he killed them?" + +"If he didn't kill them, who did?" + +Godfrey took two or three contemplative puffs, while I sat there +staring at him. + +"Well," Godfrey answered, at last, "now I'm going to romance a +little. We will return to your fascinating friend, Armand, as we may +as well call him for the present. He is an extraordinary man." + +"No doubt of it," I agreed. + +"I can only repeat what I have said before--in my opinion, he is the +greatest criminal of modern times." + +"If he is a criminal at all, he is undoubtedly a great one," I +conceded. "But it is hard for me to believe that he is a criminal. +He's the most cultured man I ever met." + +"Of course he is. That's why he's so dangerous. An ignorant criminal +is never dangerous--it's the ignorant criminals who fill the prisons. +But look out for the educated, accomplished ones. It takes brains to +be a great criminal, Lester, and brains of a high order." + +"But why should a man with brains be a criminal?" I queried. "If he +can earn an honest living, why should he be dishonest?" + +"In the first place, most criminals are criminals from choice, not +from necessity; and with a cultured man the incentive is usually the +excitement of it. Have you ever thought what an exciting game it is, +Lester, to defy society, to break the law, to know that the odds +against you are a thousand to one, and yet to come out triumphant? +And then, I suppose, every great criminal is a little insane." + +"No doubt of it," I agreed. + +"Just as every absolutely honest man is a little insane," went on +Godfrey quickly. "Just as every great reformer and enthusiast is a +little insane. The sane men are the average ones, who are fairly +honest and yet tell white lies on occasion, who succumb to temptation +now and then; who temporise and compromise, and try to lead a +comfortable and quiet life. I repeat, Lester, that this fellow is a +great criminal, and that he finds life infinitely more engrossing +than either you or I. I hope I shall meet him some time--not in a +little skirmish like this, but in an out-and-out battle. Of course +I'd be routed, horse, foot and dragoons--but it certainly would be +interesting!" and he looked at me, his eyes glowing. + +"It certainly would!" I agreed. "Go ahead with your romance." + +"Here it is. This M. Armand is a great criminal, and has, of course, +various followers, upon whom he must rely for the performance of +certain details, since he can be in but one place at a time. Abject +and absolute obedience is necessary to his success, and he compels +obedience in the only way in which it can be compelled among +criminals--by fear. For disobedience, there is but one punishment +--death. And the manner of the death is so certain and so mysterious +as to be almost supernatural. For deserters and traitors are found to +have died, inevitably and invariably, from the effects of an +insignificant wound on the right hand, just above the knuckles." + +I was listening intently now, as you may well believe, for I began to +see whither the romance was tending. + +"It is by this secret," Godfrey continued, "that Armand preserves his +absolute supremacy. But occasionally the temptation is too great, and +one of his men deserts. Armand sends this cabinet to America. He +knows that in this case the temptation is very great indeed; he fears +treachery, and he arranges in the cabinet a mechanism which will +inflict death upon the traitor in precisely the same way in which he +himself inflicts it--by means of a poisoned stab in the right hand. +Imagine the effect upon his gang. He is nowhere near when the act of +treachery is performed, and yet the traitor dies instantly and +surely! Why, it was a tremendous idea! And it was carried out with +absolute genius." + +"But," I questioned, "what act of treachery was it that Armand +feared?" + +"The opening of the secret drawer." + +"Then you still believe in the poisoned mechanism?" + +"I certainly do. The tragedy of this afternoon proves the truth of +the theory." + +"I don't see it," I said, helplessly. + +"Why, Lester," protested Godfrey, "it's as plain as day. Who was that +bearded giant who was killed? The traitor, of course. We will find +that he was a member of Armand's gang. He followed Armand to America, +lay in wait for him, caught him in the net and bound him hand and +foot. Do you suppose for an instant that Armand was ignorant of his +presence in that house? Do you suppose he would have been able to +take Armand prisoner if Armand had not been willing that he should?" + +"I don't see how Armand could help himself after that fellow got his +hands on him." + +"You don't? And yet you saw yourself that he was not really bound +--that he had cut himself loose!" + +"That is true," I said, thoughtfully. + +"Let us reconstruct the story," Godfrey went on rapidly. "The traitor +discovers the secret of the cabinet; he follows Armand to New York, +shadows him to the house on Seventh Avenue, waits for him there, and +seizes and binds him. He is half mad with triumph--he chants a crazy +sing-song about revenge, revenge, revenge! And, in order that the +triumph may be complete, he does not kill his prisoner at once. He +rolls him into a corner and proceeds to rip away the burlap. His +triumph will be to open the secret drawer before Armand's eyes. And +Armand lies there in the corner, his eyes gleaming, because it is +really the moment of _his_ triumph which is at hand!" + +"The moment of his triumph?" I repeated. "What do you mean by that, +Godfrey?" + +"I mean that, the instant the traitor opened the drawer, he would be +stabbed by the poisoned mechanism! It was for that that Armand +waited!" + +I lay back in my chair with a gasp of amazement and admiration. I had +been blind not to see it! Armand had merely to lie still and permit +the traitor to walk into the trap prepared for him. No wonder his +eyes had glowed as he lay there watching that frenzied figure at the +cabinet! + +"It was not until the last moment," Godfrey went on, "when the +traitor was bending above the cabinet feeling for the spring, that I +realised what was about to happen. There was no time for hesitation +--I sprang into the room. Armand vanished in an instant, and the +giant also tried to escape; but I caught him at the door. I had no +idea of his danger; I had no thought that Armand would dare linger. +And yet he did. Now that it is too late, I understand. He _had_ to +kill that man; there were no two ways about it. Whatever the risk, he +had to kill him." + +"But why?" I asked. "Why?" + +"To seal his lips. If we had captured him, do you suppose Armand's +secret would have been safe for an instant? So he had to kill him--he +had to kill him with the poisoned barb--and he _did_ kill him, and +got away into the bargain! Never in my life have I felt so like a +fool as when that door was slammed in my face!" + +"Perhaps he had that prepared, too," I suggested timidly, ready to +believe anything of this extraordinary man. "Perhaps he knew that we +were there, all the time." + +"Of course he did," assented Godfrey grimly. "Why else would there be +a snap-lock on the outside of the door? And to think I didn't see it! +To think that I was fool enough to suppose that I could follow him +about the streets of New York without his knowing it! He knew from +the first that he might be followed, and prepared for it!" + +"But it's incredible!" I protested feebly. "It's incredible!" + +"Nothing is incredible in connection with that man!" + +"But the risk--think of the risk he ran!" + +"What does he care for risks? He despises them--and rightly. He got +away, didn't he?" + +"Yes," I said, "he got away; there's no question of that, I guess." + +"Well, that is the story of this afternoon's tragedy, as I understand +it," proceeded Godfrey, more calmly. "And now I'm going to leave you. +I want you to think it over. If it doesn't hold together, show me +where it doesn't. But it _will_ hold together--it _has_ to--because +it's true!" + +"But how about Armand?" I protested. "Aren't you going to try to +capture him? Are you going to let him get away?" + +"He won't get away!" and Godfrey's eyes were gleaming again. "We +don't have to search for him; for we've got our trap, Lester, and +it's baited with a bait he can't resist--the Boule cabinet!" + +"But he knows it's a trap." + +"Of course he knows it!" + +"And you really think he will walk into it?" I asked incredulously. + +"I know he will! One of these days, he will try to get that cabinet +out of the steel cell at the Twenty-third Street station, in which we +have it locked!" + +I shook my head. + +"He's no such fool," I said. "No man is such a fool as that. He'll +give it up and go quietly back to Paris." + +"Not if he's the man I think he is," said Godfrey, his hand on the +door. "He will never give up! Just wait, Lester; we shall know in a +day or two which of us is a true prophet. The only thing I am afraid +of," he added, his face clouding, "is that he'll get away with the +cabinet, in spite of us!" + +And he went away down the hall, leaving me staring after him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +"CROCHARD, L'INVINCIBLE!" + + +It seemed for once that Godfrey was destined to be wrong, for the +days passed and nothing happened--nothing, that is, in so far as the +cabinet was concerned. There was an inquest, of course, over the +victim of the latest tragedy, and once again I was forced to give my +evidence before a coroner's jury. I must confess that, this time, it +made me appear considerable of a fool, and the papers poked sly fun +at the attorney who had walked blindly into a trap which, now that it +was sprung, seemed so apparent. + +The Bertillon measurements of the victim had been cabled to Paris, +and he had been instantly identified as a fellow named Morel, +well-known to the police as a daring and desperate criminal; in fact, +M. Lepine considered the matter so important that he cabled next day +that he was sending Inspector Pigot to New York to investigate the +affair further, and to confer with our bureau as to the best methods +to be taken to apprehend the murderer. Inspector Pigot, it was added, +would sail at once for Havre on _La Savoie._ + +Meanwhile, Grady's men, with Simmonds at their head, strained every +nerve to discover the whereabouts of the fugitive; a net was thrown +over the entire city, but, while a number of fish were captured, the +one which the police particularly wished for was not among them. Not +a single trace of the fugitive was discovered; he had vanished +absolutely, and, after a day or two, Grady asserted confidently that +he had left New York. + +For Grady had come back into the case again, goaded by the papers, +particularly by the _Record_, to efforts which he must have +considered superhuman. The remarkable nature of the mystery, its +picturesque and unique features, the fact that three men had been +killed within a few days in precisely the same manner, and the +absence of any reasonable hypothesis to explain these deaths--all +this served to rivet public attention. Every amateur detective in the +country had a theory to exploit--and far-fetched enough most of them +were! + +Grady did a lot of talking in those days, explaining in detail the +remarkable measures he was taking to capture the criminal; but the +fact remained that three men had been killed, and that no one had +been punished; that a series of crimes had been committed, and that +the criminal was still at large, and seemed likely to remain so; and, +naturally enough, the papers, having exhausted every other phase of +the case, were soon echoing public sentiment that something was wrong +somewhere, and that the detective bureau needed an overhauling, +beginning at the top. + +The Boule cabinet remained locked up in a cell at the Twenty-third +Street station; and Simmonds kept the key in his pocket. I know now +that he was as much in the dark concerning the cabinet as the general +public was; and the general public was very much in the dark indeed, +for the cabinet had not figured in the accounts of the first two +tragedies at all, and only incidentally in the reports of the latest +one. As far as it was concerned, the affair seemed clear enough to +most of the reporters, as an attempt to smuggle into the country an +art object of great value. Such cases were too common to attract +especial attention. + +But Simmonds had come to see that Grady was tottering on his throne; +he realised, perhaps, that his own head was not safe; and he had made +up his mind to pin his faith to Godfrey as the only one at all likely +to lead him out of the maze. And Godfrey laid the greatest stress +upon the necessity of keeping the cabinet under lock and key; so +under lock and key it was kept. As for Grady, I do not believe that, +even at the last, he realised the important part the cabinet had +played in the drama. + +But while the Boule cabinet failed to focus the attention of the +public, and while most of the reporters promptly forgot all about it, +I was amused at the pains which Godfrey took to inform the fugitive +as to its whereabouts and as to how it was guarded. Over and over +again, while the other papers wondered at his imbecility, he told how +it had been placed in the strongest cell at the Twenty-third Street +station; a cell whose bars were made of chrome-nickle steel which no +saw could bite into; a cell whose lock was worked not only by a key +but by a combination, known to one man only; a cell isolated from the +others, standing alone in the middle of the third corridor, in full +view of the officer on guard, so that no one could approach it, day +or night, without being instantly discovered; a cell whose door was +connected with an automatic alarm over the sergeant's desk in the +front room; a cell, in short, from which no man could possibly +escape, and which no man could possibly enter unobserved. + +Of the Boule cabinet itself Godfrey said little, saving his story for +the dénouement which he seemed so sure would come; but the details +which I have given above were dwelt upon in the _Record_, until, +happening to meet Godfrey on the street one day, I protested that he +would only succeed in frightening the fugitive away altogether, even +if he still had any designs on the cabinet, which I very much +doubted. But Godfrey only laughed. + +"There's not the slightest danger of frightening him away," he said. +"This fellow isn't that kind. If I am right in sizing him up, he's +the sort of dare-devil whom an insuperable difficulty only attracts. +The harder the job, the more he is drawn to it. That's the reason I +am making this one just as hard as I can." + +"But a man would be a fool to attempt to get to that cabinet," I +protested. "It's simply impossible." + +"It looks impossible, I'm free to admit," he agreed. "But, just the +same, I wake every morning cold with fear, and run to the 'phone to +make sure the cabinet's safe. If I could think of any further +safeguards, I would certainly employ them." + +I looked at Godfrey searchingly, for it seemed to me that he must be +jesting. He smiled as he caught my glance. + +"I was never more in earnest in my life, Lester," he said. "You don't +appreciate this fellow as I do. He's a genius; nothing is impossible +to him. He disdains easy jobs; when he thinks a job is too easy, he +makes it harder, just as a sporting chance. He has been known to warn +people that they kept their jewels too carelessly, and then, after +they had put them in a safer place, he would go and take them." + +"That seems rather foolish, doesn't it?" I queried. + +"Not from his point of view. He doesn't steal because he needs money, +but because he needs excitement." + +"You know who he is, then?" I demanded. + +"I think I do--I hope I do; but I am not going to tell even you till +I'm sure. I'll say this--if he is who I think he is, it would be a +delight to match one's brains with his. We haven't got any one like +him over here--which is a pity!" + +I was inclined to doubt this, for I have no romantic admiration for +gentlemen burglars, even in fiction. However picturesque and +chivalric, a thief is, after all, a thief. Perhaps it is my training +as a lawyer, or perhaps I am simply narrow, but crime, however +brilliantly carried out, seems to me a sordid and unlovely thing. I +know quite well that there are many people who look at these things +from a different angle, Godfrey is one of them. + +I pointed out to him now that, if his intuitions were correct, he +would soon have a chance to match his wits with those of the Great +Unknown. + +"Yes," he agreed, "and I'm scared to death--I have been ever since I +began to suspect his identity. I feel like a tyro going up against a +master in a game of chess--mate in six moves!" + +"I shouldn't consider you exactly a tyro," I said, drily. + +"It's long odds that the Great Unknown will," Godfrey retorted, and +bade me good-bye. + +Except for that chance meeting, I saw nothing of him, and in this I +was disappointed, for there were many things about the whole affair +which I did not understand. In fact, when I sat down of an evening +and lit my pipe and began to think it over, I found that I understood +nothing at all. Godfrey's theory held together perfectly, so far as I +could see, but it led nowhere. How had Drouet and Vantine been +killed? Why had they been killed? What was the secret of the cabinet? +In a word, what was all this mystery about? Not one of these +questions could I answer; and the solutions I guessed at seemed so +absurd that I dismissed them in disgust. In the end, I found that the +affair was interfering with my work, and I banished it from my mind, +turning my face resolutely away from it whenever it tried to break +into my thoughts. + +But though I could shut it out of my waking hours successfully +enough, I could not control my sleeping ones, and my dreams became +more and more horrible. Always there was the serpent with dripping +fangs, sometimes with Armand's head, sometimes with a face unknown to +me, but hideous beyond description; its slimy body glittered with +inlay and arabesque; its scaly legs were curved like those of the +Boule cabinet; sometimes the golden sun glittered on its forehead +like a great eye. Over and over again I saw this monster slay its +three victims; and always, when that was done, it raised its head and +glared at me, as though selecting me for the fourth.... But I shall +not try to describe those dreams; even yet I cannot recall them +without a shudder. + +It was while I was sitting moodily in my room one night, debating +whether or not to go to bed; weary to exhaustion and yet reluctant to +resign myself to a sleep from which I knew I should wake shrieking, +that a knock came at the door--a knock I recognised; and I arose +joyfully to admit Godfrey. + +I could see by the way his eyes were shining that he had something +unusual to tell me; and then, as he looked at me, his face changed. + +"What's the matter, Lester?" he demanded. "You're looking fagged out. +Working too hard?" + +"It's not that," I said. "I can't sleep. This thing has upset my +nerves, Godfrey. I dream about it--have regular nightmares." + +He sat down opposite me, concern and anxiety in his face. + +"That won't do," he protested. "You must go away somewhere--take a +rest, and a good long one." + +"A rest wouldn't do me any good, as long as this mystery is +unsolved," I said. "It's only by working that I can keep my mind off +of it." + +"Well," he smiled, "just to oblige you, we will solve it first, +then." + +"Do you mean you know...." + +"I know who the Great Unknown is, and I'm going to tell you +presently. Day after to-morrow--Wednesday--I'll know all the rest. +The whole story will be in Thursday morning's paper. Suppose you +arrange to start Thursday afternoon." + +I could only stare at him. He smiled as he met my gaze. + +"You're looking better already," he said, "as though you were taking +a little more interest in life," and he helped himself to a cigar. + +"Godfrey," I protested, "I wish you would pick out somebody else to +practise on. You come up here and explode a bomb just to see how high +I'll jump. It's amusing to you, no doubt, and perhaps a little +instructive; but my nerves won't stand it." + +"My dear Lester," he broke in, "that wasn't a bomb; that was a simple +statement of fact." + +"Are you serious?" + +"Perfectly so." + +"But how do you know...." + +"Before I answer any questions, I want to ask you one. Did you, by +any chance, mention me to the gentleman known to you as M. Félix +Armand?" + +"Yes," I answered, after a moment's thought; "I believe I did. I was +telling him about our trying to find the secret drawer--I mentioned +your name--and he asked who you were. I told him you were a genius at +solving mysteries." + +Godfrey nodded. + +"That," he said, "explains the one thing I didn't understand. Now go +ahead with your questions." + +"You said a while ago that you would know all about this affair day +after to-morrow." + +"Yes." + +"How do you know you will?" + +"Because I have received a letter which sets the date," and he took +from his pocket a sheet of paper and handed it over to me. "Read it!" + +The letter was written in pencil, in a delicate and somewhat feminine +hand, on a sheet of plain, unruled paper. With an astonishment which +increased with every word, I read this extraordinary epistle:-- + + "_My Dear Mr. Godfrey:_ + + "I have been highly flattered by your interest in the affaire of + the cabinet Boule, and admire most deeply your penetration in + arriving at a conclusion so nearly correct regarding it. I must + thank you, also, for your kindness in keeping me informed of the + measures which have been taken to guard the cabinet, and which + seem to me very complete and well thought out. I have myself + visited the station and inspected the cell, and I find that in + every detail you were correct. + + "It is because I so esteem you as an adversary that I tell you, in + confidence, that it is my intention to regain possession of my + property on Wednesday next, and that, having done so, I shall beg + you to accept a small souvenir of the occasion. + + "I am, my dear sir, + + "Most cordially yours, + + "JACQUES CROCHARD, + + "L'Invincible!" + +I looked up to find Godfrey regarding me with a quizzical smile. + +"Of course it's a joke," I said. Then I looked at him again. "Surely, +Godfrey, you don't believe this is genuine!" + +"Perhaps we can prove it," he said, quietly. "That is one reason I +came up. Didn't Armand leave a note for you the day he failed to see +you?" + +"Yes; on his card; I have it here!" and with trembling fingers, I got +out my pocket-book and drew the card from the compartment in which I +had carefully preserved it. + +One glance at it was enough. The pencilled line on the back was +unquestionably written by the same hand which wrote the letter. + +"And now you know his name," Godfrey added, tapping the signature +with his finger. "I have been certain from the first that it was he!" + +I gazed at the signature without answering. I had, of course, read in +the papers many times of the Gargantuan exploits of Crochard--"The +Invincible," as he loved to call himself, and with good reason. But +his achievements, at least as the papers described them, seemed too +fantastic to be true. I had suspected more than once that he was +merely a figment of the Parisian space-writers, a sort of reserve for +the dull season; or else that he was a kind of scape-goat saddled by +the French police with every crime which proved too much for them. +Now, however, it seemed that Crochard really existed; I held his +letter in my hand; I had even talked with him--and as I remembered +the fascination, the finish, the distinguished culture of M. Félix +Armand, I understood something of the reason of his extraordinary +reputation. + +"There can be no two opinions about him," said Godfrey, reaching out +his hand for the letter and sinking back in his chair to contemplate +it. "Crochard is one of the greatest criminals who ever lived, full +of imagination and resource, and with a sense of humour most acute. I +have followed his career for years--it was this fact that gave me my +first clue. He killed a man once before, just as he killed this last +one. The man had betrayed him to the police. He was never betrayed +again." + +"What a fiend he must be!" I said, with a shudder. + +But Godfrey shook his head quickly. + +"Don't get that idea of him," he protested earnestly. "Up to the time +of his arrival in New York, he had never killed any man except that +traitor. Him he had a certain right to kill--according to thieves' +ethics, anyway. His own life has been in peril scores of times, but +he has never killed a man to save himself. Put that down to his +credit." + +"But Drouet and Vantine," I objected. + +"An accident for which he was in no way responsible," said Godfrey +promptly. + +"You mean he didn't kill them?" + +"Most certainly not. This last man he did kill was a traitor like the +first. Crochard, I think, reasons like this; to kill an adversary is +too easy; it is too brutal; it lacks finesse. Besides, it removes the +adversary. And without adversaries, Crochard's life would be of no +interest to him. After he had killed his last adversary, he would +have to kill himself." + +"I can't understand a man like that," I said. + +"Well, look at this," said Godfrey, and tapped the letter again. "He +honours me by considering me an adversary. Does he seek to remove me? +On the contrary, he gives me a handicap. He takes off his queen in +order that it may be a little more difficult to mate me!" + +"But, surely, Godfrey," I protested, "you don't take that letter +seriously! If he wrote it at all, he wrote it merely to throw you off +the track. If he says Wednesday, he really intends to try for the +cabinet to-morrow." + +"I don't think so. I told you he would think me only a tyro. And, +beside him, that is all I am. Do you know where he wrote that letter, +Lester? Right in the _Record_ office. That is a sheet of our copy +paper. He sat down there, right under my nose, wrote that letter, +dropped it into my box, and walked out. And all that sometime this +evening, when the office was crowded." + +"But it's absurd for him to write a letter like that, if he really +means it. You have only to warn the police...." + +"You'll notice he says it is in confidence." + +"And you're going to keep it so?" + +"Certainly I am; I consider that he has paid me a high compliment. I +have shown it to no one but you--also in confidence." + +"It is not the sort of confidence the law recognises," I pointed out. +"To keep a confidence like that is practically to abet a felony." + +"And yet you will keep it," said Godfrey cheerfully. "You see, I am +going to do everything I can to prevent that felony. And we will see +if Crochard is really invincible!" + +"I'll keep it," I agreed, "because I think the letter is just a +blind. And, by the way," I added, "I have a letter from Armand & Son +confirming the fact that their books show that the Boule cabinet was +bought by Philip Vantine. Under the circumstances, I shall have to +claim it and hand it over to the Metropolitan." + +"I hope you won't disturb it until after Wednesday," said Godfrey, +quickly. "I won't have any interest in it after that." + +"You really think Crochard will try for it Wednesday?" + +"I really do." + +I shrugged my shoulders. What was the use of arguing with a man like +that? + +"Till after Wednesday, then," I agreed; and Godfrey, having verified +his letter and secured from me the two promises he was after, bade me +good-night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +WE MEET M. PIGOT + + +I was just getting ready to leave the office the next afternoon when +Godfrey called me up. + +"How are you feeling to-day, Lester?" he asked. + +"Not as fit as I might," I said. + +"Have you arranged to start on that vacation Thursday?" + +"I don't think that's a good joke, Godfrey." + +"It isn't a joke at all. I want you to arrange it. But meanwhile, how +would you like a whiff of salt air this evening?" + +"First rate. How will I get it?" + +"The _Savoie_ will get to quarantine about six o'clock. I'm going +down on our boat to meet her. I want to have a talk with Inspector +Pigot--the French detective. Will you come along?" + +"Will I!" I said. "Where shall I meet you?" + +"At the foot of Liberty Street, at five o'clock." + +"I'll be there," I promised. And I was. + +The boat was cast loose as soon as we got aboard, backed out into the +busy river, her whistle shrieking shrilly, then swung about and +headed down stream. It was a fast boat--the _Record_, which prided +itself on outdistancing its contemporaries in other directions, would +of course try to do so in this--and when she got fairly into her +stride, with her engines throbbing rhythmically, the shore on either +hand slipped past us rapidly. + +The New York sky-line, as seen from the river, is one of the wonders +of the world, and I stood looking at it until we swung out into the +bay. There were two other men on board--the regular ship reporters, I +suppose--and Godfrey had gone into the cabin with them to talk over +some detail of the evening's work; so I went forward to the bow, +where I would get the full benefit of the salt breeze, with the taste +of it on my lips. The Statue of Liberty was just ahead, and already +the great search-light in her torch was winking across the water. +Craft innumerable crossed and re-crossed, their lights reflected in +the waves, and far ahead, a little to the left, I could see the white +glow against the sky which marked the position of Coney Island. + +Godfrey joined me presently, and we stood for some time looking at +this scene in silence. + +"It's a great sight, isn't it?" he said, at last. "Hello! look at +that boat!" he added, as a yacht, coming down the bay, drew abreast +of us and then slowly forged ahead. "She can go some, can't she? This +boat of ours is no slouch, you know; but just look how that one walks +away from us. I wonder who she is? What boat is that, captain?" he +called to the man on the bridge. + +"Don't know, sir," answered the captain, after a look through his +glasses. "Private yacht--can't make out her name--there's a flag or +something hanging over the stern. She's flying the French flag. There +come the other press boats behind us, sir," he added. "And there's +the _Savoie_ just slowing down at quarantine." + +Far ahead we could see the great hull of the liner, dark against the +horizon, and crowned with row upon row of glowing lights. + +"One doesn't appreciate how big those boats are until one sees them +from the water," I remarked. "Isn't she immense?" + +"And yet she's not an especially big boat, either," said Godfrey. "To +swing in under the really big ones--like the _Olympic_--is an +experience to remember." + +The _Savoie_ had by this time slowed down until she was just holding +her own against the tide, and one of her lower ports swung open. A +moment later, a boat puffed up beside her, made fast, and three or +four men clambered aboard and disappeared through the port. + +"There go the doctors," said Godfrey. "And there is that French boat +going alongside." + +The tug from quarantine dropped astern and the French yacht took her +place. After a short colloquy, one man from her was helped aboard the +_Savoie_. Then it was our turn, and after what seemed to me a +tremendous swishing and swirling at imminent risk of collision, we +swung up to the open port, a line was flung out and made fast, and a +moment later Godfrey and I and the other two men were aboard the +liner. + +My companions exchanged greetings with the officer in charge of the +open port, and then we hurried forward along a narrow corridor, +smelling of rubber and heated metal, then up stair after stair, until +at last we came to the main companionway. Here the two men left us, +to seek certain distinguished passengers, I suppose, whose views upon +the questions of the day were (presumably) anxiously awaited by an +expectant public. Godfrey stopped in front of the purser's office, +and passed his card through the little window to the man inside the +cage. + +"I should like to see M. Pigot, of the Paris _Service du Sûreté_" he +said. "Perhaps you will be so kind as to have a steward take my card +to him?" + +"That is unnecessary, sir," replied the purser, courteously. "That is +M. Pigot yonder--the gentleman with the white hair, with his back to +us. You will have to wait for a moment, however; the gentleman +speaking with him is from the French consulate, and has but this +moment come aboard." + +I could not see Inspector Pigot's face, but I could see that he held +himself very erect, in a manner bespeaking military training. The +messenger from the legation was a youngish man, with waxed moustache +and wearing an eyeglass. He was greeting M. Pigot at the moment, and, +after a word or two, produced from an inside pocket an +official-looking envelope, tied with red tape and secured with an +immense red seal. + +M. Pigot looked at it an instant, while his companion added a +sentence in his ear; then, with a nod of assent, the detective turned +down one of the passage-ways, the other man at his heels. + +"Official business, no doubt," commented the purser, who had also +been watching this little scene. "M. Pigot is one of the best of our +officers, and you will find it a pleasure to talk with him. He will +no doubt soon be disengaged." + +"Yes, but meanwhile my esteemed contemporaries will arrive," said +Godfrey, with a grimace. "They are on my heels--here they are now!" + +In fact, for the next twenty minutes, reporters from the other papers +kept arriving, till there was quite a crowd before the purser's +office. And from nearly every paper a special man had been detailed +to interview M. Pigot. Evidently all the papers were alive to the +importance of the subject. There was some good-natured chaffing, and +then one of the stewards was bribed to carry the cards of the +assembled multitude to M. Pigot's stateroom, with the request for an +audience. + +The steward went away laughing, and came back presently to say that +M. Pigot would be pleased to see us in a few minutes. But when five +minutes more passed and he did not appear, impatience broke out anew. +The lords of the press were not accustomed to being kept waiting. + +"I move we storm his castle," suggested the _World_ man. + +And just then, M. Pigot himself stepped out into the companionway. In +an instant he was surrounded. + +"My good friends of the press," he said, speaking slowly, but with +only the faintest accent, and he smiled around at the faces bent upon +him. "You will pardon me for keeping you in waiting, but I had some +matters of the first importance to attend to; and also my bag to +pack. Steward," he added, "you will find my bag outside my door. +Please bring it here, so that I may be ready to go ashore at once." +The steward hurried away, and M. Pigot turned back to us. "Now, +gentlemen," he went on, "what is it that I can do for you?" + +It was to Godfrey that the position of spokesman naturally fell. + +"We wish first to welcome you to America, M. Pigot," he said, "and to +hope that you will have a pleasant and interesting stay in our +country." + +"You are most kind," responded the Frenchman, with a charming smile. +"I am sure that I shall find it most interesting--especially your +wonderful city, of which I have heard many marvellous things." + +"And in the next place," continued Godfrey, "we hope that, with your +assistance, our police may be able to solve the mystery surrounding +the death of the three men recently killed here, and to arrest the +murderer. Of themselves, they seem to be able to do nothing." + +M. Pigot spread out his hands with a little deprecating gesture. + +"I also hope we may be successful," he said; "but if your police have +not been, my poor help will be of little account. I have a profound +admiration for your police; the results which they accomplish are +wonderful, when one considers the difficulties under which they +labour." + +He spoke with an accent so sincere that I was almost convinced he +meant every word of it; but Godfrey only smiled. + +"It is a proverb," he said, "that the French police are the best in +the world. You, no doubt, have a theory in regard to the death of +these men?" + +"I fear it is impossible, sir," said M. Pigot, regretfully, "to +answer that question at present, or to discuss this case with you. I +have my report first to make to the chief of your detective bureau. +To-morrow I shall be most happy to tell you all that I can. But for +to-night my lips are closed, sad as it makes me to seem +discourteous." + +I could hear behind me the little indrawn breath of disappointment at +the failure of the direct attack. M. Pigot's position was, of course, +absolutely correct; but nevertheless Godfrey prepared to attack it on +the flank. + +"You are going ashore to-night?" he inquired. + +"I was expecting a representative of your bureau to meet me here," M. +Pigot explained. "I was hoping to return with him to the city. I have +no time to lose. In addition, the more quickly we get to work, the +more likely we shall be to succeed. Ah! perhaps that is he," he +added, as a voice was heard inquiring loudly for Moosseer Piggott. + +I recognised that voice, and so did Godfrey, and I saw the cloud of +disappointment which fell upon his face. + +An instant later, Grady, with Simmonds in his wake, elbowed his way +through the group. + +"Moosseer Piggott!" he cried, and enveloped the Frenchman's slender +hand in his great paw, and gave it a squeeze which was no doubt +painful. + +"Glad to see you, sir. Welcome to our city, as we say over here in +America. I certainly hope you can speak English, for I don't know a +word of your lingo. I'm Commissioner Grady, in charge of the +detective bureau; and this is Simmonds, one of my men." + +M. Pigot's perfect suavity was not even ruffled. + +"I am most pleased to meet you, sir; and you Monsieur Simmòn," he +said. "Yes--I speak English--though, as you see, with some +difficulty." + +"These reporters bothering your life out, I see," and Grady glanced +about the group, scowling as his eyes met Godfrey's. "Now you boys +might as well fade away. You won't get anything out of either of us +to-night--eh, Moosseer Piggott?" + +"I have but just told them that my first report must be made to you, +sir," assented Pigot. + +"Then let's go somewhere and have a drink," suggested Grady. + +"I was hoping," said M. Pigot, gently, "that we might go ashore at +once. I have my papers ready for you...." + +"All right," agreed Grady. "And after I've looked over your papers, +I'll show you Broadway, and I'll bet you agree with me that it beats +anything in gay Paree. Our boat's waiting, and we can start right +away. This your bag? Yes? Bring it along, Simmonds," and Grady +started for the stair. + +But the attentive steward got ahead of Simmonds. + +M. Pigot turned to us with a little smile. + +"Till to-morrow, gentlemen," he said. "I shall be at the Hotel Astor, +and shall be glad to see you--shall we say at eleven o'clock? I am +truly sorry that I can tell you nothing to-night." + +He shook hands with the purser, waved his hand to us, and joined +Grady, who was watching these amenities with evident impatience. +Together they disappeared down the stair. + +"A contrast in manners, was it not, gentlemen?" asked Godfrey, +looking about him. "Didn't you blush for America?" + +The men laughed, for they knew he was after Grady, and yet it was +evident enough that they agreed with him. + +"Come on, Lester," he added; "we might as well be getting back. I can +send the boat down again after the other boys," and he turned down +the stair. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE SECRET OF THE CABINET + + +Godfrey bade me good-bye at the dock and hastened away to the office +to write his story, which, I could guess, would be concerned with the +manners of Americans, especially with Grady's. As for me, that whiff +of salt air had put an unaccustomed edge to my appetite, and I took a +cab to Murray's, deciding to spend the remainder of the evening +there, over a good dinner. Except in a certain mood, Murray's does +not appeal to me; the pseudo-Grecian temple in the corner, with water +cascading down its steps, the make-believe clouds which float across +the ceiling, the tables of glass lighted from beneath--all this, +ordinarily, seems trivial and banal; but occasionally, in an esoteric +mood, I like Murray's, and can even find something picturesque and +romantic in bright gowns, and gleaming shoulders, and handsome faces +seen amid these bizarre surroundings. And then, of course, there is +always the cooking, which leaves nothing to be desired. + +I was in the right mood to-night for the enjoyment of the place, and +I ambled through the dinner in a fashion so leisurely and trifled so +long over coffee and cigarette that it was far past ten o'clock when +I came out again into Forty-second Street. After an instant's +hesitation, I decided to walk home, and turned back toward Broadway, +already filling with the after-theatre crowd. + +Often as I have seen it, Broadway at night is still a fascinating +place to me, with its blazing signs, its changing crowds, its +clanging street traffic, its bright shop-windows. Grady was right in +saying that "gay Paree" had nothing like it; nor has any other city +that I know. It is, indeed, unique and thoroughly American; and I +walked along it that night in the most leisurely fashion, savouring +it to the full; pausing, now and then, for a glance at a shop-window, +and stopping at the Hoffman House--now denuded, alas! of its +Bouguereau--to replenish my supply of cigarettes. + +Reaching Madison Square, at last, I walked out under the trees, as I +almost always do, to have a look at the Flatiron Building, white +against the sky. Then I glanced up at the Metropolitan tower, higher +but far less romantic in appearance, and saw by the big illuminated +clock that it was nearly half-past eleven. + +I crossed back over Broadway, at last, and turned down Twenty-third +Street in the direction of the Marathon, when, just at the corner, I +came face to face with three men as they swung around the corner in +the same direction, and, with a little start, I recognised Grady and +Simmonds, with M. Pigot between them. Evidently Grady had felt it +incumbent upon himself to make good his promise in the most liberal +manner, and to display the wonders of the Great White Way from end to +end--the ceremony no doubt involving the introduction of the stranger +to a number of typical American drinks--and the result of all this +was that Grady's legs wobbled perceptibly. As a matter of racial +comparison, I glanced at M. Pigot's, but they seemed in every way +normal. + +"Hello, Lester," said Simmonds, in a voice which showed that he had +not wholly escaped the influences of the evening's celebration; and +even Grady condescended to nod, from which I inferred that he was +feeling very unusually happy. + +"Hello, Simmonds," I answered, and, as I turned westward with them, +he dropped back and; fell into step beside me. + +"Piggott is certainly a wonder," he said. "A regular sport--wanted to +see everything and taste everything. He says Paris ain't in the same +class with this town." + +"Where are you going now?" I asked. + +"We're going round to the station. Piggott says he's got a sensation +up his sleeve for us--it's got something to do with that cabinet." + +"With the cabinet?" + +"Yes--that shiny thing Godfrey got me to lock up in a cell." + +"Simmonds," I said, seriously, "does Godfrey know about this?" + +"No," said Simmonds, looking a little uncomfortable. "I told Grady we +ought to 'phone him to come up, but the chief got mad and told me to +mind my own business. Godfrey's been after him, you know, for a long +time." + +"Suppose I 'phone him," I suggested. "There'd be no objection to +that, would there?" + +"_I_ won't object," said Simmonds, "and I don't know who else will, +since nobody else will know about it." + +"All right. And drag out the preliminaries as long as you can, to +give him a chance to get up here." + +Simmonds nodded. + +"I'll do what I can," he agreed, "but I don't see what good it will +do. The chief won't let him in, even if he does come up." + +"We'll have to leave that to Godfrey. But he ought to be told. He's +responsible for the cabinet being where it is." + +"I know he is, and Piggott says it was a mighty wise thing to put it +there, though I'm blessed if I know why. Hurry Godfrey along as much +as you can. Good-night," and he followed his companions into the +station. + +There was a drugstore at the corner with a public telephone station, +and two minutes later, I was asking to be connected with the city-room +at the _Record_ office. + +No, said a supercilious voice, Mr. Godfrey was not there; he had left +some time before; no, the speaker did not know where he was going, +nor when he would be back. + +"Look here," I said, "this is important. I want to talk to the city +editor--and be quick about it." + +There was an instant's astonished silence. + +"What name?" asked the voice. + +"Lester, of Royce and Lester--and you might tell your city editor +that Godfrey is a close friend of mine." + +The city editor seemed to understand, for I was switched on to him a +moment later. But he was scarcely more satisfactory. + +"We sent Godfrey up into Westchester to see a man," he said, "on a +tip that looked pretty good. He started just as soon as he got his +Pigot story written, and he ought to be back almost any time. Is +there a message I can give him?" + +"Yes--tell him Pigot is at the Twenty-third Street station, and that +he'd better come up as soon as he can." + +"Very good. I'll give him the message the moment he comes in." + +"Thank you," I said, but the disappointment was a bitter one. + +In the street again, I paused hesitatingly at the curb, my eyes on +the red light of the police station. What was about to happen there? +What was the sensation M. Pigot had up his sleeve? Had I any excuse +for being present? + +And then, remembering Grady's nod and his wobbly legs--remembering, +too, that, at the worst, he could only put me out!--I turned toward +the light, pushed open the door and entered. + +There was no one in sight except the sergeant at the desk. + +"My name is Lester," I said. "You have a cabinet here belonging to +the estate of the late Philip Vantine." + +"We've got a cabinet, all right; but I don't know who it belongs to." + +"It belongs to Mr. Vantine's estate." + +"Well, what about it?" he asked, looking at me to see if I was drunk. +"You haven't come in here at midnight to tell me that, I hope?" + +"No; but I'd like to see the cabinet a minute." + +"You can't see it to-night. Come around to-morrow. Besides, I don't +know you." + +"Here's my card. Either Mr. Simmonds or Mr. Grady would know me. And +to-morrow won't do." + +The sergeant took the card, looked at it, and looked at me. + +"Wait a minute," he said, at last, and disappeared through a door at +the farther side of the room. He was gone three or four minutes, and +the station-clock struck twelve as I stood there. I counted the +sonorous, deliberate strokes, and then, in the silence that followed, +my hands began to tremble with the suspense. Suppose Grady should +refuse to see me? But at last the sergeant came back. + +"Come along," he said, opening the gate in the railing and motioning +me through. "Straight on through that door," he added, and sat down +again at his desk. + +With a desperate effort at careless unconcern, I opened the door and +passed through. Then, involuntarily, I stopped. For there, in the +middle of the floor, was the Boule cabinet, with M. Pigot standing +beside it, and Grady and Simmonds sitting opposite, flung carelessly +back in their chairs, and puffing at black cigars. + +They all looked at me as I entered, Pigot with an evident contraction +of the brows which showed how strongly his urbanity was strained; +Simmonds with an affectation of surprise, and Grady with a bland and +somewhat vacant smile. My heart rose when I saw that smile. + +"Well, Mr. Lester," he said, "so you want to see this cabinet?" + +"Yes," I answered; "it really belongs to the Vantine estate, you +know; I'm going to put in a claim for it--that is, if you are not +willing to surrender it without contest." + +"Did you just happen to think of this in the middle of the night?" he +inquired quizzically. + +"No," I said, boldly; "but I saw you and Mr. Simmonds and this +gentleman"--with a bow to M. Pigot--"turn in here a moment ago, and +it occurred to me that the cabinet might have something to do with +your visit. Of course, we don't want the cabinet injured. It is very +valuable." + +"Don't worry," said Grady, easily, "we're not going to injure it. And +I think we'll be ready to surrender it to you at any time after +to-night. Moosseer Piggott here wants to do a few tricks with it +first. I suppose you have a certain right to be present--so, if you +like sleight-of-hand, sit down." + +I hastily sought a chair, my heart singing within me. Then I +attempted to assume a mask of indifference, for M. Pigot was +obviously annoyed at my presence, and I feared for a moment that his +Gallic suavity would be strained to breaking. But Grady, if he +noticed his guest's annoyance, paid no heed to it; and I began to +suspect that the Frenchman's courtesy and good-breeding had ended by +rubbing Grady the wrong way, they were in such painful contrast to +his own hob-nailed manners. Whatever the cause, there was a certain +malice in the smile he turned upon the Frenchman. + +"And now, Moosseer Piggott," he said, settling back in his chair a +little farther, "we're ready for the show." + +"What I have to tell you, sir," began M. Pigot, in a voice as hard as +steel and cold as ice, "has, understand well, to be told in +confidence. It must remain between ourselves until the criminal is +secured." + +Grady's smile hardened a little. Perhaps he did not like the +imperatives. At any rate, he ignored the hint. + +"Understand, Mr. Lester?" he asked, looking at me, and I nodded. + +I saw Pigot's eyes flame and his face flush with anger, for Grady's +tone was almost insulting. For an instant I thought that he would +refuse to proceed; but he controlled himself. + +Standing there facing me, in the full light, it was possible for me +to examine him much more closely than had been possible on board the +boat, and I looked at him with interest. He was typically French, +--smooth-shaven, with a face seamed with little wrinkles and very +white, eyes shadowed by enormously bushy lashes, and close-cropped +hair as white as his face. But what attracted me most was the mouth +--a mouth at once delicate and humourous, a little large and with the +lips full enough to betoken vigour, yet not too full for fineness. He +was about sixty years of age, I guessed; and there was about him the +air of a man who had passed through a hundred remarkable experiences, +without once losing his aplomb. Certainly he was not going to lose it +now. + +"The story which I have to relate," he began in his careful English, +clipping his words a little now and then, "has to do with the theft +of the famous Michaelovitch diamonds. You may, perhaps, remember the +case." + +I remembered it, certainly, for the robbery had been conceived and +carried out with such brilliancy and daring that its details had at +once arrested my attention--to say nothing of the fact that the +diamonds, which formed the celebrated collection belonging to the +Grand Duke Michael, of Russia,--sojourning in Paris because +unappreciated in his native land and also because of the supreme +attraction of the French capital to one of his temperament--were +valued at something like eight million francs. + +"That theft," continued M. Pigot, "was accomplished in a manner at +once so bold and so unique that we were certain it could be the work +of but a single man--a rascal named Crochard, who calls himself also +'The Invincible'--a rascal who has given us very great trouble, but +whom we have never been able to convict. In this case, we had against +him no direct evidence; we subjected him to an interrogation and +found that he had taken care to provide a perfect alibi; so we were +compelled to release him. We knew that it would be quite useless to +arrest him unless we should find some of the stolen jewels in his +possession. He appeared as usual upon the boulevards, at the cafés, +everywhere. He laughed in our faces. For us, it was not pleasant; but +our law is strict. For us to accuse a man, to arrest him, and then to +be compelled to own ourselves mistaken, is a very serious matter. But +we did what we could. We kept Crochard under constant surveillance; +we searched his rooms and those of his mistress not once but many +times. On one occasion, when he passed the barrier at Vincennes, our +agents fell upon him and searched him, under pretence of robbing him. + +"He was, understand well, not for an instant deceived. He knew +thoroughly what we were doing, for what we were searching. He knew +also that nowhere in Europe would he dare to attempt to sell a single +one of those jewels. We suspected that he would attempt to bring them +to this country, and we warned your department of customs. For we +knew that here he could sell all but the very largest not only almost +without danger, but at a price far greater than he could obtain for +them in Europe. We closed every avenue to him, as we thought--and +then, all at once, he disappeared. + +"For two weeks we heard nothing--then came the story of this man +Drouet, killed by a stab on the hand. At once we recognised the work +of Crochard, for he alone of living men possesses the secret of the +poison of the Medici. It is a fearful secret, which, in his whole +life, he had used but once--and that upon a man who had betrayed +him." + +M. Pigot paused and passed his hand across his forehead. + +"We were at a loss to understand Crochard's connection with Drouet," +M. Pigot continued. "Drouet, while a mere hanger-on of the cafés of +the boulevards, was not a criminal. Then came the death of that +creature Morel, in an effort to gain possession of this cabinet, and +we began to understand. We made inquiries concerning the cabinet; we +learned its history, and the secret of its construction, and we +arrived at a certain conclusion. It was to ascertain if that +conclusion is correct that I came to America." + +"What is the conclusion?" queried Grady, who had listened to all this +with a manifest impatience in strong contrast to my own absorbed +interest. + +For I had already guessed what the conclusion was, and my pulses were +bounding with excitement. "Our theory," replied M. Pigot, without +the slightest acceleration of speech, "is that the Michaelovitch +diamonds are concealed in this cabinet. Everything points to it--and +we shall soon see." As he spoke, he drew from his pocket a steel +gauntlet, marvellously like the one Godfrey had used, and slipped it +over his right hand. "When one attempts to fathom the secrets of +_L'Invincible_" he said with a smile, "one must go armoured. Already +three men have paid with their lives the penalty of their rashness." +"Three men!" repeated Grady, wonderingly. "Three," and Pigot checked +them off upon his fingers. "First the man who gave his name as +d'Aurelle, but who was really a blackmailer named Drouet; second, M. +Vantine, the connoisseur; and third, the creature Morel. Of these, +the only one that really matters is M. Vantine; his death was most +unfortunate, and I am sure that Crochard regrets it exceedingly. He +might also regret my death, but, at any rate, I have no wish to be +the fourth. Not I," and he adjusted the gauntlet carefully. "One +moment, monsieur," I said, bursting in, unable to remain longer +silent. "This is all so wonderful--so thrilling--will you not tell us +more? For what were these three men searching? For the jewels?" +"Monsieur is as familiar with the facts as I," he answered, in a +sarcastic tone. "He knows that Drouet was killed while searching for +a packet of letters, which would have compromised most seriously a +great lady; he knows that M. Vantine was killed while endeavouring to +open the drawer after its secret had been revealed to him by the maid +of that same great lady, who was hoping to get a reward for them; +Morel met death directly at the hands of Crochard because he was a +traitor and deserved it." More and more fascinated, I stared at him. +What secret was safe, I asked myself, from this astonishing man? Or +was he merely piecing together the whole story from such fragments as +he knew? "But even yet," I stammered, "I do not understand. We have +opened the secret drawer of the cabinet--there was no poison. How +could it have killed Drouet and Mr. Vantine?" + +"Very simply," said M. Pigot, coldly. "Death came to Drouet +and M. Vantine because the maid of Madame la Duchesse mistook +her left hand for her right. The drawer which contained the +letters is at the left of the cabinet--see," and he +pressed the series of springs, caught the little handle, and +pulled the drawer open. "You will notice that the letters are gone, +for the drawer was opened by Madame la Duchesse herself, in the +presence of M. Lestaire, who very gallantly permitted her to resume +possession of them. The drawer which Drouet and M. Vantine opened," +and here his voice became a little strident under the stress of great +emotion, "is on the right side of the cabinet, exactly opposite the +other, and opened by a similar combination. But there is one great +difference. About the first drawer, there is nothing to harm any one; +the other is guarded by the deadliest poison the world has ever +known. Observe me, gentlemen!" Impelled by an excitement so intense +as to be almost painful, I had risen from my chair and drawn near to +him. As he spoke, he bent above the desk and pressed three fingers +along the right edge. There was a sharp click, and a section of the +inlay fell outward, forming a handle, just as I had seen it do on the +other side of the desk. M. Pigot hesitated an instant--any man would +have hesitated before that awful risk!--then, catching the handle +firmly with his armoured hand, he drew it quickly out. There was a +sharp clash, as of steel on steel, and the drawer stood open. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MICHAELOVITCH DIAMONDS + + +M. Pigot, cool and imperturbable, held out to us, with a little +smile, a hand which showed not a quiver of emotion--his gauntleted +hand; and I saw that, on the back of it, were two tiny depressions. +At the bottom of each depression lay a drop of bright red liquid-- +blood-red, I told myself, as I stared at it, fascinated. And what +nerves of steel this man possessed! A sudden warmth of admiration for +him glowed within me. "That liquid, gentlemen," he said in his +smooth voice, "is the most powerful poison ever distilled by man. +Those two tiny drops would kill a score of people, and kill them +instantly. Its odour betrays its origin"--and, indeed, the air was +heavy with the scent of bitter almonds--"but the poison ordinarily +derived from that source is as nothing compared with this. This +poison is said to have been discovered by Rémy, the remarkable man +who brought about the death of the Duc d'Anjou. Its distillation was +supposed to be one of the lost arts, but the secret was rediscovered +by this man Crochard. No secret, indeed, is safe from him; criminal +history, criminal memoirs--the mysteries and achievements of the great +confederacy of crime which has existed for many centuries, and whose +existence few persons even suspect--all this is to him an open book. +It is this which renders him so formidable. No man can stand against +him. Even the secret of this drawer was known to him, and he availed +himself of it when need arose." M. Pigot paused, his head bent in +thought; and I seemed to be gazing with him down long avenues of crime, +extending far into the past--dismal avenues like those of Père Lachaise, +where tombs elbowed each other; where, at every step, one came face to +face with a mystery, a secret, or a tragedy. Only, here, the mysteries +were all solved, the secrets all uncovered, the tragedies all +understood. But only to the elect, to criminals really great, were +these avenues open; to all others they were forbidden. Alone of +living men, perhaps, Crochard was free to wander there unchallenged. + +Some such vision as this, I say, passed before my eyes, and I had a +feeling that M. Pigot shared in it; but, after an instant, he turned +back to the cabinet. + +"Now, M. Simmón," he said, briskly, in an altered voice, "if you will +have the kindness to hold the drawer for a moment in this position, I +will draw the serpent's fangs. There is not the slightest danger," he +added, seeing that Simmonds very naturally hesitated. + +Thus assured, Simmonds grasped the handle of the drawer, and held it +open, while the Frenchman took from his pocket a tiny flask of +crystal. + +"A little farther," he said; and as Simmonds, with evident effort, +drew the drawer out to its full length, a tiny, two-tined prong +pushed itself forward from underneath the cabinet. "There are the +fangs," said M. Pigot. He held the mouth of the flask under first one +and then the other, passing his other hand carefully behind and above +them. "The poison is held in place by what we in French call +_attraction capillaire_--I do not know the English; but I drive it +out by introducing the air behind it--ah, you see!" + +He stood erect and held the flask up to the light. It was half full +of the red liquid. + +"Enough to decimate France," he said, screwed the stopper carefully +into place, and put the flask in his pocket. "Release the drawer, if +you please, monsieur," he added to Simmonds. + +It sprang back into place on the instant, the arabesqued handle +snapping up with a little click. + +"You will observe its ingenuity," said M. Pigot. "It is really most +clever. For whenever the hand, struck by the poisoned fangs, loosened +its hold on the drawer, the drawer sprang shut as you see, and +everything was as before--except that one man more had tasted death. +Now I open it. The fangs fall again; they strike the gauntlet; but +for that, they would pierce the hand, but death no longer follows. By +turning this button, I lock the spring, and the drawer remains open. +The man who devised this mechanism was so proud of it that he +described it in a secret memoir for the entertainment of the Grand +Louis. There is a copy of that memoir among the archives of the +Bibliothèque Nationale; the original is owned by Crochard. It was he +who connected that memoir with this cabinet, who rediscovered the +mechanism, rewound the spring, and renewed the poison. No doubt the +stroke with the poisoned fangs, which he used to punish traitors, was +the result of reading that memoir." + +"This Croshar--or whatever his name is,--seems to be a 'strordinary +feller," observed Grady, relighting his cigar. + +"He is," agreed M. Pigot, quietly; "a most extraordinary man. But +even he is not infallible; for, since the memoir made no mention of +the other secret drawer--the one in which Madame la Duchesse +concealed her love letters--Crochard knew nothing of it. It was that +fact which defeated his combinations--a pure accident which he could +not foresee. And now, gentlemen, it shall be my pleasure to display +before you some very beautiful brilliants." + +Not until that instant had I thought of what the drawer contained; I +had been too fascinated by the poisoned fangs and by the story told +so quietly but so effectively by the French detective; but now I +perceived that the drawer was filled with little rolls of cotton, +which had been pressed into it quite tightly. + +M. Pigot removed the first of these, unrolled it and spread it out +upon the desk, and instantly we caught the glitter of diamonds +--diamonds so large, so brilliant, so faultlessly white that I drew a +deep breath of admiration. Even M. Pigot, evidently as he prided +himself upon his imperturbability, could not look upon those gems +wholly unmoved; a slow colour crept into his cheeks as he gazed down +at them, and he picked up one or two of the larger ones to admire +them more closely. Then he unfolded roll after roll, stopping from +time to time for a look at the larger brilliants. + +"These are from the famous necklace which the Grand Duke inherited +from his grandmother," he said, calling our attention to a little +pile of marvellous gems in one of the last packets. "Crochard, of +course, removed them from their settings--that was inevitable. He +could melt down the settings and sell the gold; but not one of these +brilliants would be marketable in Europe for many years. Each of them +is a marked gem. Here in America, your police regulations are not so +complete; but I fancy that, even here, he would have had difficulty +in marketing this one," and he unfolded the last packet, and held up +to the light a rose-diamond which seemed to me as large as a walnut, +and a-glow with lovely colour. + +"Perhaps you have stopped to admire the Mazarin diamond in the +_galérie d'Apollon_ at the Louvre," said M. Pigot. "There is always a +crowd about that case, and a special attendant is installed there to +guard it, for it contains some articles of great value. But the +Mazarin is not one of them; for it is not a diamond at all; it is +paste--a paste facsimile of which this is the original. Oh, it is all +quite honest," he added, as Grady snorted derisively. "Some years +ago, the directors of the Louvre needed a fund for the purchase of +new paintings; needed also to clean and restore the old ones. They +decided that it was folly to keep three millions of francs imprisoned +in a single gem, when their Michael Angelos and da Vincis and +Murillos were encrusted with dirt and fading daily. So they sought a +purchaser for the Mazarin; they found one in the empress of Russia, +who had a craze for precious stones, and who, at her death, left this +remarkable collection to her favourite son, who had inherited her +passion. A paste replica of the Mazarin was placed in the Louvre for +the crowds to admire, and every one soon forgot that it was not +really the diamond. For myself, I think the directors acted most +wisely. And now," he added, with a gesture toward the glittering +heaps, "what shall we do with all this?" + +"There's only one thing to do," said Grady, awaking suddenly as from +a trance, "and that's to get them in a safe-deposit box as quick as +possible. There's no police-safe I'd trust with 'em! Why, they'd tempt +the angel Gabriel!" and he drew a deep breath. + +"Can we find a box of safe-deposit at this hour of the night?" asked +M. Pigot, glancing at his watch. "It is almost one o'clock and a +half." + +"That's easy in New York," said Grady. "We'll take 'em over to the +Day and Night Bank on Fifth Avenue. It never closes. Wait till I get +something to put 'em in." + +He went out and came back presently with a small valise. + +"This will do," he said. "Stow 'em away, and I'll call up the bank +and arrange for the box." + +Simmonds and Pigot rolled up the packets carefully and placed them in +the valise, while I sat watching them in a kind of daze. And I +understood the temptation which would assail a man in the presence of +so much beauty. It was not the value of the jewels which shook and +dazzled me--I scarcely thought of that; it was their seductive +brilliance, it was the thought that, if I possessed them, I might +take them out at any hour of the day or night and run my fingers +through them and watch them shimmer and quiver in the light. + +"The Grand Duke Michael must have been considerably upset," remarked +Simmonds, who, throughout all this scene, had lost no whit of his +serenity of demeanour. + +"He has been like a madman," said M. Pigot, smiling a little at +Simmonds's unemotional tone. "These jewels are a passion with him; he +worships them; he never has parted with them, even for a day; where +he goes, they have gone. In his most desperate need of money--and he +has had such need many times--he has never sold one of his +brilliants. On the contrary, whenever he has money or credit, and the +opportunity comes to purchase a stone of unusual beauty, he cannot +resist, even though his debts go unpaid. Since the loss of these +stones, he has raved, he has cursed, he has beat his servants--one of +them has died, in consequence. We are all a little mad on some one +subject, I have heard it said; well, the Grand Duke Michael is very +mad on the subject of diamonds." + +"Why didn't he offer a reward for their return?" queried Simmonds. + +"Oh, he did," said M. Pigot. "He offered immediately his whole +fortune for their return. But his fortune was not large enough to +tempt Crochard, for the Grand Duke really has nothing but the income +from his family estates, and you may well believe that he spends all +of it. It will be a great joy to him that we have found them." + +The thought flashed through my mind that doubtless M. Pigot was in +the way of receiving a handsome present. + +"There they are," said Simmonds, and closed the bag with a snap, as +Grady came in again. + +"I've arranged for the box," said Grady, "and one of our wagons is at +the door. I thought we'd better not trust a taxi--might turn over or +run into something, and we can't afford to take any chances--not this +trip. Simmonds, you go along with Moosseer Piggott, and put an extra +man on the seat with the driver. Maybe that Croshar might try to hold +you up." + +The same thought was in my own mind, for Crochard must have learned +of M. Pigot's arrival; and I could scarcely imagine that he would sit +quietly by and permit the jewels to be taken away from him--to say +nothing of his chagrin over his unfulfilled boast to Godfrey. So I +was relieved that Grady was wise enough to take no risk. + +"You'd better get a receipt," Grady went on, "and arrange that the +valise is to be delivered only when you and Moosseer Piggott appear +together. That will be satisfactory, moosseer?" he added, turning to +the Frenchman. + +"Entirely so, sir." + +"Very well, then; I'll see you in the morning. I congratulate you on +the find. It was certainly great work." + +"I thank you, sir," replied M. Pigot, gravely. "Au revoir, monsieur," +and with a bow to me, he followed Simmonds into the outer room. + +Grady sat down and got out a fresh cigar. + +"Well, Mr. Lester," he said, as he struck a match, "what do you think +of these Frenchmen, anyway?" + +"They're marvellous," I said. "Even yet I can't understand how he +knew so much." + +"Maybe he was just guessing at some of it," Grady suggested. + +"I thought of that; but I don't believe anybody could guess so +accurately. For instance, how did he know about those letters?" + +"Fact is," broke in Grady, "that's the first I'd heard of 'em. What +_is_ that story?" + +I told him the story briefly, carefully suppressing everything which +would give him a clue to the identity of the veiled lady. + +"There were certain details," I added, "which I supposed were known +to no one except myself and two other persons--and yet M. Pigot knew +them. Then again, how did he know so certainly just how the mechanism +worked? How did he know which roll of cotton contained that Mazarin +diamond? You will remember he told us what was in that roll before he +opened it." + +Grady smiled good-naturedly and a little patronisingly. + +"That was the last roll, wasn't it?" he demanded. "Since that big +diamond hadn't shown up in any of the others, he knew it had to be in +that roll. It was just one of the little plays for effect them +Frenchies are so fond of." + +"Perhaps you are right," I agreed. "But it seemed to me that he +handled that mechanism as though he was familiar with it. Of course, +he may have prepared himself by studying the drawings which no doubt +accompany the secret memoir. He may even have had a working model +made." + +Grady nodded tolerantly. + +"Them fellers go to a lot of trouble over little things like that," +he said. "They like to slam their cards down on the table with a big +hurrah, even when the cards ain't worth a damn." + +"He certainly held trumps this time, anyway," I commented. "And he +played his hand superbly. He is an extraordinary man." + +"And a great actor," Grady supplemented. "Them fellers always behave +like they was on the stage, right in the spot-light. It makes me a +little tired, sometimes. Hello! Who's that?" + +The front door had been flung open; there was an instant's colloquy +with the desk-sergeant, then a rapid step crossed the outer room, and +Godfrey burst in upon us. + +He cast a rapid glance at the Boule cabinet, at the secret drawer +standing open, empty; and then his eyes rested upon Grady. + +"So he got away with it, did he?" he inquired. + +"Who in hell do you think you are?" shouted Grady, his face purple, +"coming in here like this? Get out, or I'll have you thrown out!" + +"Oh, I'll go," retorted Godfrey coolly. "I've seen all I care to see. +Only I'll tell you one thing, Grady--you've signed your own +death-warrant to-night!" + +"What do you mean by that?" Grady demanded, in a lower tone. + +"I mean that you won't last an hour after the story of this night's +work gets out." + +Grady's colour slowly faded as he met the burning and contemptuous +gaze Godfrey turned upon him. As for me, an awful fear had gripped my +heart. + +"Do you mean to say it wasn't Piggott?" stammered Grady, at last. + +Godfrey laughed scornfully. + +"No, you blithering idiot!" he said. "It wasn't Pigot. It was +Crochard himself!" + +And he stalked out, slamming the door behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE FATE OF M. PIGOT + + +Whatever may have been Grady's defects of insight and imagination, he +was energetic enough when thoroughly aroused. Almost before the echo +of that slamming door had died away, he was beside the sergeant's +desk. + +"Get out the reserves," he ordered, "and have the other wagon around. +'Phone headquarters to rush every man available up to the Day and +Night Bank, and say it's from me!" + +He stood chewing his cigar savagely as the sergeant hastened to obey. +In a moment, the reserves came tumbling out, struggling into their +coats; there was a clatter of hoofs in the street as the wagon dashed +up; the reserves piled into it, permitting me to crowd in beside +them, Grady jumped to the seat beside the driver, and we were off at +a gallop, our gong waking the echoes of the silent street. + +I clung to the hand-rail as the wagon swayed back and forth or +bounded into the air as it struck the car-tracks, and stared out into +the night, struggling to understand. Could Godfrey be right? But of +course he was right! Some intuition told me that; and yet, how had +Crochard managed to substitute himself for the French detective? +Where was Pigot? Was he lying somewhere in a crumpled heap, with a +tiny wound upon his hand? But that could not be--Grady and Simmonds +had been with him all the evening! And could that aged Frenchman with +the white, fine, wrinkled skin be also the bronzed and virile +personage whom I had known as Félix Armand? My reason reeled before +the seeming impossibility of it--and yet, somehow, I knew that +Godfrey was right! + +The wagon came to a stop so suddenly that I was thrown violently +against the man next to me, and the reserves, leaping out, swept me +before them. We were in front of the Day and Night Bank, and at a +word from Grady, the men spread into a close cordon before the +building. + +Another police wagon stood at the curb, with the driver still on the +seat, but as Grady started toward it, a figure appeared at the door +of the bank and shouted to us--shouted in inarticulate words which I +could not understand. But Grady seemed to understand them, and went +up the steps two at a time, with an agility surprising in so large a +man, and which I was hard put to it to match. A little group stood at +one side of the vestibule looking down at some one extended on a +cushioned seat. And, an instant later, I saw that it was Simmonds, +lying on his back, his eyes open and staring apparently at the +ceiling. + +But, at the second glance, I saw that the eyes were sightless. + +Grady elbowed his way savagely through the group. + +"Where's Kelly?" he demanded. + +At the words, a white-faced man in uniform arose from a chair into +which he had plainly dropped exhausted. + +"Oh, there you are!" and Grady glowered at him ferociously. "Now tell +me what happened--and tell it quick!" + +"Why, sir," stammered Kelly, "there wasn't anything happened. Only +when we stopped out there at the curb and I got down and opened the +door, there wasn't nobody in the wagon but Mr. Simmonds. I spoke to +him and he didn't answer--and then I touched him and he kind of fell +over--and then I rushed in here and 'phoned the station; but they +said you'd already started for the bank; and then we went out and +brought him in here--and that's all I know, sir." + +"You didn't hear anything--no sound of a struggle?" + +"Not a sound, sir; not a single sound." + +"And you haven't any idea where the other man got out?" + +"No, sir." + +"Mr. Simmonds had a little valise with him--did you notice it?" + +"Yes, sir; and I looked for it in the wagon, but it ain't there." + +Grady turned away with a curse as four or five men ran in from the +street--the men from headquarters, I told myself. I could hear him +talking to them in sharp, low tones, and then they departed as +suddenly as they had come. The reserves also hurried away, and I +concluded that Grady was trying to throw a net about the territory in +which the fugitive was probably concealed; but my interest in that +manoeuvre was overshadowed, for the time being, by my anxiety for +Simmonds. I picked up his right hand and looked at it; then I drew a +deep breath of relief, for it was uninjured. + +"Has anyone sent for a doctor?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir," one of the bank attaches answered. "We telephoned for one +at once--here he is, now!" he added, as a little black-bearded man +entered, carry the inevitably-identifying medicine case. + +The newcomer glanced at the body, waved us back, fell on one knee, +stripped away the clothing from the breast and applied his ear to the +heart. Then he looked into the staring eyes, drew down the lids, +watched them snap up again, and then hastily opened his case. + +"Let's have some water," he said. + +"Then he's not dead?" I questioned, as one of the clerks sprang to +obey. + +"Dead? No; but he's had a taste or whiff of something that has +stopped the heart action." + +With a queer, creepy feeling over my scalp, I remembered the little +flask half-full of blood-red liquid which Crochard carried in his +pocket. + +But he had not meant murder this time; I remembered that Godfrey had +said he never killed an adversary. The doctor worked briskly away, +and, at the end of a few minutes, Simmonds's eyes suddenly closed, he +drew a long breath, and sat erect. Then his eyes opened, and he sat +swaying unsteadily and staring amazedly about him. + +"Best lie down again," said the doctor soothingly. "You're a little +wobbly yet, you know." + +"Where am I?" gasped Simmonds. Then his eyes encountered mine. +"Lester!" he said. "Where is he--Piggott? Not...." + +He stopped short, looked once around at the gleaming marble of the +bank, fumbled for something at his side, and fell senseless on the +seat. + +I have no recollection of how I got back to the Marathon. I suppose I +must have walked; but my first distinct remembrance is of finding +myself sitting in my favourite chair, pipe in hand. The pipe was lit, +so I suppose I must have lighted it mechanically, and I found that I +had also mechanically changed into my lounging-coat. I glanced at my +watch and saw that it was nearly four o'clock. + +The top of my head was burning as though with fever, and I went into +the bathroom and turned the cold water on it. The shock did me a +world of good, and by the time I had finished a vigorous toweling I +felt immensely better. So I returned to my chair and sat down to +review the events of the evening; but I found that somehow my brain +refused to work, and black circles began to whirl before my eyes +again. + +"I told Godfrey I couldn't stand any more of this," I muttered, and +stumbled into my bedroom, undressed with difficulty, and turned out +the light. + +Then, as I lay there, staring up into the darkness, a stinging +thought brought me upright. + +Godfrey--where was Godfrey? Was he on the track of Crochard? Was he +daring a contest with him? Perhaps, even at this moment.... + +Scarcely knowing what I did, I groped my way to the telephone and +asked for Godfrey's number--hoping against hope absurdly--and at +last, to my intense surprise and relief, I heard his voice--not a +very amiable voice.... + +"Hello!" he said. + +"Godfrey," I began, "it's Lester. He got away." + +"Of course he got away. You didn't call me out of bed to tell me +that, I hope?" + +"Then you knew about it?" + +"I knew he'd get away." + +"When the wagon got to the bank there was nobody inside but Simmonds. +Simmonds went along, you know." + +"Was he hurt?" + +"He was unconscious, but he came around all right." + +"That's good--but Crochard wouldn't hurt him. He got away with the +jewels, of course?" + +"Of course," I assented, surprised that Godfrey should take it so +coolly. "When you rushed out that way," I added, "I thought maybe you +were going after him." + +"With him twenty minutes in the lead? I'm no such fool! He got away +from me the other day with a start of about half a second." + +"I tried to get you," I explained, "as soon as Simmonds told me they +were going to look at the cabinet. I 'phoned the office. The city +editor said he had sent you out into Westchester." + +Godfrey laughed shortly. + +"It was a wild-goose chase," he said, "cooked up by our friend +Crochard. But even then, I'd have got back, if we hadn't punctured a +tire when we were five miles from anywhere. I knew what was up--but +there I was. Oh, he's made fools of us all, Lester. I told you he +would!" + +"Then you didn't get my message?" + +"Yes--they gave it to me when I 'phoned in that the Westchester +business was a fake. I rushed for the station, though I knew I'd be +too late." + +"But, Godfrey," I said, "I can't understand, even yet, how he did it. +Grady and Simmonds left the boat with Pigot and were with him all +evening, showing him the sights. How did Crochard get into it? What +did he do with Pigot? Where _is_ Pigot?" + +"He's on the _Savoie._ I rushed a wireless down to her as soon as I +left the station. They made a search and found Pigot bound and gagged +under the berth in his stateroom." + +I could only gasp. + +"And to think I didn't suspect!" added Godfrey, bitterly. "We stood +there and saw that yacht with the French flag walk away from us; we +saw her put a man aboard the _Savoie_; we saw that man talking to +Pigot...." + +"Yes," I said, breathlessly; "yes." + +"Well, that man was Crochard. He got Pigot into his stateroom--gave +him a whiff of the same stuff he used on Simmonds, no doubt; put him +out of the way under the berth; got into his clothes, made up his +face, _put_ on a wig--and all that while we were kicking our heels +outside waiting for him." + +"But it was a tremendous risk," I said. "There were so many people on +board who knew Pigot--it would have to be a perfect disguise." + +"Crochard wouldn't stop for that. But it wasn't much of a risk. None +of us had seen Pigot closely; all we had seen of him was the back of +his head; and the passengers were all on deck watching the quarantine +men. And yet, of course, the disguise was a perfect one. Crochard is +an artist in that line, and he was, no doubt, thoroughly familiar +with Pigot's appearance. He deceived the purser--but the purser +wouldn't suspect anything!" + +"So it was really Crochard...." + +"But _we_ ought to have suspected. We ought to have suspected +everything, questioned everything; I ought to have looked up that +visitor and found out what became of him. Instead of which, Crochard +put Pigot's papers in his pocket, set his bag outside the stateroom +door, and then came out calmly to meet his dear friends of the press; +and I stood there talking to him like a little schoolboy--no wonder +he thinks I'm a fool!" + +"But nobody would have suspected!" I gasped. "Why, that man is- +is...." + +"A genius," said Godfrey. "An absolute and unquestioned genius. But I +knew that all the time, and I ought to have been on guard. You +remember he said he would come to-day?" + +"Yes." + +"And you didn't believe it." + +"I can't believe it yet." + +"There's one consolation--it will break Grady." + +"But, Godfrey," I said, "if you could have seen those diamonds--those +beautiful diamonds--and to think he should be able to get away with +them from right under our noses!" + +"It's pretty bad, isn't it? But there's no use crying over spilt +milk. Lester," he added, in another tone, "I want you to be in your +office at noon to-morrow--or rather, to-day." + +"All right," I promised; "I'll be there." + +"Don't fail me. There is one act of the comedy still to be played." + +"I'll be there," I said again. "But I'm afraid the last act will be +an anti-climax. Look here, Godfrey...." + +"Now go to bed," he broke in; "you're talking like a somnambulist. +Get some sleep. Have you arranged for that vacation?" + +"Godfrey," I said, "tell me...." + +"I won't tell you anything. Only I've got one more bomb to explode, +Lester, and it's a big one. It will make you jump!" + +I could hear him chuckling to himself. + +"Good-night," he said, and hung up. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE LAST ACT OF THE DRAMA + + +I overslept, next morning, so outrageously that it was not until I +had got a seat in a subway express that I had time to open my paper. +My first glance was for the big head that would tell of the diamond +robbery; and then I realised that no morning paper would have a word +of it. For the robbery was only a few hours old--and yet, it seemed +to me an age had passed since that moment when Godfrey had rushed in +upon Grady and me. So the city moved on, as yet blissfully +unconscious of the sensation which would be sprung with the first +afternoon editions, and over which reporters and artists and +photographers were even now, no doubt, labouring. I promised myself a +happy half hour in reading Godfrey's story! + +It was then that I remembered the appointment for twelve o'clock. The +last act of the drama was yet to be staged, Godfrey had said, and he +had also spoken of a bomb--a big one! I wondered what it could be, +One thing was certain: if Godfrey had prepared it, its explosion +would be startling enough! + +There were a number of things at the office demanding my attention, +and I was so late in getting there and the morning passed so rapidly +that when the office-boy came in and announced that Mr. Grady and Mr. +Simmonds were outside and wished to see me, I did not, for a moment, +connect their visit with Godfrey. Then I looked at my watch, saw that +it was five minutes to twelve, and realised that the actors were +assembling. + +"Show them in," I said, and they entered together a minute later. + +Grady was evidently much perturbed. His usually florid face was drawn +and haggard, his cheeks hung in ugly lines, there were dark pouches +under his eyes, and the eyes themselves were blood-shot. I guessed +that he had not been to bed; that he had spent the night searching +for Crochard--and it was easy enough to see that the search had been +unsuccessful. Simmonds, too, was looking rather shaky, and no doubt +still felt the after-effects of that whiff of poison. + +"I'm glad to see you are better, Simmonds," I said, shaking hands +with him. "That was a close call." + +"It certainly was," Simmonds agreed, sinking into a chair. "If I had +got a little more of it, I'd never have waked up." + +"Do you remember anything about it?" + +"Not a thing. One minute we were sitting there talking together as +nice as you please--and the next thing I knew was when I woke up in +the bank." + +"Where's that man Godfrey?" broke in Grady. + +"He said he'd be here at noon," I said, and glanced at my watch. +"It's noon now. Were you to meet him here?" + +Grady glanced at me suspiciously. + +"Don't you know nothing about it?" he asked. + +"I only know that Godfrey asked me to be here at noon to-day. What's +up?" + +"Blamed if I know," said Grady sulkily. "I got word from him that I'd +better be here, and I thought maybe he might know something. I'm so +dizzy over last night's business that I'm running around in circles +this morning. But I won't wait for him. He can't make me do that! +Come along, Simmonds." + +"Wait a minute," I broke in, as the outer door opened. "Perhaps +that's Godfrey, now." + +And so it proved. He came in accompanied by a man whom I knew to be +Arthur Shearrow, chief counsel for the _Record_. + +Godfrey nodded all around. + +"I think you know Mr. Shearrow," he said, placing on my desk a small +leather bag he was carrying. "This is Mr. Lester, Mr. Shearrow," he +added, and we shook hands. "The object of this conference, Lester," +he concluded, "is to straighten out certain matters connected with +the Michaelovitch diamonds--and incidentally to give the _Record_ the +biggest scoop it has had for months." + +"I ain't here to fix up no scoop for the _Record_", broke in Grady. +"That paper never did treat me right." + +"It has treated you as well as you deserved," retorted Godfrey. "I'm +going to talk plainly to you, Grady. Your goose is cooked. You can't +hold on for an hour after last night's get-away becomes public." + +"We'll see about that!" growled Grady, but the fight had evidently +been taken out of him. + +"I understand you wouldn't let Simmonds telephone for me last night?" +queried Godfrey. + +"That's right--it wasn't none of your business." + +"Perhaps not. And yet, if I had been there, the cleverest thief in +Paris, if not in the world, would be safe behind those chrome-nickle +steel bars at the Twenty-third Street station, instead of at liberty +to go ahead and rob somebody else." + +"You're mighty cocksure," retorted Grady. "It's easy to be wise after +it's all over." + +"Well, I'm not going to argue with you," said Godfrey. "I admit it +was a good disguise, and a clever idea--but, just the same, you ought +to have seen through it. That's your business." + +Grady mopped his face. + +"Oh, of course!" he sneered. "I ought to have seen through it! I +ought to have suspected, even when I found you tryin' to interview +him; even when I got him off the boat myself; even when I went +through his papers and found them all right--yes, even to the +photograph on his passport! That's plain enough now, ain't it! If +people only had as good foresight as they have hindsight, how easy it +would be!" + +"Look here, Grady," said Godfrey, more kindly, "I haven't anything +against you personally, and I admit that it was foolish of me to +stand there talking to Crochard and never suspect who he was. But +that's all beside the mark. You're at the head of the detective +bureau, and you're the man who is responsible for all this. You're +energetic enough and all that; but you're not fit for your job--it's +too big for you, and you know it. Take my advice, and go to the +'phone there and send in your resignation." + +Grady stared at him as though unable to believe his ears. + +"'Phone in my resignation!" he echoed. "What kind of a fool do you +think I am?" + +"I see you're a bigger one than I thought you were! Your pull can't +help you any longer, Grady." + +"Was it to tell me that you got me over here?" + +"No," said Godfrey, "all this is just incidental--you began the +discussion yourself, didn't you? I got you here to meet...." + +The outer door opened again, and Godfrey looked toward it, smiling. + +"Moosseer Piggott!" announced the office-boy. + +And then I almost bounced from my seat, for I would have sworn that +the man who stood on the threshold was the man who had opened the +secret drawer. + +He came forward, looking from face to face; then his eyes met +Godfrey's and he smiled. + +"Behold that I am here, monsieur," he said and I started anew at the +voice, for it was the voice of Crochard. "I hope that I have not kept +you waiting." + +"Not at all, M. Pigot," Godfrey assured him, and placed a chair for +him. + +I could see Grady and Simmonds gripping the arms of their chairs and +staring at the newcomer, their mouths open; and I knew the thought +that was flashing through their brains. Was this Pigot? Or was the +man who had opened the cabinet Pigot? Or was neither Pigot? Was it +possible that this could be a different man than the one who had +opened the cabinet? + +I confess that some such thought flashed through my own mind--a +suspicion that Godfrey, in some way, was playing with us. + +Godfrey looked about at us, smiling as he saw our expressions. + +"I went down the bay this morning and met the _Savoie_," he said. "I +related to M. Pigot last night's occurrences, and begged him to be +present at this meeting. He was good enough to agree. I assure you," +he added, seeing Grady's look, "that this _is_ M. Pigot, of the Paris +_Service du Sûreté,_ and not Crochard." + +"Oh, yes," said M. Pigot, with a deprecating shrug. "I am myself--and +greatly humiliated that I should have fallen so readily into the trap +which Crochard set for me. But he is a very clever man." + +"It was certainly a marvellous disguise," I said. "It was more than +that--it was an impersonation." + +"Crochard has had occasion to study me," explained M. Pigot, drily. +"And he is an artist in whatever he does. But some day I shall get +him--every pitcher to the well goes once too often. There is no hope +of finding him here in New York?" + +"I am afraid not," said Godfrey. + +"Don't be too sure of that!" broke in Grady ponderously. "I ain't +done yet--not by no manner of means!" + +"Pardon me for not introducing you, M. Pigot," said Godfrey. "This +gentleman is Mr. Grady, who has been the head of our detective +bureau; this is Mr. Simmonds, a member of his staff; this is Mr. +Lester, an attorney and friend of mine; and this is Mr. Shearrow, my +personal counsel. Mr. Grady, Mr. Simmonds and Mr. Lester were +present, last night," he added blandly, "when Crochard opened the +secret drawer." + +Grady reddened visibly, and even I felt my face grow hot. M. Pigot +looked at us with a smile of amusement. + +"It must have been a most interesting experience," he said, "to have +seen Crochard at work. I have never had that privilege. But I regret +that he should have made good his escape." + +"More especially since he took the Michaelovitch diamonds with him," +I added. + +"Before we go into that," said Godfrey, with a little smile, "there +are one or two questions I should like to ask you, M. Pigot, in order +to clear up some minor details which are as yet a little obscure. Is +it true that the theft of the Michaelovitch diamonds was planned by +Crochard?" + +"Undoubtedly. No other thief in France would be capable of it." + +"Is it also true that no direct evidence could be found against him?" + +"That also is true, monsieur. He had arranged the affair so cleverly +that we were wholly unable to convict him, unless we should find him +with the stolen brilliants in his possession." + +"And you were not able to do that?" + +"No; we could discover no trace of the brilliants, though we searched +for them everywhere." + +"But you did not know of the Boule cabinet and of the secret drawer?" + +"No; of that we knew nothing. I must examine that famous cabinet." + +"It is worth examining. And it has an interesting history. But you +did know, of course, that Crochard would seek a market for the +diamonds here in America?" + +"We knew that he would try to do so, and we did everything in our +power to prevent it. We especially relied upon your customs +department to search most thoroughly the belongings of every person +with whom they were not personally acquainted." + +"The customs people did their part," said Godfrey with a chuckle. +"They have quite upset the country! But the diamonds got in, in spite +of them. For, of course, a cabinet imported by a man so well known +and so above suspicion as Mr. Vantine was passed without question!" + +"Yes," agreed M. Pigot, a little bitterly. "It was a most clever +plan; and now, no doubt, Crochard can sell the brilliants at his +leisure." + +"Not if you've got a good description of them," protested Grady. +"I'll make it a point to warn every dealer in the country; I'll keep +my whole force on the job; I'll get Chief Wilkie to lend me some of +his men...." + +"Oh, there is no use taking all that trouble," broke in Godfrey, +negligently. "Crochard won't try to sell them." + +"Won't try to sell them?" echoed Grady. "What's the reason he won't?" + +"Because he hasn't got them," answered Godfrey, smiling with an +evidently deep enjoyment of Grady's dazed countenance. + +"Oh, come off!" said that worthy disgustedly. "If he hasn't got 'em +I'd like to know who has!" + +"I have," said Godfrey, and cleared my desk with a sweep of his arm. +"Spread out your handkerchief, Lester," and as I dazedly obeyed, he +picked up the little leather bag, opened it, and poured out its +contents in a sparkling flood. "There," he added, turning to Grady, +"are the Michaelovitch diamonds." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +CROCHARD WRITES AN EPILOGUE + + +For an instant, we gazed at the glittering heap with dazzled eyes; +then Grady, with an inarticulate cry, sprang to his feet and picked +up a handful of the diamonds, as though to convince himself of their +reality. + +"But I don't understand!" he gasped. "Have you got Croshar too?" + +"No such luck," said Godfrey. + +"Do you mean to say he'd give these up without a fight!" + +The same thought was in my own mind; if Godfrey had run down Crochard +and got the diamonds, without a life-and-death struggle, that +engaging rascal must be much less formidable than I had supposed. + +"My dear Grady," said Godfrey, "I haven't seen Crochard since the +minute you took him off the boat. I'd have had him, if you had let +Simmonds call me. That's what I had planned. But he was too clever +for us. I knew that he would come to-day...." + +"You knew that he would come to-day?" repeated Grady blankly. "How +did you know that--or is it merely hot air?" + +"I knew that he would come," said Godfrey, curtly, "because he wrote +and told me so." + +M. Pigot laughed a dry little laugh. + +"That is a favourite device of his," he said; "and he always keeps +his word." + +"The trouble was," continued Godfrey, "that I didn't look for him so +early in the day, and so he was able to send me on a wild-goose chase +after a sensation that didn't exist. There's where I was a fool. But +I discovered the secret drawer ten days ago--while the cabinet was +still at Vantine's--the evening after the veiled lady got her +letters. It was easy enough. I am surprised you didn't think of it, +Lester." + +"Think of what?" I asked. + +"Of the key to the mystery. The drawer containing the letters was on +the left side of the desk; I saw at once that there must be another +drawer, opened in the same way, on the right side." + +"I didn't see it," I said. "I don't see it yet." + +"Think a minute. Why was Drouet killed? Because he opened the wrong +drawer. He pressed the combination at the right side of the desk, +instead of that at the left side. The fair Julie must have thought +the drawer was on the right side, instead of the left. It was a +mistake very easy to make, since her mistress doubtless had her back +turned when Julie saw her open the drawer. The suspicion that it was +Julie's mistake becomes certainty when she shows the combination to +Vantine, and he is killed, too. Besides, the veiled lady herself made +a remark which revealed the whole story." + +"I didn't notice it," I said, resignedly. "What was it?" + +"That she was accustomed to opening the drawer with her left hand, +instead of with her right. After that, there could be no further +doubt. So I discovered the drawer very simply. It had to be there." + +"Yes," I said; "and then?" + +"Then I removed the jewels, took them down to a dealer in paste gems +and duplicated them as closely as I could. I had a hard time getting +a good copy of this big rose-diamond." + +He picked it from the heap and held it up between his fingers. + +"It's a beauty, isn't it?" he asked. + +M. Pigot smiled a dry smile. + +"It is the Mazarin," he said, "and is worth three million francs. +There is a copy of it at the Louvre." + +"So that's true, is it?" I asked. "Crochard told us the story." + +"It is unquestionably true," said M. Pigot. "It is not a secret--it +is merely something which every one has forgotten." + +"Well," continued Godfrey, "after I got the duplicates, I rolled them +up in the cotton packets, and placed them back in the drawer, being +careful to put the Mazarin at the bottom, where I had found it." + +"It was lucky you thought of that," I said, "or Crochard would have +suspected something." + +Godfrey looked at me with a smile. + +"My dear Lester," he said, "he knew that the game was up the instant +he opened the first packet. Do you suppose he would be deceived? Not +by the best reproduction ever made!" + +And then I remembered the slow flush which had crept into Crochard's +cheeks as he opened that first packet! + +"I didn't expect to deceive him," Godfrey explained. "I just wanted +to give him a little surprise. And to think I wasn't there to see +it!" + +"But if he knew they were imitations," I protested, "why should he go +to all that trouble to steal them?" + +"That is what puzzled me last night," said Godfrey; "and, for that +matter, it puzzles me yet." + +"Maybe he's got the real stones, after all," suggested Grady, who had +been listening to all this with incredulous countenance. "The story +sounds fishy to me. Maybe these are the imitations." + +M. Pigot came forward and picked up the Mazarin and looked at it. + +"This one, at least, is real," he said, after a moment. "And I have +no doubt the others are," he added, turning them over with his +finger. + +Grady, still incredulous, picked up one of the brilliants, went to +the window, and drew it down the pane. It left a deep scratch behind +it. + +"Yes," he admitted reluctantly, "I guess they're diamonds, all +right," and he sat down again. + +"And now, gentlemen," continued Godfrey, who had watched Grady's +byplay with a tolerant smile, "I am ready to turn these diamonds over +to you. I should like you to count them, and give me a receipt for +them." + +"And then, of course, you will write the story," sneered Grady, "and +give yourself all the credit." + +"Well," asked Godfrey, looking at him, "do you think you deserve +any?" And Grady could only crimson and keep silent. "As for the +story, it is already written. It will be on the streets in ten +minutes--and it will create a sensation. Please count the diamonds. +You will find two hundred and ten of them." + +"That is the exact number stolen from the Grand Duke," remarked M. +Pigot, and fell to counting. The number was two hundred and ten. + +"Mr. Shearrow has the receipt," Godfrey added, and Shearrow took a +paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and read the contents. + +It proved to be not only a receipt, but a full statement of the facts +of the case, without omitting the details of the robbery and the +credit due the _Record_ for the recovery of the diamonds. Grady's +face grew redder and redder as the reading proceeded. + +"I won't sign no such testimonial as that," he blustered. "Not on +your life I won't!" + +"You will sign it, will you not, M. Pigot?" asked Godfrey. + +"Certainly," said the Frenchman; "it is a recognition of your +services very well deserved," and he stepped forward and signed it +with a flourish. + +"Now, Simmonds," said Godfrey. + +"No you don't!" broke in Grady. "Stay where you are, Simmonds. I +forbid you to sign that. Remember, I'm your superior officer." + +"No, he's not, Simmonds," said Godfrey, quietly. "He hasn't been an +officer at all for an hour and more." + +Grady sprang to his feet, his eyes blazing, and strode toward +Godfrey. + +"What do you mean by that?" he shouted. + +"I mean," said Godfrey, looking him squarely in the eye, "that Mr. +Shearrow and myself had a talk with the mayor this morning, and laid +before him certain evidence in our possession--this latest case among +others--and that your resignation was accepted at noon to-day." + +"My resignation!" snorted Grady. "I never wrote one!" + +"Tell the public that, if you want to," retorted Godfrey coldly. +"That's your affair. You ought to have 'phoned it in when I told you +to. Now, Simmonds." + +Grady stood glaring about him an instant, like an enraged bull, and I +half expected him to hurl himself on Godfrey; instead, he crushed his +hat upon his head, strode to the door, jerked it open, and banged it +behind him. + +"Now, Simmonds," Godfrey repeated, as the echo died away, and +Simmonds came forward and signed. I witnessed the signatures, and +Godfrey, with more eagerness than he had shown in the whole affair, +caught up the paper and sprang with it to the door. + +"Get that down to the office, as quick as you can," he said, to a man +outside. "I'll 'phone instructions. That," he added, closing the door +and turning back to us, "is my reward for all this--or, rather, the +_Record's_ reward. And now, gentlemen, Mr. Shearrow has his car +below, and I think we would better drive around to some safe-deposit +box with this plunder." + +It was perhaps ten days afterwards that Godfrey dropped in to see me +one evening. I was just back from a week on Cape Cod, which had done +me a world of good; and, I need hardly say, was glad to see him. + +"You're looking normal again," he said, surveying me, as he sat +down. "I was worried about you for a while." + +"I never felt better. I told you that all I needed was to have that +mystery solved." + +"And it was solved on schedule time, wasn't it," he smiled; "though +not quite in the way I had anticipated. Do you know, Lester," he +added, "I am going to claim that cabinet." + +"On what grounds?" I demanded. + +"Because the man who owned it gave it to me," and he got a paper out +of his pocket-book and handed it across to me. + +I opened it and recognised the delicate and feminine writing which I +had seen once before. + + "_My dear sir_ [the letter ran]: + + "I find that I made the mistake of underestimating you, and I + present you my sincere apologies. I trust that, at some future + time, it may be my privilege to be again engaged with you--the + result is certain to be most interesting. But at present I find + that I must return to Europe by _La Bretagne_; since, after the + trouble I have taken, it is impossible that I should consent to + part with the brilliants of His Highness the Grand Duke. As a + slight souvenir of my high regard, I trust you will be willing + to accept the cabinet Boule, which I am certain that good M. + Lester will surrender to you if you will show to him this letter. + The cabinet is not only interesting in itself, but will be doubly + so to you because of the part it has played in our little comedy. + And I should like to know that it adorns a corner of your home. + + "Till we meet again, dear sir, believe me + + "Your sincere admirer, + + "CROCHARD, L'Invincible!" + +"He's a good sport, isn't he?" asked Godfrey, as I silently handed +the letter back to him. "What do you say about the cabinet?" + +"I suppose there is no doubt that Crochard bought it," I said. + +"So that it is mine now?" + +"Yes; but I'm going to solicit a bribe." + +"Go ahead and solicit it." + +"I want a souvenir, too," I said. "I'd like awfully well to have that +letter--besides," I added, "it will be a kind of receipt, you know, +if anybody ever questions my giving you the cabinet." + +Godfrey laughed and threw the letter across the table to me. + +"It's yours," he said. "And I'll send for the cabinet to-morrow. I +suppose it is still at the station?" + +"Yes; I haven't had time to put in a claim for it. But, Godfrey," I +added, "when did _La Bretagne_ sail?" + +"A week ago to-day. She is due at Havre in the morning." + +"Did you warn them?" + +"Warn them of what?" + +"That Crochard is after the diamonds. They went back on _La +Bretagne_, I suppose?" + +"Yes--and Pigot went with them. So why should I warn any one? Surely +they know that Crochard will get those diamonds if he can. It has +become a sort of point of honour with him, I imagine. It is up to +them to take care of them." + +"That oughtn't to be difficult," I said. "The strong-room of a liner +is about the safest place on earth." + +"Yes," Godfrey agreed, and blew a meditative ring toward the ceiling. + +And presently he went away without saying anything more. + +But the more I thought of it, the more the inflection he had given +that word seemed an interrogation rather than an affirmation. + +And when I opened my paper next morning, I more than half expected to +be greeted with a black headline announcing the looting of the +strong-room of _La Bretagne_. But there was no such headline, and +with a sigh, half of relief and half of disappointment, I turned to +the other news. + +But two weeks later, a black headline _did_ catch my eye: + + MICHAELOVITCH JEWELS FALSE! + + FRENCH DETECTIVE TAKES BACK PASTE IMITATIONS FROM AMERICA. + + Fraud Discovered When the Grand Duke Michael Sends them to a + Jeweller to be Reset. + +I had no need to read the article which followed, for I saw in a +flash what had occurred. I saw, too, why Crochard had retained the +paste jewels--he had a use for them! How or where the substitution +had been made, I could only guess; but one thing was certain: the two +weeks which had elapsed before the theft was discovered had given him +ample opportunity to dispose of his plunder. I felt sorry for the +Grand Duke; sorrier still for that admirable M. Pigot; but, after +all, one could not but admire the cleverness of the man who had +despoiled them. + +Who, I wondered, had bought the Mazarin? Surely there was a diamond +most difficult to sell. + +It could, of course, be cut up--- but that would be sacrilege! + +That question was answered, before long, in an unexpected way--a way +which filled many columns in the papers, which delighted the +comedy-loving French, and which gave Crochard a unique advertisement. +One morning, in the personal column of _Le Matin_, appeared a notice, +of which this is the English: + + "To M. the Director of the Museum of the Louvre: + + "It has been my good fortune to come into possession of the + rose-diamond known as the Mazarin. It is my wish to restore it + to your collection, in order that it may no longer be necessary + to delude the public with an imitation of coloured glass. It will + give me great pleasure to present this brilliant to you, with my + compliments, provided His Highness, the Grand Duke Michael, who + preceded me in possession of the diamond, will join me in the gift. + Should he refuse, it will be my melancholy duty to cleave the + diamond into a number of smaller stones, as it is too large for + my use. But I hope that he will not refuse. + + "CROCHARD, L'Invincible!" + +What could the Grand Duke do? To have refused, would have made him +the butt of the boulevards. Besides, he was, after all, losing +nothing which he had not already lost. So, with a better grace than +one might have expected, he consented to join in the restoration. Two +days later, the director of the Louvre discovered a packet upon his +desk. He opened it and found within the Mazarin. When you visit the +Louvre, you will see it in the place of honour in the glass case in +the centre of the Gallery of Apollo, with an attendant on guard +beside it. But already the circumstances of its restoration are +fading from the public memory. + +And Crochard? I do not know. Each morning, I read first the news from +Paris, searching for L'Invincible in some new incarnation. I have his +letter framed and hanging above my desk, and every day I read it +over. One sentence, especially, is forever running in my head: + + "I trust that, at some future time, it may be my privilege to be + again engaged with you--the result is certain to be most + interesting." + +And I trust that it may be my privilege, also, to be present at that +engagement! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mystery Of The Boule Cabinet +by Burton Egbert Stevenson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERY OF THE BOULE CABINET *** + +***** This file should be named 10067-8.txt or 10067-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/6/10067/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/10067-8.zip b/old/10067-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5143c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10067-8.zip diff --git a/old/10067.txt b/old/10067.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2dfaad4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10067.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9563 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mystery Of The Boule Cabinet +by Burton Egbert Stevenson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mystery Of The Boule Cabinet + A Detective Story + +Author: Burton Egbert Stevenson + +Release Date: November 12, 2003 [EBook #10067] +[Date last updated: February 27, 2005] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERY OF THE BOULE CABINET *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE MYSTERY OF THE BOULE CABINET + +_A Detective Story_ + + +BY + +BURTON E. STEVENSON + + +With Illustrations by THOMAS FOGARTY + +1911 + + +To + +A.B.M. +Fellow-Sherlockian + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I A CONNOISSEUR'S VAGARY + II THE FIRST TRAGEDY + III THE WOUNDED HAND + IV THE THUNDERBOLT + V GRADY TAKES A HAND + VI THE WOMAN IN THE CASE + VII ROGERS GETS A SHOCK + VIII PRECAUTIONS + IX GUESSES AT THE RIDDLE + X PREPARATIONS + XI THE BURNING EYES + XII GODFREY IS FRIGHTENED + XIII A DISTINGUISHED CALLER + XIV THE VEILED LADY + XV THE SECRET OF THE UNKNOWN FRENCHMAN + XVI PHILIP VANTINE'S CALLER + XVII ENTER M. ARMAND + XVIII I PART WITH THE BOULE CABINET + XIX "LA MORT!" + XX THE ESCAPE + XXI GODFREY WEAVES A ROMANCE + XXII "CROCHARD, L'INVINCIBLE!" + XXIII WE MEET M. PIGOT + XXIV THE SECRET OF THE CABINET + XXV THE MICHAELOVITCH DIAMONDS + XXVI THE FATE OF M. PIGOT + XXVII THE LAST ACT OF THE DRAMA + XXVIII CROCHARD WRITES AN EPILOGUE + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +CLUTCHING AT HIS THROAT, HE HALF-TURNED AND FELL + +"I GRABBED HER AGAIN, AND JUST THEN MR. VANTINE OPENED THE DOOR AND +CAME OUT INTO THE HALL." + +"A MOMENT LATER M. FELIX ARMAND WAS SHOWN IN" + +WITH HIS BACK TO THE DOOR, STOOD A MAN RIPPING SAVAGELY AWAY THE +STRIPS OF BURLAP + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A CONNOISSEUR'S VAGARY + + +"Hello!" I said, as I took down the receiver of my desk 'phone, in +answer to the call. + +"Mr. Vantine wishes to speak to you, sir," said the office-boy. + +"All right," and I heard the snap of the connection. + +"Is that you, Lester?" asked Philip Vantine's voice. + +"Yes. So you're back again?" + +"Got in yesterday. Can you come up to the house and lunch with me +to-day?" + +"I'll be glad to," I said, and meant it, for I liked Philip Vantine. + +"I'll look for you, then, about one-thirty." + +And that is how it happened that, an hour later, I was walking over +toward Washington Square, just above which, on the Avenue, the old +Vantine mansion stood. It was almost the last survival of the old +regime; for the tide of business had long since overflowed from the +neighbouring streets into the Avenue and swept its fashionable folk +far uptown. Tall office and loft buildings had replaced the +brownstone houses; only here and there did some old family hold on, +like a sullen and desperate rear-guard defying the advancing enemy. + +Philip Vantine was one of these. He had been born in the house where +he still lived, and declared that he would die there. He had no one +but himself to please in the matter, since he was unmarried and lived +alone, and he mitigated the increasing roar and dust of the +neighbourhood by long absences abroad. It was from one of these that +he had just returned. + +I may as well complete this pencil-sketch. Vantine was about fifty +years of age, the possessor of a comfortable fortune, something of a +connoisseur in art matters, a collector of old furniture, a little +eccentric--though now that I have written the word, I find that I +must qualify it, for his only eccentricity was that he persisted, in +spite of many temptations, in remaining a bachelor. Marriageable +women had long since ceased to consider him; mothers with maturing +daughters dismissed him with a significant shake of the head. It was +from them that he got the reputation of being an eccentric. But his +reasons for remaining single in no way concerned his lawyers--a +position which our firm had held for many years, and the active work +of which had come gradually into my hands. + +It was not very arduous work, consisting for the most part of the +drawing of leases, the collecting of rents, the reinvestment of +funds, and the adjustment of minor differences with tenants--all of +which were left to our discretion. But occasionally it was necessary +to consult our client on some matter of unusual importance, or to get +his signature to some paper, and, at such times, I always enjoyed the +talk which followed the completion of the business; for Vantine was a +good talker, with a knowledge of men and of the world gained by much +travel and by a detached, humourous and penetrating habit of mind. + +He came forward to meet me, as I gave his man my hat and stick, and +we shook hands heartily. I was glad to see him, and I think he was +glad to see me. He was looking in excellent health, and brown from +the voyage over. + +"It's plain to see that the trip did you good," I said. + +"Yes," he agreed; "I never felt more fit. But come along; we can talk +at table. There's a little difficulty I want you to untangle for me." +I followed him upstairs to his study, where a table laid for two had +been placed near a low window. + +"I had lunch served up here," Vantine explained, as we sat down, +"because this is the only really pleasant room left in the house. If +I didn't own that plot of ground next door, this place would be +impossible. As it is, I can keep the sky-scrapers far enough away to +get a little sunshine now and then. I've had to put in an air filter, +too; and double windows in the bedrooms to keep out the noise; but I +dare say I can manage to hang on." + +"I can understand how you'd hate to move into a new house," I said. + +Vantine made a grimace. + +"I couldn't endure a new house. I'm used to this one--I can find my +way about in it; I know where things are. I've grown up here, you +know; and, as a man gets older, he values such associations more and +more. Besides, a new house would mean new fittings, new furniture--" + +He paused and glanced about the room. Every piece of furniture in it +was the work of a master. + +"I suppose you found some new things while you were away?" I said. +"You always do. Your luck's proverbial." + +"Yes--and it's that I wanted to talk to you about, I brought back six +or eight pieces; I'll show them to you presently. They are all pretty +good, and one is a thing of beauty. It's more than that--it's an +absolutely unique work of art. Only, unfortunately, it isn't mine." + +"It isn't yours?" + +"No; and I don't know whose it is. If I did, I'd go buy it. That's +what I want you to do for me. It's a Boule cabinet--the most +exquisite I ever saw." + +"Where did it come from?" I questioned, more and more surprised. + +"It came from Paris, and it was addressed to me. The only explanation +I can think of is that my shippers at Paris made a mistake, sent me a +cabinet belonging to some one else, and sent mine to the other +person." + +"You had bought one, then?" + +"Yes; and it hasn't turned up. But beside this one, it's a mere daub. +My man Parks got it through the customs yesterday. As there was a +Boule cabinet on my manifest, the mistake wasn't discovered until the +whole lot was brought up here and uncrated this morning." + +"Weren't they uncrated in the customs?" + +"No; I've been bringing things in for a good many years, and the +customs people know I'm not a thief." + +"That's quite a compliment," I pointed out. "They've been tearing +things wide open lately." + +"They've had a tip of some sort, I suppose. Come in," he added, +answering a tap at the door. + +The door opened and Vantine's man came in. + +"A gentleman to see you, sir," he said, and handed Vantine a card. + +Vantine looked at it a little blankly. + +"I don't know him," he said. "What does he want?" + +"He wants to see you, sir; very bad, I should say." + +"What about?" + +"Well, I couldn't just make out, sir; but it seems to be important." + +"Couldn't make out? What do you mean, Parks?" + +"I think he's a Frenchman, sir; anyway, he don't know much English. +He ain't much of a looker, sir--I've seen hundreds like him sitting +out in front of the cafes along the boulevards, taking all afternoon +to drink a bock." + +Vantine seemed struck by a sudden idea, and he looked at the card +again. Then he tapped it meditatively on the table. + +"Shall I show him out, sir?" asked Parks, at last. + +"No," said Vantine, after an instant's hesitation. "Tell him to +wait," and he dropped the card on the table beside his plate. + +"I tell you, Lester," he went on, as Parks withdrew, "when I went +downstairs this morning and saw that cabinet, I could hardly believe +my eyes. I thought I knew furniture, but I hadn't any idea such a +cabinet existed. The most beautiful I had ever seen is at the Louvre. +It stands in the Salle Louis Fourteenth, to the left as you enter. It +belonged to Louis himself. Of course I can't be certain without a +careful examination, but I believe that cabinet, beautiful as it is, +is merely the counterpart of this one." + +He paused and looked at me, his eyes bright with the enthusiasm of +the connoisseur. + +"I'm not sure I understand your jargon," I said. "What do you mean by +'counterpart?'" + +"Boule furniture," he explained, "is usually of ebony inlaid with +tortoise-shell, and incrusted with arabesques in metals of various +kinds. The incrustation had to be very exact, and to get it so, the +artist clamped together two plates of equal size and thickness, one +of metal, the other of tortoise-shell, traced his design on the top +one, and then cut them both out together. The result was two +combinations, the original, with a tortoise-shell ground and metal +applications; and the counterpart, applique metal with tortoise-shell +arabesques. The original was really the one which the artist designed +and whose effects he studied; the counterpart was merely a resultant +accident with which he was not especially concerned. Understand?" + +"Yes, I think so," I said. "It's a good deal as though Michael +Angelo, when he made one of his sketches, white on black, put a sheet +of carbon under his paper and made a copy at the same time, black on +white." + +"Precisely. And it's the original which has the real artistic value. +Of course, the counterpart is often beautiful, too, but in a much +lower degree." + +"I can understand that," I said. + +"And now, Lester," Vantine went on, his eyes shining more and more, +"if my supposition is correct--if the Grand Louis was content with +the counterpart of this cabinet for the long gallery at Versailles, +who do you suppose owned the original?" + +I saw what he was driving at. + +"You mean one of his mistresses?" + +"Yes, and I think I know which one--it belonged to Madame de +Montespan." + +I stared at him in astonishment, as he sat back in his chair, smiling +across at me. + +"But," I objected, "you can't be sure--" + +"Of course I'm not sure," he agreed quickly. "That is to say, I +couldn't prove it. But there is some--ah--contributory evidence, I +think you lawyers call it Boule and the Montespan were in their glory +at the same time, and I can imagine that flamboyant creature +commissioning the flamboyant artist to build her just such a +cabinet." + +"Really, Vantine," I exclaimed, "I didn't know you were so romantic. +You quite take my breath away." + +He flushed a little at the words, and I saw how deeply in earnest he +was. + +"The craze of the collector takes him a long way sometimes," he said. +"But I believe I know what I'm talking about. I am going to make a +careful examination of the cabinet as soon as I can. Perhaps I'll +find something--there ought to be a monogram on it somewhere. What I +want you to do is to cable my shippers, Armand et Fils, Rue du +Temple, find out who owns this cabinet, and buy it for me." + +"Perhaps the owner won't sell," I suggested. + +"Oh yes, he will. Anything can be bought--for a price." + +"You mean you're going to have this cabinet, whatever the cost?" + +"I mean just that." + +"But, surely, there's a limit." + +"No, there isn't." + +"At least you'll tell me where to begin," I said. "I don't know +anything of the value of such things." + +"Well," said Vantine, "suppose you begin at ten thousand francs. We +mustn't seem too eager. It's because I'm so eager, I want you to +carry it through for me. I can't trust myself." + +"And the other end?" + +"There isn't any other end. Of course, strictly speaking, there is, +because my money isn't unlimited; but I don't believe you will have +to go over five hundred thousand francs." + +I gasped. + +"You mean you're willing to give a hundred thousand dollars for this +cabinet?" + +Vantine nodded. + +"Maybe a little more. If the owner won't accept that, you must let me +know before you break off negotiations. I'm a little mad about it, I +fancy--all collectors are a little mad. But I want that cabinet, and +I'm going to have it." + +I did not reply. I only looked at him. And he laughed as he caught my +glance. + +"I can see you share that opinion, Lester," he said. "You fear for +me. I don't blame you--but come and see it." + +He led the way out of the room and down the stairs; but when we +reached the lower hall, he paused. + +"Perhaps I'd better see my visitor first," he said. "You'll find a +new picture or two over there in the music-room--I'll be with you in +a minute." + +I started on, and he turned through a doorway at the left. + +An instant later, I heard a sharp exclamation; then his voice calling +me. + +"Lester! Come here!" he cried. + +I ran back along the hall, into the room which he had entered. He was +standing just inside the door. + +"Look there," he said, with a queer catch in his voice, and pointed +with a trembling hand to a dark object on the floor. + +I moved aside to see it better. Then my heart gave a sickening throb; +for the object on the floor was the body of a man. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FIRST TRAGEDY + + +It needed but a glance to tell me that the man was dead. There could +be no life in that livid face, in those glassy eyes. + +"Don't touch him," I said, for Vantine had started forward. "It's too +late." + +I drew him back, and we stood for a moment shaken as one always is by +sudden and unexpected contact with death. + +"Who is he?" I asked, at last. + +"I don't know," answered Vantine hoarsely. "I never saw him before." +Then he strode to the bell and rang it violently. "Parks," he went on +sternly, as that worthy appeared at the door, "what has been going on +in here?" + +"Going on, sir?" repeated Parks, with a look of amazement, not only +at the words, but at the tone in which they were uttered. "I'm sure I +don't know what--" + +Then his glance fell upon the huddled body, and he stopped short, his +eyes staring, his mouth open. + +"Well," said his master, sharply. "Who is he? What is he doing here?" + +"Why--why," stammered Parks, thickly, "that's the man who was waiting +to see you, sir." + +"You mean he has been killed in this house?" demanded Vantine. + +"He was certainly alive when he came in, sir," said Parks, recovering +something of his self-possession. "Maybe he was just looking for a +quiet place where he could kill himself. He seemed kind of excited." + +"Of course," agreed Vantine, with a sigh of relief, "that's the +explanation. Only I wish he had chosen some place else. I suppose we +shall have to call the police, Lester?" + +"Yes," I said, "and the coroner. Suppose you leave it to me. We'll +lock up this room, and nobody must leave the house until the police +arrive." + +"Very well," assented Vantine, visibly relieved, "I'll see to that," +and he hastened away, while I went to the 'phone, called up police +headquarters, and told briefly what had happened. + +Twenty minutes later, there was a ring at the bell, and Parks opened +the door and admitted four men. + +"Why, hello, Simmonds," I said, recognising in the first one the +detective-sergeant who had assisted in clearing up the Marathon +mystery. And back of him was Coroner Goldberger, whom I had met in +two previous cases; while the third countenance, looking at me with a +quizzical smile, was that of Jim Godfrey, the _Record's_ star +reporter. The fourth man was a policeman in uniform, who, at a word +from Simmonds, took his station at the door. + +"Yes," said Godfrey, as we shook hands, "I happened to be talking to +Simmonds when the call came in, and I thought I might as well come +along. What is it?" + +"Just a suicide, I think," and I unlocked the door into the room +where the dead man lay. + +Simmonds, Goldberger and Godfrey stepped inside. I followed and +closed the door. + +"Nothing has been disturbed," I said. "No one has touched the body." + +Simmonds nodded, and glanced inquiringly about the room; but +Godfrey's eyes, I noticed, were on the face of the dead man. +Goldberger dropped to his knees beside the body, looked into the eyes +and touched his fingers to the left wrist. Then he stood erect again +and looked down at the body, and as I followed his gaze, I noted its +attitude more accurately than I had done in the first shock of +discovering it. + +It was lying on its right side, half on its stomach, with its right +arm doubled under it, and its left hand clutching at the floor above +its head. The knees were drawn up as though in a convulsion, and the +face was horribly contorted, with a sort of purple tinge under the +skin, as though the blood had been suddenly congealed. The eyes were +wide open, and their glassy stare added not a little to the apparent +terror and suffering of the face. It was not a pleasant sight, and +after a moment, I turned my eyes away with a shiver of repugnance. + +The coroner glanced at Simmonds. + +"Not much question as to the cause," he said. "Poison of course." + +"Of course," nodded Simmonds. + +"But what kind?" asked Godfrey. + +"It will take a post-mortem to tell that," and Goldberger bent for +another close look at the distorted face. "I'm free to admit the +symptoms aren't the usual ones." + +Godfrey shrugged his shoulders. + +"I should say not," he agreed, and turned away to an inspection of +the room. + +"What can you tell us about it, Mr. Lester?" Goldberger questioned. + +I told all I knew--how Parks had announced a man's arrival, how +Vantine and I had come downstairs together, how Vantine had called +me, and finally how Parks had identified the body as that of the +strange caller. + +"Have you any theory about it?" Goldberger asked. + +"Only that the call was merely a pretext--that what the man was +really looking for was a place where he could kill himself +unobserved." + +"How long a time elapsed after Parks announced the man before you and +Mr. Vantine came downstairs?" + +"Half an hour, perhaps." + +Goldberger nodded. + +"Let's have Parks in," he said. + +I opened the door and called to Parks, who was sitting on the bottom +step of the stair. + +Goldberger looked him over carefully as he stepped into the room; but +there could be no two opinions about Parks. He had been with Vantine +for eight or ten years, and the earmarks of the competent and +faithful servant were apparent all over him. + +"Do you know this man?" Goldberger asked, with a gesture toward the +body. + +"No, sir," said Parks. "I never saw him till about an hour ago, when +Rogers called me downstairs and said there was a man to see Mr. +Vantine." + +"Who is Rogers?" + +"He's the footman, sir. He answered the door when the man rang." + +"Well, and then what happened?" + +"I took his card up to Mr. Vantine, sir." + +"Did Mr. Vantine know him?" + +"No, sir; he wanted to know what he wanted." + +"What _did_ he want?" + +"I don't know, sir; he couldn't speak English hardly at all--he was +French, I think." + +Goldberger looked down at the body again and nodded. + +"Go ahead," he said. + +"And he was so excited," Parks added, "that he couldn't remember what +little English he did know." + +"What made you think he was excited?" + +"The way he stuttered, and the way his eyes glinted. That's what +makes me think he just come in here to kill hisself quiet like--I +shouldn't be surprised if you found that he'd escaped from +somewhere. I had a notion to put him out without bothering Mr. +Vantine--I wish now I had--but I took his card up, and Mr. Vantine +said for him to wait; so I come downstairs again, and showed the man +in here, and said Mr. Vantine would see him presently, and then +Rogers and me went back to our lunch and we sat there eating till the +bell rang, and I came in and found Mr. Vantine here." + +"Do you mean to say that you and Rogers went away and left this +stranger here by himself?" + +"The servants' dining-room is right at the end of the hall, sir. We +left the door open so that we could see right along the hall, clear +to the front door. If he'd come out into the hall, we'd have seen +him." + +"And he didn't come out into the hall while you were there?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did anybody come in?" + +"Oh, no, sir; the front door has a snap-lock. It can't be opened from +the outside without a key." + +"So you are perfectly sure that no one either entered or left the +house by the front door while you and Rogers were sitting there?" + +"Nor by the back door either, sir; to get out the back way, you have +to pass through the room where we were." + +"Where were the other servants?" + +"The cook was in the kitchen, sir. This is the housemaid's afternoon +out." + +The coroner paused. Godfrey and Simmonds had both listened to this +interrogation, but neither had been idle. They had walked softly +about the room, had looked through a door opening into another room +beyond, had examined the fastenings of the windows, and had ended by +looking minutely over the carpet. + +"What is the room yonder used for?" asked Godfrey, pointing to the +connecting door. + +"It's a sort of store-room just now, sir," said Parks. "Mr. Vantine +is just back from Europe, and we've been unpacking in there some of +the things he bought while abroad." + +"I guess that's all," said Goldberger, after a moment. "Send in Mr. +Vantine, please." + +Parks went out, and Vantine came in a moment later. He corroborated +exactly the story told by Parks and myself, but he added one detail. + +"Here is the man's card," he said, and held out a square of +pasteboard. + +Goldberger took the card, glanced at it, and passed it on to +Simmonds. + +"That don't tell us much," said the latter, and gave the card to +Godfrey. I looked over his shoulder and saw that it contained a +single engraved line: + + M. THEOPHILE D'AURELLE + +"Except that he's French, as Parks suggested," said Godfrey. "That's +evident, too, from the cut of his clothes." + +"Yes, and from the cut of his hair," added Goldberger. "You say you +didn't know him, Mr. Vantine?" + +"I never before saw him, to my knowledge," answered Vantine. "The +name is wholly unknown to me." + +"Well," said Goldberger, taking possession of the card again and +slipping it into his pocket, "suppose we lift him onto that couch by +the window and take a look through his clothes." + +The man was slightly built, so that Simmonds and Goldberger raised +the body between them without difficulty and placed it on the couch. +I saw Godfrey's eyes searching the carpet. + +"What I should like to know," he said, after a moment, "is this: if +this fellow took poison, what did he take it out of? Where's the +paper, or bottle, or whatever it was?" + +"Maybe it's in his hand," suggested Simmonds, and lifted the right +hand, which hung trailing over the side of the couch. + +Then, as he raised it into the light, a sharp cry burst from him. + +"Look here," he said, and held the hand so that we all could see. + +It was swollen and darkly discoloured. + +"See there," said Simmonds, "something bit him," and he pointed to +two deep incisions on the back of the hand, just above the knuckles, +from which a few drops of blood had oozed and dried. + +With a little exclamation of surprise and excitement, Godfrey bent +for an instant above the injured hand. Then he turned and looked at +us. + +"This man didn't take poison," he said, in a low voice. "He was +killed!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WOUNDED HAND + + +"He was killed!" repeated Godfrey, with conviction; and, at the +words, we drew together a little, with a shiver of repulsion. Death +is awesome enough at any time; suicide adds to its horror; murder +gives it the final touch. + +So we all stood silent, staring as though fascinated at the hand +which Simmonds held up to us; at those tiny wounds, encircled by +discoloured flesh and with a sinister dash of clotted blood running +away from them. Then Goldberger, taking a deep breath, voiced the +thought which had sprung into my own brain. + +"Why, it looks like a snake-bite!" he said, his voice sharp with +astonishment. + +And, indeed, it did. Those two tiny incisions, scarcely half an inch +apart, might well have been made by a serpent's fangs. + +The quick glance which all of us cast about the room was, of course, +as involuntary as the chill which ran up our spines; yet Godfrey and +I--yes, and Simmonds--had the excuse that, once upon a time, we had +had an encounter with a deadly snake which none of us was likely ever +to forget. We all smiled a little sheepishly as we caught each +other's eyes. + +"No, I don't think it was a snake," said Godfrey, and again bent +close above the hand. "Smell it, Mr. Goldberger," he added. + +The coroner put his nose close to the hand and sniffed. + +"Bitter almonds!" he said. + +"Which means prussic acid," said Godfrey, "and not snake poison." He +fell silent a moment, his eyes on the swollen hand. The rest of us +stared at it too; and I suppose all the others were labouring as I +was with the effort to find some thread of theory amid this chaos. +"It might, of course, have been self-inflicted," Godfrey added, quite +to himself. + +Goldberger sneered a little. No doubt he found the +incomprehensibility of the problem rather trying to his temper. + +"A man doesn't usually commit suicide by sticking himself in the hand +with a fork," he said. + +"No," agreed Godfrey, blandly; "but I would point out that we don't +know as yet that it _is_ a case of suicide; and I'm quite sure that, +whatever it may be, it isn't usual." + +Goldberger's sneer deepened. + +"Did any reporter for the _Record_ ever find a case that _was_ +usual?" he queried. + +It was a shrewd thrust, and one that Godfrey might well have winced +under. For the _Record_ theory was that nothing was news unless it +was strange and startling, and the inevitable result was that the +_Record_ reporters endeavoured to make everything strange and +startling, to play up the outre details at the expense of the rest of +the story, and even, I fear, to invent such details when none +existed. + +Godfrey himself had been accused more than once of a too-luxuriant +imagination. It was, perhaps, a realisation of this which had +persuaded him, years before, to quit the detective force and take +service with the _Record_. What might have been a weakness in the +first position, was a mighty asset in the latter one, and he had won +an immense success. + +Please understand that I set this down in no spirit of criticism. I +had known Godfrey rather intimately ever since the days when we were +thrown together in solving the Holladay case, and I admired sincerely +his ready wit, his quick insight, and his unshakable aplomb. He used +his imagination in a way which often caused me to reflect that the +police would be far more efficient if they possessed a dash of the +same quality; and I had noticed that they were usually glad of his +assistance, while his former connection with the force and his +careful maintenance of the friendships formed at that time gave him +an entree to places denied to less-fortunate reporters. I had never +known him to do a dishonourable thing--to fight for a cause he +thought unjust, to print a fact given to him in confidence, or to +make a statement which he knew to be untrue. Moreover, a lively sense +of humour made him an admirable companion, and it was this quality, +perhaps, which enabled him to receive Goldberger's thrust with a +good-natured smile. + +"We've got our living to make, you know," he said. "We make it as +honestly as we can. What do _you_ think, Simmonds?" + +"I think," said Simmonds, who, if he possessed an imagination, never +permitted it to be suspected, "that those little cuts on the hand are +merely an accident. They might have been caused in half a dozen ways. +Maybe he hit his hand on something when he fell; maybe he jabbed it +on a buckle; maybe he had a boil on his hand and lanced it with his +knife." + +"What killed him, then?" Godfrey demanded. + +"Poison--and it's in his stomach. We'll find it there." + +"How about the odour?" Godfrey persisted. + +"He spilled some of the poison on his hand as he lifted it to his +mouth. Maybe he had those cuts on his hand and the poison inflamed +them. Or maybe he's got some kind of blood disease." + +Goldberger nodded his approval, and Godfrey smiled as he looked at +him. + +"It's easy to find explanations, isn't it?" he queried. + +"It's a blamed sight easier to find a natural and simple +explanation," retorted Goldberger hotly, "than it is to find an +unnatural and far-fetched one--such as how one man could kill another +by scratching him on the hand. I suppose you think this fellow was +murdered? That's what you said a minute ago." + +"Perhaps I was a little hasty," Godfrey admitted, and I suspected +that, whatever his thoughts, he had made up his mind to keep them to +himself. "I'm not going to theorise until I've got something to start +with. The facts seem to point to suicide; but if he swallowed prussic +acid, where's the bottle? He didn't swallow that too, did he?" + +"Maybe we'll find it in his clothes," suggested Simmonds. + +Thus reminded, Goldberger fell to work looking through the dead man's +pockets. The clothes were of a cheap material and not very new, so +that, in life, he must have presented an appearance somewhat shabby. +There was a purse in the inside coat pocket containing two bills, one +for ten dollars and one for five, and there were two or three dollars +in silver and four five-centime pieces in a small coin purse which he +carried in his trousers' pocket. The larger purse had four or five +calling cards in one of its compartments, each bearing a different +name, none of them his. On the back of one of them, Vantine's address +was written in pencil. + +There were no letters, no papers, no written documents of any kind in +the pockets, the remainder of whose contents consisted of such odds +and ends as any man might carry about with him--a cheap watch, a +pen-knife, a half-empty packet of French tobacco, a sheaf of +cigarette paper, four or five keys on a ring, a silk handkerchief, +and perhaps some other articles which I have forgotten--but not a +thing to assist in establishing his identity. + +"We'll have to cable over to Paris," remarked Simmonds. "He's French, +all right--that silk handkerchief proves it." + +"Yes--and his best girl proves it, too," put in Godfrey. + +"His best girl?" + +For answer, Godfrey held up the watch, which he had been examining. +He had opened the case, and inside it was a photograph--the +photograph of a woman with bold, dark eyes and full lips and oval +face--a face so typically French that it was not to be mistaken. + +"A lady's-maid, I should say," added Godfrey, looking at it again. +"Rather good-looking at one time, but past her first youth, and so +compelled perhaps to bestow her affections on a man a little beneath +her--no doubt compelled also to contribute to his support in order to +retain him. A woman with many pasts and no future--" + +"Oh, come," broke in Goldberger impatiently, "keep your second-hand +epigrams for the _Record_. What we want are facts." + +Godfrey flushed a little at the words and laid down the watch. + +"There is one fact which you have apparently overlooked," he said +quietly, "but it proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that this fellow +didn't drift in here by accident. He came here of intention, and the +intention wasn't to kill himself, either." + +"How do you know that?" demanded Goldberger, incredulously. + +Godfrey picked up the purse, opened it, and took out one of the +cards. + +"By this," he said, and held it up. "You have already seen what is +written on the back of it--Mr. Vantine's name and the number of this +house. That proves, doesn't it, that this fellow came to New York +expressly to see Mr. Vantine?" + +"Perhaps you think Mr. Vantine killed him," suggested Goldberger, +sarcastically. + +"No," said Godfrey; "he didn't have time. You understand, Mr. +Vantine," he added, smiling at that gentleman, who was listening to +all this with perplexed countenance, "we are simply talking now about +possibilities. You couldn't possibly have killed this fellow because +Lester has testified that he was with you constantly from the moment +this man entered the house until his body was found, with the +exception of the few seconds which elapsed between the time you +entered this room and the time he joined you here, summoned by your +cry. So you are out of the running." + +"Thanks," said Vantine, drily. + +"I suppose, then, you think it was Parks," said Goldberger. + +"It may quite possibly have been Parks," agreed Godfrey, gravely. + +"Nonsense!" broke in Vantine, impatiently. "Parks is as straight as a +string--he's been with me for eight years." + +"Of course it's nonsense," assented Goldberger. "It's nonsense to say +that he was killed by anybody. He killed himself. We'll learn the +cause when we identify him--jealousy maybe, or maybe just hard luck +--he doesn't look affluent." + +"I'll cable to Paris," said Simmonds. "If he belongs there, we'll soon +find out who he is." + +"You'd better call an ambulance and have him taken to the morgue," +went on Goldberger. "Somebody may identify him there. There'll be a +crowd to-morrow, for, of course, the papers will be full of this +affair--" + +"The _Record_, at least, will have a very full account," Godfrey +assured him. + +"And I'll call the inquest for the day after," Goldberger continued. +"I'll send my physician down to make a post-mortem right away. If +there's any poison in this fellow's stomach, we'll find it." + +Godfrey did not speak; but I knew what was in his mind. He was +thinking that, if such poison existed, the vessel which had contained +it had not yet been found. The same thought, no doubt, occurred to +Simmonds, for, after ordering the policeman in the hall to call the +ambulance, he returned and began a careful search of the room, using +his electric torch to illumine every shadowed corner. Godfrey devoted +himself to a similar search; but both were without result. Then +Godfrey made a minute inspection of the injured hand, while +Goldberger looked on with ill-concealed impatience; and finally he +moved toward the door. + +"I think I'll be going," he said. "But I'm interested in what your +physician will find, Mr. Coroner." + +"He'll find poison, all right," asserted Goldberger, with decision. + +"Perhaps he will," admitted Godfrey. "Strange things happen in this +world. Will you be at home to-night, Lester?" + +"Yes, I expect to be," I answered. + +"You're still at the Marathon?" + +"Yes," I said; "suite fourteen." + +"Perhaps I'll drop around to see you," he said, and a moment later we +heard the door close behind him as Parks let him out. + +"Godfrey's a good man," said Goldberger, "but he's too romantic. He +looks for a mystery in every crime, whereas most crimes are merely +plain, downright brutalities. Take this case. Here's a man kills +himself, and Godfrey wants us to believe that death resulted from a +scratch on the hand. Why, there's no poison on earth would kill a man +as quick as that--for he must have dropped dead before he could get +out of the room to summon help. If it was prussic acid, he swallowed +it. Remember, he wasn't in this room more than fifteen or twenty +minutes, and he was quite dead when Mr. Vantine found him. Men don't +die as easily as all that--not from a scratch on the hand. They don't +die easily at all. It's astonishing how much it takes to kill a man +--how the spirit, or whatever you choose to call it, clings to +life." + +"How do you explain the address on the card, Mr. Goldberger?" I +asked. + +"My theory is that this fellow really had some business with Mr. +Vantine; probably he wanted to borrow some money, or ask for help; +and then, while he was waiting, he suddenly gave the thing up and +killed himself. The address has no bearing whatever, that I can see, +on the question of suicide. And I'll say this, Mr. Lester, if this +isn't suicide, it's the strangest case I ever had anything to do +with." + +"Yes," I agreed, "if it isn't suicide, we come to a blank wall right +away." + +"That's it," and Goldberger nodded emphatically. "Here's the +ambulance," he added, as the bell rang. + +The bearers entered with the stretcher, placed the body on it, and +carried it away. Goldberger paused to gather up the articles he had +taken from the dead man's pockets. + +"You gentlemen will have to give your testimony at the inquest," he +said. "So will Parks and Rogers. It will be day after to-morrow, +probably at ten o'clock, but I'll notify you of the hour." + +"Very well," I said; "we'll be there," and Goldberger bade us +good-bye, and left the house. "And now," I added, to Vantine, "I must +be getting back to the office. They'll be asking the police to look +for me next. Man alive!" and I glanced at my watch, "it's after four +o'clock." + +"Too late for the office," said Vantine. "Better come upstairs and +have a drink. Besides, I want to talk with you." + +"At least, I'll let them know I'm still alive," I said, and I called +up the office and allayed any anxiety that may have been felt there +concerning me. I must admit that it did not seem acute. + +"I feel the need of a bracer after all this excitement," Vantine +remarked, as he opened the cellarette. "Help yourself. I dare say +you're used to this sort of thing--" + +"Finding dead men lying around?" I queried, with a smile. "No--it's +not so common as you seem to think." + +"Tell me, Lester," and he looked at me earnestly, "do you think that +poor devil came in here just to get a chance to kill himself +quietly?" + +"No, I don't," I said. + +"Then what did he come in for?" + +"I think Goldberger's theory a pretty good one--that he had heard of +you as a generous fellow and came in here to ask help; and while he +was waiting, suddenly gave it up--" + +"And killed himself?" Vantine completed. + +I hesitated. I was astonished to find, at the back of my mind, a +growing doubt. + +"See here, Lester," Vantine demanded, "if he didn't kill himself, +what happened to him?" + +"Heaven only knows," I answered, in despair. "I've been asking myself +the same question, without finding a reasonable answer to it. As I +said to Goldberger, it's a blank wall. But if anybody can see through +it, Jim Godfrey can." + +Vantine seemed deeply perturbed. He took a turn or two up and down +the room, then stopped in front of me and looked me earnestly in the +eye. + +"Tell me, Lester," he said, "do you believe that theory of Godfrey's +--that that insignificant wound on the hand caused death?" + +"It seems absurd, doesn't it? But Godfrey is a sort of genius at +divining such things." + +"Then you _do_ believe it?" + +I asked myself the same question before I answered. + +"Yes, I do," I said, finally. + +Vantine walked up and down the room again, his eyes on the floor, his +brows contracted. + +"Lester," he said, at last, "I have a queer feeling that the business +which brought this man here in some way concerned the Boule cabinet I +was telling you about. Perhaps it belonged to him." + +"Hardly," I protested, recalling his shabby appearance. + +"At any rate, I remember, as I was looking at his card, that some +such thought occurred to me. It was for that reason I told Parks to +ask him to wait." + +"It's possible, of course," I admitted. "But that wouldn't explain +his excitement. And that reminds me," I added, "I haven't sent off +that cable." + +"Any time to-night will do. It will be delivered in the morning. But +you haven't seen the cabinet yet. Come down and look at it." + +He led the way down the stair. Parks met us in the lower hall. + +"There's a delegation of reporters outside, sir," he said. "They say +they've got to see you." + +Vantine made a movement of impatience. + +"Tell them," he said, "that I positively refuse to see them or to +allow my servants to see them. Let them get their information from +the police." + +"Very well, sir," said Parks, and turned away grinning. + +Vantine passed on through the ante-room in which we had found the +body of the unfortunate Frenchman, and into the room beyond. Five or +six pieces of furniture, evidently just unpacked, stood there, but, +ignorant as I am of such things, he did not have to point out to me +the Boule cabinet. It dominated the room, much as Madame de +Montespan, no doubt, dominated the court at Versailles. + +I looked at it for some moments, for it was certainly a beautiful +piece of work, with a wealth of inlay and incrustation little short +of marvellous. But I may as well say here that I never really +appreciated it. The florid style of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth +Louis is not at all to my taste; and I am too little of a connoisseur +to admire a beauty which has no personal appeal for me. So I am +afraid that Vantine found me a little cold. + +Certainly there was nothing cold about the way he regarded it. His +eyes gleamed with a strange fire as he looked at it; he ran his +fingers over the inlay with a touch almost reverent; he pulled out +for me the little drawers with much the same air that another friend +of mine takes down his Kilmarnock Burns from his bookshelves; he +pointed out to me the grace of its curves in the same tone that one +uses to discuss the masterpiece of a great artist. And then, finding +no echo to his enthusiasm, he suddenly stopped. + +"You don't seem to care for it," he said, looking at me. + +"That's my fault and not the fault of the cabinet," I pointed out. +"I'm not educated up to it; I'm too little of an artist, perhaps." + +He was flushed, as a man might be should another make a disparaging +remark about his wife, and he led the way from the room at once. + +"Remember, Lester," he said, a little sternly, pausing with his hand +on the front door, "there is to be no foolishness about securing that +cabinet for me. Don't you let it get away. I'm in deadly earnest." + +"I won't let it get away," I promised. "Perhaps it's just as well I'm +not over-enthusiastic about it." + +"Let me know as soon as you have any news," he said, and opened the +door for me. + +I had intended walking home, but as I turned up the Avenue, I met +sweeping down it a flood of girls just released from the workshops of +the neighbourhood. I struggled against it for a few moments, then +gave it up, hailed a cab, and settled back against the cushions with +a sigh of relief. I was glad to be out of Vantine's house; something +there oppressed me and left me ill at ease. Was Vantine quite normal, +I wondered? Could any man be normal who was willing to pay a hundred +thousand dollars for a piece of furniture? Especially a man who could +not afford such extravagance? I knew the size of Vantine's fortune; +it was large, but a hundred thousand dollars represented more than a +year's income. And then I smiled to myself. Of course Vantine had +been merely jesting when he named that limit. The cabinet could be +bought for a tenth of it, at the most. And, still smiling, I left the +cab, paid the driver, and mounted to my rooms. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE THUNDERBOLT + + +It was about eight o'clock that evening that Godfrey tapped at my +door, and when I let him in, I could tell by the way his eyes were +shining that he had some news. + +"I can't stay long," he said. "I've got to get down to the office and +put the finishing touches on that story;" but nevertheless he took +the cigar I proffered him and sank into the chair opposite my own. + +I knew Godfrey, so I waited patiently until the cigar was going +nicely, then-- + +"Well?" I asked. + +"It's like old times, isn't it, Lester?" and he smiled across at me. +"How many conferences have we had in this room? How many of your +cigars have I made away with?" + +"Not half enough recently," I said. "You haven't been here for +months." + +"I'm sure to drift back, sooner or later, because you seem to have a +knack of getting in on the interesting cases. And I want to say this, +Lester, that of all I ever had, not one has promised better than +this one does. If it only keeps up--but one mustn't expect too much!" + +"You've been working on it, of course?" + +"I haven't been idle, and just now I'm feeling rather pleased with +myself. The coroner's physician finished his post-mortem half an hour +or so ago." + +"Well?" I said again. + +"The stomach was absolutely normal. It showed no trace of poison of +any kind." + +He stretched himself, lay back in his chair, sent a smoke-ring +circling toward the ceiling, and watched it, smiling absently. + +"Rather a facer for our friend Goldberger," he added, after a minute. + +"What's the matter with Goldberger? He seemed rather peeved with you +this afternoon." + +"No wonder. He's Grady's man, and we're after Grady. Grady isn't fit +to head the detective bureau--he got the job through his pull with +Tammany--he's stupid, and I suspect he's crooked. The _Record_ says +he has got to go." + +"So, of course, he _will_ go," I commented, smiling. + +"He certainly will," assented Godfrey seriously, "and that before +long. But meanwhile it's a little difficult for me, because his +people don't know which way to jump. Once he's out, everything will +be serene again." + +I wasn't interested in Grady, so I came back to the case in hand. + +"Look here, Godfrey," I said, "if it wasn't poison, what was it?" + +"But it _was_ poison." + +"Inserted at the hand?" + +He nodded. + +"Goldberger says there's no poison known which could be used that way +and which would act so quickly." + +"Goldberger is right in that," agreed Godfrey; "but there's a poison +unknown that will--because it did." + +"It wasn't a snake bite?" + +"Oh, no; snake poison wouldn't kill a man that quickly--not even a +fer-de-lance. That fellow practically dropped where he was struck." + +"Then what was it?" + +Godfrey was sitting erect again. He was not smiling now. His face was +very stern. + +"That is what I am going to find out, Lester," he said; "that is the +problem I've set myself to solve--and it's a pretty one. There is one +thing certain--that fellow was killed by some agency outside himself. +In some way, a drop or two of poison was introduced into his blood by +an instrument something like a hypodermic needle; and that poison was +so powerful that almost instantly it caused paralysis of the heart. +After all, that isn't so remarkable as it might seem. The blood in +the veins of the hand would be carried back to the heart in four or +five seconds." + +"But you've already said there's no poison so powerful as all that." + +"I said we didn't know of any. I wouldn't be so sure that Catherine +de Medici didn't." + +"What has Catherine de Medici to do with it?" + +"Nothing--except that what has been done may always be done again. +Those old stories are, no doubt, exaggerated; but it seems fairly +certain that the Queen of Navarre was killed with a pair of poisoned +gloves, the Duc d'Anjou with the scent of a poisoned rose, and the +Prince de Porcian with the smoke of a poisoned lamp. This case isn't +as extraordinary as those." + +"No," I agreed, and fell silent, shivering a little, for there is +something horrible and revolting about the poisoner. + +"After all," went on Godfrey, at last, "there is one thing that +neither you nor I nor any reasonable man can believe, and that is +that this Frenchman came from heaven knows where--from Paris, +perhaps--with Vantine's address in his pocket, and hunted up the +house and made his way into it simply to kill himself there. He had +some other object, and he met his death while trying to accomplish +it." + +"Have you found out who he is?" + +"No; he's not registered at any of the hotels; the French consul +never heard of him; he belongs to none of the French societies; he's +not known in the French quarter. He seems to have dropped in from the +clouds. We've cabled our Paris office to look him up; we may hear +from there to-night. But even if we discover the identity of +Theophile d'Aurelle, it won't help us any." + +"Why not?" I demanded. + +"Because it is evident that that isn't his name." + +"Go ahead and tell me, Godfrey," I said, as he looked at me, smiling. +"I don't see it." + +"Why, it's plain enough. He had five cards in his pocket, no two +alike. The sixth, selected probably at random, he had sent up to +Vantine." + +I saw it then, of course; and I felt a good deal as the Spanish +savants must have felt when Columbus stood the egg on end. Godfrey +smiled again at my expression. + +"The real d'Aurelle, whoever he may turn out to be, may be able to +help us," he added. "If he can't, we may learn something from the +Paris police. The dead man's Bertillon measurements have been cabled +over to them. Even that won't help, if he has never been arrested. +And, of course, we can't get at motives until we find out something +about him." + +"But, Godfrey," I said, "suppose you knew who he was and what he +wanted with Vantine--suppose you could make a guess at who killed +him and why--how was it done? That is what stumps me. How was it +done?" + +"Ah!" agreed Godfrey. "That's it! How was it done? I told you it was +a pretty case, Lester. But wait till we hear from Paris." + +"That reminds me," I said, sitting up suddenly, "I've got to cable to +Paris myself, on some business for Mr. Vantine." + +"Not connected with this affair?" + +"Oh, no; his shippers over there sent him a piece of furniture that +doesn't belong to him. He asked me to straighten the matter out." + +I rang for the hall-boy, asked for a cable-blank, and sent off a +message to Armand & Son, telling them of the mistake and asking them +to cable the name of the owner of the cabinet now in Mr. Vantine's +possession. Godfrey sat smoking reflectively while I was thus +engaged, staring straight before him with eyes that saw nothing; but +as I sat down again and took up my pipe, ready to continue the +conversation, he gave himself a sort of shake, put on his hat, and +got to his feet. + +"I must be moving along," he said. "There's no use sitting here +theorising until we have some sort of foundation to build on." + +"Goldberger was right in one thing," I remarked. "He pointed out, +after you left, that most crimes are not romances, but mere +brutalities. Perhaps this one--" + +The ringing of my telephone stopped me. + +"Hello," I said, taking down the receiver. + +"Is that you, Mr. Lester?" asked a voice. + +"Yes." + +"This is Parks," and I suddenly realised that his voice was +unfamiliar because it was hoarse and quivering with emotion. "Could +you come down to the house right away, sir?" + +"Why, yes," I said, wonderingly, "if it's important. Does Mr. Vantine +need me?" + +"We all need you!" said the voice, and broke into a dry sob. "For +God's sake, come quick, Mr. Lester!" + +"All right," I said without further parley, for evidently he had lost +his self-control. "Something has happened down at Vantine's," I added +to Godfrey, as I hung up the receiver. "Parks seems to be scared to +death. He wants me to come down right away," and I reached for my hat +and coat. + +"Shall I come, too?" asked Godfrey. + +Even under the stress of the moment, I could not but smile at the +question and at the tone in which it was uttered. + +"Perhaps you'd better," I agreed. "It sounded pretty serious." + +We went down together in the elevator, and three minutes later we had +hailed a taxi and were speeding eastward toward the Avenue. It had +started to drizzle, and the asphalt shone like a black mirror, +dancing with the lights along either side. The streets were almost +empty, for the theatre-crowd had passed, and as we reached the Avenue +and turned down-town, the driver pushed up his spark, and we hurtled +along toward Fourteenth street at a speed which made me think of the +traffic regulations. But no policeman interfered, and five minutes +later we drew up before the Vantine place. + +Parks must have been on the front steps looking for me, for he came +running down them almost before the car had stopped. I caught a +glimpse of his face under the street lights, as I thrust a bill into +the driver's hand, and it fairly startled me. + +"Is it you, Mr. Lester?" he gasped. "Good God, but I'm glad you're +here--" + +I caught him by the arm. + +"Steady, man," I said. "Don't let yourself go to pieces. Now--what +has happened?" + +He seemed to take a sort of desperate grip of himself. + +"I'll show you, sir," he said, and ran up the steps, along the hall, +to the door of the ante-room where we had found the Frenchman's body. +"In there, sir!" he sobbed. "In there!" and clung to the wall as I +opened the door and stepped inside. + +The room was ablaze with light, and for an instant my eyes were so +dazzled that I could distinguish nothing. Dimly I saw Godfrey spring +forward and drop to his knees. + +Then my eyes cleared, and I saw, on the very spot where d'Aurelle had +died, another body--or was it the same, brought back that the +tragedy of the afternoon might, in some mysterious way, be re-enacted? + +I remember bending over and peering into the face-- + +It was the face of Philip Vantine. + +A minute must have passed as I stood there dazed and shaken. I was +conscious, in a way, that Godfrey was examining him. Then I heard his +voice. + +"He's dead," he said. + +Then there was an instant's silence. + +"Lester, look here!" cried Godfrey's voice, sharp, insistent. "For +God's sake, look here!" + +Godfrey was kneeling there holding something toward me. + +"Look here!" he cried again. + +It was the dead man's hand he was holding; the right hand; a swollen +and discoloured hand. And on the back of it, just above the knuckles, +were two tiny wounds, from which a few drops of blood had trickled. + +And as I stared at this ghastly sight, scarce able to believe my +eyes, I heard a choking voice behind me, saying over and over again: + +"It was that woman done it! It was that woman done it! Damn her! It +was that woman done it!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GRADY TAKES A HAND + + +I have no very clear remembrance of what happened after that. The +shock was so great that I had just strength enough to totter to a +chair and drop into it, and sit there staring vaguely at that dark +splotch on the carpet. I told myself that I was the victim of a +dreadful nightmare; that all this was the result of over-wrought +nerves and that I should wake presently. No doubt I had been working +too hard. I needed a vacation--well, I would take it.... + +And all the time I knew that it was not a nightmare, but grim +reality; that Philip Vantine was dead--killed by a woman. Who had +told me that? And then I remembered the sobbing voice.... + +Two or three persons came into the room--Parks and the other +servants, I suppose; I heard Godfrey's voice giving orders; and +finally someone held a glass to my lips and commanded me to drink. I +did so mechanically; coughed, spluttered, was conscious of a grateful +warmth, and drank eagerly again. And then I saw Godfrey standing over +me. + +"Feel better?" he asked. + +I nodded. + +"I don't wonder it knocked you out," he went on. "I'm feeling shaky +myself. I had them call Vantine's physician--but he can't do +anything." + +"He's dead, then?" I murmured, my eyes on that dark and crumpled +object which had been Philip Vantine. + +"Yes--just like the other." + +Then I remembered, and I caught his arm and drew him down to me. + +"Godfrey," I whispered, "whose voice was it--or did I dream it +--something about a woman?" + +"You didn't dream it--it was Rogers--he's almost hysterical. We'll +get the story, as soon as he quiets down." + +Someone called him from the door, and he turned away, leaving me +staring blankly at nothing. So there had been a woman in Vantine's +life! Perhaps that was why he had never married. What ugly skeleton +was to be dragged from its closet? + +But if a woman killed Vantine, the same woman also killed d'Aurelle. +Where was her hiding-place? From what ambush did she strike? + +I glanced about the room, as a tremor of horror seized me. I arose, +shaking, from the chair and groped my way toward the door. Godfrey +heard me coming, swung around, and, with one glance at my face, came +to me and caught me by the arms. + +"What is it, Lester?" he asked. + +"I can't stand it here," I gasped. "It's too horrible!" + +"Don't think about it. Come out here and have another drink." + +He led me into the hall, and a second glass of brandy gave me back +something of my self-control. I was ashamed of my weakness, but when +I glanced at Godfrey, I saw how white his face was. + +"Better take a drink yourself," I said. + +I heard the decanter rattle on the glass. + +"I don't know when I have been so shaken," he said, setting the glass +down empty. "It was so gruesome--so unexpected--and then Rogers +carrying on like a madman. Ah, here's the doctor," he added, as the +front door opened and Parks showed a man in. + +I knew Dr. Hughes, of course, returned his nod, and followed him and +Godfrey into the ante-room. But I had not yet sufficiently recovered +to do more than sit and stare at him as he knelt beside the body and +assured himself that life had fled. Then I heard Godfrey telling him +all we knew, while Hughes listened with incredulous face. + +"But it's absurd, you know!" he protested, when Godfrey had finished. +"Things like this don't happen here in New York. In Florence, +perhaps, in the Middle Ages; but not here in the twentieth century!" + +"I can scarcely believe my own senses," Godfrey agreed. "But I saw +the Frenchman lying here this afternoon; and now here's Vantine." + +"On the same spot?" + +"As nearly as I can tell." + +"And killed in the same way?" + +"Killed in precisely the same way." + +Hughes turned back to the body again, and looked long and earnestly +at the injured hand. + +"What sort of instrument made this wound, would you say, Mr. +Godfrey?" he questioned, at last. + +"A sharp instrument, with two prongs. My theory is that the prongs +are hollow, like a hypodermic needle, and leave a drop or two of +poison at the bottom of the wound. You see a vein has been cut." + +"Yes," Hughes assented. "It would scarcely be possible to pierce the +hand here without striking a vein. One of the prongs would be sure to +do it." + +"That's the reason there are two of them, I fancy." + +"But you are, of course, aware that no poison exists which would act +so quickly?" Hughes inquired. + +Godfrey looked at him strangely. + +"You yourself mentioned Florence a moment ago," he said. "You meant, +I suppose, that such a poison did, at one time, exist there?" + +"Something of the sort, perhaps," agreed Hughes. "The words were +purely instinctive, but I suppose some such thought was running +through my head." + +"Well, the poison that existed in Florence five centuries ago, exists +here to-day. There's the proof of it," and Godfrey pointed to the +body. + +Hughes drew a deep breath of wonder and horror. + +"But what sort of devilish instrument is it?" he cried, his nerves +giving way for an instant, his voice mounting shrilly. "Above all, +who wields it?" + +He stared about the room, as though half-expecting to see some mighty +and remorseless arm poised, ready to strike. Then he shook himself +together. + +"I beg pardon," he said, mopping the sweat from his face; "but I'm +not used to this sort of thing; and I'm frightened--yes, I really +believe I'm frightened," and he laughed, a little unsteady laugh. + +"So am I," said Godfrey; "so is Lester; so is everybody. You needn't +be ashamed of it." + +"What frightens me," went on Hughes, evidently studying his own +symptoms, "is the mystery of it--there is something supernatural +about it--something I can't understand. How does it happen that each +of the victims is struck on the right hand? Why not the left hand? +Why the hand at all?" + +Godfrey answered with a despairing shrug. + +"That is what we've got to find out," he said. + +"We shall have to call in the police," suggested Hughes. "Maybe they +can solve it." + +Godfrey smiled, a little sceptical smile, quickly suppressed. + +"At least, they will have to be given the chance," he agreed. "Shall +I attend to it?" + +"Yes," said Hughes; "and you would better do it right away. The +sooner they get here the better." + +"Very well," assented Godfrey, and left the room. + +Hughes sat down heavily on the couch near the window, and mopped his +face again, with a shaking hand. Death he was accustomed to--but +death met decently in bed and resulting from some understood cause. +Death in this horrible and mysterious form shook him; he could not +understand it, and his failure to understand appalled him. He was a +physician; it was his business to understand; and yet here was death +in a form as mysterious to him as to the veriest layman. It compelled +him to pause and take stock of himself--always a disconcerting +process to the best of us! + +That was a trying half hour. Hughes sat on the couch, breathing +heavily, staring at the floor, perhaps passing his own ignorance in +review, perhaps wondering if he had always been right in prescribing +this or that. As for me, I was thinking of my dead friend. I +remembered Philip Vantine as I had always known him--a kindly, witty, +Christian gentleman. I could see his pleasant eyes looking at me in +friendship, as they had looked a few hours before; I could hear his +voice, could feel the clasp of his hand. That such a man should be +killed like this, struck down by a mysterious assassin, armed with a +poisoned weapon.... + +A woman! Always my mind came back to that. A woman! Poison was a +woman's weapon. But who was she? How had she escaped? Where had she +concealed herself? How was she able to strike so surely? Above all, +why should she have chosen Philip Vantine, of all men, for her +victim--Philip Vantine, who had never injured any woman--and then I +paused. For I realised that I knew nothing of Vantine, except what he +had chosen to tell me. Parks would know. And then I shrank from the +thought. Must we probe that secret? Must we compel a man to betray +his master? + +My face was burning. No, we could not do that--that would be +abominable.... + +The door opened and Godfrey came in. This time, he was not alone. +Simmonds and Goldberger followed him, and their faces showed that +they were as shaken and nonplussed as I. There was a third man with +them whom I did not know; but I soon found out that it was +Freylinghuisen, the coroner's physician. + +They all looked at the body, and Freylinghuisen knelt beside it and +examined the injured hand; then he sat down by Dr. Hughes, and they +were soon deep in a low-toned conversation, whose subject I could +guess. I could also guess what Simmonds and Godfrey were talking +about in the farther corner; but I could not guess why Goldberger, +instead of getting to work, should be walking up and down, pulling +impatiently at his moustache and glancing at his watch now and then. +He seemed to be waiting for some one, but not until twenty minutes +later did I suspect who it was. Then the door opened again to admit a +short, heavy-set man, with florid face, stubbly black moustache, and +little, close-set eyes, preternaturally bright. He glanced about the +room, nodded to Goldberger, and then looked inquiringly at me. + +"This is Mr. Lester, Commissioner Grady," said Goldberger, and I +realised that the chief of the detective bureau had come up from +headquarters to take personal charge of the case. + +"Mr. Lester is Mr. Vantine's attorney," the coroner added, in +explanation. + +"Glad to know you, Mr. Lester," said Grady, shortly. + +"And now, I guess, we're ready to begin," went on the coroner. + +"Not quite," said Grady, grimly. "We'll excuse all reporters, first," +and he looked across at Godfrey, his face darkening. + +I felt my own face flushing, and started to protest, but Godfrey +silenced me with a little gesture. + +"It's all right, Lester," he said. "Mr. Grady is quite within his +rights. I'll withdraw--until he sends for me." + +"You'll have a long wait, then!" retorted Grady, with a sarcastic +laugh. + +"The longer I wait, the worse it will be for you, Mr. Grady," said +Godfrey quietly, opened the door and closed it behind him. + +Grady stared after him for a moment in crimson amazement. Then, +mastering himself with an effort, he turned to the coroner. + +"All right, Goldberger," he said, and sat down to watch the +proceedings. + +A very few minutes sufficed for Hughes and Freylinghuisen and I to +tell all we knew of this tragedy and of the one which had preceded +it. Grady seemed already acquainted with the details of d'Aurelle's +death, for he listened without interrupting, only nodding from time +to time. + +"You've got a list of the servants here, of course, Simmonds," he +said, when we had finished the story. + +"Yes, sir," and Simmonds handed it to him. "H-m," said Grady, as he +glanced it over. "Five of 'em. Know anything about 'em?" + +"They've all been with Mr. Vantine a long time, sir," replied +Simmonds. "So far as I've been able to judge, they're all right." + +"Which one of 'em found Vantine's body?" + +"Parks, I think," I said. "It was he who called me." + +"Better have him in," said Grady, and doubled up the list and slipped +it into his pocket. + +Parks came in looking decidedly shaky; but answered Grady's questions +clearly and concisely. He told first of the events of the afternoon, +and then passed on to the evening. + +"Mr. Vantine had dinner at home, sir," he said. "It was served, I +think, at seven o'clock. He must have finished a little after +seven-thirty. I didn't see him, for I was straightening things around +up in his room and putting his clothes away. But he told Rogers--" + +"Never mind what he told Rogers," broke in Grady. "Just tell us what +you know." + +"Very well, sir," said Parks, submissively. "I had a lot of work to +do--we just got back from Europe yesterday, you know--and I kept on, +putting things in their places and straightening around, and it must +have been half-past eight when I heard Rogers yelling for me. I +thought the house was on fire, and I come down in a hurry. Rogers was +standing out there in the hall, looking like he'd seen a ghost. He +kind of gasped and pointed to this room, and I looked in and saw Mr. +Vantine laying there--" + +His voice choked at the words, but he managed to go on, after a +moment. + +"Then I telephoned for Mr. Lester," he added, "and that's all I +know." + +"Very well," said Grady. "That's all for the present. Send Rogers +in." + +Rogers's face, as he entered the room, gave me a kind of shock, for +it was that of a man on the verge of hysteria. He was a man of about +fifty, with iron-grey hair, and a smooth-shaven face, ordinarily +ruddy with health. But now his face was livid, his cheeks lined and +shrunken, his eyes blood-shot and staring. He reeled rather than +walked into the room, one hand clutching at his throat, as though he +were choking. + +"Get him a chair," said Grady, and Simmonds brought one forward and +remained standing beside it. "Now, my man," Grady continued, "you'll +have to brace up. What's the matter with you, anyhow? Didn't you ever +see a dead man before?" + +"It ain't that," gasped Rogers. "It ain't that--though I never saw a +murdered man before." + +"What?" demanded Grady, sharply. "Didn't you see that fellow this +afternoon?" + +"That was different," Rogers moaned. "I didn't know him. Besides, I +thought he'd killed himself. We all thought so." + +"And you don't think Vantine did?" + +"I know he didn't," and Rogers's voice rose to a shrill scream. "It +was that woman done it! Damn her! She done it! I knowed she was up to +some crooked work when I let her in!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE WOMAN IN THE CASE + + +It was coming now; the secret, however sordid, however ugly, was to +be unveiled. I saw Grady's face set in hard lines; I could hear the +stir of interest with which the others leaned forward.... + +Grady took a flask from his pocket and opened it. + +"Take a drink of this," he said, and placed it in Rogers's hand. + +I could hear the mouth of the flask clattering against his teeth, as +he put it eagerly to his mouth and took three or four long swallows. + +"Thank you, sir," he said, more steadily, and handed the flask back +to its owner. A little colour crept into his face; but I fancied +there was a new look in his eyes--for, as the horror faded, fear took +its place. + +Grady screwed the cap on the flask with great deliberation, and +returned it to his pocket. And all the time Rogers was watching him +furtively, wiping his mouth mechanically with a trembling hand. + +"Now, Rogers," Grady began, "I want you to take your time and tell us +in detail everything that happened here to-night. You say a woman did +it. Well, we want to hear all about that woman. Now go ahead; and +remember there's no hurry." + +"Well, sir," began Rogers slowly, as though carefully considering his +words, "Mr. Vantine came out from dinner about half-past seven--maybe +a little later than that--and told me to light all the lights in here +and in the next room. You see there are gas and electrics both, sir, +and I lighted them all. He had gone into the music-room on the other +side of the hall, so I went over there and told him the lights were +all lit. He was looking at a new picture he'd bought, but he left it +right away and come out into the hall. + +"'I don't want to be disturbed, Rogers,' he said, and come in here +and shut the door after him. + +"It was maybe twenty minutes after that that the door-bell rung, and +when I opened the door, there was a woman standing on the steps." + +He stopped and swallowed once or twice, as though his throat was dry, +and I saw that his fingers were twitching nervously. + +"Did you know her?" questioned Grady. + +Rogers loosened his collar with a convulsive movement. + +"No, sir, I'd never seen her before," he answered hoarsely. + +"Describe her." + +Rogers closed his eyes, as though in an effort of recollection. + +"She wore a heavy veil, sir, so that I couldn't see her very well; +but the first thing I noticed was her eyes--they were so bright, they +seemed to burn right through me. Her face looked white behind her +veil, and I could see how red her lips were--I didn't like her looks, +sir, from the first." + +"How was she dressed?" + +"In a dark gown, sir, cut so skimpy that I knowed she was French +before she spoke." + +"Ah!" said Grady. "She was French, was she?" + +"Yes, sir; though she could speak some English. She asked for Mr. +Vantine. I told her Mr. Vantine was busy. And then she said something +very fast about how she must see him, and all the time she kept +edging in and in, till the first thing I knowed she was inside the +door, and then she just pulled the door out of my hand and shut it. I +ask you, sir, is that the way a lady would behave?" + +"No," said Grady, "I dare say not. But go ahead,--and take your +time." + +Rogers had regained his self-confidence, and he went ahead almost +glibly. + +"'See here, madam,' says I, 'we've had enough trouble here to-day +with Frenchies, and if you don't get out quietly, why, I'll have to +put you out.' + +"'I must see Mistaire Vangtine,' she says, very fast. 'I must see +Mistaire Vangtine. It is most necessaire that I see Mistaire +Vangtine.' + +"'Then I'll have to put you out,' says I, and took hold of her arm. +And at that she screamed and jerked herself away; and I grabbed her +again, and just then Mr. Vantine opened the door there and came out +into the hall. + +"'What's all this, Rogers?' he says. 'Who is this party?' + +"But before I could answer, that wild cat had rushed over to him and +begun to reel off a string of French so fast I wondered how she got +her breath. And Mr. Vantine looked at her kind of surprised at first, +and then he got more interested, and finally he asked her in here and +shut the door, and that was the last I saw of them." + +"You mean you didn't let the woman out?" demanded Grady. + +"Yes, sir, that's just what I mean. I thought if Mr. Vantine wanted +to talk with her, well and good; that was his business, not mine; so +I went back to the pantry to help the cook with the silver, expecting +to hear the bell every minute. But the bell didn't ring, and after +maybe half an hour, I came out into the hall again to see if the +woman had gone; and I walked past the door of this room but didn't +hear nothing; and then I went on to the front door, and was surprised +to find it wasn't latched." + +"Maybe you hadn't latched it," suggested Grady. + +"It has a snap-lock, sir; when that woman slammed it shut, I heard it +catch." + +"You're sure of that?" + +"Quite sure, sir." + +"What did you do then?" + +"I closed the door, sir, and then come back along the hall. I felt +uneasy, some way; and I stood outside the door there listening; but I +couldn't hear nothing; and then I tapped, but there wasn't no answer; +so I tapped louder, with my heart somehow working right up into my +mouth. And still there wasn't no answer, so I just opened the door +and looked in--and the first thing I see was him--" + +Rogers stopped suddenly, and caught at his throat again. + +"I'll be all right in a minute, sir," he gasped. "It takes me this +way sometimes." + +"No hurry," Grady assured him, and then, when his breath was coming +easier, "What did you do then?" + +"I was so scared I couldn't scarcely stand, sir; but I managed to get +to the foot of the stairs and yell for Parks, and he come running +down--and that's all I remember, sir." + +"The woman wasn't here?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did you look through the rooms?" + +"No, sir; when I found the front door open, I knowed she'd gone out. +She hadn't shut the door because she was afraid I'd hear her." + +"That sounds probable," agreed Grady. "But what makes you think she +killed Vantine?" + +"Well, sir," answered Rogers, slowly, "I guess I oughtn't to have +said that; but finding the door open that way, and then coming on Mr. +Vantine sort of upset me--I didn't know just what I was saying." + +"You don't think so now, then?" questioned Grady, sharply. + +"I don't know what to think, sir." + +"You say you never saw the woman before?" + +"Never, sir." + +"Had she ever been here before?" + +"I don't think so, sir. The first thing she asked was if this was +where Mr. Vantine lived." + +Grady nodded. + +"Very good, Rogers," he said. "I'll be offering you a place on the +force next. Would you know this woman if you saw her again?" + +Rogers hesitated. + +"I wouldn't like to say sure, sir," he answered, at last. "I might +and I might not." + +"Red lips and a white face and bright eyes aren't much to go on," +Grady pointed out. "Can't you give us a closer description?" + +"I'm afraid not, sir. I just got a general impression, like, of her +face through her veil." + +"You say you didn't search these rooms?" + +"No, sir, I didn't come inside the door." + +"Why not?" + +"I was afraid to, sir." + +"Afraid to?" + +"Yes, sir; I'm afraid to be here now." + +"Did Parks come in?" + +"No, sir; I guess he felt the same way I did." + +"Then how did you know Vantine was dead? Why didn't you try to help +him?" + +"One look was enough to tell me that wasn't no use," said Rogers, and +glanced, with visible horror, at the crumpled form on the floor. + +Grady looked at him keenly for a moment; but there seemed to be no +reason to doubt his story. Then the detective looked about the room. + +"There's one thing I don't understand," he said, "and that is why +Vantine should want all these lights. What was he doing in here?" + +"I couldn't be sure, sir; but I suppose he was looking at the +furniture he brought over from Europe. He was a collector, you know, +sir. There are five or six pieces in the next room." + +Without a word, Grady arose and passed into the room adjoining, we +after him; only Rogers remained seated where he was. I remember +glancing back over my shoulder and noting how he huddled forward in +his chair, as though crushed by a great weight, the instant our backs +were turned. + +But I forgot Rogers in contemplation of the scene before me. + +The inner room was ablaze with light, and the furniture stood +hap-hazard about it, just as I had seen it earlier in the day. Only +one thing had been moved. That was the Boule cabinet. + +It had been carried to the centre of the room, and placed in the full +glare of the light from the chandelier. It stood there blazing with +arrogant beauty, a thing apart. + +Who had helped Vantine place it there, I wondered? Neither Rogers nor +Parks had mentioned doing so. I turned back to the outer room. + +Rogers was sitting crouched forward in his chair, his hands over his +eyes, and I could feel him jerk with nervousness as I touched him on +the shoulder. + +"Oh, is it you, Mr. Lester?" he gasped. "Pardon me, sir; I'm not at +all myself, sir." + +"I can see that," I said, soothingly; "and no wonder. I just wanted +to ask you--did you help move any of the furniture in the room +yonder?" + +"Help move it, sir?" + +"Yes--help change the position of any of it since this afternoon?" + +"No, sir; I haven't touched any of it, sir." + +"That's all right, then," I said, and turned back into the inner +room. + +Vantine had said that he intended examining the cabinet in detail at +the first opportunity; I remembered how his eyes had gleamed as he +looked at it; how his hand had trembled as he caressed the +arabesques. No doubt he was making that examination when he had heard +a woman's cry and had gone out into the hall to see what the matter +was. + +Then he and the woman had entered the ante-room together; he had +closed the door; and then.... + +Like a lightning-flash, a thought leaped into my brain--a reason--an +explanation--wild, improbable, absurd, but still an explanation! + +I choked back the cry which rose to my lips; I gripped my hands +behind me, in a desperate attempt to hold myself in check; and, +fascinated as by a deadly serpent, I stood staring at the cabinet. + +For there, I felt certain, lay the clue to the mystery! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ROGERS GETS A SHOCK + + +Grady, Simmonds and Goldberger examined the room minutely, for they +seemed to feel that the secret of the tragedy lay somewhere within +its four walls; but I watched them only absently, for I had lost +interest in the procedure. I was perfectly sure that they would find +nothing in any way bearing upon the mystery. I heard Grady comment +upon the fact that there was no door except the one opening into the +ante-room, and saw them examine the window-catches. + +"Nobody could raise these windows without alarming the house," Grady +said, and pointed to a tiny wire running along the woodwork. "There's +a burglar alarm." + +Simmonds assented, and finally the trio returned to the ante-room. + +"We'd like to look over the rest of the house," Grady said to Rogers, +who was sitting erect again, looking more like himself, and the four +men went out into the hall together. I remained behind with Hughes +and Freylinghuisen. They had lifted the body to the couch and were +making a careful examination of it. Heavy at heart, I sat down near +by and watched them. + +That Philip Vantine should have been killed by enthusiasm for the +hobby which had given him so much pleasure seemed the very irony of +fate, yet such I believed to be the case. To be sure, there were +various incidents which seemed to conflict with such a theory, and +the theory itself seemed wild to the point of absurdity; but at least +it was a ray of light in what had been utter darkness. I turned it +over and over in my mind, trying to fit into it the happenings of the +day--I must confess with very poor success. Freylinghuisen's voice +brought me out of my reverie. + +"The two cases are precisely alike," he was saying. "The symptoms are +identical. And I'm certain we shall find paralysis of the heart and +spinal cord in this case, just as I did in the other. Both men were +killed by the same poison." + +"Can you make a guess as to the nature of the poison?" Hughes +inquired. + +"Some variant of hydrocyanic acid, I fancy--the odour indicates +that; but it must be about fifty times as deadly as hydrocyanic acid +is." + +They wandered away into a discussion of possible variants, so +technical and be-sprinkled with abstruse words and formulae that I +could not follow them. Freylinghuisen, of course, had all this sort +of thing at his fingers' ends--post-mortems were his every-day +occupation, and no doubt he had been furbishing himself up, since +this last one, in preparation for the inquest, where he would +naturally wish to shine. I could see that he enjoyed displaying his +knowledge before Hughes, who, although a family practitioner of high +standing, with an income greater than Freylinghuisen's many times +over, had no such expert knowledge of toxicology as a coroner's +physician would naturally possess. + +The two detectives and the coroner came back while the discussion was +still in progress and listened in silence to Freylinghuisen's +statement of the case. Grady's mahogany face told absolutely nothing +of what was passing in his brain, but Simmonds was plainly +bewildered. It was evident from his look that nothing had been found +to shed any light on the mystery; and now that his suicide theory had +fallen to pieces, he was completely at sea. So, I suspected, was +Grady, but he was too self-composed to betray it. + +The coroner drew the two physicians aside and talked to them for a +few moments in a low tone. Then he turned to Grady. + +"Freylinghuisen thinks there is no necessity for a post-mortem," he +said. "The symptoms are in every way identical with those of the +other man who was killed here this afternoon. There can be no +question that both of them died from the same cause. He is ready to +make his return to that effect." + +"Very well," assented Grady. "The body can be turned over to the +relatives, then." + +"There aren't any relatives," I said; "at least, no near ones. +Vantine was the last of this branch of the family. I happen to know +that our firm has been named as his executors in his will, so, if +there is no objection, I'll take charge of things." + +"Very well, Mr. Lester," said Grady again; and then he looked at me. +"Do you know the provisions of the will?" he asked. + +"I do." + +"In the light of those provisions, do you know of any one who would +have an interest in Vantine's death?" + +"I think I may tell you the provisions," I said, after a moment. +"With the exception of a few legacies to his servants, his whole +fortune is left to the Metropolitan Museum of Art." + +"You have been his attorney for some time?" + +"We have been his legal advisers for many years." + +"Have you ever learned that he had an enemy?" + +"No," I answered instantly; "so far as I know, he had not an enemy on +earth." + +"He was never married, I believe?" + +"No." + +"Was he ever, to your knowledge, involved with a woman?" + +"No," I said again. "I was astounded when I heard Rogers's story." + +"So you can give us no hint as to this woman's identity?" + +"I only wish I could!" I said, with fervour. + +"Thank you, Mr. Lester," and Grady turned to Simmonds. "I don't see +that there is anything more we can do here," he added. "There's one +thing, though, Mr. Lester, I will have to ask you to do. That is to +keep all the servants here until after the inquest. If you think +there is any doubt of your ability to do that, we can, of course, put +them under arrest--" + +"Oh, that isn't necessary," I broke in. "I will be responsible for +their appearance at the inquest." + +"I'll have to postpone it a day," said Goldberger. "I want +Freylinghuisen to make some tests to-morrow. Besides, we've got to +identify d'Aurelle, and these gentlemen seem to have their work cut +out for them in finding this woman--" + +Grady looked at Goldberger in a way which indicated that he thought +he was talking too much, and the coroner stopped abruptly. A moment +later, all four men left the house. + +Dr. Hughes lingered for a last word. + +"The undertaker had better be called at once," he said. "It won't do +to delay too long." + +I knew what he meant. Already the face of the dead man was showing +certain ugly discolourations. + +"I can send him around on my way home," he added, and I thanked him +for assuming this unpleasant duty. + +As the door closed behind him, I heard a step on the stair, and +turned to see Godfrey calmly descending. + +"I came in a few minutes ago," he explained, in answer to my look, +"and have been glancing around upstairs. Nothing there. How did our +friend Grady get along?" + +"Fairly well; but if he guesses anything, his face didn't show it." + +"His face never shows anything, because there's nothing to show. He +has cultivated that sibylline look until people think he's a wonder. +But he's simply a stupid ignoramus." + +"Oh, come, Godfrey," I protested, "you're prejudiced. He went right +to the point. Do you know Rogers's story?" + +"About the woman? Certainly. Rogers told it to me before Grady +arrived." + +"Well," I commented, "you didn't lose any time." + +"I never do," he assented blandly. "And now I'm going to prove to you +that Grady is merely a stupid ignoramus. He has heard all the +evidence, but does he know who that woman was?" + +"Of course not," I said, and then I looked at him. "Do you mean that +you do? Then I'm an ignoramus, too!" + +"My dear Lester," protested Godfrey, "you are not a detective--that's +not your business; but it _is_ Grady's. At least, it is supposed to +be, and the safety of this city as a place of residence depends more +or less upon the truth of that assumption. On the strength of it, he +has been made deputy police commissioner, in charge of the detective +bureau." + +"Then you mean that you _do_ know who she was?" + +"I'm pretty sure I do--that is what I came back to prove. Where's +Rogers?" + +"I'll ring for him," I said, and did so, and presently he appeared. + +"Did you ring, sir?" he asked. + +He was still miserably nervous, but much more self-controlled than he +had been earlier in the evening. + +"Yes," I said. "Mr. Godfrey wishes to speak to you." + +It seemed to me that Rogers turned visibly paler; there was certainly +fear in the glance he turned upon my companion. But Godfrey smiled +reassuringly. + +"We'd better give him his instructions about the reporters, first +thing, hadn't we, Lester?" he inquired. + +"Which reporters?" I queried. + +"All the others, of course. They will be storming this house, Rogers, +before long. You will meet them at the door, you will refuse to admit +one of them; you will tell them that there is nothing to be learned +here, and that they must go to the police. Tell them that +Commissioner Grady himself is in charge of the case and will no doubt +be glad to talk to them. Is that right, Lester?" + +"Yes, Ulysses," I agreed, smiling. + +"And now," continued Godfrey, watching Rogers keenly, "I have a +photograph here that I want you to look at. Did you ever see that +person before?" and he handed a print to Rogers. + +The latter hesitated an instant, and then took the print with a +trembling hand. Stark fear was in his eyes again; then slowly he +raised the print to the light, glanced at it.... + +"Catch him, Lester!" Godfrey cried, and sprang forward. + +For Rogers, clutching wildly at his collar, spun half around and fell +with a crash. Godfrey's arm broke the fall somewhat, but as for me, I +was too dazed to move. + +"Get some water, quick!" Godfrey commanded sharply, as Parks came +running up. "Rogers has been taken ill." + +And then, as Parks sped down the hall again, I saw Godfrey loosen the +collar of the unconscious man and begin to chafe his temples +fiercely. + +"I hope it isn't apoplexy," he muttered. "I oughtn't to have shocked +him like that." + +At the words, I remembered; and, stooping, picked up the photograph +which had fluttered from Rogers's nerveless fingers. And then I, too, +uttered a smothered exclamation as I gazed at the dark eyes, the full +lips, the oval face--the face which d'Aurelle had carried in his +watch! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PRECAUTIONS + + +But it wasn't apoplexy. It was Parks who reassured us, when he came +hurrying back a minute later with a glass of water in one hand and a +small phial in the other. + +"He has these spells," he said. "It's a kind of vertigo. Give him a +whiff of this." + +He uncorked the phial and handed it to Godfrey, and I caught the +penetrating fumes of ammonia. A moment later, Rogers gasped +convulsively. + +"He'll be all right pretty soon," remarked Parks, with ready +optimism. "Though I never saw him quite so bad." + +"We can't leave him lying here on the floor," said Godfrey. + +"There's a couch-seat in the music-room," Parks suggested, and the +three of us bore the still unconscious man to it. + +Then Godfrey and I sat down and waited, while he gasped his way back +to life. + +"Though he can't really tell us much," Godfrey observed. "In fact, I +doubt if he'll be willing to tell anything. But his face, when he +looked at the picture, told us all we need to know." + +Thus reminded, I took the photograph out of the pocket into which I +had slipped it, and looked at it again. + +"Where did you get it?" I asked. + +"The police photographer made some copies. This is one of them." + +"But what made you suspect that the two women were the same?" + +"I don't just know," answered Godfrey, reflectively. "They were both +French--and Rogers spoke of the red lips; somehow it seemed probable. +Mr. Grady will find some things he doesn't know in to-morrow's +_Record_. But then he usually does. This time, I'm going to rub it +in. Hello," he added, "our friend is coming around." + +I looked at Rogers and saw that his eyes were open. They were staring +at us as though wondering who we were. Godfrey passed an arm under +his head and held the glass of water to his lips. + +"Take a swallow of this," he said, and Rogers obeyed mechanically, +still staring at him over the rim of the glass, "How do you feel?" + +"Pretty weak," Rogers answered, almost in a whisper. "Did I have a +fit?" + +"Something like that," said Godfrey, cheerfully; "but don't worry. +You'll soon be all right again." + +"What sent me off?" asked Rogers, and stared up at him. Then his face +turned purple, and I thought he was going off again. But after a +moment's heavy breathing, he lay quiet. "I remember now," he said. +"Let me see that picture again." + +I passed it to him. His hand was trembling so he could hardly take +it; but I saw he was struggling desperately to control himself, and +he managed to hold the picture up before his eyes and look at it with +apparent unconcern. + +"Do you know her?" Godfrey asked. + +To my infinite amazement, Rogers shook his head. + +"Never saw her before," he muttered. "When I first looked at her, I +thought I knew her; but it ain't the same woman." + +"Do you mean to say," Godfrey demanded sternly, "that that is not the +woman who called on Mr. Vantine to-night?" + +Again Rogers shook his head. + +"Oh, no," he protested; "it's not the same woman at all. This one is +younger." + +Godfrey made no reply; but he sat down and looked at Rogers, and +Rogers lay and gazed at the picture, and gradually his face softened, +as though at some tender memory. + +"Come, Rogers," I urged, at last. "You'd better tell us all you know. +If this is the woman, don't hesitate to say so." + +"I've told you all I know, Mr. Lester," said Rogers, but he did not +meet my eyes. "And I'm feeling pretty bad. I think I'd better be +getting to bed." + +"Yes, that's best," agreed Godfrey promptly. "Parks will help you," +and he held out his hand for the photograph. + +Rogers relinquished it with evident reluctance. He opened his lips as +though to ask a question; then closed them again, and got slowly to +his feet, Parks aiding him. + +"Good-night, gentlemen," he said weakly, and shuffled away, leaning +heavily on Parks's shoulder. + +"Well!" said I, looking at Godfrey. "What do you think of that?" + +"He's lying, of course. We've got to find out why he's lying and +bring it home to him. But it's getting late--I must get down to the +office. One word, Lester--be sure Rogers doesn't give you the slip." + +"I'll have him looked after," I promised. "But I fancy he'll be +afraid to run away. Besides, it is possible he's telling the truth. I +don't believe any woman had anything to do with either death." + +Godfrey turned, as he was starting away, and stopped to look at me. + +"Who did then?" he asked. + +"Nobody." + +"You mean they both suicided in that abnormal way?" + +"No, it wasn't suicide--they were killed--but not by a human being +--at least, not directly." I felt that I was floundering hopelessly, +and stopped. "I can't tell you now, Godfrey," I pleaded. "I haven't +had time to think it out. You've got enough for one day." + +"Yes," he smiled; "I've got enough for one day. And now good-bye. +Perhaps I'll look in on you about midnight, on my way home, if I get +through by then." + +I sighed. Godfrey's energy became a little wearing sometimes. I was +already longing for bed, and there remained so much to be done. But +he, after a day which I knew had been a hard one, and with a +many-column story still to write, was apparently as fresh and eager +as ever. + +"All right," I agreed. "If you see a light, come up. If there isn't +any light, I'll be in bed, and I'll kill you if you wake me." + +"Conditions accepted," he laughed, as I opened the door for him. + +Parks joined me as I turned back into the house. + +"I got Rogers to bed, sir," he said. "He'll be all right in the +morning. But he's a queer duck." + +"How long have you known him, Parks?" + +"He's been with Mr. Vantine about five years. I don't know much about +him; he's a silent kind of fellow, keeping to hisself a good deal and +sort of brooding over things. But he did his work all right, except +once in a while when he keeled over like he did to-night." + +"Parks," I said, suddenly, "I'm going to ask you a question. You know +that Mr. Vantine was a friend of mine, and I thought a great deal of +him. Now, what with this story Rogers tells, and one or two other +things, there is talk of a woman. Is there any foundation for talk of +that kind?" + +"No, sir," said Parks, emphatically. "I've been Mr. Vantine's valet +for eight years and more, and in all that time he has never been +mixed up with a woman in any shape or form. I always fancied he'd +loved a lady who died--I don't know what made me think so; but +anyhow, since I've known him, he never looked at a woman--not in +that way." + +"Thank you, Parks," I said, with a sigh of relief. "I've been through +so much to-day, that I felt I couldn't endure that; and now--" + +"Beg pardon, sir," said a voice at my elbow; "we have everything +ready, sir." + +I turned with a start to see a little, clean-shaven man standing +there, rubbing his hands softly together and gazing blandly up at me. + +"The undertaker's assistant, sir," explained Parks, seeing my look of +astonishment. "He came while you and Mr. Godfrey were in the +music-room. Dr. Hughes sent him." + +"Yes, sir," added the little man; "and we have the corpse ready for +the coffin. Very nice it looks, too; though it was a hard job. Was it +poison killed him, sir?" + +"Yes," I answered, with a feeling of nausea, "it was poison." + +"Very powerful poison, too, I should say, sir; we didn't get here +none too soon. Where shall we put the body, sir?" + +"Why not leave it where it is?" I asked, impatiently. + +"Very good, sir," said the man, and presently he and his assistant +took themselves off, to my intense relief. + +"And now, Parks," I began, "there is something I want to say to you. +Let us go somewhere and sit down." + +"Suppose we go up to the study, sir. You're looking regularly done +up, if you'll permit me to say so, sir. Shall I get you something?" + +"A brandy-and-soda," I assented; "and bring one for yourself." + +"Very good, sir," and a few minutes later we were sitting opposite +each other in the room where Vantine had offered me similar +refreshment not many hours before. I looked at Parks as he sat there, +and turned over in my mind what I had to say to him. I liked the man, +and I felt he could be trusted. At any rate, I had to take the risk. + +"Now, Parks," I began again, setting down my glass, "what I have to +say to you is very serious, and I want you to keep it to yourself: I +know that you were devoted to Mr. Vantine--I may as well tell you +that he has remembered you in his will--and I am sure you are willing +to do anything in your power to help solve the mystery of his death." + +"That I am, sir," Parks agreed, warmly. "I was very fond of him, sir; +nobody will miss him more than I will." + +I realised that the tragedy meant far more to Parks than it did even +to me, for he had lost not only a friend, but a means of livelihood, +and I looked at him with heightened sympathy. + +"I know how you feel," I said, "and I am counting on you to help me. +I have a sort of idea how his death came about. Only the vaguest +possible idea," I added hastily, as his eyes widened with interest; +"altogether too vague to be put into words. But I can say this much +--the mystery, whatever it is, is in the ante-room where the bodies +were found, or in the room next to it where the furniture is. Now, I +am going to lock up those rooms, and I want you to see that nobody +enters them without your knowledge." + +"Not very likely that anybody will want to enter them, sir," and +Parks laughed a grim little laugh. + +"I am not so sure of that," I dissented, speaking very seriously. "In +fact, I am of the opinion that there _is_ somebody who wants to enter +those rooms very badly. I don't know who he is, and I don't know what +he is after; but I am going to make it your business to keep him out, +and to capture him if you catch him trying to get in." + +"Trust me for that, sir," said Parks promptly. "What is it you want +me to do?" + +"I want you to put a cot in the hallway outside the door of the +ante-room and sleep there to-night. To-morrow I will decide what further +precautions are necessary." + +"Very good, sir," said Parks. "I'll get the cot up at once." + +"There is one thing more," I went on. "I have given the coroner my +personal assurance that none of the servants will leave the house +until after the inquest. I suppose I can rely on them?" + +"Oh, yes, sir. I'll see they understand how important it is." + +"Rogers, especially," I added, looking at him. + +"I understand, sir," said Parks, quietly. + +"Very well. And now let us go down and lock up those rooms." + +They were still ablaze with light; but both of us faltered a little, +I think, on the threshold of the ante-room. For in the middle of the +floor stood a stretcher, and on it was an object covered with a +sheet, its outlines horribly suggestive. But I took myself in hand +and entered. Parks followed me and closed the door. + +The ante-room had two windows, and the room beyond, which was a +corner one, had three. All of them were locked, but a pane of glass +seemed to me an absurdly fragile barrier against any one who really +wished to enter. + +"Aren't there some wooden shutters for these windows?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir; they were taken down yesterday and put in the basement. +Shall I get them?" + +"I think you'd better," I said. "Will you need any help?" + +"No, sir; they're not heavy. If you'll wait here, you can snap the +bolts into place when I lift them up from the outside." + +"Very well," I agreed, and Parks hurried away. + +I entered the inner room and stopped before the Boule cabinet. There +was a certain air of arrogance about it, as it stood there in that +blaze of light, its inlay aglow with a thousand subtle reflections; a +flaunting air, the air of a courtesan conscious of her beauty and +pleased to attract attention--just the air with which Madame de +Montespan must have sauntered down the mirror gallery at Versailles, +ablaze with jewels, her skirts rustling, her figure swaying +suggestively. Something threatening, too; something sinister and +deadly-- + +There was a rattle at the window, and I saw Parks lifting one of the +shutters into place. I threw up the sash, and pressed the heavy bolts +carefully into their sockets, then closed the sash and locked it. The +two other windows were secured in their turn, and with a last look +about the room, I turned out the lights. The ante-room windows were +soon shuttered in the same way, and with a sigh of relief I told +myself that no entrance to the house could be had from that +direction. With Parks outside the only door, the rooms ought to be +safe from invasion. + +Then, before extinguishing the lights, I approached that silent +figure on the stretcher, lifted the sheet and looked for the last +time upon the face of my dead friend. It was no longer staring and +terrible, but calm and peaceful as in sleep--almost smiling. With +wet eyes and contracted throat, I covered the face again, turned out +the lights, and left the room. Parks met me in the hall, carrying a +cot, which he placed close across the doorway. + +"There," he said; "nobody will get into that room without my knowing +it." + +"No," I agreed; and then a sudden thought occurred to me. "Parks," I +said, "is it true that there is a burglar-alarm on all the windows?" + +"Yes, sir. It rings a bell in Mr. Vantine's bedroom, and another in +mine, and sends in a call to the police." + +"Is it working?" + +"Yes, sir; Mr. Vantine himself tested it this evening just before +dinner." + +"Then why didn't it work when I opened those windows just now?" I +demanded. + +Parks laughed. + +"Because I threw off the switch, sir," he explained, "when I came out +to get the shutters. The switch is in a little iron box on the wall +just back of the stairs, sir. It's one of my duties to turn it on +every night before I go to bed." + +I breathed a sigh of relief. + +"Is it on again, now?" + +"It certainly is, sir. After what you told me, I'd not be likely to +forget it." + +"You'd better have a weapon handy, too," I suggested. + +"I have a revolver, sir." + +"That's good. And don't hesitate to use it. I'm going home--I'm dead +tired." + +"Shall I call a cab, sir?" + +"No, the walk will do me good. I'll see you to-morrow." + +Parks helped me into my coat and opened the door for me. Glancing +back, after a moment, I saw that he was standing on the steps gazing +after me. I could understand his reluctance to go back into that +death-haunted house; and I found myself breathing deeply with the +relief of getting out of it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GUESSES AT THE RIDDLE + + +The walk uptown did me good. The rain had ceased, and the air felt +clean and fresh as though it had been washed. I took deep breaths of +it, and the feeling of fatigue and depression which had weighed upon +me gradually vanished. I was in no hurry--went out of my way a +little, indeed, to walk out into Madison Square and look back at the +towering mass of the Flatiron building, creamy and delicate as carved +ivory under the rays of the moon--and it was long past midnight when +I finally turned in at the Marathon. Higgins, the janitor, was just +closing the outer doors, and he joined me in the elevator a moment +later. + +"There's a gentleman waiting to see you, sir," he said, as the car +started upward. "Mr. Godfrey, sir. He came in about ten minutes ago. +He said you were expecting him, so I let him into your rooms." + +"That was right," I said, and reflected again upon Godfrey's +exhaustless energy. + +I found him lolling in an easy chair, and he looked up with a smile +at my entrance. "Higgins said you hadn't come in yet," he explained, +"so I thought I'd wait a few minutes on the off chance that you +mightn't be too tired to talk. If you are, say so, and I'll be moving +along." + +"I'm not too tired," I said, hanging up my coat. "I feel a good deal +better than I did an hour ago." + +"I saw that you were about all in." + +"How do you keep it up, Godfrey?" I asked, sitting down opposite him. +"You don't seem tired at all." + +"I _am_ tired, though," he said, "a little. But I've got a fool brain +that won't let my body go to sleep so long as there is work to be +done. Then, as soon as everything is finished, the brain lets go and +the body sleeps like a log. Now I knew I couldn't go to sleep +properly to-night until I had heard the very interesting theory you +are going to confide to me. Besides, I have a thing or two to tell +you." + +"Go ahead," I said. + +"We had a cable from our Paris office just before I left. It seems +that M. Theophile d'Aurelle plays the fiddle in the orchestra of the +Cafe de Paris. He played as usual to-night, so that it is manifestly +impossible that he should also be lying in the New York morgue. +Moreover, none of his friends, so far as he knows, is in America. No +doubt he may be able to identify the photograph of the dead man, and +we've already started one on the way, but we can't hear from it for +six or eight days. But my guess was right--the fellow's name isn't +d'Aurelle." + +"You say you have a photograph?" + +"Yes, I had some taken of the body this afternoon. Here's one of +them. Keep it; you may have a use for it." + +I took the card, and, as I gazed at the face depicted upon it, I +realised that the distorted countenance I had seen in the afternoon +had given me no idea of the man's appearance. Now the eyes were +closed and the features composed and peaceful, but even death failed +to give them any dignity. It was a weak and dissipated face, the face +of a hanger-on of cafes, as Parks had said--of a loiterer along the +boulevards, of a man without ambition, and capable of any depth of +meanness and deceit. At least, that is how I read it. + +"He's evidently low-class," said Godfrey, watching me. "One of those +parasites, without work and without income, so common in Paris. +Shop-girls and ladies' maids have a weakness for them." + +"I think you are right," I agreed; "but, at the same time, if he was +of that type, I don't see what business he could have had with Philip +Vantine." + +"Neither do I; but there are a lot of other things I don't see, +either. We're all in the dark, Lester; have you thought of that? +Absolutely in the dark." + +"Yes, I have thought of it," I said, slowly. + +"No doubt we can establish this fellow's identity in time--sooner +than we think, perhaps, for most of the morning papers will run his +picture, and if he is known here in New York at all, it will be +recognised by some one. When we find out who he is, we can probably +guess at the nature of his business with Vantine. We can find out who +the woman was who called to see Vantine to-night--that is just a case +of grilling Rogers; then we can run her down and get her secret out +of her. We can find why Rogers is trying to shield her. All that is +comparatively simple. But when we have done it all, when we have all +these facts in hand, I am afraid we shall find that they are utterly +unimportant." + +"Unimportant?" I echoed. "But surely--" + +"Unimportant because we don't want to know these things. What we want +to know is how Philip Vantine and this unknown Frenchman were killed. +And that is just the one thing which, I am convinced, neither the man +nor the woman nor Rogers nor anybody else we have come across in this +case can tell us. There's a personality behind all this that we +haven't even suspected yet, and which, I am free to confess, I don't +know how to get at. It puzzles me; it rather frightens me; it's like +a threatening shadow which one can't get hold of." + +There was a moment's silence; then, I decided, the time had come for +me to speak. + +"Godfrey," I said, "what I am about to tell you is told in +confidence, and must be held in confidence until I give you +permission to use it. Do you agree?" + +"Go on," he said, his eyes on my face. + +"Well, I believe I know how these two men were killed. Listen." + +And I told him in detail the story of the Boule cabinet; I repeated +Vantine's theory of its first ownership; I named the price which he +was ready to pay for it; I described the difference between an +original and a counterpart, and dwelt upon Vantine's assertion that +this was an original of unique and unquestionable artistry. Long +before I had finished, Godfrey was out of his chair and pacing up and +down the room, his face flushed, his eyes glowing. + +"Beautiful!" he murmured from time to time. "Immense! What a case it +will make, Lester!" he cried, stopping before my chair and beaming +down upon me, as I finished the story. "Unique, too; that's the +beauty of it! As unique as this adorable Boule cabinet!" + +"Then you see it, too?" I questioned, a little disappointed that my +theory should seem so evident. + +"See it?" and he dropped into his chair again. "A man would be blind +not to see it. But all the same, Lester, I give you credit for +putting the facts together. So many of us--Grady, for instance! +--aren't able to do that, or to see which facts are essential and +which are negligible. Now the fact that Vantine had accidentally come +into possession of a Boule cabinet would probably seem negligible to +Grady, whereas it is the one big essential fact in this whole case. +And it was you who saw it." + +"You saw it, too," I pointed out, "as soon as I mentioned it." + +"Yes; but you mentioned it in a way which made its importance +manifest. I couldn't help seeing it. And I believe that we have both +arrived at practically the same conclusions. Here they are," and he +checked them off on his fingers. "The cabinet contains a secret +drawer. This is inevitable, if it really belonged to Madame de +Montespan. Any cabinet made for her would be certain to have a secret +drawer--she would require it, just as she would require lace on her +underwear or jewelled buttons on her gloves. That drawer, since it +was, perhaps, to contain such priceless documents as the love letters +of a king--even more so, if the love letters were from another man! +--must be adequately guarded, and therefore a mechanism was devised to +stab the person attempting to open it and to inject into the wound a +poison so powerful as to cause instant death. Am I right so far?" + +"Wonderfully right," I nodded. "I had not put it so clearly, even to +myself. Go ahead." + +"We come to the conclusion, then," continued Godfrey, "that the +business of this unknown Frenchman with Vantine in some way concerned +this cabinet." + +"Vantine himself thought so," I broke in. "He told me afterwards that +it was because he thought so he consented to see him." + +"Good! That would seem to indicate that we are on the right track. +The Frenchman's business, then, had something to do with this +cabinet, and with this secret drawer. Left to himself, he discovered +the cabinet in the room adjoining the ante-room, attempted to open +the drawer, and was killed." + +"Yes," I agreed; "and now how about Vantine?" + +"Vantine's death isn't so simply explained. Presumably the unknown +woman also called on business relating to the cabinet. She, also, +wanted to open the secret drawer, in order to secure its contents +--that seems fairly certain from her connection with the first +caller." + +"You still think it was her photograph he carried in his watch?" + +"I am sure of it. But how did it happen that it was Vantine who was +killed? Did the woman, warned by the fate of the man, deliberately +set Vantine to open the drawer in order that she might run no risk? +Or was she also ignorant of the mechanism? Above all, did she succeed +in getting away with the contents of the drawer?" + +"What _was_ the contents of the drawer?" I demanded. + +"Ah, if we only knew!" + +"Perhaps the woman had nothing to do with it. Vantine himself told me +that he was going to make a careful examination of the cabinet. No +doubt that is exactly what he was doing when the woman's arrival +interrupted him. He might have let her out of the house himself, and +then, returning to the cabinet, stumbled upon the secret drawer after +she had gone." + +"Yes; that is quite possible, too. At any rate, you agree with me +that both men were killed in some such way as I have described?" + +"Absolutely. I think there can be no doubt of it." + +"There are objections--and rather weighty ones. The theory explains +the two deaths, it explains the similarity of the wounds, it explains +how both should be on the right hand just above the knuckles, it +explains why both bodies were found in the same place since both men +started to summon help. But, in the first place, if the Frenchman got +the drawer open, who closed it?" + +"Perhaps it closed itself when he let go of it." + +"And closed again after Vantine opened it?" + +"Yes." + +"It would take a very clever mechanism to do that." + +"But at least it's possible." + +"Oh, yes; it's possible. And we must remember that the poisoners of +those days were very ingenious. That was the heydey of La Voisin and +the Marquise de Brinvilliers, of Elixi, and heaven knows how many +other experts who had followed Catherine de Medici to France. So +that's all quite possible. But there is one thing that isn't +possible, and that is that a poison which, if it is administered as +we think it is, must be a liquid, could remain in that cabinet fresh +and ready for use for more than three hundred years. It would have +dried up centuries ago. Nor would the mechanism stay in order so +long. It must be both complicated and delicate. Therefore it would +have to be oiled and overhauled from time to time. If it is worked by +a spring--and I don't see how else it can be worked--the spring would +have to be renewed and wound up." + +"Well?" I asked, as he paused. + +"Well, it is evident that the drawer contains something more recent +than the love letters of Louis Fourteenth. It must have been put in +working order quite recently. But by whom and for what purpose? That +is the mystery we have to solve--and it is a mighty pretty one. And +here's another objection," he added. "That Frenchman knew about the +secret drawer, because, according to our theory, he opened it and got +killed. Why didn't he also know about the poison?" + +That was an objection, truly, and the more I thought of it, the more +serious it seemed. + +"It may be," said Godfrey, at last, "that d'Aurelle was going it +alone--that he had broken with the gang--" + +"The gang?" + +"Of course there is a gang. This thing has taken careful planning and +concerted effort. And the leader of the gang is a genius! I wonder if +you understand how great a genius? Think: he knows the secret of the +drawer of Madame de Montespan's cabinet; but above all he knows the +secret of the poison--the poison of the Medici! Do you know what that +means, Lester?" + +"What _does_ it mean?" I asked, for Godfrey was getting ahead of me. + +"It means he is a great criminal--a really great criminal--one of the +elect from whom crime has no secrets. Observe. He alone knows the +secret of the poison; one of his men breaks away from him, and pays +for his mutiny with his life. He is the brain; the others are merely +the instruments!" + +"Then you don't believe it was by accident that cabinet was sent to +Vantine?" + +"By accident? Not for an instant! It was part of a plot--and a +splendid plot!" + +"Can you explain that to me, too?" I queried, a little ironically, +for I confess it seemed to me that Godfrey was permitting his +imagination to run away with him. + +He smiled good-naturedly at my tone. + +"Of course, this is all mere romancing," he admitted. "I am the first +to acknowledge that. I was merely following out our theory to what +seemed its logical conclusion. But perhaps we are on the wrong track +altogether. Perhaps d'Aurelle, or whatever his name is, just +blundered in, like a moth into a candle-flame. As for the plot--well, +I can only guess at it. But suppose you and I had pulled off some big +robbery--" + +He stopped suddenly, and his face went white and then red. + +"What is it, Godfrey?" I cried, for his look frightened me. + +He lay back in his chair, his hands pressed over his eyes. I could +see how they were trembling--how his whole body was trembling. + +"Wait!" he said, hoarsely. "Wait!" Then he sat upright, his face +tense with anxiety. "Lester!" he cried, his voice shrill with fear. +"The cabinet--it isn't guarded!" + +"Yes, it is," I said. "At least I thought of that!" + +And I told him of the precautions I had taken to keep it safe. He +heard me out with a sigh of relief. + +"That's better," he said. "Parks wouldn't stand much show, I'm +afraid, if worst came to worst; but I think the cabinet is safe--for +to-night. And before another night, Lester, we will have a look for +ourselves." + +"A look?" + +"Yes; for the secret drawer!" + +I stared at him fascinated, shrinking. + +"And we shall find it!" he added. + +"D'Aurelle and Vantine found it," I muttered thickly. + +"Well?" + +"And they're both dead!" + +"It won't kill us. We will go about it armoured, Lester. That +poisoned fang may strike--" + +"Don't!" I cried, and cowered back into my chair. "I--I can't do it, +Godfrey. God knows, I'm no coward--but not that!" + +"You shall watch me do it!" he said. + +"That would be even worse!" + +"But I'll be ready, Lester. There will be no danger. Come, man! Why, +it's the chance of a lifetime--to rifle the secret drawer of Madame +de Montespan! Yes!" he added, his eyes glowing, "and to match +ourselves against the greatest criminal of modern times!" + +His shrill laugh told how excited he was. + +"And do you know what we shall find in that drawer, Lester? But no +--it is only a guess--the wildest sort of a guess--but if it is +right--if it is right!" + +He sprang from his chair, biting his lips, his whole frame quivering. +But he was calmer in a moment. + +"Anyway, you will help me, Lester? You will come?" + +There was a wizardry in his manner not to be resisted. Besides--to +rifle the secret drawer of Madame de Montespan! To match oneself +against the greatest criminal of modern times! What an adventure! + +"Yes," I answered, with a quick intaking of the breath; "I'll come!" + +He clapped me on the shoulder, his face beaming. + +"I knew you would! To-morrow night, then--I'll call for you here at +seven o'clock. We'll have dinner together--and then, hey for the +great secret! Agreed?" + +"Agreed!" I said. + +He caught up coat and hat and started for the door. + +"There are things to do," he said; "that armour to prepare--the plan +of campaign to consider, you know. Good-night, then, till--this +evening!" + +The door closed behind him, and his footsteps died away down the +hall. I looked at my watch--it was nearly two o'clock. + +Dizzily I went to bed. But my sleep was broken by a fearful dream--a +dream of a serpent, with blazing eyes and dripping fangs, poised to +strike! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PREPARATIONS + + +My first thought, when I awoke next morning, was for Parks, for +Godfrey's manner had impressed me with the feeling that Parks was in +much more serious danger than either he or I suspected. It was with a +lively sense of relief, therefore, that I heard Parks's voice answer +my call on the 'phone. + +"This is Mr. Lester," I said. "Is everything all right?" + +"Everything serene, sir," he answered. "It would take a mighty smooth +burglar to get in here now, sir." + +"How is that?" I asked. + +"Reporters are camped all around the house, sir. They seem to think +somebody else will be killed here to-day." + +He laughed as he spoke the words, but I was far from thinking the +idea an amusing one. + +"I hope not," I said, quickly. "And don't let any of the reporters +in, nor talk to them. Tell them they must go to the police for their +information. If they get too annoying, let me know, and I'll have an +officer sent around." + +"Very good, sir." + +"And, Parks." + +"Yes, sir?" + +"Don't let anybody in the house--no matter what he wants--unless Mr. +Grady or Mr. Simmonds or Mr. Goldberger accompanies him. Don't let +anybody in you don't know. If there is any trouble, call me up. I +want you to be careful about this." + +"I understand, sir." + +"How is Rogers?" I asked. + +"Much better, sir. He wanted to get up, but I told him he might as +well stay in bed, and I'd look after things. I thought that was the +best place for him, sir." + +"It is," I agreed. "Keep him there as long as you can. I'll come in +during the day, if possible; in any event, Mr. Godfrey and I will be +there this evening. Call me at the office, if you need me for +anything." + +"Very good, sir," said Parks again, and I hung up. + +I glanced through Godfrey's account of the affair while I ate my +breakfast, and noted with amusement the sly digs taken at +Commissioner Grady. Under the photograph of the unknown woman was the +legend: + + MR. VANTINE'S MYSTERIOUS CALLER + + (Grady Please Notice) + +And it was intimated that when Grady wanted any real information +about an especially puzzling case, he had to go to the _Record_ to +get it. + +This, however, was merely by the way, for the story of the double +tragedy, fully illustrated, was flung across many columns, and was +plainly considered the great news feature of the day. + +I glanced at two or three other papers on my way down-town. All of +them featured the tragedy with a riot of pictures--pictures of +d'Aurelle and Vantine, of Grady (very large), of Simmonds, of +Goldberger, of Freylinghuisen, of the Vantine house, diagrams of the +ante-room showing the position in which the bodies were found, +anatomical charts showing the exact nature of the wounds, pictures of +the noted poisoners of history with a highly-coloured list of their +achievements--but, when it came to the story of the tragedy itself, +their accounts were far less detailed and intimate than that in the +_Record_. They were, indeed, for the most part, mere farragos of +theories, guesses, blood-curdling suggestions, and mysterious hints +of important information confided to the reporters but withheld from +the public until the criminal had been run to earth. That this would +soon be accomplished not a single paper doubted, for had not Grady, +the mighty Grady, taken personal charge of the case? (Here followed a +glowing history of Grady's career.) + +It was evident enough that all these reporters had been compelled to +go to Grady for their information, and I could fancy them damning him +between their teeth as they penned these panegyrics. I could also +fancy their city editors damning as they compared these incoherent +imaginings with the admirable and closely-written story in the +_Record_, and I suspected that it was the realisation of the +_Record's_ triumph which had caused the descent of the phalanx of +reporters upon the Vantine place. + +I went over the whole affair with Mr. Royce, as soon as he reached +the office, and spent the rest of the day arranging the papers +relating to Vantine's affairs and getting them ready to probate. +Parks called me up once or twice for instructions as to various +details, and Vantine's nearest relative, a third or fourth cousin, +wired from somewhere in the west that he was starting for New York at +once. And then, toward the middle of the afternoon, came the +cablegram from Paris which I had almost forgotten to expect: + + "Royce & Lester, New York. + + "Regret mistake in shipment exceedingly. Our representative will + call to explain. + + "Armand et Fils." + +So there was an end of the romance Godfrey had woven, and which I had +been almost ready to believe--the romance of design, of a carefully +laid plot, and all that. It had been merely accident, after all. And +I smiled a little sarcastically at myself for my credulity. No doubt +my own romance of a secret drawer and a poisoned mechanism would +prove equally fabulous. In my over-wrought state of the night before, +it had seemed reasonable enough; but here, in the cold light of day, +it seemed preposterous. How Grady and Goldberger would have laughed +at it! + +I put the whole thing impatiently away from me, and turned to other +work; but I found I could not conquer a certain deep-seated +nervousness; so at last I locked my desk, told the boy I would not be +back, and took a cab for a long drive through the park. The fresh +air, the smell of the trees, the sight of the children playing along +the paths, did me good, and I was able to greet Godfrey with a smile +when he called for me at seven o'clock. + +"I've engaged a table at a little place around the corner," he said. +"It is managed by a friend of mine, and I think you'll like it." + +I did. Indeed, the dinner was so good that it demanded undivided +attention, and not until the coffee was on the table and the cigars +lighted did we speak of the business which had brought us together. + +"Anything new?" I asked, as we pushed back our chairs. + +"No, nothing of any importance. The man at the morgue has not been +identified. In the first place, the Paris police have never taken his +Bertillon measurements." + +"Then he's not a criminal?" + +"He has never been arrested," Godfrey qualified. "More peculiar is +the fact that he hasn't been recognised here. Two million people, +probably, saw his photograph in the papers this morning. Some of +them thought they knew him and went around to the morgue to see his +body, but nothing came of it. The police have no report of any such +man missing." + +"That _is_ peculiar, isn't it!" I commented. + +"It's very peculiar. It means one of two things--either the fellow's +friends are keeping dark purposely, or he didn't have any friends, +here in New York, at least. But even then, one would think that +whoever rented him a room would wonder what had become of him, and +would make some inquiries." + +"Perhaps he hadn't rented a room," I suggested. "Perhaps he had just +reached New York, and went direct to Vantine's." + +Godfrey's face lighted up. + +"From the steamer, of course! I ought to have guessed as much from +the cut of his hair. He hasn't been out of France more than ten days +or so. Excuse me a moment." + +He hurried away, and five minutes passed before he came back. + +"I 'phoned the office to send some men around to the boats which came +in yesterday. If he was a passenger, some one of the stewards will +recognise his photograph. There were three boats he might have come +on--the _Adriatic_ and _Cecelie_ from Cherbourg, and _La Touraine_ +from Havre. There is nothing else that I know of," he added +thoughtfully, "except that Freylinghuisen thinks he has discovered +the nature of the poison. He says it is some very powerful variant of +prussic acid." + +"Yes," I said, "I heard him say something of the sort last night." + +"I had a talk with him this afternoon about it, and he was quite +learned," Godfrey went on. "This is a great chance for him to get +before the public, and he's making the most of it. I gathered from +what he said that ordinary prussic acid, which is deadly enough, +heaven knows, contains only two per cent. of the poison; while the +strongest solution yet obtained contains only four per cent. +Freylinghuisen says that whoever concocted this particular poison has +evidently discovered a new way of doing it--or rediscovered an old +way--so that it is at least fifty per cent. effective. In other +words, if you can get a fraction of a drop of it in a man's blood, +you kill him by paralysis quicker than if you put a bullet through +his heart." + +"Nothing can save a man, then?" I questioned. + +"Nothing on earth. Oh, I don't say that if somebody had an axe handy +and chopped your arm off at the shoulder an instant after you were +struck on the hand, you mightn't have a chance to live; but it would +take mighty quick work, and even then, it would be nip and tuck. +Freylinghuisen thinks it is a new discovery. I don't. I think some +one has dug up one of the old Medici formulae. Maybe it was placed in +the secret drawer, so that there would never be any lack of +ammunition for the mechanism." + +"Godfrey," I said, "are you still bent on fooling with that thing?" + +"More than ever; I'm going to find that secret drawer. And if the +fangs strike--well, I'm ready for them. See here what I had made +today." + +He drew from his pocket something that looked like a steel gauntlet, +such as one sees on suits of old armour. He slipped it over his right +hand. + +"You see it covers the back of the hand completely," he said, "half +way down the first joint of the fingers. It is made of the toughest +steel and would turn a bullet. And do you see how it is depressed in +the middle, Lester?" + +"Yes," I said, "I was wondering why you had it made in that shape." + +"I want to get a sample of that poison. My theory is that when the +fangs strike the hand, the shock drives out a drop or two of the +poison. I don't want those drops to get away; I want them to roll +into this depression, and I shall very carefully bottle them. Think +what they are, Lester--the poison of the Medici!" + +I sat for a moment looking at him, half in amusement, half in sorrow. +It seemed a pity that his theory must come tumbling down, it was so +picturesque, and he was so interested and enthusiastic over it. And +it would make such a good story! He caught my glance, and put the +gauntlet back into his pocket. + +"Well, what is it?" he asked quietly. + +For answer, I got out the cablegram and passed it across to him. He +read it with brows contracted. + +"That seems to put a puncture in our little romance, doesn't it?" I +asked, at last. + +He nodded thoughtfully. + +"Yes, it does," and he read the message again, word by word. +"Armand's man hasn't called yet?" + +"No, I didn't get the message till about three o'clock. I suppose +he'll be around to-morrow." + +"You will have to turn the cabinet over to him, of course?" + +"Why, yes, it belongs to him. At least, it doesn't belong to +Vantine." + +He slipped the message into its envelope and handed it back to me. I +could see that he was perplexed and upset. + +"Well, in spite of this," he said finally, "I am still interested in +that cabinet, Lester, and I wish you would keep possession of it as +long as you can. At least, I wouldn't give it up until he delivered +to you the other cabinet which Vantine really bought." + +"Oh, I'll make him do that," I agreed quickly. "That will no doubt +take a few days--longer than that if Vantine's cabinet is in Paris." + +Godfrey raised a finger to the waiter, asked for the check, and paid +it. + +"And now let us go down and have a look at this one," he said, "as we +intended doing. You will think me foolish, Lester, but even that +cablegram hasn't shaken my belief in the existence of that secret +drawer." + +"And all the rest?" I asked. + +"Yes," he answered slowly, "and all the rest." He said nothing more +until we stopped before the Vantine house, but I could see, from his +puckered brows, how desperately he was trying to untangle this quirk +in the mystery. + +"The siege seems to have been lifted," I remarked, as we alighted. + +"The siege?" + +"Parks telephoned me that your esteemed contemporaries had the place +surrounded. I told him to hold the fort!" + +"Poor boys!" he commented, smiling. "To think that all they know is +what Grady is able to tell them!" Then he stopped before the house +and made a careful survey of it. + +"Which room is the cabinet in?" he asked. + +"The ante-room is there at the left where those two shuttered windows +are. The cabinet is in the corner room--there is one window on this +side and two on the other." + +"Wait till I take a look at them," he said, and, vaulting the low +railing, he walked quickly along the front of the house and around +the corner. He was gone only a minute. "They're all right," he said, +in a tone of relief. + +"Of course they're all right. You didn't suppose--" + +"If that cabinet contains what I thought it did, Lester--yes," he +added, a little savagely, as he saw my look, "and what I still think +it does--it wouldn't be safe in the strongest vault of the National +City Bank," and he motioned for me to ring the bell. + +I did so, in silence. + +Parks answered it almost instantly, and I could tell from the way his +face changed how glad he was to see me. + +"Well, Parks," I said, as we stepped inside, "everything is all +right, I hope?" + +"Yes, sir," he answered. "But--but it gets on the nerves a little, +sir." + +I heard a movement behind me, as I gave Parks my coat, and turned to +see Rogers sitting on the cot. + +"Hello," I said, "so you're able to be up, are you?" + +"Yes, sir," he answered, without looking at me. "I thought I'd come +down and keep Parks company." + +Parks smiled a little sheepishly. + +"I asked him to, Mr. Lester," he said. "I got so lonesome and jumpy +here by myself that I just had to have somebody to talk to. +Especially, after the burglar-alarm rang." + +"The burglar-alarm?" repeated Godfrey quickly. "What do you mean?" + +"We've got a burglar-alarm on the windows, sir. It's usually turned +off in the day-time, but I thought I'd better leave it on to-day, and +it rang about the middle of the afternoon. I thought at first that +one of the other servants had raised a window, but none of them had. +Something went wrong with it, I guess." + +"Did you take a look at the windows?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir; a policeman came to see what was the matter and we went +around and examined the windows, but they were all locked. It made me +feel kind of scary for a while." + +"Does the alarm work now?" + +"No, sir; the policeman said there must be a short circuit somewhere, +and that he'd notify the people who put it in; but nobody has come +around yet to fix it." + +"We'd better take a look at the windows, ourselves," said Godfrey. +"You stay here, Parks. We can find them, all right; and I don't want +you to leave that door unguarded for a single instant." + +We went from window to window, and Godfrey examined each of them with +a minuteness that astonished me, for I had no idea what he expected +to find. But we completed the circuit of the ground floor without his +apparently discovering anything out of the way. + +"Let's take a look at the basement," he said, and led the way +downstairs with a readiness which told me that he had been over the +house before. + +In the kitchen, we came upon the cook and housemaid sitting close +together and talking in frightened whispers. They watched us +apprehensively, and I stopped to reassure them, while Godfrey +proceeded with his search. Then I heard him calling me. + +I found him in a kind of lumber-room, standing before its single +small window, his electric torch in his hand. + +"Look there," he said, his voice quivering with excitement, and threw +a circle of light on the jamb of the window at the spot where the +upper and lower sashes met. + +"What is it?" I asked, after a moment. "I don't see anything wrong." + +"You don't? You don't see that this house was to be entered to-night? +Then what does this mean?" + +With his finger-nail, he turned up the end of a small insulated wire. +And then I saw that the wire had been cut. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BURNING EYES + + +For an instant, I did not grasp the full significance of that severed +wire. Then I understood. + +"Yes," said Godfrey drily, "that romance of mine is looking up again. +Somebody was preparing for a quiet invasion of the house to-night +--somebody, of course, interested in that cabinet." + +"He wasn't losing any time," I ventured. + +"He knew he hadn't any to lose. When you put those wooden shutters +up, you warned him that you suspected his game. He knew, if the alarm +was on, it would ring when he cut the wire, but he also knew that the +chances were a hundred to one against the cut being discovered, or +the alarm put in working order, before to-morrow." + +"Why can't we ambush him?" I suggested. + +"We might try, but it will be a mighty risky undertaking, Lester." + +"One risky undertaking is enough for to-night," I said, with a sigh, +for my belief in the existence of the secret drawer and the poison +and all the rest of it had come back with a rush. I felt almost +apologetic toward Godfrey for ever doubting him. "We'd better wait +and see if we survive the first one before we arrange for any more." + +"All right," Godfrey laughed. "But I'll fix this break." + +He got out his pen-knife, loosened two or three of the staples which +held the wire in place, drew it out, scraped back the insulation, and +twisted the ends tightly together. + +"There," he added, "that's done. If the invader tampers with the +window again, he will set off the alarm. But I don't believe he'll +touch it. I fancy he already knows his little game is discovered." + +"How would he know it?" I demanded, incredulously. + +"If he is keeping an eye on this window, as he naturally would do, he +has seen my light. Perhaps he is watching us now." + +I glanced at the dark square of the window with a little shiver. This +business was getting on my nerves again. But Godfrey turned away with +a shrug of the shoulders. + +"Now for the cabinet," he said, and led the way back upstairs. + +Rogers was still sitting dejectedly on the cot, and, looking at him +more closely, I could see that he was white and shaken. His trouble, +whatever its nature, plainly lay heavy on his mind. + +"Have you anything to tell us, this evening, Rogers?" I asked, +kindly, but he only shook his head. + +"I've told you everything I know, sir," he answered, in a low voice. + +"I'm not going to worry you, Rogers," I went on, "but I want you to +think it over. You can rely upon me to help you, if I can." + +He looked up quickly, but caught himself, and turned his eyes away. + +"Thank you, sir," was all he said. + +"And now," I added, briskly, "I'll have to ask you to get up. Move +the cot away from the door, Parks." + +Parks obeyed me with astonished face. + +"You're not going in there, sir!" he protested, as I turned the knob. + +"Yes, we are," I said, and opened the door. "Is--is...." + +"No, sir," broke in Parks, understanding. "The undertakers brought +the coffin and put him in it and moved him over to the drawing-room +this afternoon, sir." + +"I'm glad of that. I want all the lights lit, Parks, just as they +were last night." + +Parks reached inside the door and switched on the electrics. Then he +went away, came back in a moment with a taper, and proceeded to light +the gas-lights. A moment later, the lights in the inner room were +also blazing. + +"There you are, sir," said Parks, and retreated to the door. "Will +you need me?" + +"Not now. But wait in the hall outside. We may need you." I had a +notion to tell him to have an axe handy, but I saw Godfrey smiling. + +"Very good, sir," said Parks, evidently relieved, and went out and +closed the door. + +I led the way into the inner room. + +"Well, there it is," I said, and nodded toward the Boule cabinet, +standing in the full glare of the light, every inlay and incrustation +glittering like the eyes of a basilisk. "It isn't too late to give it +up, Godfrey." + +"Oh, yes, it is," he said, coolly, removing his coat "It was too late +the moment you told me that story. Why, Lester, if I gave it up, I +should never sleep again!" + +"And if you don't, you may never wake again," I pointed out. + +He laughed lightly. + +"What a dismal prophet you are! Draw up a chair and watch me." + +He pulled back his shirt-sleeves, and placed his electric torch on +the floor beside the cabinet. Then he paused with folded arms to +contemplate this masterpiece of M. Boule. + +"It _is_ a beauty," he said, at last, and then drew out the little +drawers, one after another, looked them over, and placed them +carefully on a chair. "Now," he added, "let us see if there is any +space that isn't accounted for." + +He took from his pocket a folding rule of ivory, opened it, and began +a series of measurements so searching and intricate that half an hour +passed without a word being spoken. Then he pulled up another chair, +and sat down beside me. + +"I seem to be pretty much up against it," he said, "no doubt just as +the designer of the cabinet would wish me to be. The whole bottom of +the desk is inclosed, and those three little drawers take up only a +small part of the space. Then the back of the cabinet seems to be +double--at least, there's a space of three inches I can't account +for. So there's room for a dozen secret drawers, if the Montespan +required so many. And now to find the combination." + +He adjusted the steel gauntlet carefully to his right hand and sat +down on the floor before the cabinet. + +"I'll begin at the bottom," he said. "If there is any spot I miss, +tell me of it." + +He ran his fingers up and down the graceful legs, carefully feeling +every inequality of the elaborate bronze ornamentation. Particularly +did his fingers linger on every boss and point, striving to push it +in or move it up or down; but they were all immovable. Then he +examined the bottom of the table minutely, using his torch to +illumine every crevice; but again without result. + +Another half hour passed so, and when at last he came out from under +the table, his face was dripping with sweat. + +"It's trying work," he said, sitting down again and mopping his face. +"But isn't it a beauty, Lester? The more I look at it, the more +wonderful it seems." + +"I told Philip Vantine I wasn't up to it, and I'm not," I said. + +"Nor I, but I can appreciate it to the extent of my capacity. It's +the Louis Fourteenth ideal of beauty--splendour carried to the nth +degree. Look at the arabesques along the front--can you imagine +anything more graceful? And the engraving--nothing cut-and-dried +about that. It was done by a burin in the hands of a master--perhaps +by Boule himself. I don't wonder Vantine was rather mad about it. But +we haven't found that drawer yet," and he drew his chair close to the +cabinet. + +"I'd point out one thing to you, Godfrey," I said: "if you go on +poking about with the fingers of both hands, as you've been doing, +you are just as apt to get struck on the left hand as on the right." + +"That's true," he agreed. "Stop me if I forget." + +There were three little drawers in the front of the table, and these +Godfrey had removed. He inserted his hand into the space from which +he had taken them, and examined it carefully. Then, inch by inch, he +ran his fingers over the bosses and arabesques with which the sides +and top of the table were incrusted. It seemed to me that, if the +secret drawer were anywhere, it must be somewhere in this part of the +cabinet, and I watched him with breathless interest. Once I thought +he had found the drawer, for a piece of inlay at the side of the +table seemed to give a little under the pressure of his fingers; but +no hidden spring was touched; no drawer sprang open; no poisoned +fangs descended. + +"Well," said Godfrey, sitting back in his chair at last, and wiping +his face again, "there's so much done. If there is any secret drawer +in the lower part of the cabinet, it is mighty cleverly concealed. +Now we'll try the upper part." + +The upper part of the cabinet consisted of a series of drawers, +rising one above the other, and terminated by a triangular pediment, +its tympanum ornamented with some beautiful little bronzes. The +drawers themselves were concealed by two doors, opening in the +centre, and covered with a most intricate design of arabesqued +incrustations. + +"If there is a secret drawer here," said Godfrey, "it is somewhere in +the back, where there seems to be a hollow space. But to discover the +combination...." + +He ran his fingers over the inlay, and then, struck by a sudden +thought, tested each of the little figures along the tympanum, but +they were all set solidly in place. + +"There's one thing sure," he said, "the combination, whatever it is, +is of such a nature that it could not be discovered accidentally--by +a person leaning on the cabinet, for instance. It isn't a question of +merely touching a spring; it is probably a question of releasing a +series of levers, which must be worked in a certain order, or the +drawer won't open. I'm afraid we are up against it." + +"I can't pretend I'm sorry," I said, with a sigh of relief. "As far +as I am concerned, I'm perfectly willing that the drawer should go +undiscovered." + +"Well, I am not!" retorted Godfrey, curtly, and he sat regarding the +cabinet with puckered brows. Then he rose and began tapping at the +back. + +I don't know what it was--for I was conscious of no noise--but some +mysterious attraction drew my eyes to the window at the farther side +of the room. Near the top of the wooden shutter, which Parks and I +had put in place, was a small semi-circular opening, to allow the +passage of a little light, perhaps, and peering through this opening +were two eyes--two burning eyes.... + +They were fixed upon Godfrey with such feverish intentness that they +did not see my glance, and I lowered my head instantly. + +"Godfrey," I said, in a shaking voice, "don't look up; don't move +your head; but there is some one peering through the hole in the +shutter opposite us." + +Godfrey did not answer for quite a minute, but kept calmly on with +his examination of the cabinet. + +"Did he see you look at him?" he asked, at last. + +"No, he was looking at you, with his eyes almost starting out of his +head. I never saw such eyes!" + +"Did you see anything of his face?" + +"No, the hole is too small. I fancy I saw the fingers of one hand, +which he had thrust through to steady himself." + +"How high is the hole?" + +"Near the top of the window." + +Godfrey came back to his chair a moment later, sat down in it, and +passed his handkerchief slowly over his face. Then he leaned forward, +apparently to examine the legs of the cabinet. + +"I saw him," he said. "Or, rather, I saw his eyes. Rather fierce, +aren't they?" + +"They're a tiger's eyes," I said, with conviction. + +"Well, there is no use going ahead with this while he is out there. +Even if we found the drawer, we'd both be dead an instant later." + +"You mean he'd kill us?" + +"He would shoot us instantly. Imagine what a sensation that would +make, Lester. Parks hears two pistol shots, rushes in and finds us +lying here dead. Grady would have a convulsion--and we should both +be famous for a few days." + +"I'll seek fame in some other way," I said drily. "What are you going +to do about it?" + +"We've got to try to capture him; and if we do--well, we shall have +the fame all right! But it's a good deal like trying to pick up a +scorpion--we're pretty sure to get hurt. If that fellow out there is +who I think he is, he's about the most dangerous man on earth." + +He went on tapping the surface of the cabinet. As for me, I would +have given anything for another look at those gleaming eyes. They +seemed to be burning into me; hot flashes were shooting up and down +my back. + +"Why can't I go out as though I were going after something," I +suggested. "Then Parks and I could charge around the corner and get +him." + +"You wouldn't get him, he'd get you. You wouldn't have a chance on +earth. If there is a window upstairs over that one, you might drop +something out on him, or borrow Parks's pistol and shoot him--" + +"That would be pretty cowardly, wouldn't it?" I suggested, mildly. + +"My dear Lester," Godfrey protested, "when you attack a poisonous +snake, you don't do it with bare hands, do you?" + +I couldn't help it--I glanced again at the window.... + +"He's gone!" I cried. + +Godfrey was at the window in two steps. + +"Look at that!" he said, "and then tell me he isn't a genius!" + +I followed the direction of his pointing finger and saw that, just +opposite the opening in the shutter, a little hole had been cut in +the window-pane. + +"That fellow foresees everything," said Godfrey, with enthusiasm. "He +probably cut that hole as soon as it was dark. He must have guessed +we were going to examine the cabinet to-night--and he wanted not only +to see, but to hear. He heard everything we said, Lester!" + +"Let's go after him!" I cried, and, without waiting for an answer, I +sprang across the ante-room and snatched open the door which led into +the hall. + +Parks and Rogers were sitting on the couch just outside and I never +saw two men more thoroughly frightened. + +"For God's sake, Mr. Lester!" gasped Rogers, and stopped, his hand at +his throat. + +"Is it Mr. Godfrey?" cried Parks. + +"There's a man outside. Got your pistol, Parks?" + +"Yes, sir," and he took it from his pocket. + +I snatched it from him, opened the front door, leaped the railing, +and stole along the house to the corner. + +Then, taking my courage in both hands, I charged around it. + +There was no one in sight; but from somewhere near at hand came a +burst of mocking laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GODFREY IS FRIGHTENED + + +I was still staring about me, that mocking laughter in my ears, when +Godfrey joined me. + +"He got away, of course," he said coolly. + +"Yes, and I heard him laugh!" I cried. + +Godfrey looked at me quickly. + +"Come, Lester," he said, soothingly, "don't let your nerves run away +with you." + +"It wasn't my nerves," I protested, a little hotly. "I heard it quite +plainly. He can't be far away." + +"Too far for us to catch him," Godfrey retorted, and, torch in hand, +proceeded to examine the window-sill and the ground beneath it. +"There is where he stood," he added, and the marks on the sill were +evident enough. "Of course he had his line of retreat blocked out," +and he flashed his torch back and forth across the grass, but the +turf was so close that no trace of footsteps was visible. + +We went slowly back to the house, and Godfrey sat down again to a +contemplation of the cabinet. + +"It's too much for me," he said, at last. "The only way I can find +that drawer, I'm afraid, is with an axe. But I don't want to smash +the thing to pieces--" + +"I should say not! It would be like smashing the Venus de Milo." + +"Hardly so bad as that. But we won't smash it yet awhile. I'm going +to look up the subject of secret drawers--perhaps I'll stumble upon +something that will help me." + +"And then, of course," I said, disconsolately, "it is quite possible +that there isn't any such drawer at all." + +But Godfrey shook his head decidedly. + +"I don't agree with you there, Lester. I'll wager that fellow who was +looking in at us could find it in a minute." + +"He seemed mighty frightened lest you should." + +"He had reason to be," Godfrey rejoined grimly. "I'll have another +try at it to-morrow. One thing we've got to take care of, and that is +that our friend of the burning eyes doesn't get a chance at it +first." + +"Those shutters are pretty strong," I pointed out. "And Parks is no +fool." + +"Yes," agreed Godfrey, "the shutters are pretty strong--they might +keep him out for ten minutes--scarcely longer than that. As for +Parks, he wouldn't last ten seconds. You don't seem to understand the +extraordinary character of this fellow." + +"During your period of exaltation last night," I reminded him, "you +referred to him as the greatest criminal of modern times." + +"Well," smiled Godfrey, "perhaps that _was_ a little exaggerated. +Suppose we say one of the greatest--great enough, surely, to walk all +around us, if we aren't on guard. I think I would better drop a word +to Simmonds and get him to send down a couple of men to watch the +house. With them outside, and Parks on the inside, it ought to be +fairly safe." + +"I should think so!" I said. "One would imagine you were getting +ready to repel an army. Who is this fellow, anyway, Godfrey? You seem +to be half afraid of him!" + +"I'm wholly afraid of him, if he's who I think he is--but it's a mere +guess as yet, Lester. Wait a day or two. I'll call up Simmonds." + +He went to the 'phone, while I sat down again and looked at the +cabinet in a kind of stupefaction. What was the intrigue, of which it +seemed to be the centre? Who was this man, that Godfrey should +consider him so formidable? Why should he have chosen Philip Vantine +for a victim? + +Godfrey came back while I was still groping blindly amid this maze of +mystery. + +"It's all right," he said. "Simmonds is sending two of his best men +to watch the house." He stood for a moment gazing down at the +cabinet. "I'm coming back to-morrow to have another try at it," he +added. "I have left the gauntlet there on the chair, so if you feel +like having a try yourself, Lester...." + +"Heaven forbid!" I protested. "But perhaps I would better tell Parks +to let you in. I hope I won't find you a corpse here, Godfrey!" + +"So do I! But I don't believe you will. Yes, tell Parks to let me in +whenever I come around. And now about Rogers." + +"What about him?" + +"I rather thought I might want to grill him to-night. But perhaps I +would better wait till I get a little more to go on." He paused for a +moment's thought. "Yes; I'll wait," he said, finally. "I don't want +to run any risk of failing." + +We went out into the hall together, and I told Parks to admit +Godfrey, whenever he wished to enter. Rogers was still sitting on the +cot, looking so crushed and sorrowful that I could not help pitying +him. I began to think that, if he were left to himself a day or two +longer, he would tell all we wished to know without any grilling. + +I confided this idea to Godfrey as we went down the front steps. + +"Perhaps you're right," he agreed. "I don't believe the fellow is +really crooked. Something has happened to him--something in +connection with that woman--and he has never got over it. Well, we +shall have to find out what it was. Hello, here are Simmonds's men," +he added, as two policemen stopped before the house. + +"Is this Mr. Godfrey?" one of them asked. + +"Yes," said Godfrey. + +"Mr. Simmonds told us to report to you, sir, if you were here." + +"What we want you to do," said Godfrey, "is to watch the house--watch +it from all sides--patrol clear around it, and see that no one +approaches it." + +"Very well, sir," and the men touched their helmets, and one of them +went around to the back of the house, while the other remained in +front. + +"Perhaps if they concealed themselves," I suggested, "the fellow +might venture back and be nabbed." + +But Godfrey shook his head. + +"I don't want him to venture back," he said. "I want to scare him +off. I want him to see we're thoroughly on guard." He hailed a +passing cab, and paused with one foot on the step. "I've already told +you, Lester," he added, over his shoulder, "that I'm afraid of him. +Perhaps you thought I was joking, but I wasn't. I was never more +serious in my life. The _Record_ office," he added to the cabby, and +jingled away, leaving me staring after him. + +As I turned homeward, I could not but ponder over this remarkable and +mysterious being with whom Godfrey was so impressed. Never before had +I known him to hesitate to match himself with any adversary; but now, +it seemed to me, he shunned the contest, or at least feared it +--feared that he might be outwitted and outplayed! How great a +compliment that was to the mysterious unknown only I could guess! + +And then I shivered a little as I recalled that mocking and ironic +laughter. And I quickened my step, with a glance over my shoulder; +for if Godfrey was afraid, how much more reason had I to be! It was +with a sense of relief, of which I was a little ashamed, that I +reached my apartment at the Marathon and locked the door. + +Just before I turned in for the night, I heard from Godfrey again, +for my telephone rang, and it was his voice that answered. + +"I just wanted to tell you, Lester," he said, "that your guess was +right. The mysterious Frenchman came over on _La Touraine_, landing +at noon yesterday. He came in the steerage, and the stewards know +nothing about him. What time was it he got to Vantine's?" + +"About two, I should say." + +"So he probably went directly there from the boat, as you thought. +That accounts for nobody knowing him. The steamship company is +holding a bag belonging to him. I'll get them to open it to-morrow, +and perhaps we shall find out who he was." + +"But, Godfrey," I broke in, "how about this other fellow--the man +with the burning eyes? He's getting on my nerves!" + +"Don't let him do that, Lester!" he laughed. "We're in no danger so +long as we are not around that cabinet! That's the storm centre! I +can't tell you more than that. Good-night!" and he hung up without +waiting for me to answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DISTINGUISHED CALLER + + +It was shortly after I reached the office, next morning, that the +office-boy came in and handed me a card with an awed and reverent air +so at variance with his usual demeanour that I glanced at the square +of pasteboard in some astonishment. Then, I confess, an awed and +reverent feeling crept over me, also, for the card bore the name of +Sereno Hornblower. + +That name is quite unknown outside the legal profession of the three +great cities of the east, New York, Boston and Philadelphia; for +Sereno Hornblower has never held a public office, has never made a +public speech, has never responded to a toast, has never served on a +public committee, has never, so far as I know, conducted a case in +court or addressed a jury--has never, in a word, figured in the +newspapers in any way; and yet his income would make that of any +other lawyer in the country look like thirty cents. + +For Sereno Hornblower is the confidential attorney of most of our +"best families." He has held that position for years, and it is said +that no case placed unreservedly in his hands ever resulted in a +public scandal. He accepts clients with great care; he has +steadfastly refused the business of Pittsburgh millionaires, +remunerative as it was certain to be; but he seems to take a sort of +personal pride in keeping intact the reputations of the old families, +even when their scions embark in the most outrageous escapades. If +you are descended from the Pilgrims or the Patroons, Mr. Hornblower +will ask no further recommendation. + +His reputation for tact and delicacy is tremendous; and yet those who +have found themselves opposed to him have never been long in +realising that there was a most redoubtable mailed fist under the +velvet glove. Altogether a remarkable man, whose memoirs would make +absorbing reading, could he be persuaded to write them--which is +quite beyond the bounds of possibility. I had never met him either +professionally or personally, and it was with some eagerness that I +told the office-boy to show him in at once. + +Sereno Hornblower did not look the part. His reputation led one to +expect a sort of cross between Uriah Heep and Sherlock Holmes, but +there was nothing secretive or insinuating about his appearance. He +was a bluff and hearty man of middle age, rather heavy-set, +fresh-faced and clean-shaven, and with very bright blue eyes--evidently +a man with a good digestion and a comfortable conscience. Had I met him +on Broadway, I should have taken him for a ripe and finished +comedian. There was about him an air which somehow reminded me of +Joseph Jefferson--perhaps it was his bright blue eyes. It may have +been this very appearance of bluff sincerity and honest downrightness +which accounted for his success. + +We shook hands, and he sat down and plunged at once, without an +instant's hesitation, into the business which had brought him. +Looking back at it, understanding as I do now the delicate nature of +that business, I admire more and more that bluff readiness; though +the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that he had thought +out definitely beforehand precisely what he was going to say. The man +who can carry through a carefully premeditated scene with an air of +complete unpremeditation has an immense advantage. + +"Mr. Lester," he began, "I understand that you are the administrator +of the estate of the late Philip Vantine?" + +"Our firm is," I corrected. + +"But you, personally, have been attending to his business?" + +"Yes." + +"He was a collector of old furniture, I believe?" + +"Yes." + +"And on his last trip to Europe, from which he returned only a few +days ago, he purchased of Armand & Son, of Paris, a Boule cabinet?" + +I could not repress a start of astonishment. + +"Are you acting for Armand & Son?" I queried. + +"Not at all. I am acting for a lady whom, for the present, we will +call Madame X." + +The thought flashed through my mind that Madame X. and the mysterious +Frenchwoman might be one and the same person. Then I put aside the +idea as absurd. Sereno Hornblower would never accept such a client. + +"Mr. Vantine did buy such a cabinet," I said. + +"And it is in your possession?" + +"There is at his residence a Boule cabinet which was shipped him from +Paris, but, only a few hours before his death, Mr. Vantine assured me +that it was not the one he had purchased." + +"You mean that a mistake had been made in the shipment?" + +"That is what we supposed, and a cablegram from Armand & Son has +since confirmed it." + +Mr. Hornblower pondered this for a moment. + +"Where is the cabinet which Mr. Vantine did buy?" he asked at last. + +"I have no idea. Perhaps it is still in Paris. But I am expecting a +representative of the Armands to call very soon to straighten things +out." + +Again my companion fell silent, and sat rubbing his chin absently. + +"It is very strange," he said, finally. "If the cabinet was still at +Paris, one would think it would have been discovered before my client +made inquiry about it." + +"There are a good many things which are strange about this whole +matter," I supplemented. + +"Would you have any objection to my client seeing this cabinet, Mr. +Lester?" + +It was my turn to hesitate. + +"Mr. Hornblower," I said, finally, "I will be frank with you. There +is a certain mystery surrounding this cabinet which we have not been +able to solve. I suppose you have read of the mysterious deaths of +Mr. Vantine and of an unknown Frenchman, both in the same room at the +Vantine house, and both apparently from the same cause?" + +He nodded. + +"Do you mean that this cabinet is connected with them in any way?" he +asked quickly. + +"We believe so; though as yet we have been able to prove absolutely +nothing. But we are guarding the cabinet very closely. I should not +object to your client seeing it, but I could not permit her to touch +it--not, at least, without knowing why she wished to do so. You will +remember that you have told me nothing of why she is interested in +it." + +"I am quite ready to tell you the story, Mr. Lester," he said. "It is +only fair that I should do so. After you have heard it, if you agree, +we will take Madame X. to see the cabinet." + +"Very well," I assented. + +He settled back in his chair, and his face became more grave. + +"My client," he began, "is a member of a prominent American family--a +most prominent family. Three years ago, she married a French +nobleman. You can, perhaps, guess her name, but I should prefer that +neither of us utter it." + +I nodded my agreement. + +"This nobleman has been both prodigal and unfaithful. He has +scattered my client's fortune with both hands. He has flaunted his +mistresses in her face. He has even tried to compel her to receive +one of them. I am free to confess that I consider her a fool not to +have left him long ago. At last her trustees interfered, for her +father had been wise enough to place a portion of her fortune in +trust. They paid her husband's debts, placed him on an allowance, and +notified his creditors that his debts would not be paid again." + +I had by this time, of course, guessed the name of his client, since +these details had long been a matter of public notoriety, and, I need +hardly say, listened to the story with a heightened interest. + +"The allowance is a princely one," Mr. Hornblower continued, "but it +does not suffice Monsieur X. No allowance would suffice him--the more +money he had, the more ways he would find of spending it. So he has +become a thief. He has taken to selling the objects of art with which +his residences are filled, and which are really the property of my +client, since they were purchased with her money. About two weeks +ago, my client returned to Paris from a stay at her chateau in +Normandy to find that he had almost denuded the town house. +Tapestries, pictures, sculptures--everything had been sold. Among +other things which he had taken was a Boule cabinet, which had been +used by my client as her private writing-desk. The cabinet was a most +valuable one; but it is not its monetary value which makes my client +so anxious to recover it." + +He paused an instant and cleared his throat, and I realised that he +was coming to the really delicate part of the story. + +"Monsieur X. had had the decency," he went on, more slowly, "to, as +he thought, retain his wife's private papers. He had caused the +contents of the various drawers to be dumped out upon a chair. But +there was one drawer of which he knew nothing--a secret drawer, known +only to my client. That drawer contained a packet of letters which my +client is most anxious to regain. Of their nature, I will say +nothing--indeed, I know very little about them, for, after all, that +is none of my business. But she has given me to understand that their +recovery is essential to her peace of mind." + +I nodded again; there was really no need that he should say more. +Only, I reflected, a faithless husband has no reason to complain if +his wife repays him in the same coin! + +"My client went to work at once to regain the cabinet," continued Mr. +Hornblower, plainly relieved that the thinnest ice had been crossed. +"She found that it had been sold to Armand & Son. Hastening to their +offices, she learned that it had been resold by them to Mr. Vantine +and sent forward to him here. So she came over on the first boat, +ostensibly to visit her family, but really to ask Mr. Vantine's +permission to open the drawer and take out the letters. His death +interfered with this, and, in despair, she came to me. I need hardly +add, that no member of her family knows anything about this matter, +and it is especially important that her husband should never even +suspect it. On her behalf, I apply to you, as Mr. Vantine's executor, +to restore these letters to their owner." + +I sat for a moment turning this extraordinary story over in my mind, +and trying to make it fit in with the occurrences of the past two +days. But it would not fit--at least, it would not fit with my theory +as to the cause of those occurrences. For, surely, Madame X. would +scarcely guard the secret of that drawer with poison! + +"Does any one besides your client know of the existence of these +letters?" I asked, at last. + +"I think not," answered Mr. Hornblower, smiling drily. "They are not +of a nature which my client would care to communicate to any one. In +fact, Mr. Lester, as you have doubtless suspected, they are +compromising letters. We must get them back at any cost." + +"As a matter of fact," I pointed out, "there are always at least two +people who know of the existence of every letter--the person who +writes it and the person who receives it." + +"I had thought of that, but the person who wrote these letters is +dead." + +"Dead?" I repeated. + +"He was killed in a duel some months ago," explained Mr. Hornblower, +gravely. + +"By Monsieur X.?" I asked quickly. + +"By Monsieur X.," said Mr. Hornblower, and sat regarding me, his lips +pursed, as an indication, perhaps, that he would say no more. + +But there was no necessity that he should. I knew enough of French +law and of French habits of thought to realise that if those letters +ever came into possession of Monsieur X., the game would be entirely +in his hands. His wife would be absolutely at his mercy. And the +thought flashed through my mind that perhaps in some way he had +learned of the existence of the letters, and was trying desperately +to get them. That thought was enough to swing the balance in his +wife's favour. + +"I am sure," I said, "that Mr. Vantine would instantly have consented +to your client opening the drawer and taking out the letters. And, as +his executor, I also consent, for, whoever may own the cabinet, the +letters are the property of Madame X. All this providing, of course, +that this should prove to be the right cabinet. But I must warn you, +Mr. Hornblower, that I believe two men have already been killed +trying to open that drawer," and I told him, while he sat there +staring in profound amazement, of my theory in regard to the death of +Philip Vantine and of the unknown Frenchman. "I am inclined to +think," I concluded, "that Vantine blundered upon the drawer while +examining the cabinet; but there is no doubt that the other man knew +of the drawer, and also, presumably, of its contents." + +"Well!" exclaimed my companion. "I have listened to many astonishing +stories in my life, but never one to equal this. And you know nothing +of this Frenchman?" + +"Nothing except that he came from Havre on _La Touraine_ last +Thursday, and drove from the dock direct to Vantine's house." + +"My client also came on _La Touraine_--but that, no doubt, was a mere +coincidence." + +"That may be," I agreed, "but it is scarcely a coincidence that both +he and your client were after the contents of that drawer." + +"You mean...." + +"I mean that the mysterious Frenchman may very possibly have been an +emissary of Monsieur X. Madame may have betrayed the secret to him in +an unguarded moment." + +Mr. Hornblower rose abruptly. He was evidently much disturbed. + +"You may be right," he agreed. "I will communicate with my client at +once. I take it that she has your permission to see the cabinet; and, +if it proves to be the right one, that she may open the drawer and +remove the letters." + +"If she cares to take the risk," I assented. + +"Very well; I will call you as soon as I have seen her," he said. "In +any event, I thank you for your courtesy," and he left the office. + +He must have driven straight to her family residence on the Avenue; +or perhaps she was awaiting him at his office; at any rate, he called +me up inside the half hour. + +"My client would like to see the cabinet at once," he said. "She is +in a very nervous condition; especially since she learned that some +one else has tried to open the drawer. When will it be convenient for +you to go with us?" + +"I can go at once," I said. + +"Then we will drive around for you. We should be there in fifteen or +twenty minutes." + +"Very well," I said, "I'll be ready. I shall, of course, want to take +a witness with me." + +"That is quite proper," assented Mr. Hornblower. "We can have no +objection to that. In twenty minutes, then." + +I got the _Record_ office as soon as I could, but Godfrey was not +there. He did not come on usually, some one said, until the middle of +the afternoon. I rang his rooms, but there was no reply. Finally I +called up the Vantine house. + +"Parks," I said, "I am bringing up some people to look at that +cabinet. It might be just as well to get that cot out of the way and +have all the lights going?" + +"The lights are already going, sir," he said. + +"Already going? What do you mean?" + +"Mr. Godfrey has been here for quite a while, sir, fooling with that +cabinet thing." + +"He has!" and then I reflected that I ought to have guessed his +whereabouts. "Tell him, Parks, that I am bringing some people up to +see the cabinet, and that I should like him to stay there and be a +witness of the proceedings." + +"Very well, sir," assented Parks. + +"Everything quiet?" + +"Oh, yes, sir; there was two policemen outside all night, and Rogers +and me inside." + +"Mr. Hornblower's carriage is below, sir," announced the office-boy, +opening the door. + +"All right," I said. "We are coming right up, Parks. Good-bye," and I +hung up and slipped into my coat. + +Then, as I took down my hat, a sudden thought struck me. + +If the unknown Frenchman was indeed an emissary of Monsieur X., +Madame might be acquainted with him. It was a long shot, but worth +trying! I stepped to my desk, took out the photograph which Godfrey +had given me, and slipped it into my pocket. Then I hurried out to +the elevator. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VEILED LADY + + +There were three persons in the carriage. Mr. Hornblower sat with his +back to the horses, and two women were on the opposite seat. Both +were dressed in black and heavily veiled, but there was about them +the indefinable distinction of mistress and maid. It would be +difficult to tell precisely in what the distinction consisted, but it +was there. Mr. Hornblower glanced behind me as I entered. + +"You spoke of a witness," he said. + +"He is at the Vantine house," I explained, and sat down beside him. + +"This is Mr. Lester," he said, and the veiled lady opposite him, whom +I had known at once to be the mistress, inclined her head a little. + +Those were the only words spoken. The carriage rolled out to Broadway +and then turned northward, making such progress as was possible along +that crowded thoroughfare. I glanced from time to time at the women +opposite, and was struck by the contrast in their behaviour. One sat +quite still, her hands in her lap, her head bent, admirably +self-contained; the other was restless and uneasy, unable to control +a nervous twitching of the fingers. I wondered why the maid should +seem more upset than her mistress, and decided finally that her +uneasiness was merely lack of breeding. But the contrast interested +me. + +At Tenth Street, the carriage turned westward again, skirted +Washington Square, turned into the Avenue, and stopped before the +Vantine house. Mr. Hornblower assisted the women to alight, and I led +the way up the steps. But as we reached the top and came upon the +funeral wreath on the door, the veiled lady stopped with a little +exclamation. + +"I did not know," she said, quickly. "Perhaps, after all, we would +better wait. I did not realise...." + +"There are no relatives to be hurt, madame," I interrupted. "As for +the dead man, what can it matter to him?" and I rang the bell. + +Parks opened the door, and, nodding to him, I led the way along the +hall and into the ante-room. Godfrey was awaiting us there, and I saw +the flame of interest which leaped into his eyes, as Mr. Hornblower +and the two veiled women entered. + +"This is my witness," I said to the former. "Mr. Godfrey--Mr. +Hornblower." + +Godfrey bowed, and Hornblower regarded him with a good-humoured +smile. + +"If I were not sure of Mr. Godfrey's discretion," he said, "I should +object. But I have tested it before this, and know that it can be +relied upon." + +"There is only one person to whom I yield precedence in the matter of +discretion," rejoined Godfrey, smiling back at him, "and that is Mr. +Hornblower. He is in a class quite by himself." + +"Thank you," said the lawyer, and bowed gravely. + +During this interchange of compliments, the woman I had decided was +the maid had sat down, as though her legs were unable to sustain her, +and was nervously clasping and unclasping her hands; even her +mistress showed signs of impatience. + +"The cabinet is in here," I said, and led the way into the inner +room, the two men and the veiled lady at my heels. + +It stood in the middle of the floor, just as it had stood since the +night of the tragedy, and all the lights were going. As I entered, I +noticed Godfrey's gauntlet lying on a chair. + +"Is it the right one, madame?" I asked. + +She gazed at it a moment, her hands pressed against her breast. + +"Yes!" she answered, with a gasp that was almost a sob. + +I confess I was astonished. I had never thought it could be the right +one; even now I did not see how it could possibly be the right one. + +"You are sure?" I queried incredulously. + +"Do you think I could be mistaken in such a matter, sir? I assure you +that this cabinet at one time belonged to me. You permit me?" she +added, and took a step toward it. + +"One moment, madame," I interposed. "I must warn you that in touching +that cabinet you are running a great risk." + +"A great risk?" she echoed, looking at me. + +"A very great risk, as I have pointed out to Mr. Hornblower. I have +reason to believe that two men met death while trying to open that +secret drawer." + +"I believe Mr. Hornblower did tell me something of the sort," she +murmured; "but of course that is all a mistake." + +"Then the drawer is not guarded by poison?" I questioned. + +"By poison?" she repeated blankly, and carried her handkerchief to +her lips. "I do not understand." + +I knew that my theory was collapsing, utterly, hopelessly. I dared +not look at Godfrey. + +"Is there not, connected with the drawer," I asked, "a mechanism +which, as the drawer is opened, plunges two poisoned fangs into the +hand which opens it?" + +"No, Mr. Lester," she answered, astonishment in her voice, "I assure +you there is no such mechanism." + +I clutched at a last straw, and a sorry one it was! + +"The mechanism may have been placed there since the cabinet passed +from your possession," I suggested. + +"That is, perhaps, possible," she agreed, though I saw that she was +unconvinced. + +"At any rate, madame," I said, "I would ask that, in opening the +drawer, you wear this gauntlet," and I picked up Godfrey's gauntlet +from the chair on which it lay. "It is needless that you should take +any risk, however slight. Permit me," and I slipped the gauntlet over +her right hand. + +As I did so, I glanced at Godfrey. He was staring at the veiled lady +with such a look of stupefaction that I nearly choked with delight. +It had not often been my luck to see Jim Godfrey mystified, but he +was certainly mystified now! + +The veiled lady regarded the steel glove with a little laugh. + +"I am now free to open the drawer?" she asked. + +"Yes, madame." + +She moved toward the cabinet, Godfrey and I close behind her. At last +the secret which had defied us was to be revealed. And with its +revelation would come the end of the picturesque and romantic theory +we had been building up so laboriously. + +Instinctively, I glanced toward the shuttered window, but the +semi-circle of light was unobscured. + +The veiled lady bent above the table and disposed the fingers of her +right hand to fit the metal inlay midway of the left side. + +"It is a little awkward," she said. "I have always been accustomed to +using the left hand. You will notice that I am pressing on three +points; but to open the drawer, one must press these points in a +certain order--- first this one, then this one, and then this one." + +There was a sharp click, and, at the side of the table, a piece of +the metal inlay fell forward. + +"That is the handle," said the veiled lady, and, without an instant's +hesitation, while my heart stood still, she grasped it and drew out a +shallow drawer. "Ah!" and, casting aside the ridiculous gauntlet, she +caught up the packet of papers which lay within. Then, with an +effort, she controlled herself, slipped off the ribbon which held the +packet together, and spread out before my eyes ten or twelve +envelopes. "You will see that they are only letters, Mr. Lester," she +said in a low voice, "and I assure you that they belong to me." + +"I believe you, madame," I said, and with a sigh of relief that was +almost a sob, she rebound the packet and slipped it into the bosom of +her gown. "There is one thing," I added, "which madame can, perhaps, +do for me." + +"I shall be most happy!" she breathed. + +"As I have told Mr. Hornblower," I continued, "two men died in this +room the day before yesterday. Or, rather, it was in the room beyond +that they died; but we believed it was here they received the wounds +which caused death. It seems that we were wrong in this." + +"Undoubtedly," she agreed. "There has never been any such weird +mechanism as you described connected with that drawer, Mr. Lester. At +least, not since I have had it. There is a legend, you know, that the +cabinet was made for Madame de Montespan." + +She was talking more freely now; evidently a great load had been +lifted from her--perhaps I did not guess how great! + +"Mr. Vantine suspected as much," I said. "He was a connoisseur of +furniture, and there was something about this cabinet which told him +it had belonged to the Montespan. He was examining it at the time he +died. What the other man was doing, we do not know, but if we could +identify him, it might help us." + +"You have not identified him?" + +"We know nothing whatever about him, except that he was presumably a +Frenchman, and that he arrived on _La Touraine_, two days ago." + +"That is the boat upon which I came over." + +"It has occurred to me, madame, that you may have seen him--that he +may even be known to you." + +"What was his name?" + +"The card he sent in to Mr. Vantine bore the name of Theophile +d'Aurelle." + +She shook her head. + +"I have never before heard that name, Mr. Lester." + +"We believe it to have been an assumed name," I said; "but perhaps +you will recognise this photograph," and I drew it from my pocket and +handed it to her. + +She took it, looked at it, and again shook her head. Then she looked +at it again, turning aside and raising her veil in order to see it +better. + +"There seems to be something familiar about the face," she said, at +last, "as though I might have seen the man somewhere." + +"On the boat, perhaps," I suggested, but I knew very well it was not +on the boat, since the man had crossed in the steerage. + +"No; it was not on the boat. I did not leave my stateroom on the +boat. But I am quite sure that I have seen him--and yet I can't say +where." + +"Perhaps," I said, in a low voice, "he may have been one of the +friends of your husband." + +I saw her hand tremble under the blow, but it had to be struck. And +she was brave. + +"The same thought occurred to me, Mr. Lester," she answered; "but I +know very few of my husband's friends; certainly not this one. And +yet.... Perhaps my maid can help us." + +Photograph in hand, she stepped through the doorway into the outer +room. The maid was sitting on the chair where we had left her; her +hands clenched tightly together in her lap, as though it was only by +some violent effort she could maintain her self-control. + +"Julie," said the veiled lady, in rapid French, "I have here the +photograph of a man who was killed in this room most mysteriously a +few days ago. These gentlemen wish to identify him. The face seems to +me somehow familiar, but I cannot place it. Look at it." + +Julie put forth a shaking hand, took the photograph, and glanced at +it; then, with a long sigh, slid limply to the floor, before either +Godfrey or I could catch her. + +As she fell, her veil, catching on the chair-back, was torn away; +and, looking down at her, a great emotion burst within me, for I +recognised the mysterious woman whose photograph d'Aurelle had +carried in his watch-case. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SECRET OF THE UNKNOWN FRENCHMAN + + +For a moment, I stood spell-bound, staring down at that jaded and +passion-stained countenance; then Godfrey sprang forward and lifted +the unconscious woman to the couch. + +"Bring some water," he said, and as he turned and looked at me, I saw +that his face was glowing with excitement. + +I rushed to the door and snatched it open. Rogers was standing in the +hall outside, and I sent him hurrying for the water, and turned back +into the room. + +Godfrey was chafing the girl's hands, and the veiled lady was bending +over her, fumbling at the hooks of her bodice. Evidently she could +not see them, for, with a sudden movement, she put back her veil. My +heart warmed to her at that act of sacrifice; and after a single +glance at her, I turned away my eyes. + +I saw Godfrey's start of recognition as he looked down at her; then +he, too, looked aside. + +"Here's the water, sir," said Rogers, and handed me glass and +pitcher. + +The next instant, his eyes fell upon the woman on the couch. He stood +staring, his face turning slowly purple; then, clutching at his +throat, he half-turned and fell, just as I had seen him do once +before. + +Hornblower, who was staring at the unconscious woman and mopping his +face feverishly, spun around at the crash. + +"Well, I'll be damned!" he said, in a hoarse voice, as he saw Rogers +extended on the floor at his feet. "What's the matter with this +house, anyway?" + +So great was the tension on my nerves that I could scarcely restrain +a shout of laughter. I turned it into a shout for Parks; but his +face, when he appeared on the threshold, was too much for me, and I +sank into a chair, laughing hysterically. + +"For God's sake!" Parks began.... + +"It's all right," Godfrey broke in, sharply, "Rogers has had another +fit. Get the ammonia!" + +Parks staggered away, and Mr. Hornblower sat down weakly. + +"I don't see the joke!" he growled, glaring at me, his face crimson. + +"Get a grip of yourself, Lester," said Godfrey, savagely, seized the +pitcher from my hand, and hurried with it to madame. + +I _did_ get a grip of myself, and when Parks came back a moment later +with the ammonia, was able to hold up Rogers's head, while Parks +applied the phial to his nostrils. + +"Give me a whiff of it, too, Parks," I said, unsteadily, and in an +instant my eyes were streaming; but I had escaped hysteria. +"Straighten Rogers out and let him lie there," I gasped, and sat +dizzily down upon the floor. But I dared not look at Hornblower. I +felt that another glance at his dazed countenance would send me off +again. + +Madame, meanwhile, had dashed some water into the face of the +unconscious Julie--much to the detriment of her complexion!--watched +her a moment, then stood erect and lowered her veil. + +"She will soon be all right again," she said; and, truly enough, at +the end of a few seconds, the girl opened her eyes and looked dazedly +about her. Then a violent trembling seized her. + +"What is it, Julie?" asked her mistress, taking her hand. "You knew +this man?" + +A hoarse sob was the only answer. + +"You must tell me," went on madame, quietly but firmly. "Perhaps a +crime has been committed. You must tell me everything. You may rely +upon the discretion of these gentlemen. You knew this man?" + +The girl nodded, and closed her eyes; but the hot tears brimmed from +them and ran down over her cheeks. + +"In Paris?" + +The girl nodded again. + +"He was your lover?" + +A third nod, and a fresh flood of tears. + +"I remember, now," said madame, suddenly. "I saw him with her once. +What was he doing in this house?" she went on, more sternly. "Tell +us!" + +"Madame will never forgive me!" sobbed the girl, and I began to think +that she was more concerned for herself than for her lover. The same +thought occurred to her mistress too, no doubt, for her voice +hardened. + +"Try me," she said. "Understand well, you must tell--if not here, +then before an officer of the police." + +"Oh, no, no!" screamed Julie, sitting suddenly erect. "Never that! I +could not bear that! Madame would not be so cruel!" + +"Then tell us now!" said the veiled lady, inexorably. + +"Very well, madame!" cried the girl, dabbing at her eyes with her +handkerchief, and speaking in a mixture of French and English which I +shall not attempt to transcribe. "I will tell; I will tell +everything. After all, I was not to blame. It was that creature. I +did not love him--but I feared him. He possessed a power over me. He +could make me do anything. He even beat me! And still I went back to +him!" + +"What was his name?" asked the veiled lady. + +"Georges Drouet--he lived in the Rue de la Huchette, just off the Rue +Saint Jacques--on the top floor, under the gutters. He was bad--bad; +--he lived off women. I met him six months ago. He knew how to +fascinate one; I thought he loved me. Then he began to borrow money +from me, until he had taken all that I had saved; then my rings +--every one!" She held up her hands to show their bareness. +"Then...." + +She stopped and glanced at her mistress. + +"Continue!" said the latter. "Tell what you have to tell." + +"I knew that madame also...." + +She stopped again. I walked over to the window and stood staring at +the wooden shutter, strangely moved. + +"Well, why not?" she demanded fiercely, and I felt that she was +addressing my turned back. "Why not? Shall a woman not be loved? +Shall a woman endure what madame endured...." + +"That will do, Julie," broke in the veiled lady, her voice cold as +ice. "Tell your story." + +"I knew of the secret drawer; I had seen madame open it; I knew what +it contained. But I was faithful to madame; I loved her; I was glad +that she had found some one.... Madame will remember her despair, her +horror, when she entered her room to find the cabinet gone, taken +away, sold by that.... I, too, was in despair--I desired with my +whole soul to help madame. That night I had a rendezvous with him," +and she nodded toward the photograph which lay upon the floor. "I +told him." + +Her mistress stood as though turned to stone. I could guess her +anguish and humiliation. + +"He questioned me--he learned everything--the drawer, how it was +opened--all. But I did not suspect what was in his mind--not for an +instant did I suspect. But on the boat I saw him, and then I knew. +Well, he has got what he deserved!" + +She shivered and pressed her hands against her eyes. + +"I think that is all, madame," she added, hoarsely. + +"It is all of that story," said Godfrey, in a crisp voice; "but there +is another." + +"Another?" echoed the veiled lady, looking at him. + +"Ask her, madame, for what purpose she called at this house, night +before last, and saw Philip Vantine in this room." + +"I did not!" shrieked the girl, her face ablaze. "It is a lie!" + +"She does not need to tell!" went on Godfrey inexorably. "Any fool +could guess. She came for the letters! She had resolved herself to +blackmail you, madame!" + +"It is a lie!" shrieked the girl again. "I came hoping to save her +--to...." + +A storm of angry sobbing choked her. + +I could see how the veiled lady was trembling. I placed a chair for +her, and she sank into it with a murmur of thanks. + +"Besides, we have a witness to her visit," added Godfrey. "Shall I +call the police, madame?" + +"No, no!" and the girl sat upright again, her face ghastly. "I will +tell. I will tell all. Give me but a moment!" + +She sat there, struggling for self-control, her streaked and +grotesque countenance contorted with emotion. Then I saw her eyes +widen, and, glancing around, I saw that Rogers had dragged himself to +a sitting posture, and was staring at her, his face livid. + +The sight of him seemed to madden her. + +"It was you!" she shrieked, and shook her clenched fist at him. "It +was you who told! Coward! Coward!" + +But Godfrey, his face very grim, laid a heavy hand upon her arm. + +"Be still!" he cried. "He told us nothing! He tried to shield you +--though why he should wish to do so...." + +Rogers broke in with a hollow and ghastly laugh. + +"It was natural enough, sir," he said hoarsely. "She's my wife!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PHILIP VANTINE'S CALLER + + +It was a sordid story that Rogers gasped out to us; and, as it +concerns this tale only incidentally, I shall pass over it as briefly +as may be. + +Eight or ten years before, the fair Julie--at least, she was fairer +then than now!--had come to New York to enter the employ of a family +whose mistress had decided that life without a French maid was +unendurable. Rogers had met her, had been fascinated by her black +eyes and red lips, had, in the end, proposed honourable marriage +--quite unnecessarily, no doubt!--had been accepted, and for some +months had led an eventful existence as the husband of the siren. +Then, one morning, he awakened to find her gone. + +He had, of course, entrusted his savings to her--that had been one +condition of the marriage!--and the savings were gone, also. Julie, +it seems, had been overcome with longing for the Paris asphalt; no +doubt, too, she had found herself ennuied by the lack of romance in +married life with Rogers; and she had flown back to France. Rogers +had thought of following; but, appalled at the difficulty of finding +her in Paris, not knowing what he should do if he did find her, he +had finally given it up, and had settled gloomily down to live upon +his memories. Some sort of affection for her had kept alive within +him, and when he opened the door of Vantine's house and found her +standing on the steps, he was as wax in her hands. + +Julie had listened to all this indifferently, even disdainfully, +without denying anything, nor seeking to excuse herself. Perhaps the +idea that she needed excuse did not occur to her. And when the story +was finished, she was quite herself again; even a little proud, I +think, of holding the centre of the stage in the role of siren. It +was almost a rejuvenescence, and there was gratitude in the gaze she +turned on Rogers. + +"This is all true, I suppose?" asked the veiled lady. + +"All quite true, madame," answered Julie, with a shrug. "I was +younger then and the love of excitement was too strong for me. I am +older now, and have more sense--besides, I am no longer sought after +as I was." + +"And so," said madame, with irony, "you are now, no doubt, willing to +return to your husband." + +"I have been considering it, madame," replied Julie, with astounding +simplicity, "ever since I saw him here the other evening, and learned +that he still cared for me. One must have a harbour in one's old +age." + +I glanced at Rogers and was astonished to see that he was regarding +the woman with affectionate admiration. Evidently the harbour was +waiting, should Julie choose to anchor there. + +"I have hesitated," she added, "only because of madame. Where would +madame get another maid such as I? No one but I can arrange her hair +--no one but I can prepare her bath...." + +"We will discuss it," said the veiled lady, "when we are alone. And +now, perhaps, you will be so good as to tell us of your previous +visit here." + +"Very well, madame," and Julie settled into a more comfortable +posture. "It was one day on the boat as I was looking down at the +passengers of the third class that I perceived Georges--M. Drouet +--strolling about. I was _bouleversee_--what you call upset with +amazement, and then he looked up and our eyes met, and he came +beneath me and commanded that I meet him that evening. It was then +that I learned his plan. It was to secure those letters for himself +and to dispose of them." + +"To whom?" asked Godfrey. + +"To the person that would pay the greatest price for them, most +certainly," answered Julie, surprised that it should have been +thought necessary to ask such a question. "They were to be offered +first to madame at ten thousand francs each; should she refuse, they +were then to be offered to M. le Duc--he would surely desire to +possess them!" + +The veiled lady shivered a little, and her hand instinctively sought +her bosom to assure herself that the precious packet was safe. + +"That night," continued Julie, "in my cabin, I tossed and tossed, +trying to discover a way to prevent this; for I had seen long since +that M. Drouet no longer cared for me--I knew that it was upon some +other woman that money would be spent. I decided that, at the first +moment, I would hasten to this house; I would explain the matter to +M. Vantine, I would persuade him to restore to me the letters, with +which I would fly to madame. I knew, also, that I could rely upon her +gratitude," added the girl. "After all, one must provide for +oneself." + +She paused and glanced around the room, smiling at the interest in +our faces. + +"You have at least one virtue--that of frankness," said the veiled +lady. "Continue." + +"It was not until evening that I found an opportunity to leave +madame," Julie went on. "I hastened here; I rang the bell; but I +confess I should have failed, I should not have secured an entrance, +if it had not been that it was my husband who opened the door to me. +Even after I was inside the door, he refused to permit me to see his +master; but as we were debating together, M. Vantine himself came +into the hall, and I ran to him and begged that he hear me. It was +then that he invited me to enter this room." + +She paused again, and a little shiver of expectancy ran through me. +At last we were to learn how Philip Vantine had met his death! + +"I sat down," continued Julie. "I told him the story from the very +beginning. He listened with much interest; but when I proposed that +he should restore to me the letters, he hesitated. He walked up and +down the room, trying to decide; then he took me through that door +into the room beyond. The cabinet was standing in the centre of the +floor, and all the lights were blazing. + +"'Is that the cabinet?' he asked me, and when I said that most +assuredly it was, he seemed surprised. + +"'It is an easy thing to prove,' I said, and I went to the cabinet +and pressed on the three springs, as I had seen madame do. The little +handle at the side fell out, but suddenly he stopped me. + +"'Yes, it is the cabinet,' he said. 'I see that. And no doubt the +drawer contains the letters, as you say. But those letters do not +belong to you. They belong to your mistress. I cannot permit that you +take them away, for, after all, I do not know you. You may intend to +make some bad use of them.' + +"I protested that such a suspicion was most unjust, that my character +was of the best, that I was devoted to my mistress and desired to +protect her. He listened, but he was not convinced. In the end, he +brought me back into this room. I could have cried with rage! + +"'Return to your mistress,' he said, 'and inform her that I shall be +most happy to return the letters to her. But it must be in her own +hands that I place them. The letters are here, whenever it pleases +her to claim them." + +"I saw that it was of no use to argue further; he was of adamant. So +I left the house, he himself opening the door for me. And that is all +that I know, madame." + +There was a moment's silence; then I heard Godfrey draw a deep +breath. I could see that, like myself, he was convinced that the girl +was telling the truth. + +"Of course," he suggested gently, "as soon as you reached home you +related to your mistress what had occurred?" + +Julie grew a little crimson. + +"No, monsieur," she said, "I told her nothing." + +"I should have thought you would have wished to prove your devotion," +went on Godfrey, in his sweetest tone. + +"I feared that, without the letters, she would misunderstand my +motives," said Julie, sullenly. + +"And then, of course, without the letters, there would be no reward," +Godfrey supplemented. + +Julie did not reply, but she looked very uncomfortable. + +The veiled lady rose. + +"Have you any further questions to ask her?" she said. + +"No, madame," said Godfrey. "The story is complete." + +Julie resumed her veil, shooting at Godfrey a glance anything but +friendly. The veiled lady turned to me and held out her hand. + +"I thank you, Mr. Lester, for your kindness," she said. "Come, +Julie," and she moved toward the door, which Rogers hastened to open. + +Mr. Hornblower nodded and passed out after them, and Godfrey and I +were left alone together. + +We both sat down, and for a moment neither of us spoke. + +"Well!" said Godfrey, at last. "Well! what a story it would make! And +I can't use it! It's a bitter reflection, Lester!" + +"It would certainly shake the pillars of society," I agreed. "I'm +rather shaken myself." + +"So am I! I was all at sea for a while--I was dumb with astonishment +when I heard you and the veiled lady talking about the secret drawer +--I could see you laughing at me! I don't know the whole story yet. +How did she happen to come to you?" + +I told him of Hornblower's visit, of the story he told me, and of the +arrangement we had made. Godfrey nodded thoughtfully when I had +finished. + +"The story is straight, of course," he said. "Hornblower would not be +engaged in anything tricky. Besides, I recognised the lady. I suppose +you did, too." + +"Yes, I have seen pictures of her. And I admired her for putting back +her veil." + +"So did I. She has changed since the day of her wedding, Lester--she +was a smooth-faced girl, then! Three years of life with her duke have +left their mark on her!" + +He fell silent, staring thoughtfully at the carpet. Then he shook +himself. + +"And the maid's story was most interesting," he added. "Nevertheless, +there are still a number of things which are not quite clear to me." + +"There is one thing I don't understand, myself," I said. "I hadn't +any idea this was the right cabinet. I didn't see how it could be." + +"That's it, exactly. How did it happen, when the veiled lady went to +Armand & Son in Paris, that she was directed to Philip Vantine? +According to his own story, he did not purchase this cabinet; he had +never seen it before; it was presumably shipped him by mistake; +Armand & Son cable you that it was a mistake; and yet they cite +Vantine as the purchaser. There is something twisted somewhere, +Lester; just where I'll try to find out." + +"Which reminds me that Armand's representative hasn't been around +yet. No doubt he can straighten the matter out." + +"It won't do any harm to hear his story, anyway," Godfrey agreed. +"Now let's have a look at that drawer." + +It was standing open as we had left it, and Godfrey pushed it back +into place, called my attention to the cunning way in which its +outline was concealed by the inlay about it. Then he worked the +spring, the handle fell into place, and he drew the drawer out again, +as far as it would come, and examined it carefully. + +"The fellow who devised that was a genius," he said, admiringly, +pushing it back into place. "I wonder what its contents have been +from the days of Madame de Montespan down to the present? Love +letters, mostly, I suppose, since they are the things which need +concealment most. Don't you wish this drawer could tell its secrets, +Lester?" + +"There is one I wish it would tell, if it knows it," I said. "I wish +it would tell who killed Philip Vantine. I suppose you will agree +with me that our pretty theory has got a knock-out blow, this time." + +"It looks that way, doesn't it?" + +"There is no poisoned mechanism about that drawer--that's sure," I +added. + +"No, and never has been," Godfrey agreed. + +"And that leaves us all at sea, doesn't it? It leaves the whole +affair more mysterious than ever. I can't understand it," and I sat +down in my bewilderment and rubbed my head. I really felt for an +instant as though I had gone mentally blind. "There is one thing +sure," I added. "The killing, whatever its cause, was done out there +in the ante-room, not in here." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"We believe that Drouet came here to get Vantine's permission to open +this drawer and get the letters, no doubt representing himself as the +agent of their owner." + +"I think it's a pretty good guess," said Godfrey, pensively. + +"Our theory was that, after being shown into the ante-room, he +discovered the cabinet, tried to open the drawer, and was killed in +the attempt. But it is evident enough now that there is nothing about +that drawer to hurt any one." + +"Yes, that's evident, I think," Godfrey agreed. + +"If he had opened the drawer, then, he would have taken the letters, +since there was nothing to prevent him. Since they were not taken, it +follows, doesn't it, that he was killed before he had a chance at the +drawer? Perhaps he never saw the cabinet. He must have been killed +out there in the ante-room, a few minutes after Parks left." + +"And how about Vantine?" Godfrey asked. + +"I don't know," I said, helplessly. "He didn't want the letters--if +he opened the drawer at all, it was merely out of curiosity to see +how it worked. Only, of course, the same agency that killed Drouet, +killed him. Yes--and now that I think of it, it's certain he didn't +open the drawer, either." + +"How do you know it's certain?" + +"If he had opened the drawer," I pointed out, "and been killed in the +act of opening it, it would have been found open. I had thought that +perhaps it closed of itself, but you see that it does not. You have +to push it shut, and then snap the handle up into place." + +"That's true," Godfrey assented, "and it sounds pretty conclusive. If +it is true of Vantine, it is also true of Drouet. The inference is, +then, that neither of them opened the drawer. Well, what follows?" + +"I don't know," I said helplessly. "Nothing seems to follow." + +"There is an alternative," Godfrey suggested. + +"What is it?" I demanded. + +"The hand that killed Drouet and Vantine may also have closed the +drawer," said Godfrey, and looked at me. + +"And left the letters in it?" I questioned. "Surely not!" + +He glanced at the shuttered window, and I understood to whom he +thought that hand belonged. + +"Besides," I protested, "how would he get in? How would he get away? +What was he after, if he left the letters behind?" Then I rose +wearily. "I must be getting back to the office," I said. "This is +Saturday, and we close at two. Are you coming?" + +"No," he answered; "if you don't mind, I'll sit here a while longer +and think things over, Lester. Perhaps I'll blunder on to the truth +yet!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ENTER M. ARMAND + + +I got back to the office to find that M. Felix Armand, of Armand et +Fils, had called, and, finding me out, had left his card with the +pencilled memorandum that he would call again Monday morning. There +was another caller, who had awaited my return--a tall, angular man, +with a long moustache, who introduced himself as Simon W. Morgan, of +Osage City, Iowa. + +"Poor Philip Vantine's nearest living relative, sir," he added. "I +came as soon as possible." + +"It was very good of you," I said. "The funeral will be at ten +o'clock to-morrow morning, from the house." + +"You had a telegram from me?" + +"Yes," I answered. + +He hitched about in his chair uneasily for a moment. I knew what he +wanted to say, but saw no reason to help him. + +"He left a will, I suppose?" he asked, at last. + +"Oh, yes; we have arranged to probate it Monday. You can examine it +then, if you wish." + +"Have you examined it?" + +"I am familiar with its provisions. It was drawn here in the office." + +He was pulling furiously at his moustache. + +"Cousin Philip was a very wealthy man, I understand," he managed to +say. + +"Comparatively wealthy. He had securities worth about a million and a +quarter, besides a number of pieces of real property--and, of course, +the house he lived in. He owned a very valuable collection of art +objects--pictures, furniture, tapestries, and such things; but what +they are worth will probably never be known." + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"Because he left them all to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Outside +of a few legacies to old servants, he left his whole fortune to the +same institution." + +I put it rather brutally, no doubt, but I was anxious to end the +interview. + +Mr. Morgan's face grew very red. + +"He did!" he ejaculated. "Ha--well, I have heard he was rather +crazy." + +"He was as sane as any man I ever knew," I retorted drily. And then I +remembered the doubts which had assailed me that last day, when +Vantine was fingering the Boule cabinet. But I kept those doubts to +myself. + +"Ha--we'll have to see about that!" said my visitor, threateningly. + +"By all means, Mr. Morgan," I assented heartily. "If you have any +doubt about it, you should certainly look into it. And now, if you +will pardon me, I have many things to do, and we close early to-day." + +He got to his feet and went slowly out; and that was the last I ever +saw of him. I suppose he consulted an attorney, learned the hopeless +nature of his case, and took the first train back to Osage City. He +did not even wait for the funeral. + +Few people, indeed, put themselves out for it. There was a sprinkling +of old family friends, representatives of the museum and of various +charities in which Vantine had been interested, a few friends of his +own, and that was all. He had dropped out of the world with scarcely +a ripple; of all who had known him, I dare say Parks felt his +departure most. For Vantine had been, in a sense, a solitary man; not +many men nodded oftener during a walk up the Avenue, and yet not many +dined oftener alone; for there was about him a certain self-detachment +which discouraged intimacy. He was a man, like many another, with +acquaintances in every country on the globe, and friends in none. + +All this I thought over a little sadly, as I sat at home that night; +and not without some self-questioning as to my own place in the +world. Most of us, I think, are a little saddened when we realise our +unimportance; most of us, no doubt, would be a little shocked could +we return a day or two after our death and see how merrily the world +wags on! I would be missed, I knew, scarcely more than Vantine. It +was not a pleasant thought, for it seemed to argue some deficiency in +myself. + +Then, too, the mystery of Vantine's death had a depressing effect +upon me. So long as there seemed some theory to build on, so long as +there was a ray of light ahead, I had hoped that the tragedy would be +explained and expiated; but now my theory had crumbled to pieces; I +was left in utter darkness, from which there seemed no way out. Never +before, in the face of any mystery, had I felt so blind and helpless, +and the feeling took such a grip upon me that it kept me awake for a +long time after I got to bed. It seemed, in some mysterious way, that +I was contending with a power greater than myself, a power +threatening and awful, which could crush me with a turn of the wrist. + +Vantine's will was probated next morning. He had directed that his +collection of art objects be removed to the museum, and that the +house and such portion of its contents as the museum did not care for +be sold for the museum's benefit. I had already notified Sir Caspar +Purdon Clarke of the terms of the will, and the museum's attorney was +present when it was read. He stated that he had been requested to ask +me to remain in charge of things for a week or two, until +arrangements for the removal could be made. It would also be +necessary to make an inventory of Vantine's collection, and the +assistant director of the museum was to get this under way at once. + +I acquiesced in all these arrangements, but I was feeling decidedly +blue when I started back to the office. Vantine's collection had +always seemed to me somehow a part of himself; more especially a part +of the house in which it had been assembled. It would lose much of +its beauty and significance ticketed and arranged stiffly along the +walls of the museum, and the thought came to me that it would be a +splendid thing for New York if this old house and its contents could +be kept intact as an object lesson to the nervous and hurrying +younger generation of the easier and more finished manner of life of +the older one; something after the fashion that the beautiful old +Plantin-Moretus mansion at Antwerp is a rebuke to those present-day +publishers who reckon literature a commodity, along with soap and +cheese. + +That, of course, it would be impossible to do; the last barrier to +the commercial invasion of the Avenue would be removed; that heroic +rear-guard of the old order of things would be destroyed; in a year +or two, a monster of steel and stone would rise on the spot where +three generations of Vantines had lived their lives; and the +collection, so unified and coherent, to which the last Vantine had +devoted his life, would be merged and lost in the vast collections of +the museum. It was a sad ending. + +"Gentleman to see you, sir," said the office-boy, as I sat down at my +desk, and a moment later, M. Felix Armand was shown in to me. + +I have only to close my eyes to call again before me that striking +personality, for Felix Armand was one of the most extraordinary men I +ever had the pleasure of meeting. Ruddy-faced, bright-eyed, with dark +full beard and waving hair almost jet black--hair that crinkled about +his ears in a way that I can describe by no other word than +fascinating--he gave the impression of tremendous strength and +virility. There was about him, too, an air of culture not to be +mistaken; the air of a man who had travelled much, seen much, and +mixed with many people, high and low; the air of a man at home +anywhere, in any society. It is impossible for me, by mere words, to +convey any adequate idea of his vivid personality; but I confess +that, from the first moment, I was both impressed and charmed by him. +And I am still impressed; more, perhaps, than at first, now that I +know the whole story--but you shall hear. + +"I speak English very badly, sir," he said, as he sat down. "If you +speak French...." + +"Not half so well as you speak English," I laughed. "I can tell that +from your first sentence." + +"In that event, I will do the best that I can," he said, smiling, +"and you must pardon my blunders. First, Mr. Lester, on behalf of +Armand et Fils, I must ask your pardon for this mistake, so +inexcusable." + +"It _was_ a mistake, then?" I asked. + +"One most embarrassing to us. We can not find for it an explanation. +Believe me, Mr. Lester, it is not our habit to make mistakes; we have +a reputation of which we are very proud; but the cabinet which was +purchased by Mr. Vantine remained in our warehouse, and this other +one was boxed and shipped to him. We are investigating most rigidly." + +"Then Mr. Vantine's cabinet is still in Paris?" + +"No, Mr. Lester; the error was discovered some days ago and the +cabinet belonging to Mr. Vantine was shipped to me here. It should +arrive next Wednesday on _La Provence_. I shall myself receive it, +and deliver it to Mr. Vantine." + +"Mr. Vantine is dead," I said. "You did not know?" + +He sat staring at me for a moment, as though unable to comprehend. + +"Did I understand that you said Mr. Vantine is dead?" he stammered. + +I told him briefly as much as I knew of the tragedy, while he sat +regarding me with an air of stupefaction. + +"It is curious you saw nothing of it in the papers," I added. "They +were full of it." + +"I have been visiting friends at Quebec," he explained, "It was there +that the message from our house found me, commanding me to hasten +here. I started at once, and reached this city Saturday. I drove here +directly from the station, but was so unfortunate as to miss you." + +"I am sorry to have caused you so much trouble," I said. + +"But, my dear Mr. Lester," he protested, "it is for us to take +trouble. A blunder of this sort we feel as a disgrace. My father, who +is of the old school, is most upset concerning it. But this death of +Mr. Vantine--it is a great blow to me. I have met him many times. He +was a real connoisseur--we have lost one of our most valued patrons. +You say that he was found dead in a room at his house?" + +"Yes, and death resulted from a small wound on the hand, into which +some very powerful poison had been injected." + +"That is most curious. In what manner was such a wound made?" + +"That we don't know. I had a theory...." + +"Yes?" he questioned, his eyes gleaming with interest. + +"A few hours previously, another man had been found in the same room, +killed in the same way." + +"Another man?" + +"A stranger who had called to see Mr. Vantine. My theory was that +both this stranger and Mr. Vantine had been killed while trying to +open a secret drawer in the Boule cabinet. Do you know anything of +the history of that cabinet, Monsieur Armand?" + +"We believe it to have been made for Madame de Montespan by Monsieur +Boule himself," he answered. "It is the original of one now in the +Louvre which is known to have belonged to the Grand Louis." + +"That was Mr. Vantine's belief," I said. "Why he should have arrived +at that conclusion, I don't know--" + +"Mr. Vantine was a connoisseur," said M. Armand, quietly. "There are +certain indications which no connoisseur could mistake." + +"It was his guess at the history of the cabinet," I explained, "which +gave me the basis for my theory. A cabinet belonging to Madame de +Montespan would, of course, have a secret drawer; and, since it was +made in the days of de Brinvilliers and La Voisin, what more natural +than that it should be guarded by a poisoned mechanism?" + +"What more natural, indeed!" breathed my companion, and I fancied +that he looked at me with a new interest in his eyes. "It is good +reasoning, Mr. Lester." + +"It seemed to explain a situation for which no other explanation has +been found," I said. "And it had also the merit of picturesqueness." + +"It is unique," he agreed eagerly, his eyes burning like two coals of +fire, so intense was his interest. "I have been from boyhood," he +added, noticing my glance, "a lover of tales of mystery. They have +for me a fascination I cannot explain; there is in my blood something +that responds to them. I feel sometimes that I would have made a +great detective--or a great criminal. Instead of which, I am merely a +dealer in curios. You can understand how I am fascinated by a story +so outre as this." + +"Perhaps you can assist us," I suggested, "for that theory of mine +has been completely disproved." + +"Disproved? In what way?" he demanded. + +"The secret drawer has been found...." + +"_Comment?_" he cried, his voice sharp with surprise. "Found? The +secret drawer has been found?" + +"Yes, and there was no poisoned mechanism guarding it." + +He breathed deeply for an instant; then he pulled himself together +with a little laugh. + +"Really," he said, "I must not indulge myself in this way. It is a +kind of intoxication. But you say that the drawer was found and that +there was no poison? Was the drawer empty?" + +"No, there was a packet of letters in it." + +"Delicious! Love letters, of a certainty! _Billets-doux_ from the +great Louis to the Montespan, perhaps?" + +"No, unfortunately they were of a much more recent date. They have +been restored to their owner. I hope that you agree with me that that +was the right thing to do?" + +He sat for a moment regarding me narrowly, and I had an uneasy +feeling that, since he undoubtedly knew of whom the cabinet had been +purchased, he was reconstructing the story more completely than I +would have wished him to do. + +"Since the letters have been returned," he said, at last, a little +drily, "it is useless to discuss the matter. But no doubt I should +approve if all the circumstances were known to me. Especially if it +was to assist a lady." + +"It was," I said, and I saw from his face that he understood. + +"Then you did well," he said. "Has no other explanation been found +for the death of Mr. Vantine and of this stranger?" + +"I think not. The coroner will hold his inquest to-morrow. He has +deferred it in the hope that some new evidence would be discovered." + +"And none has been discovered?" + +"I have heard of none." + +"You do not even know who this stranger was?" + +"Oh, yes, we have discovered that. He was a worthless fellow named +Drouet." + +"A Frenchman?" + +"Yes, living in an attic in the Rue de la Huchette, at Paris." + +M. Armand had been gazing at me intently, but now his look relaxed, +and I fancied that he drew a deep breath as a man might do when +relieved of a burden. At the back of my brain a vague and shadowy +suspicion began to form--a suspicion that perhaps M. Armand knew more +of this affair than he had as yet acknowledged. + +"You did not, by any chance, know him?" I asked carelessly. + +"No, I think not. But there is one thing I do not understand, Mr. +Lester, and you will pardon me if I am indiscreet. But I do not +understand what this Drouet, as you call him, was doing in the house +of Mr. Vantine." + +"He was trying to get possession of the letters," I said. + +"Oh, so it was that!" and my companion nodded. "And in trying to get +those letters, he was killed?" + +"Yes, but what none of us understands, M. Armand, is how he was +killed. Who or what killed him? How was that poison administered? Can +you suggest an explanation?" + +He sat for a moment staring thoughtfully out of the window. + +"It is a nice problem," he said, "a most interesting one. I will +think it over, Mr. Lester. Perhaps I may be able to make a +suggestion. I do not know. But, in any event, I shall see you again +Wednesday. If it is agreeable to you, we can meet at the house of Mr. +Vantine and exchange the cabinets." + +"At what time?" + +"I do not know with exactness. There may be some delay in getting the +cabinet from the ship. Perhaps it would be better if I called for +you?" + +"Very well," I assented. + +"Permit me to express again my apologies that such a mistake should +have been made by us. Really, we are most careful; but even we +sometimes suffer from careless servants. It desolates me to think +that I cannot offer these apologies to Mr. Vantine in person. Till +Wednesday, then, Mr. Lester." + +"Till Wednesday," I echoed, and watched his erect and perfectly-garbed +figure until it vanished through the doorway. A fascinating +man, I told myself as I turned back to my desk, and one whom I +should like to know more intimately; a man with a hobby for the +mysteries of crime, with which I could fully sympathise; and I smiled +as I thought of the burning interest with which he had listened to +the story of the double tragedy. How naively he had confessed his +thought that he would have made a great detective--or a great +criminal; and here he was only a dealer in curios. Well, I had had +the same thought, more than once--and here was I, merely a +not-too-successful lawyer. Decidedly, M. Armand and myself had much +in common! + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +I PART WITH THE BOULE CABINET + + +The coroner's inquest was held next day, and my surmise proved to be +correct. The police had discovered practically no new evidence; none, +certainly, which shed any light on the way in which Drouet and Philip +Vantine had met death. Each of the witnesses told his story much as I +have told it here, and it was evident that the jury was bewildered by +the seemingly inextricable tangle of circumstances. + +To my relief, Drouet's identity was established without any help from +me. The bag which he had left on the pier had been opened at the +request of the police and a card-case found with his address on it. +Why he had sent in to Vantine a card not his own, and what his +business with Vantine had been, were details concerning which the +police could offer no theory, and which I did not feel called upon to +explain, since neither in any way made clearer the mystery of his +death. + +An amusing incident of the inquest was the attempt made by +Goldberger to heckle Godfrey, evidently at Grady's suggestion. + +"On the morning after the tragedy," Goldberger began sweetly, "you +printed in the _Record_ a photograph which you claimed to be that of +the woman who had called upon Mr. Vantine the night before, and who +was, presumably, the last person to see him alive. Where did you get +that photograph?" + +"It was a copy of one which Drouet carried in his watch-case," +answered Godfrey. + +"Since then," pursued Goldberger, "you have made no further reference +to that feature of the case. I presume you found out that you were +mistaken?" + +"On the contrary, I proved that I was correct." + +Goldberger's face reddened, and his look was not pleasant. + +"'Prove' is rather a strong word, isn't it?" he asked. + +"It is the right word." + +"What was the woman's connection with the man Drouet?" + +"She had been his mistress." + +"You say that very confidently," said Goldberger, his lips curling. +"After all, it is merely a guess, isn't it?" + +"I have reason to say it confidently," retorted Godfrey quietly, +"since the woman confessed as much in my presence." + +Again Goldberger reddened. + +"I suppose she also confessed that it was really she who called upon +Mr. Vantine?" he sneered. + +"She not only confessed that," said Godfrey, still more quietly, "but +she told in detail what occurred during that visit." + +"The confession was made to yourself alone, of course?" queried +Goldberger, in a tone deliberately insulting. + +Godfrey flushed a little at the words, but managed to retain his +self-control. + +"Not at all," he said. "It was made in the presence of Mr. Lester and +of another distinguished lawyer whose name I am not at liberty to +reveal." + +Goldberger swallowed hard, as though he had received a slap in the +face. I dare say, he felt as though he had! + +"This woman is in New York?" he asked. + +"I believe so." + +"What is her name and address?" + +"I am not at liberty to answer." + +Goldberger glared at him. + +"You _will_ answer," he thundered, "or I'll commit you for contempt!" + +Godfrey was quite himself again. + +"Very well," he said, smiling. "I have not the slightest objection. +But I would think it over, if I were you. Mr. Lester will assure you +that the woman was in no way connected with the death either of +Drouet or of Mr. Vantine." + +Goldberger did think it over; he realised the danger of trying to +punish a paper so powerful as the _Record_, and he finally decided to +accept Godfrey's statement as a mitigation of his refusal to answer. + +"That is only one of the details which Commissioner Grady has +missed," Godfrey added, pleasantly. + +"That will do," Goldberger broke in, and Godfrey left the stand. + +I was recalled to confirm his story. I, also, of course, refused to +give the woman's name, explaining to Goldberger that I had learned it +professionally, that I was certain she had been guilty of no crime, +and that to reveal it would seriously embarrass an entirely innocent +woman. With that statement, the coroner was compelled to appear +satisfied. + +Grady did not go on the stand; he was not even at the inquest. In +fact, since the first day, he had not appeared publicly in connection +with the case at all; and I had surmised that he did not care to be +identified with a mystery which there seemed to be no prospect of +solving, and from which no glory was to be won. The case had been +placed in Simmonds's hands, and it was he who testified on behalf of +the police, admitting candidly that they were all at sea. He had made +a careful examination of the Vantine house, he said, particularly of +the room in which the bodies had been found, and had discovered +absolutely nothing in the shape of a clue to the solution of the +mystery. There was something diabolical about it; something almost +supernatural. He had not abandoned hope, and was still working on the +case; but he was inclined to think that, if the mystery was ever +solved, it would be only by some lucky accident or through the +confession of the guilty man. + +Goldberger was annoyed; that was evident enough from the nervous way +in which he gnawed his moustache; but he had no theory any more than +the police; there was not a scintilla of evidence to fasten the crime +upon any one; and the end of the hearing was that the jury brought in +a verdict that Philip Vantine and Georges Drouet had died from the +effects of a poison administered by a person or persons unknown. + +Godfrey joined me at the door as I was leaving, and we went down the +steps together. + +"I was glad to hear Simmonds confess that the police are up a tree," +he said. "Of course, Grady is trying to sneak out of it, and blame +some one else for the failure--but I'll see that he doesn't succeed. +I'll see, anyway, that Simmonds gets a square deal--he's an old +friend of mine, you know." + +"Yes," I said, "I know; but we're all up a tree, aren't we?" + +"For the present," laughed Godfrey, "we do occupy that undignified +position. But you don't expect to stay there forever, do you, +Lester?" + +"Since my theory about the Boule cabinet exploded," I said, "I have +given up hope. By the way, I'm going to turn the cabinet over to its +owner to-morrow." + +"To its owner?" he repeated, his eyes narrowing. "Yes, I thought +he'd be around for it, though I hardly thought he'd come so soon. Who +does it happen to be, Lester?" + +"Why," I said, a little impatiently, "you know as well as I do that +it belongs to Armand & Son." + +"You've seen their representative, then?" he queried, a little flush +of excitement which I could not understand spreading over his face. + +"He came to see me yesterday. I'd like you to meet him, Godfrey. He +is Felix Armand, the 'son' of the firm, and one of the most finished +gentlemen I ever met." + +"I'd like to meet him," said Godfrey, smiling queerly. "Perhaps I +shall, some day; I hope so, anyway. But how did he explain the +blunder, Lester?" + +"In some way, they shipped the wrong cabinet to Vantine. The right +one will get here on _La Provence_ to-morrow," and I told him in +detail the story which Felix Armand had told me. "He was quite upset +over it," I added, "His apologies were almost abject." + +Godfrey listened intently to all this, and he nodded with +satisfaction when I had finished. + +"It is all most interesting," he commented. + +"Did M. Armand happen to mention where he is staying?" + +"No, but he won't be hard to find, if you want to see him. He's at +one of the big hotels, of course--probably the Plaza or the St. +Regis. He's too great a swell for any minor hostelry." + +"What time do you expect him to-morrow?" + +"Sometime in the afternoon. He's to call for me as soon as he gets +Vantine's cabinet off the boat. Godfrey," I added, "I felt yesterday +when I was talking with him that perhaps he knew more about this +affair than he would admit. I could see that he guessed in an instant +who the owner of the letters was, and what they contained. Do you +think I ought to hold on to the cabinet a while longer? I could +invent some pretext for delay, easily enough." + +"Why, no; let him have his cabinet," said Godfrey, with an alacrity +that surprised me. "If your theory about it has been exploded, what's +the use of hanging on to it?" + +"I don't see any use in doing so," I admitted, "but I thought perhaps +you might want more time to examine it." + +"I've examined it all I'm going to," Godfrey answered, and I told +myself that this was the first time I had ever known him to admit +himself defeated. + +"I have a sort of feeling," I explained, "that when we let go of the +cabinet, we give up the only clue we have to this whole affair. It is +like a confession of defeat." + +"Oh, no, it isn't," Godfrey objected. "If there is nothing more to be +learned from the cabinet, there is no reason to retain it. I should +certainly let M. Armand have it. Perhaps I'll see you to-morrow," he +added, and we parted at the corner. + +But I did not see him on the morrow. I was rather expecting a call +from him during the morning, and when none came, I was certain I +should find him awaiting me when I arrived at the Vantine house, in +company with M. Armand. But he was not there, and when I asked for +him, Parks told me that he had not seen him since the day before. + +I confess that Godfrey's indifference to the fate of the cabinet +surprised me greatly; besides, I was hoping that he would wish to +meet the fascinating Frenchman. More fascinating, if possible, than +he had been on Monday, and I soon found myself completely under his +spell. There had been less delay than he had anticipated in getting +the cabinet off the boat and through the customs, and it was not yet +three o'clock when we reached the Vantine house. + +"I haven't seen Mr. Godfrey," Parks repeated, "but there's others +here as it fair breaks my heart to see." + +He motioned toward the door of the music-room, and, stepping to it, I +saw that the inventory was already in progress. The man in charge of +it nodded to me, but I did not go in, for the sight was anything but +a pleasant one. + +"The cabinet is in the room across the hall," I said to M. Armand, +and led the way through the ante-room into the room beyond. + +Parks switched on the lights for us, and my companion glanced with +surprise at the heavy shutters covering the windows. + +"We put those up for a protection," I explained. "We had an idea that +some one would try to enter. In fact, one evening we _did_ find a +wire connecting with the burglar-alarm cut, and, later on, saw some +one peering in through the hole in that shutter yonder." + +"You did?" M. Armand queried quickly. + +"Would you recognise the man, if you were to meet him again?" + +"Oh, no; you see the hole is quite small. There was nothing visible +except a pair of eyes. Yet I might know them again, for I never +before saw such eyes--so bright, so burning. It was the night that +Godfrey and I were trying to find the secret drawer, and those eyes +gleamed like fire as they watched us." + +M. Armand was gazing at the cabinet, apparently only half listening. + +"Ah, yes, the secret drawer," he said. "Will you show me how it is +operated, Mr. Lester? I am most curious about it." + +I placed my hand upon the table and pressed the three points which +the veiled lady had shown us. The first time, I got the order wrong, +but at the second trial, the little handle fell forward with a click, +and I pulled the drawer open. + +"There it is," I said. "You see how cleverly it is constructed. And +how well it is concealed. No one would suspect its existence." + +He examined it with much interest; pushed it back into place, and +then opened it himself. + +"Very clever indeed," he agreed. "I have never seen another so well +concealed. And the idea of opening it only by a certain combination +is most happy and original. Most secret drawers are secret only in +name; a slight search reveals them; but this one...." + +He pushed it shut again, and examined the inlay around it. + +"My friend and I went over the cabinet very carefully and could not +find it," I said. + +"Your friend--I think you mentioned his name?" + +"Yes--his name is Godfrey." + +"A man of the law, like yourself?" + +"Oh, no, a newspaper man. But he had been a member of the detective +force before that. He is extraordinarily keen, and if anybody could +have found that drawer, he could. But that combination was too much +for him." + +M. Armand snapped the drawer back into place with a little crash. + +"I am glad, at any rate, that it _was_ discovered," he said. "I will +not conceal from you, Mr. Lester, that it adds not a little to the +value of the cabinet." + +"What is its value?" I asked. "Mr. Vantine wanted me to buy it for +him, and named a most extravagant figure as the limit he was willing +to pay." + +"Really," M. Armand answered, after an instant's hesitation, "I would +not care to name a figure, Mr. Lester, without further consultation +with my father. The cabinet is quite unique--the most beautiful, +perhaps, that M. Boule ever produced. Did you discover Madame de +Montespan's monogram?" + +"No. Mr. Vantine said he was sure it existed; but Godfrey and I did +not look for it." + +M. Armand opened the doors which concealed the central drawers. + +"_Voila!_" he said, and traced with his finger the arabesque just +under the pediment. "See how cunningly it has been blended with the +other figures. And here is the emblem of the giver." He pointed to a +tiny golden sun with radiating rays on the base of the pediment, just +above the monogram. "_Le roi soleil!_" + +"_ Le roi soleil!_" I repeated. "Of course. We were stupid not to +have discerned it. That tells the whole story, doesn't it? What is +it, Parks?" I added, as that worthy appeared at the door. + +"There's a van outside, sir," he said, "and a couple of men are +unloading a piece of furniture. Is it all right, sir?" + +"Yes," I answered. "Have them bring it in here. And ask the man in +charge of the inventory to step over here a minute. Mr. Vantine left +his collection of art objects to the Metropolitan Museum," I +explained to M. Armand, "and I should like the representative of the +museum to be present when the exchange is made." + +"Certainly," he assented. "That is very just." + +Parks was back in a moment, piloting two men who carried between them +an object swathed in burlap, and the Metropolitan man followed them +in. + +"I am Mr. Lester," I said to him, "Mr. Vantine's executor; and this +is M. Felix Armand, of Armand & Son, of Paris. We are correcting an +error which was made just before Mr. Vantine died. That cabinet +yonder was shipped him by mistake in place of one which he had +bought. M. Armand has caused the right one to be sent over, and will +take away the one which belongs to him. I have already spoken to the +museum's attorney about the matter, but I wished you to be present +when the exchange was made." + +"I have no doubt it is all right, sir," the museum man hastened to +assure me. "You, of course, have personal knowledge of all this?" + +"Certainly. Mr. Vantine himself told me the story." + +"Very well, sir," but his eyes dwelt lovingly upon the Boule cabinet. +"That is a very handsome piece," he added. "I am sorry the museum is +not to get it." + +"Perhaps you can buy it from M. Armand," I suggested, but the curator +laughed and shook his head. + +"No," he said, "we couldn't afford it. But Sir Caspar might persuade +Mr. Morgan to buy it for us--I'll mention it to him." + +The two men, meanwhile, under M. Armand's direction, had been +stripping the wrappings from the other cabinet, and it finally stood +revealed. It, too, was a beautiful piece of furniture, but even my +untrained eye could see how greatly it fell below the other. + +"We shall be very pleased to have Mr. Morgan see it," said M. Armand, +with a smile. "I will not conceal from you that we had already +thought of him--as what dealer does not when he acquires something +rare and beautiful? I shall endeavour to secure an appointment with +him. Meanwhile...." + +"Meanwhile the cabinet is yours," I said. + +He made a little deprecating gesture, and then proceeded to have the +cabinet very carefully wrapped in the burlap which had been around +the other one. I watched it disappear under the rough covering with +something like regret, for already my eyes were being opened to its +beauty. Besides, I told myself again, with it would disappear the +last hope of solving the mystery of Philip Vantine's death. However +my reason might protest, some instinct told me that, in some way, the +Boule cabinet was connected with that tragedy. + +But at last the packing was done, and M. Armand turned to me and held +out his hand. + +"I shall hope to see you again, Mr. Lester," he said, with a +cordiality which flattered me, "and to renew our very pleasant +acquaintance. Whenever you are in Paris, I trust you will not fail to +honour me by letting me know. I shall count it a very great privilege +to display for you some of the beauties of our city not known to +every one." + +"Thank you," I said. "I shall certainly remember that invitation. +And meanwhile, since you are here in New York...." + +"You are most kind," he broke in, "and I was myself hoping that we +might at least dine together. But I am compelled to proceed to Boston +this evening, and from there I shall go on to Quebec. Whether I shall +get back to New York I do not know--it will depend somewhat upon Mr. +Morgan's attitude; we would scarcely entrust a business so delicate +to our dealer. If I do get back, I shall let you know." + +"Please do," I urged. "It will be a very great pleasure to me. +Besides, I am still hoping that some solution of this mystery may +occur to you." + +He shook his head with a little smile. + +"I fear it is too difficult for a novice like myself," he said. "It +is impenetrable to me. If a solution is discovered, I trust you will +inform me. It is certain to be most interesting." + +"I will," I promised, and we shook hands again. + +Then he signed to the two men to take up the cabinet, and himself +laid a protecting hand upon it as it was carried through the door and +down the steps to the van which was backed up to the curb. It was +lifted carefully inside, the two men clambered in beside it, the +driver spoke to the horses, and the van rolled slowly away up the +Avenue. + +M. Armand watched it for a moment, then mounted into the cab which +was waiting, waved a last farewell to me, and followed after the van. +We watched it until it turned westward at the first cross-street. + +"Mr. Godfrey's occupation will be gone," said Parks, with a little +laugh. "He has fairly lived with that cabinet for the past three or +four days. He was here last night for quite a while." + +"Last night?" I echoed, surprised. "I was sure he would be here +to-day," I added, reflecting that Godfrey might have decided to have +a final look at the cabinet. "He half-promised to be here, but I +suppose something more important detained him." + +The next instant, I was jumping down the steps two at a time, for a +cab in which two men were sitting came down the Avenue, and rolled +slowly around the corner in the direction taken by the van. + +And just as it disappeared, one of its occupants turned toward me and +waved his hand--and I recognised Jim Godfrey. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"LA MORT!" + + +That my legs, without conscious effort of my own, should carry me up +the Avenue and around the corner after the cab in which I had seen +Godfrey was a foregone conclusion, and yet it was with a certain +vexation of spirit that I found myself racing along, for I realised +that Godfrey had not been entirely frank with me. Certainly he had +dropped no hint of his intention to follow Armand; but, I told +myself, that might very well have been because he deemed such a hint +unnecessary. I might have guessed, in spite of his seeming unconcern, +that he would not allow the cabinet to pass from his sight; if he had +been willing for me to turn it over to Armand, it was only because he +expected developments of some sort to follow that transfer. + +And it suddenly dawned upon me that even I did not know the cabinet's +destination! It had not occurred to me to inquire where M. Armand +proposed to take it, and he had volunteered no information. + +So, after a moment, I took up the chase more contentedly, telling +myself that Godfrey would not have waved to me if he had not wanted +me along, and I reached the corner in time to see the van turn +northward into Sixth Avenue. As soon as it and the cabs which +followed it were out of sight, I sprinted along the sidewalk at top +speed, and, on arriving at the corner, had the satisfaction of seeing +them only a little way ahead. Here the congestion of traffic was such +that the van could proceed but slowly, and I had no difficulty in +keeping pace with it, without the necessity of making myself +conspicuous by running. Indeed, I rather hung back, burying myself in +the crowds on the sidewalk, for fear that Armand might chance to +glance around and see me in pursuit. + +I saw that Godfrey and Simmonds had the same fear, for the cab in +which they were drew up at the curb and waited there until the van +had got some distance ahead. At Sixteenth Street, it turned westward +again, and then northward into Seventh Avenue. + +What could Armand be doing in this part of the town, I asked myself? +Did he propose to leave that priceless cabinet in this dingy quarter? +And then I paused abruptly and slipped into an area-way, for the van +had stopped some distance ahead and was backing up to the curb. + +Looking out discreetly, I saw the cab containing Armand stop also, +and that gentleman alighted and paid the driver. The other cab +rattled on at a good pace and disappeared up the Avenue. Then the two +porters lifted out the cabinet, and, with Armand showing them the +way, carried it into the building before which the van had stopped. + +They were gone perhaps five minutes, from which I argued that they +were carrying it upstairs; then they reappeared, with Armand +accompanying them. He tipped them and went out also to tip the driver +of the van. Then the porters climbed aboard and it rattled away out +of sight. Armand stood for a moment on the step, looking up and down +the Avenue, then disappeared indoors. + +An instant later, I saw Godfrey and another man whom I recognised as +Simmonds, come out of a shop across the street and dash over to the +house into which the cabinet had been taken. They were standing on +the door-step when I joined them. + +It was a dingy building, entirely typical of the dingy neighbourhood. +The ground floor was occupied by a laundry which the sign on the +front window declared to be French; and the room which the window +lighted extended the whole width of the building except for a door +which opened presumably on the stairway leading to the upper stories. + +Godfrey's face was flaming with excitement as he turned the knob of +this door gently--gently. The door was locked. He stooped and applied +an eye to the key-hole. + +"The key is in the lock," he whispered. + +Simmonds took from his pocket a pair of slender pliers and passed +them over. + +Godfrey looked up and down the street, saw that for the moment there +was no one near, inserted the pliers in the key-hole, grasped the end +of the key, and turned it slowly. + +"Now!" he said, softly opened the door and slipped inside. I +followed, and Simmonds came after me like a shadow, closing the door +carefully behind him. + +Then we all stopped, and my heart, at least, was in my mouth, for, +from somewhere overhead, came the sound of a man's voice talking +excitedly. + +Even in the semi-darkness, I could see the look of astonishment and +alarm on Godfrey's face, as he stood for a moment motionless, +listening to that voice. I also stood with ears a-strain, but I could +make nothing of what it was saying; then suddenly I realised that it +was speaking in French. And yet it was not Armand's voice--of that I +was certain. + +Fronting us was a narrow stair mounting steeply to the story +overhead, and, after that moment's amazed hesitation, Godfrey sat +down on the bottom step and removed his shoes, motioning us to do the +same. Simmonds obeyed phlegmatically, but my hands were trembling so +with excitement that I was in mortal terror lest I drop one of my +shoes; but I managed to get them both off without mishap, and to set +them softly on the floor at the stair-foot. + +When at last I looked up with a sigh of relief, Godfrey and Simmonds +were stealing slowly up the stair, revolver in hand. I followed them, +but I confess my knees were knocking together, for there was +something weird and chilling in that voice going on and on. It +sounded like the voice of a madman; there was something about it at +once ferocious and triumphant.... + +Godfrey paused an instant at the stairhead, listening intently; then +he moved cautiously forward toward an open door from which the voice +seemed to come, motioning us at the same time to stay where we were. +And as I knelt, bathed in perspiration, I caught one word, repeated +over and over: + +"_Revanche!--Revanche!--Revanche!_" + +Then the voice fell to a sort of low growling, as of a dog which +worries its prey, and I caught a sound as of ripping cloth. + +Godfrey, on hands and knees, was peering into the room. Then he drew +back and motioned us forward. + +I shall never forget the sight which met my eyes as I peeped +cautiously around the corner of the door. + +The room into which I was looking was lighted only by the rays which +filtered between the slats of a closed shutter. In the middle of the +floor stood the Boule cabinet, and before it, with his back to the +door, stood a man ripping savagely away the strips of burlap in which +it had been wrapped, talking to himself the while in a sort of savage +sing-song, and pausing from moment to moment to glance at a huddled +bundle lying on the floor against the opposite wall. For a time, I +could not make out what this bundle was, then, straining my eyes, I +saw that it was the body of a man, wrapped round and round in some +web-like fabric. + +And as I stared at him, I caught the glitter of his eyes as he +watched the man working at the cabinet--a glitter not to be mistaken +--the same glitter which had so frightened me once before.... + +Godfrey drew me back with a firm hand and took my place. As for me, I +retreated to the stair, and sat there feverishly mopping my face and +trying to understand. Who was this man? What was he doing there +against the wall? What was the meaning of this ferocious scene.... + +Then my heart leaped into my throat, for Godfrey, with a sharp cry of +"_Halte-la!_" sprang to his feet and dashed into the room, Simmonds +at his heels. + +I suppose two seconds elapsed before I reached the threshold, and I +stopped there, staring, clutching at the wall to steady myself. + +That scene is so photographed upon my brain that I have only to close +my eyes to see it again in every detail. + +There was the cabinet with its wrappings torn away; but the figure on +the floor had disappeared, and before an open doorway into another +room stood a man, a giant of a man, his hands above his head, his +face working with fear and rage, while Godfrey, his lips curling into +a mocking smile, pressed a pistol against his breast. + +Then, as I stood there staring, it seemed to me that there was a sort +of flicker in the air above the man's head, and he screamed shrilly. + +"_La mort!_" he shrieked. "_La mort!_" + +For one dreadful instant longer he stood there motionless, his hands +still held aloft, his eyes staring horribly; then, with a strangled +cry, he pitched forward heavily at Godfrey's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE ESCAPE + + +I have a confused remembrance of Godfrey stooping for an instant +above the body, staring at it, and then, with a sharp cry, hurling +himself through that open doorway. A door slammed somewhere, there +was a sound of running feet, and before either Simmonds or myself +understood what was happening, Godfrey was back in the room, crossed +it at a bound, and dashed to the door opening into the hall, just as +it was slammed in his face. + +I saw him tear desperately at the knob, then retreat two steps and +hurl himself against it. But it held firm, and from the hall outside +came a burst of mocking laughter that fairly froze my blood. + +"Come here, you fools!" cried Godfrey between clenched teeth. "Don't +you see he's getting away!" + +Simmonds was quicker than I, and together they threw themselves at +the door. It cracked ominously, but still held; again they tried, and +this time it split from top to bottom. Godfrey kicked the pieces to +either side and slipped between them, Simmonds after him. + +Then, in a sort of trance, I staggered to it, and after a moment's +aimless fumbling, was out in the hall again. I reached the stairhead +in time to see Godfrey try the front door, and then turn along the +lower hall leading to the back of the house. An instant later, a +chorus of frenzied women's shrieks made my hair stand on end. + +How I got down the stair I do not know; but I, too, turned back along +the lower hall, expecting any instant to come upon I knew not what +horror; I reached an open door, passed through it, and found myself +in the laundry, in the midst of a group of excited and indignant +women, who greeted my appearance with a fresh series of screams. + +Unable to go farther, I sat limply down upon a box and looked at +them. + +I dare say the figure I made was ridiculous enough, for the screams +gave place to subdued giggles; but I was far from thinking of my +appearance, or of caring what impression I produced. And I was still +sitting there when Godfrey came back, breathing heavily, chagrin and +anger in his eyes. The employes of the laundry, conscious that +something extraordinary was occurring, crowded about him, but he +elbowed his way through them to the desk where the manager sat. + +"A crime has been committed upstairs," he said. "This gentleman with +me is Mr. Simmonds, of the detective bureau," and at the words +Simmonds showed his shield. "We shall have to notify headquarters," +Godfrey went on, "and I would advise that you keep your girls at +their work. I don't suppose you want to be mixed up in it." + +"Sure not," agreed the manager promptly, and while Simmonds went to +the 'phone and called up police headquarters, the manager dismounted +from his throne, went down among the girls, and had them back at +their work in short order. + +Godfrey came over to me and laid his hand on my shoulder. + +"Why, Lester," he said, "you look as though you were at your last +gasp." + +"I am," I said. "I'm going to have nervous prostration if this thing +keeps up. You're not looking particularly happy yourself." + +"I'm not happy. I've let that fellow kill a man right under my nose +--literally, under my nose!--and then get away!" + +"Kill a man?" I repeated. "Do you mean...." + +"Go upstairs and look at the right hand of the man lying there," said +Godfrey, curtly, "and you'll see what I mean!" + +I sat staring at him, unable to believe that I had heard aright; +unable to believe that Godfrey had really uttered those words ... the +right hand of the man lying there ... that could mean only one +thing.... + +Simmonds joined us with a twisted smile on his lips, and I saw that +even he was considerably shaken. + +"I got Grady," he said, "and told him what had happened. He says he's +too busy to come up, and that I'm to take charge of things." + +Godfrey laughed a little mocking laugh. + +"Grady foresees his Waterloo!" he said. "Well, it's not far distant. +But I'm glad for your sake, Simmonds--you're going to get some glory +out of this thing, yet!" + +"I hope so," and Simmonds's eyes gleamed an instant. "The ambulance +will be around at once," he added. "We'd better get our shoes on, and +go back upstairs, and see if anything can be done for that fellow." + +"There can't anything be done for him," said Godfrey wearily; "but +we'd better have a look at him, I guess," and he led the way out into +the hall. + +Not until Simmonds spoke did I remember that I was shoeless. Now I +sat down beside Godfrey, got fumblingly into my shoes again, and then +followed him and Simmonds slowly up the stair. + +I thought I knew what was passing in Godfrey's mind: he was blaming +himself for this latest tragedy; he was telling himself that he +should have foreseen and prevented it; he always blamed himself in +that way when things went wrong--and then, to have the murderer slip +through his very fingers! I could guess what a mighty shock that had +been to his self-confidence! + +The latest victim was lying where he had fallen, just inside the +doorway leading into the inner room. Simmonds stepped to the window, +threw open the shutters, and let a flood of afternoon sunshine into +the room. Then he knelt beside the body, and held up the limp right +hand for us to see. + +Just above the knuckles were two tiny incisions, with a drop or two +of blood oozing away from them, and the flesh about them swollen and +discoloured. + +"I knew what it was the instant he yelled '_La mort!_'" said Godfrey +quietly. "And _he_ knew what it was the instant he felt the stroke. +It is evident enough that he had seen it used before, or heard of it, +and knew that it meant instant death." + +I sat down, staring at the dead man, and tried to collect my senses. +So this fiendish criminal, who slew with poison, had been lurking in +Vantine's house, and had struck down first Drouet and then the master +of the house himself! But why--why! It was incredible, astounding, my +brain reeled at the thought. And yet it must be true! + +I looked again at the third victim, and saw a man roughly dressed, +with bushy black hair and tangled beard; a very giant of a man, whose +physical strength must have been enormous--and yet it had availed him +nothing against that tiny pin-prick on the hand! + +And then a sudden thought brought me bolt upright. + +"But Armand!" I cried. "Where is Armand?" + +Godfrey looked at me with a half-pitying smile. + +"What, Lester!" he said, "don't you understand, even yet? It was your +fascinating M. Armand who did that," and he pointed to the dead man. + +I felt as though I had been struck a heavy blow upon the head; black +circles whirled before my eyes.... + +"Go over to the window," said Godfrey, peremptorily, "and get some +fresh air." + +Mechanically I obeyed, and stood clinging to the window-sill, gazing +down at the busy street, where the tide of humanity was flowing up +and down, all unconscious of the tragedy which had been enacted so +close at hand. And, at last, the calmness of all these people, the +sight of the world going quietly on as usual, restored me a portion +of my self-control. But even yet I did not understand. + +"Was it Armand," I asked, turning back into the room, "who lay there +in the corner?" + +"Certainly it was," Godfrey answered. "Who else could it be?" + +"Godfrey!" I cried, remembering suddenly. "Did you see his eyes as he +lay there watching the man at the cabinet?" + +"Yes; I saw them." + +"They were the same eyes...." + +"The same eyes." + +"And the laugh--did you hear that laugh?" + +"Certainly I heard it." + +"I heard it once before," I said, "and you thought it was a case of +nerves!" + +I fell silent a moment, shivering a little at the remembrance. + +"But why did Armand lie there so quietly?" I asked, at last. "Was he +injured?" + +Godfrey made a little gesture toward the corner. + +"Go see for yourself," he said. + +Something lay along the wall, on the spot where I had seen that +figure, and as I bent over it, I saw that it was a large net, finely +meshed but very strong. + +"That was dropped over Armand's head as he came up the stairs," said +Godfrey, "or flung over him as he came into the room. Then the dead +man yonder jumped upon him and trussed him up with those ropes." + +Pushing the net aside, I saw upon the floor a little pile of severed +cords. + +"Yes," I agreed; "he would be able to do that. Have you noticed his +size, Godfrey? He was almost a giant!" + +"He couldn't have done it if Armand hadn't been willing that he +should," retorted Godfrey, curtly. "You see he had no difficulty in +getting away," and he held up the net and pointed to the great rents +in it. "He cut his way out while he was lying there--I ought to have +known--I ought to have known he wasn't bound--that he was only +waiting--but it was all so sudden...." + +He threw the net down upon the floor with a gesture of disgust and +despair. Then he stopped in front of the Boule cabinet and looked +down at it musingly; and, after a moment, his face brightened. + +The burlap wrappings had been almost wholly torn away, and the +cabinet stood, more insolently beautiful than ever, it seemed to me, +under the rays of the sun, which sparkled and glittered and shimmered +as they fell upon it. + +"But we'll get him, Simmonds," said Godfrey, and his lips broke into +a smile. "In fact, we've got him now. We have only to wait, and he'll +walk into our arms. Simmonds, I want you to lock this cabinet up in +the strongest cell around at your station; and carry the key +yourself." + +"Lock it up?" stammered Simmonds, staring at him. + +"Yes," said Godfrey, "lock it up. That's our one salvation!" His face +was glowing; he was quite himself again, alert, confident of victory. +"You're in charge of this case, aren't you? Well, lock it up, and +give your reasons to nobody." + +"That'll be easy," laughed Simmonds. "I haven't got any reasons." + +"Oh, yes, you have," and Godfrey bent upon him a gaze that was +positively hypnotic. "You will do it because I want you to, and +because I tell you that, sooner or later, if you keep this cabinet +safe where no one can get at it, the man we want will walk into our +hands. And I'll tell you more than that, Simmonds; if we do get him, +I'll have the biggest story I ever had, and you will be world-famous. +France will make you a chevalier of the Legion of Honour, Simmonds, +mark my words. Don't you think the ribbon would look well in your +button-hole?" + +Simmonds was staring at the speaker as though he thought he had +suddenly gone mad. Indeed, the thought flashed through my own brain +that the disappointment, the chagrin of failure, had been too much +for Godfrey. + +He burst into laughter as he saw our faces. + +"No, I'm not mad," he said, more soberly; "and I'm not joking. I'm +speaking in deadly earnest, Simmonds, when I say that this fellow is +the biggest catch we could make. He's the greatest criminal of modern +times--I repeat it, Lester, this time without qualification. And now, +perhaps, you'll agree with me." + +And with Armand, so finished, so self-poised, so distinguished, in my +mind, and the body of his latest victim before my eyes, I nodded +gloomily. + +"But who is he?" I asked. "Do you know who he is, Godfrey?" + +"There's the ambulance," broke in Simmonds, as a knock came at the +street door, and he hurried down to open it. + +"Come on, Lester," and Godfrey hooked his arm through mine. "There's +nothing more we can do here. We'll go down the back way. I've had +enough excitement for the time being--haven't you?" + +"I certainly have," I agreed, and he led the way back along the hall +to another stair, down it and so out through the laundry. + +"But, Godfrey, who is this man?" I repeated. "Why did he kill that +poor fellow up there? Why did he kill Drouet and Vantine? How did he +get into the Vantine house? What is it all about?" + +"Ah!" he said, looking at me with a smile. "That is the important +question--what is it all about! But we can't discuss it here in the +street. Besides, I want to think it over, Lester; and I want you to +think it over. If I can, I'll drop in to-night to see you, and we can +thresh it out! Will that suit you?" + +"Yes," I said; "and for heaven's sake, don't fail to come!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +GODFREY WEAVES A ROMANCE + + +I had begun to fear that Godfrey was going to disappoint me, so late +it was before his welcome knock came at my door that night. I +hastened to let him in, and I could tell by the sigh of relief with +which he sank into a chair that he was thoroughly weary. + +"It does me good to come in here occasionally and have a talk with +you, Lester," he said, accepting the cigar I offered him. "I find it +restful after a hard day," and he smiled across at me good-humouredly. + +"How you keep it up I don't see," I said. "This one case has nearly +given me nervous prostration." + +"Well, I don't often strike one as strenuous as this," and he settled +back comfortably. "As a matter of fact, I haven't had one for a long +time that even touches it. There is nothing really mysterious about +most crimes." + +"This one is certainly mysterious enough," I remarked. + +"What makes it mysterious," Godfrey explained, "is the apparent lack +of motive. As soon as one learns the motive for a crime, one learns +also who committed it. But where the motive can't be discovered, it +is mighty hard to make any progress." + +"It isn't only lack of motive which makes it mysterious," I +commented; "it's everything about it. I can't understand either why +it was done or how it was done. When I get to thinking about it, I +feel as though I were wandering around and around in a maze, from +which I can never escape." + +"Oh, yes, you'll escape, Lester," said Godfrey, quietly, "and that +before very long." + +"If you have an explanation, Godfrey," I protested, "for heaven's +sake tell me! Don't keep me in the maze an instant longer than is +necessary. I've been thinking about it till my brain feels like a +snarl of tangled thread. Do you mean to say you know what it is all +about?" + +"'Know' is perhaps a little strong. There isn't much in this world +that we really know. Suppose we say that I strongly suspect." He +paused a moment, his eyes on the ceiling. "You know you've accused me +of romancing sometimes, Lester--the other evening, for instance; yet +that romance has come true." + +"I take it all back," I said, meekly. + +"There's another thing these talks do," continued Godfrey, going off +rather at a tangent, "and that is to clarify my ideas. You don't know +how it helps me to state my case to you and to try to answer your +objections. Your being a lawyer makes you unusually quick to see +objections, and a lawyer is always harder to convince of a thing than +the ordinary man. You are accustomed to weighing evidence; and so I +never allow myself to be convinced of a theory until I have convinced +you. Not always, even then," he added, with a smile. + +"Well, I'm glad I'm of some use," I said, "if it is only as a sort of +file for you to sharpen your wits on. So please go ahead and romance +some more. Tell me first how you and Simmonds came to be following +Armand." + +"Simply because I had found out he wasn't Armand. Felix Armand is in +Paris at this moment. You were too credulous, Lester." + +"Why, I never had any doubt of his being Armand," I stammered. "He +knew about my cablegram--he knew about the firm's answer...." + +"Of course he did, because your cable was never received by the +Armands, but by a confederate in this fellow's employ; and it was +that confederate who answered it. Our friend, the unknown, foresaw, +of course, that a cable would be sent the Armands as soon as the +mistake was discovered, and he took his precautions accordingly." + +"Then you still believe that the cabinet was sent to Vantine by +design and not by accident?" + +"Absolutely. It was sent by the Armands in good faith, because they +believed that it had been purchased by Vantine--all of which had been +arranged very carefully by the Great Unknown." + +"Tell me how you know all this, Godfrey," I said. + +"Why, it was easy enough. When you told me yesterday of Armand, I +knew, or thought I knew, that it was a plant of some kind. But, in +order to be sure, I cabled our man at Paris to investigate. Our man +went at once to Armand, _pere_, and he learned a number of very +interesting things. One was, that the son, Felix Armand, was in +Paris; another was that no member of the firm knew anything about +your cable or the answer to it; a third was, that, had the cable +been received, it would not have been understood, because the +Armands' books show that this cabinet was bought by Philip Vantine +for the sum of fifteen thousand francs." + +"Not this one!" I protested. + +"Yes; this one. And it was cheap at the price. Of course, the Armands +knew nothing about the Montespan story--they were simply selling at a +profit." + +"But I don't understand!" I stammered. "Vantine told me himself that +he did not buy that cabinet." + +"Nor did he. But somebody bought it in his name and directed that it +be sent forward to him." + +"And paid fifteen thousand francs for it?" + +"Certainly--and paid fifteen thousand francs to the Armands." + +"Rather an expensive present," I said, feebly, for my brain was +beginning to whirl again. + +"Oh, it wasn't intended as a present. The purchaser planned to +reclaim it--but Vantine's death threw him out. If it hadn't been for +that--for an accident which no one could foresee--everything would +have gone along smoothly and no one would ever have been the wiser." + +"But what was his object? Was he trying to evade the duty?" + +"Oh, nothing so small as that! Besides, he would have had to refund +the duty to Vantine. Did he refund it to you?" + +"No," I said, "I didn't think there was any to refund. Vantine really +paid the duty only on the cabinet he purchased, since that was the +one shown on his manifest. The other fellow must have paid the duty +on the cabinet he brought in; so I didn't see that there was anything +coming to Vantine's estate. There is probably something due the +government, for the cabinet Vantine brought in was, of course, much +more valuable than his manifest showed." + +"No doubt of that; and the other cabinet is the one which Vantine +really purchased. It was, of course, sent forward to this other +fellow's address, here in New York. His plan is evident enough--to +call upon Vantine, as the representative of the Armands, or perhaps +as the owner of the Montespan cabinet, and make the exchange. +Vantine's death spoiled that, and he had to make the exchange through +you. Even then, he would have been able to pull it off but for the +fact that Vantine's death and that of Drouet had called our attention +to the cabinet; we followed him, and the incidents of this afternoon +ensued." + +"And he accomplished all this by means of a confederate in the employ +of the Armands?" + +"No doubt of it. The clerk who made the supposed sale to Vantine and +got a commission on it, resigned suddenly two days ago--just as soon +as he had intercepted your cable and answered it. The Paris police +are looking for him, but I doubt if they'll find him." + +I paused to think this over; and then a sudden impatience seized me. + +"That's all clear enough," I said. "The cabinets might have been +exchanged just as you say they were--no doubt you are right--but all +that doesn't lead us anywhere. Why were they exchanged? What is there +about that Boule cabinet which makes this unknown willing to do +murder for it? Does he think those letters are still in it?" + +"He knows they are not in it now--you told him. Before that, he knew +nothing about the letters. If he had known of them, he would have had +them out before the cabinet was shipped." + +"What is it, then?" I demanded. "And, above all, Godfrey, why should +this fellow hide himself in Vantine's house and kill two men? Did +they surprise him while he was working over the cabinet?" + +"I see no reason to believe that he was ever inside the Vantine +house," said Godfrey quietly; "that is, until you took him there +yourself this afternoon." + +"But, look here, Godfrey," I protested, "that's nonsense. He must +have been in the house, or he couldn't have killed Vantine and +Drouet." + +"Who said he killed them?" + +"If he didn't kill them, who did?" + +Godfrey took two or three contemplative puffs, while I sat there +staring at him. + +"Well," Godfrey answered, at last, "now I'm going to romance a +little. We will return to your fascinating friend, Armand, as we may +as well call him for the present. He is an extraordinary man." + +"No doubt of it," I agreed. + +"I can only repeat what I have said before--in my opinion, he is the +greatest criminal of modern times." + +"If he is a criminal at all, he is undoubtedly a great one," I +conceded. "But it is hard for me to believe that he is a criminal. +He's the most cultured man I ever met." + +"Of course he is. That's why he's so dangerous. An ignorant criminal +is never dangerous--it's the ignorant criminals who fill the prisons. +But look out for the educated, accomplished ones. It takes brains to +be a great criminal, Lester, and brains of a high order." + +"But why should a man with brains be a criminal?" I queried. "If he +can earn an honest living, why should he be dishonest?" + +"In the first place, most criminals are criminals from choice, not +from necessity; and with a cultured man the incentive is usually the +excitement of it. Have you ever thought what an exciting game it is, +Lester, to defy society, to break the law, to know that the odds +against you are a thousand to one, and yet to come out triumphant? +And then, I suppose, every great criminal is a little insane." + +"No doubt of it," I agreed. + +"Just as every absolutely honest man is a little insane," went on +Godfrey quickly. "Just as every great reformer and enthusiast is a +little insane. The sane men are the average ones, who are fairly +honest and yet tell white lies on occasion, who succumb to temptation +now and then; who temporise and compromise, and try to lead a +comfortable and quiet life. I repeat, Lester, that this fellow is a +great criminal, and that he finds life infinitely more engrossing +than either you or I. I hope I shall meet him some time--not in a +little skirmish like this, but in an out-and-out battle. Of course +I'd be routed, horse, foot and dragoons--but it certainly would be +interesting!" and he looked at me, his eyes glowing. + +"It certainly would!" I agreed. "Go ahead with your romance." + +"Here it is. This M. Armand is a great criminal, and has, of course, +various followers, upon whom he must rely for the performance of +certain details, since he can be in but one place at a time. Abject +and absolute obedience is necessary to his success, and he compels +obedience in the only way in which it can be compelled among +criminals--by fear. For disobedience, there is but one punishment +--death. And the manner of the death is so certain and so mysterious +as to be almost supernatural. For deserters and traitors are found to +have died, inevitably and invariably, from the effects of an +insignificant wound on the right hand, just above the knuckles." + +I was listening intently now, as you may well believe, for I began to +see whither the romance was tending. + +"It is by this secret," Godfrey continued, "that Armand preserves his +absolute supremacy. But occasionally the temptation is too great, and +one of his men deserts. Armand sends this cabinet to America. He +knows that in this case the temptation is very great indeed; he fears +treachery, and he arranges in the cabinet a mechanism which will +inflict death upon the traitor in precisely the same way in which he +himself inflicts it--by means of a poisoned stab in the right hand. +Imagine the effect upon his gang. He is nowhere near when the act of +treachery is performed, and yet the traitor dies instantly and +surely! Why, it was a tremendous idea! And it was carried out with +absolute genius." + +"But," I questioned, "what act of treachery was it that Armand +feared?" + +"The opening of the secret drawer." + +"Then you still believe in the poisoned mechanism?" + +"I certainly do. The tragedy of this afternoon proves the truth of +the theory." + +"I don't see it," I said, helplessly. + +"Why, Lester," protested Godfrey, "it's as plain as day. Who was that +bearded giant who was killed? The traitor, of course. We will find +that he was a member of Armand's gang. He followed Armand to America, +lay in wait for him, caught him in the net and bound him hand and +foot. Do you suppose for an instant that Armand was ignorant of his +presence in that house? Do you suppose he would have been able to +take Armand prisoner if Armand had not been willing that he should?" + +"I don't see how Armand could help himself after that fellow got his +hands on him." + +"You don't? And yet you saw yourself that he was not really bound +--that he had cut himself loose!" + +"That is true," I said, thoughtfully. + +"Let us reconstruct the story," Godfrey went on rapidly. "The traitor +discovers the secret of the cabinet; he follows Armand to New York, +shadows him to the house on Seventh Avenue, waits for him there, and +seizes and binds him. He is half mad with triumph--he chants a crazy +sing-song about revenge, revenge, revenge! And, in order that the +triumph may be complete, he does not kill his prisoner at once. He +rolls him into a corner and proceeds to rip away the burlap. His +triumph will be to open the secret drawer before Armand's eyes. And +Armand lies there in the corner, his eyes gleaming, because it is +really the moment of _his_ triumph which is at hand!" + +"The moment of his triumph?" I repeated. "What do you mean by that, +Godfrey?" + +"I mean that, the instant the traitor opened the drawer, he would be +stabbed by the poisoned mechanism! It was for that that Armand +waited!" + +I lay back in my chair with a gasp of amazement and admiration. I had +been blind not to see it! Armand had merely to lie still and permit +the traitor to walk into the trap prepared for him. No wonder his +eyes had glowed as he lay there watching that frenzied figure at the +cabinet! + +"It was not until the last moment," Godfrey went on, "when the +traitor was bending above the cabinet feeling for the spring, that I +realised what was about to happen. There was no time for hesitation +--I sprang into the room. Armand vanished in an instant, and the +giant also tried to escape; but I caught him at the door. I had no +idea of his danger; I had no thought that Armand would dare linger. +And yet he did. Now that it is too late, I understand. He _had_ to +kill that man; there were no two ways about it. Whatever the risk, he +had to kill him." + +"But why?" I asked. "Why?" + +"To seal his lips. If we had captured him, do you suppose Armand's +secret would have been safe for an instant? So he had to kill him--he +had to kill him with the poisoned barb--and he _did_ kill him, and +got away into the bargain! Never in my life have I felt so like a +fool as when that door was slammed in my face!" + +"Perhaps he had that prepared, too," I suggested timidly, ready to +believe anything of this extraordinary man. "Perhaps he knew that we +were there, all the time." + +"Of course he did," assented Godfrey grimly. "Why else would there be +a snap-lock on the outside of the door? And to think I didn't see it! +To think that I was fool enough to suppose that I could follow him +about the streets of New York without his knowing it! He knew from +the first that he might be followed, and prepared for it!" + +"But it's incredible!" I protested feebly. "It's incredible!" + +"Nothing is incredible in connection with that man!" + +"But the risk--think of the risk he ran!" + +"What does he care for risks? He despises them--and rightly. He got +away, didn't he?" + +"Yes," I said, "he got away; there's no question of that, I guess." + +"Well, that is the story of this afternoon's tragedy, as I understand +it," proceeded Godfrey, more calmly. "And now I'm going to leave you. +I want you to think it over. If it doesn't hold together, show me +where it doesn't. But it _will_ hold together--it _has_ to--because +it's true!" + +"But how about Armand?" I protested. "Aren't you going to try to +capture him? Are you going to let him get away?" + +"He won't get away!" and Godfrey's eyes were gleaming again. "We +don't have to search for him; for we've got our trap, Lester, and +it's baited with a bait he can't resist--the Boule cabinet!" + +"But he knows it's a trap." + +"Of course he knows it!" + +"And you really think he will walk into it?" I asked incredulously. + +"I know he will! One of these days, he will try to get that cabinet +out of the steel cell at the Twenty-third Street station, in which we +have it locked!" + +I shook my head. + +"He's no such fool," I said. "No man is such a fool as that. He'll +give it up and go quietly back to Paris." + +"Not if he's the man I think he is," said Godfrey, his hand on the +door. "He will never give up! Just wait, Lester; we shall know in a +day or two which of us is a true prophet. The only thing I am afraid +of," he added, his face clouding, "is that he'll get away with the +cabinet, in spite of us!" + +And he went away down the hall, leaving me staring after him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +"CROCHARD, L'INVINCIBLE!" + + +It seemed for once that Godfrey was destined to be wrong, for the +days passed and nothing happened--nothing, that is, in so far as the +cabinet was concerned. There was an inquest, of course, over the +victim of the latest tragedy, and once again I was forced to give my +evidence before a coroner's jury. I must confess that, this time, it +made me appear considerable of a fool, and the papers poked sly fun +at the attorney who had walked blindly into a trap which, now that it +was sprung, seemed so apparent. + +The Bertillon measurements of the victim had been cabled to Paris, +and he had been instantly identified as a fellow named Morel, +well-known to the police as a daring and desperate criminal; in fact, +M. Lepine considered the matter so important that he cabled next day +that he was sending Inspector Pigot to New York to investigate the +affair further, and to confer with our bureau as to the best methods +to be taken to apprehend the murderer. Inspector Pigot, it was added, +would sail at once for Havre on _La Savoie._ + +Meanwhile, Grady's men, with Simmonds at their head, strained every +nerve to discover the whereabouts of the fugitive; a net was thrown +over the entire city, but, while a number of fish were captured, the +one which the police particularly wished for was not among them. Not +a single trace of the fugitive was discovered; he had vanished +absolutely, and, after a day or two, Grady asserted confidently that +he had left New York. + +For Grady had come back into the case again, goaded by the papers, +particularly by the _Record_, to efforts which he must have +considered superhuman. The remarkable nature of the mystery, its +picturesque and unique features, the fact that three men had been +killed within a few days in precisely the same manner, and the +absence of any reasonable hypothesis to explain these deaths--all +this served to rivet public attention. Every amateur detective in the +country had a theory to exploit--and far-fetched enough most of them +were! + +Grady did a lot of talking in those days, explaining in detail the +remarkable measures he was taking to capture the criminal; but the +fact remained that three men had been killed, and that no one had +been punished; that a series of crimes had been committed, and that +the criminal was still at large, and seemed likely to remain so; and, +naturally enough, the papers, having exhausted every other phase of +the case, were soon echoing public sentiment that something was wrong +somewhere, and that the detective bureau needed an overhauling, +beginning at the top. + +The Boule cabinet remained locked up in a cell at the Twenty-third +Street station; and Simmonds kept the key in his pocket. I know now +that he was as much in the dark concerning the cabinet as the general +public was; and the general public was very much in the dark indeed, +for the cabinet had not figured in the accounts of the first two +tragedies at all, and only incidentally in the reports of the latest +one. As far as it was concerned, the affair seemed clear enough to +most of the reporters, as an attempt to smuggle into the country an +art object of great value. Such cases were too common to attract +especial attention. + +But Simmonds had come to see that Grady was tottering on his throne; +he realised, perhaps, that his own head was not safe; and he had made +up his mind to pin his faith to Godfrey as the only one at all likely +to lead him out of the maze. And Godfrey laid the greatest stress +upon the necessity of keeping the cabinet under lock and key; so +under lock and key it was kept. As for Grady, I do not believe that, +even at the last, he realised the important part the cabinet had +played in the drama. + +But while the Boule cabinet failed to focus the attention of the +public, and while most of the reporters promptly forgot all about it, +I was amused at the pains which Godfrey took to inform the fugitive +as to its whereabouts and as to how it was guarded. Over and over +again, while the other papers wondered at his imbecility, he told how +it had been placed in the strongest cell at the Twenty-third Street +station; a cell whose bars were made of chrome-nickle steel which no +saw could bite into; a cell whose lock was worked not only by a key +but by a combination, known to one man only; a cell isolated from the +others, standing alone in the middle of the third corridor, in full +view of the officer on guard, so that no one could approach it, day +or night, without being instantly discovered; a cell whose door was +connected with an automatic alarm over the sergeant's desk in the +front room; a cell, in short, from which no man could possibly +escape, and which no man could possibly enter unobserved. + +Of the Boule cabinet itself Godfrey said little, saving his story for +the denouement which he seemed so sure would come; but the details +which I have given above were dwelt upon in the _Record_, until, +happening to meet Godfrey on the street one day, I protested that he +would only succeed in frightening the fugitive away altogether, even +if he still had any designs on the cabinet, which I very much +doubted. But Godfrey only laughed. + +"There's not the slightest danger of frightening him away," he said. +"This fellow isn't that kind. If I am right in sizing him up, he's +the sort of dare-devil whom an insuperable difficulty only attracts. +The harder the job, the more he is drawn to it. That's the reason I +am making this one just as hard as I can." + +"But a man would be a fool to attempt to get to that cabinet," I +protested. "It's simply impossible." + +"It looks impossible, I'm free to admit," he agreed. "But, just the +same, I wake every morning cold with fear, and run to the 'phone to +make sure the cabinet's safe. If I could think of any further +safeguards, I would certainly employ them." + +I looked at Godfrey searchingly, for it seemed to me that he must be +jesting. He smiled as he caught my glance. + +"I was never more in earnest in my life, Lester," he said. "You don't +appreciate this fellow as I do. He's a genius; nothing is impossible +to him. He disdains easy jobs; when he thinks a job is too easy, he +makes it harder, just as a sporting chance. He has been known to warn +people that they kept their jewels too carelessly, and then, after +they had put them in a safer place, he would go and take them." + +"That seems rather foolish, doesn't it?" I queried. + +"Not from his point of view. He doesn't steal because he needs money, +but because he needs excitement." + +"You know who he is, then?" I demanded. + +"I think I do--I hope I do; but I am not going to tell even you till +I'm sure. I'll say this--if he is who I think he is, it would be a +delight to match one's brains with his. We haven't got any one like +him over here--which is a pity!" + +I was inclined to doubt this, for I have no romantic admiration for +gentlemen burglars, even in fiction. However picturesque and +chivalric, a thief is, after all, a thief. Perhaps it is my training +as a lawyer, or perhaps I am simply narrow, but crime, however +brilliantly carried out, seems to me a sordid and unlovely thing. I +know quite well that there are many people who look at these things +from a different angle, Godfrey is one of them. + +I pointed out to him now that, if his intuitions were correct, he +would soon have a chance to match his wits with those of the Great +Unknown. + +"Yes," he agreed, "and I'm scared to death--I have been ever since I +began to suspect his identity. I feel like a tyro going up against a +master in a game of chess--mate in six moves!" + +"I shouldn't consider you exactly a tyro," I said, drily. + +"It's long odds that the Great Unknown will," Godfrey retorted, and +bade me good-bye. + +Except for that chance meeting, I saw nothing of him, and in this I +was disappointed, for there were many things about the whole affair +which I did not understand. In fact, when I sat down of an evening +and lit my pipe and began to think it over, I found that I understood +nothing at all. Godfrey's theory held together perfectly, so far as I +could see, but it led nowhere. How had Drouet and Vantine been +killed? Why had they been killed? What was the secret of the cabinet? +In a word, what was all this mystery about? Not one of these +questions could I answer; and the solutions I guessed at seemed so +absurd that I dismissed them in disgust. In the end, I found that the +affair was interfering with my work, and I banished it from my mind, +turning my face resolutely away from it whenever it tried to break +into my thoughts. + +But though I could shut it out of my waking hours successfully +enough, I could not control my sleeping ones, and my dreams became +more and more horrible. Always there was the serpent with dripping +fangs, sometimes with Armand's head, sometimes with a face unknown to +me, but hideous beyond description; its slimy body glittered with +inlay and arabesque; its scaly legs were curved like those of the +Boule cabinet; sometimes the golden sun glittered on its forehead +like a great eye. Over and over again I saw this monster slay its +three victims; and always, when that was done, it raised its head and +glared at me, as though selecting me for the fourth.... But I shall +not try to describe those dreams; even yet I cannot recall them +without a shudder. + +It was while I was sitting moodily in my room one night, debating +whether or not to go to bed; weary to exhaustion and yet reluctant to +resign myself to a sleep from which I knew I should wake shrieking, +that a knock came at the door--a knock I recognised; and I arose +joyfully to admit Godfrey. + +I could see by the way his eyes were shining that he had something +unusual to tell me; and then, as he looked at me, his face changed. + +"What's the matter, Lester?" he demanded. "You're looking fagged out. +Working too hard?" + +"It's not that," I said. "I can't sleep. This thing has upset my +nerves, Godfrey. I dream about it--have regular nightmares." + +He sat down opposite me, concern and anxiety in his face. + +"That won't do," he protested. "You must go away somewhere--take a +rest, and a good long one." + +"A rest wouldn't do me any good, as long as this mystery is +unsolved," I said. "It's only by working that I can keep my mind off +of it." + +"Well," he smiled, "just to oblige you, we will solve it first, +then." + +"Do you mean you know...." + +"I know who the Great Unknown is, and I'm going to tell you +presently. Day after to-morrow--Wednesday--I'll know all the rest. +The whole story will be in Thursday morning's paper. Suppose you +arrange to start Thursday afternoon." + +I could only stare at him. He smiled as he met my gaze. + +"You're looking better already," he said, "as though you were taking +a little more interest in life," and he helped himself to a cigar. + +"Godfrey," I protested, "I wish you would pick out somebody else to +practise on. You come up here and explode a bomb just to see how high +I'll jump. It's amusing to you, no doubt, and perhaps a little +instructive; but my nerves won't stand it." + +"My dear Lester," he broke in, "that wasn't a bomb; that was a simple +statement of fact." + +"Are you serious?" + +"Perfectly so." + +"But how do you know...." + +"Before I answer any questions, I want to ask you one. Did you, by +any chance, mention me to the gentleman known to you as M. Felix +Armand?" + +"Yes," I answered, after a moment's thought; "I believe I did. I was +telling him about our trying to find the secret drawer--I mentioned +your name--and he asked who you were. I told him you were a genius at +solving mysteries." + +Godfrey nodded. + +"That," he said, "explains the one thing I didn't understand. Now go +ahead with your questions." + +"You said a while ago that you would know all about this affair day +after to-morrow." + +"Yes." + +"How do you know you will?" + +"Because I have received a letter which sets the date," and he took +from his pocket a sheet of paper and handed it over to me. "Read it!" + +The letter was written in pencil, in a delicate and somewhat feminine +hand, on a sheet of plain, unruled paper. With an astonishment which +increased with every word, I read this extraordinary epistle:-- + + "_My Dear Mr. Godfrey:_ + + "I have been highly flattered by your interest in the affaire of + the cabinet Boule, and admire most deeply your penetration in + arriving at a conclusion so nearly correct regarding it. I must + thank you, also, for your kindness in keeping me informed of the + measures which have been taken to guard the cabinet, and which + seem to me very complete and well thought out. I have myself + visited the station and inspected the cell, and I find that in + every detail you were correct. + + "It is because I so esteem you as an adversary that I tell you, in + confidence, that it is my intention to regain possession of my + property on Wednesday next, and that, having done so, I shall beg + you to accept a small souvenir of the occasion. + + "I am, my dear sir, + + "Most cordially yours, + + "JACQUES CROCHARD, + + "L'Invincible!" + +I looked up to find Godfrey regarding me with a quizzical smile. + +"Of course it's a joke," I said. Then I looked at him again. "Surely, +Godfrey, you don't believe this is genuine!" + +"Perhaps we can prove it," he said, quietly. "That is one reason I +came up. Didn't Armand leave a note for you the day he failed to see +you?" + +"Yes; on his card; I have it here!" and with trembling fingers, I got +out my pocket-book and drew the card from the compartment in which I +had carefully preserved it. + +One glance at it was enough. The pencilled line on the back was +unquestionably written by the same hand which wrote the letter. + +"And now you know his name," Godfrey added, tapping the signature +with his finger. "I have been certain from the first that it was he!" + +I gazed at the signature without answering. I had, of course, read in +the papers many times of the Gargantuan exploits of Crochard--"The +Invincible," as he loved to call himself, and with good reason. But +his achievements, at least as the papers described them, seemed too +fantastic to be true. I had suspected more than once that he was +merely a figment of the Parisian space-writers, a sort of reserve for +the dull season; or else that he was a kind of scape-goat saddled by +the French police with every crime which proved too much for them. +Now, however, it seemed that Crochard really existed; I held his +letter in my hand; I had even talked with him--and as I remembered +the fascination, the finish, the distinguished culture of M. Felix +Armand, I understood something of the reason of his extraordinary +reputation. + +"There can be no two opinions about him," said Godfrey, reaching out +his hand for the letter and sinking back in his chair to contemplate +it. "Crochard is one of the greatest criminals who ever lived, full +of imagination and resource, and with a sense of humour most acute. I +have followed his career for years--it was this fact that gave me my +first clue. He killed a man once before, just as he killed this last +one. The man had betrayed him to the police. He was never betrayed +again." + +"What a fiend he must be!" I said, with a shudder. + +But Godfrey shook his head quickly. + +"Don't get that idea of him," he protested earnestly. "Up to the time +of his arrival in New York, he had never killed any man except that +traitor. Him he had a certain right to kill--according to thieves' +ethics, anyway. His own life has been in peril scores of times, but +he has never killed a man to save himself. Put that down to his +credit." + +"But Drouet and Vantine," I objected. + +"An accident for which he was in no way responsible," said Godfrey +promptly. + +"You mean he didn't kill them?" + +"Most certainly not. This last man he did kill was a traitor like the +first. Crochard, I think, reasons like this; to kill an adversary is +too easy; it is too brutal; it lacks finesse. Besides, it removes the +adversary. And without adversaries, Crochard's life would be of no +interest to him. After he had killed his last adversary, he would +have to kill himself." + +"I can't understand a man like that," I said. + +"Well, look at this," said Godfrey, and tapped the letter again. "He +honours me by considering me an adversary. Does he seek to remove me? +On the contrary, he gives me a handicap. He takes off his queen in +order that it may be a little more difficult to mate me!" + +"But, surely, Godfrey," I protested, "you don't take that letter +seriously! If he wrote it at all, he wrote it merely to throw you off +the track. If he says Wednesday, he really intends to try for the +cabinet to-morrow." + +"I don't think so. I told you he would think me only a tyro. And, +beside him, that is all I am. Do you know where he wrote that letter, +Lester? Right in the _Record_ office. That is a sheet of our copy +paper. He sat down there, right under my nose, wrote that letter, +dropped it into my box, and walked out. And all that sometime this +evening, when the office was crowded." + +"But it's absurd for him to write a letter like that, if he really +means it. You have only to warn the police...." + +"You'll notice he says it is in confidence." + +"And you're going to keep it so?" + +"Certainly I am; I consider that he has paid me a high compliment. I +have shown it to no one but you--also in confidence." + +"It is not the sort of confidence the law recognises," I pointed out. +"To keep a confidence like that is practically to abet a felony." + +"And yet you will keep it," said Godfrey cheerfully. "You see, I am +going to do everything I can to prevent that felony. And we will see +if Crochard is really invincible!" + +"I'll keep it," I agreed, "because I think the letter is just a +blind. And, by the way," I added, "I have a letter from Armand & Son +confirming the fact that their books show that the Boule cabinet was +bought by Philip Vantine. Under the circumstances, I shall have to +claim it and hand it over to the Metropolitan." + +"I hope you won't disturb it until after Wednesday," said Godfrey, +quickly. "I won't have any interest in it after that." + +"You really think Crochard will try for it Wednesday?" + +"I really do." + +I shrugged my shoulders. What was the use of arguing with a man like +that? + +"Till after Wednesday, then," I agreed; and Godfrey, having verified +his letter and secured from me the two promises he was after, bade me +good-night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +WE MEET M. PIGOT + + +I was just getting ready to leave the office the next afternoon when +Godfrey called me up. + +"How are you feeling to-day, Lester?" he asked. + +"Not as fit as I might," I said. + +"Have you arranged to start on that vacation Thursday?" + +"I don't think that's a good joke, Godfrey." + +"It isn't a joke at all. I want you to arrange it. But meanwhile, how +would you like a whiff of salt air this evening?" + +"First rate. How will I get it?" + +"The _Savoie_ will get to quarantine about six o'clock. I'm going +down on our boat to meet her. I want to have a talk with Inspector +Pigot--the French detective. Will you come along?" + +"Will I!" I said. "Where shall I meet you?" + +"At the foot of Liberty Street, at five o'clock." + +"I'll be there," I promised. And I was. + +The boat was cast loose as soon as we got aboard, backed out into the +busy river, her whistle shrieking shrilly, then swung about and +headed down stream. It was a fast boat--the _Record_, which prided +itself on outdistancing its contemporaries in other directions, would +of course try to do so in this--and when she got fairly into her +stride, with her engines throbbing rhythmically, the shore on either +hand slipped past us rapidly. + +The New York sky-line, as seen from the river, is one of the wonders +of the world, and I stood looking at it until we swung out into the +bay. There were two other men on board--the regular ship reporters, I +suppose--and Godfrey had gone into the cabin with them to talk over +some detail of the evening's work; so I went forward to the bow, +where I would get the full benefit of the salt breeze, with the taste +of it on my lips. The Statue of Liberty was just ahead, and already +the great search-light in her torch was winking across the water. +Craft innumerable crossed and re-crossed, their lights reflected in +the waves, and far ahead, a little to the left, I could see the white +glow against the sky which marked the position of Coney Island. + +Godfrey joined me presently, and we stood for some time looking at +this scene in silence. + +"It's a great sight, isn't it?" he said, at last. "Hello! look at +that boat!" he added, as a yacht, coming down the bay, drew abreast +of us and then slowly forged ahead. "She can go some, can't she? This +boat of ours is no slouch, you know; but just look how that one walks +away from us. I wonder who she is? What boat is that, captain?" he +called to the man on the bridge. + +"Don't know, sir," answered the captain, after a look through his +glasses. "Private yacht--can't make out her name--there's a flag or +something hanging over the stern. She's flying the French flag. There +come the other press boats behind us, sir," he added. "And there's +the _Savoie_ just slowing down at quarantine." + +Far ahead we could see the great hull of the liner, dark against the +horizon, and crowned with row upon row of glowing lights. + +"One doesn't appreciate how big those boats are until one sees them +from the water," I remarked. "Isn't she immense?" + +"And yet she's not an especially big boat, either," said Godfrey. "To +swing in under the really big ones--like the _Olympic_--is an +experience to remember." + +The _Savoie_ had by this time slowed down until she was just holding +her own against the tide, and one of her lower ports swung open. A +moment later, a boat puffed up beside her, made fast, and three or +four men clambered aboard and disappeared through the port. + +"There go the doctors," said Godfrey. "And there is that French boat +going alongside." + +The tug from quarantine dropped astern and the French yacht took her +place. After a short colloquy, one man from her was helped aboard the +_Savoie_. Then it was our turn, and after what seemed to me a +tremendous swishing and swirling at imminent risk of collision, we +swung up to the open port, a line was flung out and made fast, and a +moment later Godfrey and I and the other two men were aboard the +liner. + +My companions exchanged greetings with the officer in charge of the +open port, and then we hurried forward along a narrow corridor, +smelling of rubber and heated metal, then up stair after stair, until +at last we came to the main companionway. Here the two men left us, +to seek certain distinguished passengers, I suppose, whose views upon +the questions of the day were (presumably) anxiously awaited by an +expectant public. Godfrey stopped in front of the purser's office, +and passed his card through the little window to the man inside the +cage. + +"I should like to see M. Pigot, of the Paris _Service du Surete_" he +said. "Perhaps you will be so kind as to have a steward take my card +to him?" + +"That is unnecessary, sir," replied the purser, courteously. "That is +M. Pigot yonder--the gentleman with the white hair, with his back to +us. You will have to wait for a moment, however; the gentleman +speaking with him is from the French consulate, and has but this +moment come aboard." + +I could not see Inspector Pigot's face, but I could see that he held +himself very erect, in a manner bespeaking military training. The +messenger from the legation was a youngish man, with waxed moustache +and wearing an eyeglass. He was greeting M. Pigot at the moment, and, +after a word or two, produced from an inside pocket an +official-looking envelope, tied with red tape and secured with an +immense red seal. + +M. Pigot looked at it an instant, while his companion added a +sentence in his ear; then, with a nod of assent, the detective turned +down one of the passage-ways, the other man at his heels. + +"Official business, no doubt," commented the purser, who had also +been watching this little scene. "M. Pigot is one of the best of our +officers, and you will find it a pleasure to talk with him. He will +no doubt soon be disengaged." + +"Yes, but meanwhile my esteemed contemporaries will arrive," said +Godfrey, with a grimace. "They are on my heels--here they are now!" + +In fact, for the next twenty minutes, reporters from the other papers +kept arriving, till there was quite a crowd before the purser's +office. And from nearly every paper a special man had been detailed +to interview M. Pigot. Evidently all the papers were alive to the +importance of the subject. There was some good-natured chaffing, and +then one of the stewards was bribed to carry the cards of the +assembled multitude to M. Pigot's stateroom, with the request for an +audience. + +The steward went away laughing, and came back presently to say that +M. Pigot would be pleased to see us in a few minutes. But when five +minutes more passed and he did not appear, impatience broke out anew. +The lords of the press were not accustomed to being kept waiting. + +"I move we storm his castle," suggested the _World_ man. + +And just then, M. Pigot himself stepped out into the companionway. In +an instant he was surrounded. + +"My good friends of the press," he said, speaking slowly, but with +only the faintest accent, and he smiled around at the faces bent upon +him. "You will pardon me for keeping you in waiting, but I had some +matters of the first importance to attend to; and also my bag to +pack. Steward," he added, "you will find my bag outside my door. +Please bring it here, so that I may be ready to go ashore at once." +The steward hurried away, and M. Pigot turned back to us. "Now, +gentlemen," he went on, "what is it that I can do for you?" + +It was to Godfrey that the position of spokesman naturally fell. + +"We wish first to welcome you to America, M. Pigot," he said, "and to +hope that you will have a pleasant and interesting stay in our +country." + +"You are most kind," responded the Frenchman, with a charming smile. +"I am sure that I shall find it most interesting--especially your +wonderful city, of which I have heard many marvellous things." + +"And in the next place," continued Godfrey, "we hope that, with your +assistance, our police may be able to solve the mystery surrounding +the death of the three men recently killed here, and to arrest the +murderer. Of themselves, they seem to be able to do nothing." + +M. Pigot spread out his hands with a little deprecating gesture. + +"I also hope we may be successful," he said; "but if your police have +not been, my poor help will be of little account. I have a profound +admiration for your police; the results which they accomplish are +wonderful, when one considers the difficulties under which they +labour." + +He spoke with an accent so sincere that I was almost convinced he +meant every word of it; but Godfrey only smiled. + +"It is a proverb," he said, "that the French police are the best in +the world. You, no doubt, have a theory in regard to the death of +these men?" + +"I fear it is impossible, sir," said M. Pigot, regretfully, "to +answer that question at present, or to discuss this case with you. I +have my report first to make to the chief of your detective bureau. +To-morrow I shall be most happy to tell you all that I can. But for +to-night my lips are closed, sad as it makes me to seem +discourteous." + +I could hear behind me the little indrawn breath of disappointment at +the failure of the direct attack. M. Pigot's position was, of course, +absolutely correct; but nevertheless Godfrey prepared to attack it on +the flank. + +"You are going ashore to-night?" he inquired. + +"I was expecting a representative of your bureau to meet me here," M. +Pigot explained. "I was hoping to return with him to the city. I have +no time to lose. In addition, the more quickly we get to work, the +more likely we shall be to succeed. Ah! perhaps that is he," he +added, as a voice was heard inquiring loudly for Moosseer Piggott. + +I recognised that voice, and so did Godfrey, and I saw the cloud of +disappointment which fell upon his face. + +An instant later, Grady, with Simmonds in his wake, elbowed his way +through the group. + +"Moosseer Piggott!" he cried, and enveloped the Frenchman's slender +hand in his great paw, and gave it a squeeze which was no doubt +painful. + +"Glad to see you, sir. Welcome to our city, as we say over here in +America. I certainly hope you can speak English, for I don't know a +word of your lingo. I'm Commissioner Grady, in charge of the +detective bureau; and this is Simmonds, one of my men." + +M. Pigot's perfect suavity was not even ruffled. + +"I am most pleased to meet you, sir; and you Monsieur Simmon," he +said. "Yes--I speak English--though, as you see, with some +difficulty." + +"These reporters bothering your life out, I see," and Grady glanced +about the group, scowling as his eyes met Godfrey's. "Now you boys +might as well fade away. You won't get anything out of either of us +to-night--eh, Moosseer Piggott?" + +"I have but just told them that my first report must be made to you, +sir," assented Pigot. + +"Then let's go somewhere and have a drink," suggested Grady. + +"I was hoping," said M. Pigot, gently, "that we might go ashore at +once. I have my papers ready for you...." + +"All right," agreed Grady. "And after I've looked over your papers, +I'll show you Broadway, and I'll bet you agree with me that it beats +anything in gay Paree. Our boat's waiting, and we can start right +away. This your bag? Yes? Bring it along, Simmonds," and Grady +started for the stair. + +But the attentive steward got ahead of Simmonds. + +M. Pigot turned to us with a little smile. + +"Till to-morrow, gentlemen," he said. "I shall be at the Hotel Astor, +and shall be glad to see you--shall we say at eleven o'clock? I am +truly sorry that I can tell you nothing to-night." + +He shook hands with the purser, waved his hand to us, and joined +Grady, who was watching these amenities with evident impatience. +Together they disappeared down the stair. + +"A contrast in manners, was it not, gentlemen?" asked Godfrey, +looking about him. "Didn't you blush for America?" + +The men laughed, for they knew he was after Grady, and yet it was +evident enough that they agreed with him. + +"Come on, Lester," he added; "we might as well be getting back. I can +send the boat down again after the other boys," and he turned down +the stair. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE SECRET OF THE CABINET + + +Godfrey bade me good-bye at the dock and hastened away to the office +to write his story, which, I could guess, would be concerned with the +manners of Americans, especially with Grady's. As for me, that whiff +of salt air had put an unaccustomed edge to my appetite, and I took a +cab to Murray's, deciding to spend the remainder of the evening +there, over a good dinner. Except in a certain mood, Murray's does +not appeal to me; the pseudo-Grecian temple in the corner, with water +cascading down its steps, the make-believe clouds which float across +the ceiling, the tables of glass lighted from beneath--all this, +ordinarily, seems trivial and banal; but occasionally, in an esoteric +mood, I like Murray's, and can even find something picturesque and +romantic in bright gowns, and gleaming shoulders, and handsome faces +seen amid these bizarre surroundings. And then, of course, there is +always the cooking, which leaves nothing to be desired. + +I was in the right mood to-night for the enjoyment of the place, and +I ambled through the dinner in a fashion so leisurely and trifled so +long over coffee and cigarette that it was far past ten o'clock when +I came out again into Forty-second Street. After an instant's +hesitation, I decided to walk home, and turned back toward Broadway, +already filling with the after-theatre crowd. + +Often as I have seen it, Broadway at night is still a fascinating +place to me, with its blazing signs, its changing crowds, its +clanging street traffic, its bright shop-windows. Grady was right in +saying that "gay Paree" had nothing like it; nor has any other city +that I know. It is, indeed, unique and thoroughly American; and I +walked along it that night in the most leisurely fashion, savouring +it to the full; pausing, now and then, for a glance at a shop-window, +and stopping at the Hoffman House--now denuded, alas! of its +Bouguereau--to replenish my supply of cigarettes. + +Reaching Madison Square, at last, I walked out under the trees, as I +almost always do, to have a look at the Flatiron Building, white +against the sky. Then I glanced up at the Metropolitan tower, higher +but far less romantic in appearance, and saw by the big illuminated +clock that it was nearly half-past eleven. + +I crossed back over Broadway, at last, and turned down Twenty-third +Street in the direction of the Marathon, when, just at the corner, I +came face to face with three men as they swung around the corner in +the same direction, and, with a little start, I recognised Grady and +Simmonds, with M. Pigot between them. Evidently Grady had felt it +incumbent upon himself to make good his promise in the most liberal +manner, and to display the wonders of the Great White Way from end to +end--the ceremony no doubt involving the introduction of the stranger +to a number of typical American drinks--and the result of all this +was that Grady's legs wobbled perceptibly. As a matter of racial +comparison, I glanced at M. Pigot's, but they seemed in every way +normal. + +"Hello, Lester," said Simmonds, in a voice which showed that he had +not wholly escaped the influences of the evening's celebration; and +even Grady condescended to nod, from which I inferred that he was +feeling very unusually happy. + +"Hello, Simmonds," I answered, and, as I turned westward with them, +he dropped back and; fell into step beside me. + +"Piggott is certainly a wonder," he said. "A regular sport--wanted to +see everything and taste everything. He says Paris ain't in the same +class with this town." + +"Where are you going now?" I asked. + +"We're going round to the station. Piggott says he's got a sensation +up his sleeve for us--it's got something to do with that cabinet." + +"With the cabinet?" + +"Yes--that shiny thing Godfrey got me to lock up in a cell." + +"Simmonds," I said, seriously, "does Godfrey know about this?" + +"No," said Simmonds, looking a little uncomfortable. "I told Grady we +ought to 'phone him to come up, but the chief got mad and told me to +mind my own business. Godfrey's been after him, you know, for a long +time." + +"Suppose I 'phone him," I suggested. "There'd be no objection to +that, would there?" + +"_I_ won't object," said Simmonds, "and I don't know who else will, +since nobody else will know about it." + +"All right. And drag out the preliminaries as long as you can, to +give him a chance to get up here." + +Simmonds nodded. + +"I'll do what I can," he agreed, "but I don't see what good it will +do. The chief won't let him in, even if he does come up." + +"We'll have to leave that to Godfrey. But he ought to be told. He's +responsible for the cabinet being where it is." + +"I know he is, and Piggott says it was a mighty wise thing to put it +there, though I'm blessed if I know why. Hurry Godfrey along as much +as you can. Good-night," and he followed his companions into the +station. + +There was a drugstore at the corner with a public telephone station, +and two minutes later, I was asking to be connected with the city-room +at the _Record_ office. + +No, said a supercilious voice, Mr. Godfrey was not there; he had left +some time before; no, the speaker did not know where he was going, +nor when he would be back. + +"Look here," I said, "this is important. I want to talk to the city +editor--and be quick about it." + +There was an instant's astonished silence. + +"What name?" asked the voice. + +"Lester, of Royce and Lester--and you might tell your city editor +that Godfrey is a close friend of mine." + +The city editor seemed to understand, for I was switched on to him a +moment later. But he was scarcely more satisfactory. + +"We sent Godfrey up into Westchester to see a man," he said, "on a +tip that looked pretty good. He started just as soon as he got his +Pigot story written, and he ought to be back almost any time. Is +there a message I can give him?" + +"Yes--tell him Pigot is at the Twenty-third Street station, and that +he'd better come up as soon as he can." + +"Very good. I'll give him the message the moment he comes in." + +"Thank you," I said, but the disappointment was a bitter one. + +In the street again, I paused hesitatingly at the curb, my eyes on +the red light of the police station. What was about to happen there? +What was the sensation M. Pigot had up his sleeve? Had I any excuse +for being present? + +And then, remembering Grady's nod and his wobbly legs--remembering, +too, that, at the worst, he could only put me out!--I turned toward +the light, pushed open the door and entered. + +There was no one in sight except the sergeant at the desk. + +"My name is Lester," I said. "You have a cabinet here belonging to +the estate of the late Philip Vantine." + +"We've got a cabinet, all right; but I don't know who it belongs to." + +"It belongs to Mr. Vantine's estate." + +"Well, what about it?" he asked, looking at me to see if I was drunk. +"You haven't come in here at midnight to tell me that, I hope?" + +"No; but I'd like to see the cabinet a minute." + +"You can't see it to-night. Come around to-morrow. Besides, I don't +know you." + +"Here's my card. Either Mr. Simmonds or Mr. Grady would know me. And +to-morrow won't do." + +The sergeant took the card, looked at it, and looked at me. + +"Wait a minute," he said, at last, and disappeared through a door at +the farther side of the room. He was gone three or four minutes, and +the station-clock struck twelve as I stood there. I counted the +sonorous, deliberate strokes, and then, in the silence that followed, +my hands began to tremble with the suspense. Suppose Grady should +refuse to see me? But at last the sergeant came back. + +"Come along," he said, opening the gate in the railing and motioning +me through. "Straight on through that door," he added, and sat down +again at his desk. + +With a desperate effort at careless unconcern, I opened the door and +passed through. Then, involuntarily, I stopped. For there, in the +middle of the floor, was the Boule cabinet, with M. Pigot standing +beside it, and Grady and Simmonds sitting opposite, flung carelessly +back in their chairs, and puffing at black cigars. + +They all looked at me as I entered, Pigot with an evident contraction +of the brows which showed how strongly his urbanity was strained; +Simmonds with an affectation of surprise, and Grady with a bland and +somewhat vacant smile. My heart rose when I saw that smile. + +"Well, Mr. Lester," he said, "so you want to see this cabinet?" + +"Yes," I answered; "it really belongs to the Vantine estate, you +know; I'm going to put in a claim for it--that is, if you are not +willing to surrender it without contest." + +"Did you just happen to think of this in the middle of the night?" he +inquired quizzically. + +"No," I said, boldly; "but I saw you and Mr. Simmonds and this +gentleman"--with a bow to M. Pigot--"turn in here a moment ago, and +it occurred to me that the cabinet might have something to do with +your visit. Of course, we don't want the cabinet injured. It is very +valuable." + +"Don't worry," said Grady, easily, "we're not going to injure it. And +I think we'll be ready to surrender it to you at any time after +to-night. Moosseer Piggott here wants to do a few tricks with it +first. I suppose you have a certain right to be present--so, if you +like sleight-of-hand, sit down." + +I hastily sought a chair, my heart singing within me. Then I +attempted to assume a mask of indifference, for M. Pigot was +obviously annoyed at my presence, and I feared for a moment that his +Gallic suavity would be strained to breaking. But Grady, if he +noticed his guest's annoyance, paid no heed to it; and I began to +suspect that the Frenchman's courtesy and good-breeding had ended by +rubbing Grady the wrong way, they were in such painful contrast to +his own hob-nailed manners. Whatever the cause, there was a certain +malice in the smile he turned upon the Frenchman. + +"And now, Moosseer Piggott," he said, settling back in his chair a +little farther, "we're ready for the show." + +"What I have to tell you, sir," began M. Pigot, in a voice as hard as +steel and cold as ice, "has, understand well, to be told in +confidence. It must remain between ourselves until the criminal is +secured." + +Grady's smile hardened a little. Perhaps he did not like the +imperatives. At any rate, he ignored the hint. + +"Understand, Mr. Lester?" he asked, looking at me, and I nodded. + +I saw Pigot's eyes flame and his face flush with anger, for Grady's +tone was almost insulting. For an instant I thought that he would +refuse to proceed; but he controlled himself. + +Standing there facing me, in the full light, it was possible for me +to examine him much more closely than had been possible on board the +boat, and I looked at him with interest. He was typically French, +--smooth-shaven, with a face seamed with little wrinkles and very +white, eyes shadowed by enormously bushy lashes, and close-cropped +hair as white as his face. But what attracted me most was the mouth +--a mouth at once delicate and humourous, a little large and with the +lips full enough to betoken vigour, yet not too full for fineness. He +was about sixty years of age, I guessed; and there was about him the +air of a man who had passed through a hundred remarkable experiences, +without once losing his aplomb. Certainly he was not going to lose it +now. + +"The story which I have to relate," he began in his careful English, +clipping his words a little now and then, "has to do with the theft +of the famous Michaelovitch diamonds. You may, perhaps, remember the +case." + +I remembered it, certainly, for the robbery had been conceived and +carried out with such brilliancy and daring that its details had at +once arrested my attention--to say nothing of the fact that the +diamonds, which formed the celebrated collection belonging to the +Grand Duke Michael, of Russia,--sojourning in Paris because +unappreciated in his native land and also because of the supreme +attraction of the French capital to one of his temperament--were +valued at something like eight million francs. + +"That theft," continued M. Pigot, "was accomplished in a manner at +once so bold and so unique that we were certain it could be the work +of but a single man--a rascal named Crochard, who calls himself also +'The Invincible'--a rascal who has given us very great trouble, but +whom we have never been able to convict. In this case, we had against +him no direct evidence; we subjected him to an interrogation and +found that he had taken care to provide a perfect alibi; so we were +compelled to release him. We knew that it would be quite useless to +arrest him unless we should find some of the stolen jewels in his +possession. He appeared as usual upon the boulevards, at the cafes, +everywhere. He laughed in our faces. For us, it was not pleasant; but +our law is strict. For us to accuse a man, to arrest him, and then to +be compelled to own ourselves mistaken, is a very serious matter. But +we did what we could. We kept Crochard under constant surveillance; +we searched his rooms and those of his mistress not once but many +times. On one occasion, when he passed the barrier at Vincennes, our +agents fell upon him and searched him, under pretence of robbing him. + +"He was, understand well, not for an instant deceived. He knew +thoroughly what we were doing, for what we were searching. He knew +also that nowhere in Europe would he dare to attempt to sell a single +one of those jewels. We suspected that he would attempt to bring them +to this country, and we warned your department of customs. For we +knew that here he could sell all but the very largest not only almost +without danger, but at a price far greater than he could obtain for +them in Europe. We closed every avenue to him, as we thought--and +then, all at once, he disappeared. + +"For two weeks we heard nothing--then came the story of this man +Drouet, killed by a stab on the hand. At once we recognised the work +of Crochard, for he alone of living men possesses the secret of the +poison of the Medici. It is a fearful secret, which, in his whole +life, he had used but once--and that upon a man who had betrayed +him." + +M. Pigot paused and passed his hand across his forehead. + +"We were at a loss to understand Crochard's connection with Drouet," +M. Pigot continued. "Drouet, while a mere hanger-on of the cafes of +the boulevards, was not a criminal. Then came the death of that +creature Morel, in an effort to gain possession of this cabinet, and +we began to understand. We made inquiries concerning the cabinet; we +learned its history, and the secret of its construction, and we +arrived at a certain conclusion. It was to ascertain if that +conclusion is correct that I came to America." + +"What is the conclusion?" queried Grady, who had listened to all this +with a manifest impatience in strong contrast to my own absorbed +interest. + +For I had already guessed what the conclusion was, and my pulses were +bounding with excitement. "Our theory," replied M. Pigot, without +the slightest acceleration of speech, "is that the Michaelovitch +diamonds are concealed in this cabinet. Everything points to it--and +we shall soon see." As he spoke, he drew from his pocket a steel +gauntlet, marvellously like the one Godfrey had used, and slipped it +over his right hand. "When one attempts to fathom the secrets of +_L'Invincible_" he said with a smile, "one must go armoured. Already +three men have paid with their lives the penalty of their rashness." +"Three men!" repeated Grady, wonderingly. "Three," and Pigot checked +them off upon his fingers. "First the man who gave his name as +d'Aurelle, but who was really a blackmailer named Drouet; second, M. +Vantine, the connoisseur; and third, the creature Morel. Of these, +the only one that really matters is M. Vantine; his death was most +unfortunate, and I am sure that Crochard regrets it exceedingly. He +might also regret my death, but, at any rate, I have no wish to be +the fourth. Not I," and he adjusted the gauntlet carefully. "One +moment, monsieur," I said, bursting in, unable to remain longer +silent. "This is all so wonderful--so thrilling--will you not tell us +more? For what were these three men searching? For the jewels?" +"Monsieur is as familiar with the facts as I," he answered, in a +sarcastic tone. "He knows that Drouet was killed while searching for +a packet of letters, which would have compromised most seriously a +great lady; he knows that M. Vantine was killed while endeavouring to +open the drawer after its secret had been revealed to him by the maid +of that same great lady, who was hoping to get a reward for them; +Morel met death directly at the hands of Crochard because he was a +traitor and deserved it." More and more fascinated, I stared at him. +What secret was safe, I asked myself, from this astonishing man? Or +was he merely piecing together the whole story from such fragments as +he knew? "But even yet," I stammered, "I do not understand. We have +opened the secret drawer of the cabinet--there was no poison. How +could it have killed Drouet and Mr. Vantine?" + +"Very simply," said M. Pigot, coldly. "Death came to Drouet +and M. Vantine because the maid of Madame la Duchesse mistook +her left hand for her right. The drawer which contained the +letters is at the left of the cabinet--see," and he +pressed the series of springs, caught the little handle, and +pulled the drawer open. "You will notice that the letters are gone, +for the drawer was opened by Madame la Duchesse herself, in the +presence of M. Lestaire, who very gallantly permitted her to resume +possession of them. The drawer which Drouet and M. Vantine opened," +and here his voice became a little strident under the stress of great +emotion, "is on the right side of the cabinet, exactly opposite the +other, and opened by a similar combination. But there is one great +difference. About the first drawer, there is nothing to harm any one; +the other is guarded by the deadliest poison the world has ever +known. Observe me, gentlemen!" Impelled by an excitement so intense +as to be almost painful, I had risen from my chair and drawn near to +him. As he spoke, he bent above the desk and pressed three fingers +along the right edge. There was a sharp click, and a section of the +inlay fell outward, forming a handle, just as I had seen it do on the +other side of the desk. M. Pigot hesitated an instant--any man would +have hesitated before that awful risk!--then, catching the handle +firmly with his armoured hand, he drew it quickly out. There was a +sharp clash, as of steel on steel, and the drawer stood open. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MICHAELOVITCH DIAMONDS + + +M. Pigot, cool and imperturbable, held out to us, with a little +smile, a hand which showed not a quiver of emotion--his gauntleted +hand; and I saw that, on the back of it, were two tiny depressions. +At the bottom of each depression lay a drop of bright red liquid-- +blood-red, I told myself, as I stared at it, fascinated. And what +nerves of steel this man possessed! A sudden warmth of admiration for +him glowed within me. "That liquid, gentlemen," he said in his +smooth voice, "is the most powerful poison ever distilled by man. +Those two tiny drops would kill a score of people, and kill them +instantly. Its odour betrays its origin"--and, indeed, the air was +heavy with the scent of bitter almonds--"but the poison ordinarily +derived from that source is as nothing compared with this. This +poison is said to have been discovered by Remy, the remarkable man +who brought about the death of the Duc d'Anjou. Its distillation was +supposed to be one of the lost arts, but the secret was rediscovered +by this man Crochard. No secret, indeed, is safe from him; criminal +history, criminal memoirs--the mysteries and achievements of the great +confederacy of crime which has existed for many centuries, and whose +existence few persons even suspect--all this is to him an open book. +It is this which renders him so formidable. No man can stand against +him. Even the secret of this drawer was known to him, and he availed +himself of it when need arose." M. Pigot paused, his head bent in +thought; and I seemed to be gazing with him down long avenues of crime, +extending far into the past--dismal avenues like those of Pere Lachaise, +where tombs elbowed each other; where, at every step, one came face to +face with a mystery, a secret, or a tragedy. Only, here, the mysteries +were all solved, the secrets all uncovered, the tragedies all +understood. But only to the elect, to criminals really great, were +these avenues open; to all others they were forbidden. Alone of +living men, perhaps, Crochard was free to wander there unchallenged. + +Some such vision as this, I say, passed before my eyes, and I had a +feeling that M. Pigot shared in it; but, after an instant, he turned +back to the cabinet. + +"Now, M. Simmon," he said, briskly, in an altered voice, "if you will +have the kindness to hold the drawer for a moment in this position, I +will draw the serpent's fangs. There is not the slightest danger," he +added, seeing that Simmonds very naturally hesitated. + +Thus assured, Simmonds grasped the handle of the drawer, and held it +open, while the Frenchman took from his pocket a tiny flask of +crystal. + +"A little farther," he said; and as Simmonds, with evident effort, +drew the drawer out to its full length, a tiny, two-tined prong +pushed itself forward from underneath the cabinet. "There are the +fangs," said M. Pigot. He held the mouth of the flask under first one +and then the other, passing his other hand carefully behind and above +them. "The poison is held in place by what we in French call +_attraction capillaire_--I do not know the English; but I drive it +out by introducing the air behind it--ah, you see!" + +He stood erect and held the flask up to the light. It was half full +of the red liquid. + +"Enough to decimate France," he said, screwed the stopper carefully +into place, and put the flask in his pocket. "Release the drawer, if +you please, monsieur," he added to Simmonds. + +It sprang back into place on the instant, the arabesqued handle +snapping up with a little click. + +"You will observe its ingenuity," said M. Pigot. "It is really most +clever. For whenever the hand, struck by the poisoned fangs, loosened +its hold on the drawer, the drawer sprang shut as you see, and +everything was as before--except that one man more had tasted death. +Now I open it. The fangs fall again; they strike the gauntlet; but +for that, they would pierce the hand, but death no longer follows. By +turning this button, I lock the spring, and the drawer remains open. +The man who devised this mechanism was so proud of it that he +described it in a secret memoir for the entertainment of the Grand +Louis. There is a copy of that memoir among the archives of the +Bibliotheque Nationale; the original is owned by Crochard. It was he +who connected that memoir with this cabinet, who rediscovered the +mechanism, rewound the spring, and renewed the poison. No doubt the +stroke with the poisoned fangs, which he used to punish traitors, was +the result of reading that memoir." + +"This Croshar--or whatever his name is,--seems to be a 'strordinary +feller," observed Grady, relighting his cigar. + +"He is," agreed M. Pigot, quietly; "a most extraordinary man. But +even he is not infallible; for, since the memoir made no mention of +the other secret drawer--the one in which Madame la Duchesse +concealed her love letters--Crochard knew nothing of it. It was that +fact which defeated his combinations--a pure accident which he could +not foresee. And now, gentlemen, it shall be my pleasure to display +before you some very beautiful brilliants." + +Not until that instant had I thought of what the drawer contained; I +had been too fascinated by the poisoned fangs and by the story told +so quietly but so effectively by the French detective; but now I +perceived that the drawer was filled with little rolls of cotton, +which had been pressed into it quite tightly. + +M. Pigot removed the first of these, unrolled it and spread it out +upon the desk, and instantly we caught the glitter of diamonds +--diamonds so large, so brilliant, so faultlessly white that I drew a +deep breath of admiration. Even M. Pigot, evidently as he prided +himself upon his imperturbability, could not look upon those gems +wholly unmoved; a slow colour crept into his cheeks as he gazed down +at them, and he picked up one or two of the larger ones to admire +them more closely. Then he unfolded roll after roll, stopping from +time to time for a look at the larger brilliants. + +"These are from the famous necklace which the Grand Duke inherited +from his grandmother," he said, calling our attention to a little +pile of marvellous gems in one of the last packets. "Crochard, of +course, removed them from their settings--that was inevitable. He +could melt down the settings and sell the gold; but not one of these +brilliants would be marketable in Europe for many years. Each of them +is a marked gem. Here in America, your police regulations are not so +complete; but I fancy that, even here, he would have had difficulty +in marketing this one," and he unfolded the last packet, and held up +to the light a rose-diamond which seemed to me as large as a walnut, +and a-glow with lovely colour. + +"Perhaps you have stopped to admire the Mazarin diamond in the +_galerie d'Apollon_ at the Louvre," said M. Pigot. "There is always a +crowd about that case, and a special attendant is installed there to +guard it, for it contains some articles of great value. But the +Mazarin is not one of them; for it is not a diamond at all; it is +paste--a paste facsimile of which this is the original. Oh, it is all +quite honest," he added, as Grady snorted derisively. "Some years +ago, the directors of the Louvre needed a fund for the purchase of +new paintings; needed also to clean and restore the old ones. They +decided that it was folly to keep three millions of francs imprisoned +in a single gem, when their Michael Angelos and da Vincis and +Murillos were encrusted with dirt and fading daily. So they sought a +purchaser for the Mazarin; they found one in the empress of Russia, +who had a craze for precious stones, and who, at her death, left this +remarkable collection to her favourite son, who had inherited her +passion. A paste replica of the Mazarin was placed in the Louvre for +the crowds to admire, and every one soon forgot that it was not +really the diamond. For myself, I think the directors acted most +wisely. And now," he added, with a gesture toward the glittering +heaps, "what shall we do with all this?" + +"There's only one thing to do," said Grady, awaking suddenly as from +a trance, "and that's to get them in a safe-deposit box as quick as +possible. There's no police-safe I'd trust with 'em! Why, they'd tempt +the angel Gabriel!" and he drew a deep breath. + +"Can we find a box of safe-deposit at this hour of the night?" asked +M. Pigot, glancing at his watch. "It is almost one o'clock and a +half." + +"That's easy in New York," said Grady. "We'll take 'em over to the +Day and Night Bank on Fifth Avenue. It never closes. Wait till I get +something to put 'em in." + +He went out and came back presently with a small valise. + +"This will do," he said. "Stow 'em away, and I'll call up the bank +and arrange for the box." + +Simmonds and Pigot rolled up the packets carefully and placed them in +the valise, while I sat watching them in a kind of daze. And I +understood the temptation which would assail a man in the presence of +so much beauty. It was not the value of the jewels which shook and +dazzled me--I scarcely thought of that; it was their seductive +brilliance, it was the thought that, if I possessed them, I might +take them out at any hour of the day or night and run my fingers +through them and watch them shimmer and quiver in the light. + +"The Grand Duke Michael must have been considerably upset," remarked +Simmonds, who, throughout all this scene, had lost no whit of his +serenity of demeanour. + +"He has been like a madman," said M. Pigot, smiling a little at +Simmonds's unemotional tone. "These jewels are a passion with him; he +worships them; he never has parted with them, even for a day; where +he goes, they have gone. In his most desperate need of money--and he +has had such need many times--he has never sold one of his +brilliants. On the contrary, whenever he has money or credit, and the +opportunity comes to purchase a stone of unusual beauty, he cannot +resist, even though his debts go unpaid. Since the loss of these +stones, he has raved, he has cursed, he has beat his servants--one of +them has died, in consequence. We are all a little mad on some one +subject, I have heard it said; well, the Grand Duke Michael is very +mad on the subject of diamonds." + +"Why didn't he offer a reward for their return?" queried Simmonds. + +"Oh, he did," said M. Pigot. "He offered immediately his whole +fortune for their return. But his fortune was not large enough to +tempt Crochard, for the Grand Duke really has nothing but the income +from his family estates, and you may well believe that he spends all +of it. It will be a great joy to him that we have found them." + +The thought flashed through my mind that doubtless M. Pigot was in +the way of receiving a handsome present. + +"There they are," said Simmonds, and closed the bag with a snap, as +Grady came in again. + +"I've arranged for the box," said Grady, "and one of our wagons is at +the door. I thought we'd better not trust a taxi--might turn over or +run into something, and we can't afford to take any chances--not this +trip. Simmonds, you go along with Moosseer Piggott, and put an extra +man on the seat with the driver. Maybe that Croshar might try to hold +you up." + +The same thought was in my own mind, for Crochard must have learned +of M. Pigot's arrival; and I could scarcely imagine that he would sit +quietly by and permit the jewels to be taken away from him--to say +nothing of his chagrin over his unfulfilled boast to Godfrey. So I +was relieved that Grady was wise enough to take no risk. + +"You'd better get a receipt," Grady went on, "and arrange that the +valise is to be delivered only when you and Moosseer Piggott appear +together. That will be satisfactory, moosseer?" he added, turning to +the Frenchman. + +"Entirely so, sir." + +"Very well, then; I'll see you in the morning. I congratulate you on +the find. It was certainly great work." + +"I thank you, sir," replied M. Pigot, gravely. "Au revoir, monsieur," +and with a bow to me, he followed Simmonds into the outer room. + +Grady sat down and got out a fresh cigar. + +"Well, Mr. Lester," he said, as he struck a match, "what do you think +of these Frenchmen, anyway?" + +"They're marvellous," I said. "Even yet I can't understand how he +knew so much." + +"Maybe he was just guessing at some of it," Grady suggested. + +"I thought of that; but I don't believe anybody could guess so +accurately. For instance, how did he know about those letters?" + +"Fact is," broke in Grady, "that's the first I'd heard of 'em. What +_is_ that story?" + +I told him the story briefly, carefully suppressing everything which +would give him a clue to the identity of the veiled lady. + +"There were certain details," I added, "which I supposed were known +to no one except myself and two other persons--and yet M. Pigot knew +them. Then again, how did he know so certainly just how the mechanism +worked? How did he know which roll of cotton contained that Mazarin +diamond? You will remember he told us what was in that roll before he +opened it." + +Grady smiled good-naturedly and a little patronisingly. + +"That was the last roll, wasn't it?" he demanded. "Since that big +diamond hadn't shown up in any of the others, he knew it had to be in +that roll. It was just one of the little plays for effect them +Frenchies are so fond of." + +"Perhaps you are right," I agreed. "But it seemed to me that he +handled that mechanism as though he was familiar with it. Of course, +he may have prepared himself by studying the drawings which no doubt +accompany the secret memoir. He may even have had a working model +made." + +Grady nodded tolerantly. + +"Them fellers go to a lot of trouble over little things like that," +he said. "They like to slam their cards down on the table with a big +hurrah, even when the cards ain't worth a damn." + +"He certainly held trumps this time, anyway," I commented. "And he +played his hand superbly. He is an extraordinary man." + +"And a great actor," Grady supplemented. "Them fellers always behave +like they was on the stage, right in the spot-light. It makes me a +little tired, sometimes. Hello! Who's that?" + +The front door had been flung open; there was an instant's colloquy +with the desk-sergeant, then a rapid step crossed the outer room, and +Godfrey burst in upon us. + +He cast a rapid glance at the Boule cabinet, at the secret drawer +standing open, empty; and then his eyes rested upon Grady. + +"So he got away with it, did he?" he inquired. + +"Who in hell do you think you are?" shouted Grady, his face purple, +"coming in here like this? Get out, or I'll have you thrown out!" + +"Oh, I'll go," retorted Godfrey coolly. "I've seen all I care to see. +Only I'll tell you one thing, Grady--you've signed your own +death-warrant to-night!" + +"What do you mean by that?" Grady demanded, in a lower tone. + +"I mean that you won't last an hour after the story of this night's +work gets out." + +Grady's colour slowly faded as he met the burning and contemptuous +gaze Godfrey turned upon him. As for me, an awful fear had gripped my +heart. + +"Do you mean to say it wasn't Piggott?" stammered Grady, at last. + +Godfrey laughed scornfully. + +"No, you blithering idiot!" he said. "It wasn't Pigot. It was +Crochard himself!" + +And he stalked out, slamming the door behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE FATE OF M. PIGOT + + +Whatever may have been Grady's defects of insight and imagination, he +was energetic enough when thoroughly aroused. Almost before the echo +of that slamming door had died away, he was beside the sergeant's +desk. + +"Get out the reserves," he ordered, "and have the other wagon around. +'Phone headquarters to rush every man available up to the Day and +Night Bank, and say it's from me!" + +He stood chewing his cigar savagely as the sergeant hastened to obey. +In a moment, the reserves came tumbling out, struggling into their +coats; there was a clatter of hoofs in the street as the wagon dashed +up; the reserves piled into it, permitting me to crowd in beside +them, Grady jumped to the seat beside the driver, and we were off at +a gallop, our gong waking the echoes of the silent street. + +I clung to the hand-rail as the wagon swayed back and forth or +bounded into the air as it struck the car-tracks, and stared out into +the night, struggling to understand. Could Godfrey be right? But of +course he was right! Some intuition told me that; and yet, how had +Crochard managed to substitute himself for the French detective? +Where was Pigot? Was he lying somewhere in a crumpled heap, with a +tiny wound upon his hand? But that could not be--Grady and Simmonds +had been with him all the evening! And could that aged Frenchman with +the white, fine, wrinkled skin be also the bronzed and virile +personage whom I had known as Felix Armand? My reason reeled before +the seeming impossibility of it--and yet, somehow, I knew that +Godfrey was right! + +The wagon came to a stop so suddenly that I was thrown violently +against the man next to me, and the reserves, leaping out, swept me +before them. We were in front of the Day and Night Bank, and at a +word from Grady, the men spread into a close cordon before the +building. + +Another police wagon stood at the curb, with the driver still on the +seat, but as Grady started toward it, a figure appeared at the door +of the bank and shouted to us--shouted in inarticulate words which I +could not understand. But Grady seemed to understand them, and went +up the steps two at a time, with an agility surprising in so large a +man, and which I was hard put to it to match. A little group stood at +one side of the vestibule looking down at some one extended on a +cushioned seat. And, an instant later, I saw that it was Simmonds, +lying on his back, his eyes open and staring apparently at the +ceiling. + +But, at the second glance, I saw that the eyes were sightless. + +Grady elbowed his way savagely through the group. + +"Where's Kelly?" he demanded. + +At the words, a white-faced man in uniform arose from a chair into +which he had plainly dropped exhausted. + +"Oh, there you are!" and Grady glowered at him ferociously. "Now tell +me what happened--and tell it quick!" + +"Why, sir," stammered Kelly, "there wasn't anything happened. Only +when we stopped out there at the curb and I got down and opened the +door, there wasn't nobody in the wagon but Mr. Simmonds. I spoke to +him and he didn't answer--and then I touched him and he kind of fell +over--and then I rushed in here and 'phoned the station; but they +said you'd already started for the bank; and then we went out and +brought him in here--and that's all I know, sir." + +"You didn't hear anything--no sound of a struggle?" + +"Not a sound, sir; not a single sound." + +"And you haven't any idea where the other man got out?" + +"No, sir." + +"Mr. Simmonds had a little valise with him--did you notice it?" + +"Yes, sir; and I looked for it in the wagon, but it ain't there." + +Grady turned away with a curse as four or five men ran in from the +street--the men from headquarters, I told myself. I could hear him +talking to them in sharp, low tones, and then they departed as +suddenly as they had come. The reserves also hurried away, and I +concluded that Grady was trying to throw a net about the territory in +which the fugitive was probably concealed; but my interest in that +manoeuvre was overshadowed, for the time being, by my anxiety for +Simmonds. I picked up his right hand and looked at it; then I drew a +deep breath of relief, for it was uninjured. + +"Has anyone sent for a doctor?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir," one of the bank attaches answered. "We telephoned for one +at once--here he is, now!" he added, as a little black-bearded man +entered, carry the inevitably-identifying medicine case. + +The newcomer glanced at the body, waved us back, fell on one knee, +stripped away the clothing from the breast and applied his ear to the +heart. Then he looked into the staring eyes, drew down the lids, +watched them snap up again, and then hastily opened his case. + +"Let's have some water," he said. + +"Then he's not dead?" I questioned, as one of the clerks sprang to +obey. + +"Dead? No; but he's had a taste or whiff of something that has +stopped the heart action." + +With a queer, creepy feeling over my scalp, I remembered the little +flask half-full of blood-red liquid which Crochard carried in his +pocket. + +But he had not meant murder this time; I remembered that Godfrey had +said he never killed an adversary. The doctor worked briskly away, +and, at the end of a few minutes, Simmonds's eyes suddenly closed, he +drew a long breath, and sat erect. Then his eyes opened, and he sat +swaying unsteadily and staring amazedly about him. + +"Best lie down again," said the doctor soothingly. "You're a little +wobbly yet, you know." + +"Where am I?" gasped Simmonds. Then his eyes encountered mine. +"Lester!" he said. "Where is he--Piggott? Not...." + +He stopped short, looked once around at the gleaming marble of the +bank, fumbled for something at his side, and fell senseless on the +seat. + +I have no recollection of how I got back to the Marathon. I suppose I +must have walked; but my first distinct remembrance is of finding +myself sitting in my favourite chair, pipe in hand. The pipe was lit, +so I suppose I must have lighted it mechanically, and I found that I +had also mechanically changed into my lounging-coat. I glanced at my +watch and saw that it was nearly four o'clock. + +The top of my head was burning as though with fever, and I went into +the bathroom and turned the cold water on it. The shock did me a +world of good, and by the time I had finished a vigorous toweling I +felt immensely better. So I returned to my chair and sat down to +review the events of the evening; but I found that somehow my brain +refused to work, and black circles began to whirl before my eyes +again. + +"I told Godfrey I couldn't stand any more of this," I muttered, and +stumbled into my bedroom, undressed with difficulty, and turned out +the light. + +Then, as I lay there, staring up into the darkness, a stinging +thought brought me upright. + +Godfrey--where was Godfrey? Was he on the track of Crochard? Was he +daring a contest with him? Perhaps, even at this moment.... + +Scarcely knowing what I did, I groped my way to the telephone and +asked for Godfrey's number--hoping against hope absurdly--and at +last, to my intense surprise and relief, I heard his voice--not a +very amiable voice.... + +"Hello!" he said. + +"Godfrey," I began, "it's Lester. He got away." + +"Of course he got away. You didn't call me out of bed to tell me +that, I hope?" + +"Then you knew about it?" + +"I knew he'd get away." + +"When the wagon got to the bank there was nobody inside but Simmonds. +Simmonds went along, you know." + +"Was he hurt?" + +"He was unconscious, but he came around all right." + +"That's good--but Crochard wouldn't hurt him. He got away with the +jewels, of course?" + +"Of course," I assented, surprised that Godfrey should take it so +coolly. "When you rushed out that way," I added, "I thought maybe you +were going after him." + +"With him twenty minutes in the lead? I'm no such fool! He got away +from me the other day with a start of about half a second." + +"I tried to get you," I explained, "as soon as Simmonds told me they +were going to look at the cabinet. I 'phoned the office. The city +editor said he had sent you out into Westchester." + +Godfrey laughed shortly. + +"It was a wild-goose chase," he said, "cooked up by our friend +Crochard. But even then, I'd have got back, if we hadn't punctured a +tire when we were five miles from anywhere. I knew what was up--but +there I was. Oh, he's made fools of us all, Lester. I told you he +would!" + +"Then you didn't get my message?" + +"Yes--they gave it to me when I 'phoned in that the Westchester +business was a fake. I rushed for the station, though I knew I'd be +too late." + +"But, Godfrey," I said, "I can't understand, even yet, how he did it. +Grady and Simmonds left the boat with Pigot and were with him all +evening, showing him the sights. How did Crochard get into it? What +did he do with Pigot? Where _is_ Pigot?" + +"He's on the _Savoie._ I rushed a wireless down to her as soon as I +left the station. They made a search and found Pigot bound and gagged +under the berth in his stateroom." + +I could only gasp. + +"And to think I didn't suspect!" added Godfrey, bitterly. "We stood +there and saw that yacht with the French flag walk away from us; we +saw her put a man aboard the _Savoie_; we saw that man talking to +Pigot...." + +"Yes," I said, breathlessly; "yes." + +"Well, that man was Crochard. He got Pigot into his stateroom--gave +him a whiff of the same stuff he used on Simmonds, no doubt; put him +out of the way under the berth; got into his clothes, made up his +face, _put_ on a wig--and all that while we were kicking our heels +outside waiting for him." + +"But it was a tremendous risk," I said. "There were so many people on +board who knew Pigot--it would have to be a perfect disguise." + +"Crochard wouldn't stop for that. But it wasn't much of a risk. None +of us had seen Pigot closely; all we had seen of him was the back of +his head; and the passengers were all on deck watching the quarantine +men. And yet, of course, the disguise was a perfect one. Crochard is +an artist in that line, and he was, no doubt, thoroughly familiar +with Pigot's appearance. He deceived the purser--but the purser +wouldn't suspect anything!" + +"So it was really Crochard...." + +"But _we_ ought to have suspected. We ought to have suspected +everything, questioned everything; I ought to have looked up that +visitor and found out what became of him. Instead of which, Crochard +put Pigot's papers in his pocket, set his bag outside the stateroom +door, and then came out calmly to meet his dear friends of the press; +and I stood there talking to him like a little schoolboy--no wonder +he thinks I'm a fool!" + +"But nobody would have suspected!" I gasped. "Why, that man is- +is...." + +"A genius," said Godfrey. "An absolute and unquestioned genius. But I +knew that all the time, and I ought to have been on guard. You +remember he said he would come to-day?" + +"Yes." + +"And you didn't believe it." + +"I can't believe it yet." + +"There's one consolation--it will break Grady." + +"But, Godfrey," I said, "if you could have seen those diamonds--those +beautiful diamonds--and to think he should be able to get away with +them from right under our noses!" + +"It's pretty bad, isn't it? But there's no use crying over spilt +milk. Lester," he added, in another tone, "I want you to be in your +office at noon to-morrow--or rather, to-day." + +"All right," I promised; "I'll be there." + +"Don't fail me. There is one act of the comedy still to be played." + +"I'll be there," I said again. "But I'm afraid the last act will be +an anti-climax. Look here, Godfrey...." + +"Now go to bed," he broke in; "you're talking like a somnambulist. +Get some sleep. Have you arranged for that vacation?" + +"Godfrey," I said, "tell me...." + +"I won't tell you anything. Only I've got one more bomb to explode, +Lester, and it's a big one. It will make you jump!" + +I could hear him chuckling to himself. + +"Good-night," he said, and hung up. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE LAST ACT OF THE DRAMA + + +I overslept, next morning, so outrageously that it was not until I +had got a seat in a subway express that I had time to open my paper. +My first glance was for the big head that would tell of the diamond +robbery; and then I realised that no morning paper would have a word +of it. For the robbery was only a few hours old--and yet, it seemed +to me an age had passed since that moment when Godfrey had rushed in +upon Grady and me. So the city moved on, as yet blissfully +unconscious of the sensation which would be sprung with the first +afternoon editions, and over which reporters and artists and +photographers were even now, no doubt, labouring. I promised myself a +happy half hour in reading Godfrey's story! + +It was then that I remembered the appointment for twelve o'clock. The +last act of the drama was yet to be staged, Godfrey had said, and he +had also spoken of a bomb--a big one! I wondered what it could be, +One thing was certain: if Godfrey had prepared it, its explosion +would be startling enough! + +There were a number of things at the office demanding my attention, +and I was so late in getting there and the morning passed so rapidly +that when the office-boy came in and announced that Mr. Grady and Mr. +Simmonds were outside and wished to see me, I did not, for a moment, +connect their visit with Godfrey. Then I looked at my watch, saw that +it was five minutes to twelve, and realised that the actors were +assembling. + +"Show them in," I said, and they entered together a minute later. + +Grady was evidently much perturbed. His usually florid face was drawn +and haggard, his cheeks hung in ugly lines, there were dark pouches +under his eyes, and the eyes themselves were blood-shot. I guessed +that he had not been to bed; that he had spent the night searching +for Crochard--and it was easy enough to see that the search had been +unsuccessful. Simmonds, too, was looking rather shaky, and no doubt +still felt the after-effects of that whiff of poison. + +"I'm glad to see you are better, Simmonds," I said, shaking hands +with him. "That was a close call." + +"It certainly was," Simmonds agreed, sinking into a chair. "If I had +got a little more of it, I'd never have waked up." + +"Do you remember anything about it?" + +"Not a thing. One minute we were sitting there talking together as +nice as you please--and the next thing I knew was when I woke up in +the bank." + +"Where's that man Godfrey?" broke in Grady. + +"He said he'd be here at noon," I said, and glanced at my watch. +"It's noon now. Were you to meet him here?" + +Grady glanced at me suspiciously. + +"Don't you know nothing about it?" he asked. + +"I only know that Godfrey asked me to be here at noon to-day. What's +up?" + +"Blamed if I know," said Grady sulkily. "I got word from him that I'd +better be here, and I thought maybe he might know something. I'm so +dizzy over last night's business that I'm running around in circles +this morning. But I won't wait for him. He can't make me do that! +Come along, Simmonds." + +"Wait a minute," I broke in, as the outer door opened. "Perhaps +that's Godfrey, now." + +And so it proved. He came in accompanied by a man whom I knew to be +Arthur Shearrow, chief counsel for the _Record_. + +Godfrey nodded all around. + +"I think you know Mr. Shearrow," he said, placing on my desk a small +leather bag he was carrying. "This is Mr. Lester, Mr. Shearrow," he +added, and we shook hands. "The object of this conference, Lester," +he concluded, "is to straighten out certain matters connected with +the Michaelovitch diamonds--and incidentally to give the _Record_ the +biggest scoop it has had for months." + +"I ain't here to fix up no scoop for the _Record_", broke in Grady. +"That paper never did treat me right." + +"It has treated you as well as you deserved," retorted Godfrey. "I'm +going to talk plainly to you, Grady. Your goose is cooked. You can't +hold on for an hour after last night's get-away becomes public." + +"We'll see about that!" growled Grady, but the fight had evidently +been taken out of him. + +"I understand you wouldn't let Simmonds telephone for me last night?" +queried Godfrey. + +"That's right--it wasn't none of your business." + +"Perhaps not. And yet, if I had been there, the cleverest thief in +Paris, if not in the world, would be safe behind those chrome-nickle +steel bars at the Twenty-third Street station, instead of at liberty +to go ahead and rob somebody else." + +"You're mighty cocksure," retorted Grady. "It's easy to be wise after +it's all over." + +"Well, I'm not going to argue with you," said Godfrey. "I admit it +was a good disguise, and a clever idea--but, just the same, you ought +to have seen through it. That's your business." + +Grady mopped his face. + +"Oh, of course!" he sneered. "I ought to have seen through it! I +ought to have suspected, even when I found you tryin' to interview +him; even when I got him off the boat myself; even when I went +through his papers and found them all right--yes, even to the +photograph on his passport! That's plain enough now, ain't it! If +people only had as good foresight as they have hindsight, how easy it +would be!" + +"Look here, Grady," said Godfrey, more kindly, "I haven't anything +against you personally, and I admit that it was foolish of me to +stand there talking to Crochard and never suspect who he was. But +that's all beside the mark. You're at the head of the detective +bureau, and you're the man who is responsible for all this. You're +energetic enough and all that; but you're not fit for your job--it's +too big for you, and you know it. Take my advice, and go to the +'phone there and send in your resignation." + +Grady stared at him as though unable to believe his ears. + +"'Phone in my resignation!" he echoed. "What kind of a fool do you +think I am?" + +"I see you're a bigger one than I thought you were! Your pull can't +help you any longer, Grady." + +"Was it to tell me that you got me over here?" + +"No," said Godfrey, "all this is just incidental--you began the +discussion yourself, didn't you? I got you here to meet...." + +The outer door opened again, and Godfrey looked toward it, smiling. + +"Moosseer Piggott!" announced the office-boy. + +And then I almost bounced from my seat, for I would have sworn that +the man who stood on the threshold was the man who had opened the +secret drawer. + +He came forward, looking from face to face; then his eyes met +Godfrey's and he smiled. + +"Behold that I am here, monsieur," he said and I started anew at the +voice, for it was the voice of Crochard. "I hope that I have not kept +you waiting." + +"Not at all, M. Pigot," Godfrey assured him, and placed a chair for +him. + +I could see Grady and Simmonds gripping the arms of their chairs and +staring at the newcomer, their mouths open; and I knew the thought +that was flashing through their brains. Was this Pigot? Or was the +man who had opened the cabinet Pigot? Or was neither Pigot? Was it +possible that this could be a different man than the one who had +opened the cabinet? + +I confess that some such thought flashed through my own mind--a +suspicion that Godfrey, in some way, was playing with us. + +Godfrey looked about at us, smiling as he saw our expressions. + +"I went down the bay this morning and met the _Savoie_," he said. "I +related to M. Pigot last night's occurrences, and begged him to be +present at this meeting. He was good enough to agree. I assure you," +he added, seeing Grady's look, "that this _is_ M. Pigot, of the Paris +_Service du Surete,_ and not Crochard." + +"Oh, yes," said M. Pigot, with a deprecating shrug. "I am myself--and +greatly humiliated that I should have fallen so readily into the trap +which Crochard set for me. But he is a very clever man." + +"It was certainly a marvellous disguise," I said. "It was more than +that--it was an impersonation." + +"Crochard has had occasion to study me," explained M. Pigot, drily. +"And he is an artist in whatever he does. But some day I shall get +him--every pitcher to the well goes once too often. There is no hope +of finding him here in New York?" + +"I am afraid not," said Godfrey. + +"Don't be too sure of that!" broke in Grady ponderously. "I ain't +done yet--not by no manner of means!" + +"Pardon me for not introducing you, M. Pigot," said Godfrey. "This +gentleman is Mr. Grady, who has been the head of our detective +bureau; this is Mr. Simmonds, a member of his staff; this is Mr. +Lester, an attorney and friend of mine; and this is Mr. Shearrow, my +personal counsel. Mr. Grady, Mr. Simmonds and Mr. Lester were +present, last night," he added blandly, "when Crochard opened the +secret drawer." + +Grady reddened visibly, and even I felt my face grow hot. M. Pigot +looked at us with a smile of amusement. + +"It must have been a most interesting experience," he said, "to have +seen Crochard at work. I have never had that privilege. But I regret +that he should have made good his escape." + +"More especially since he took the Michaelovitch diamonds with him," +I added. + +"Before we go into that," said Godfrey, with a little smile, "there +are one or two questions I should like to ask you, M. Pigot, in order +to clear up some minor details which are as yet a little obscure. Is +it true that the theft of the Michaelovitch diamonds was planned by +Crochard?" + +"Undoubtedly. No other thief in France would be capable of it." + +"Is it also true that no direct evidence could be found against him?" + +"That also is true, monsieur. He had arranged the affair so cleverly +that we were wholly unable to convict him, unless we should find him +with the stolen brilliants in his possession." + +"And you were not able to do that?" + +"No; we could discover no trace of the brilliants, though we searched +for them everywhere." + +"But you did not know of the Boule cabinet and of the secret drawer?" + +"No; of that we knew nothing. I must examine that famous cabinet." + +"It is worth examining. And it has an interesting history. But you +did know, of course, that Crochard would seek a market for the +diamonds here in America?" + +"We knew that he would try to do so, and we did everything in our +power to prevent it. We especially relied upon your customs +department to search most thoroughly the belongings of every person +with whom they were not personally acquainted." + +"The customs people did their part," said Godfrey with a chuckle. +"They have quite upset the country! But the diamonds got in, in spite +of them. For, of course, a cabinet imported by a man so well known +and so above suspicion as Mr. Vantine was passed without question!" + +"Yes," agreed M. Pigot, a little bitterly. "It was a most clever +plan; and now, no doubt, Crochard can sell the brilliants at his +leisure." + +"Not if you've got a good description of them," protested Grady. +"I'll make it a point to warn every dealer in the country; I'll keep +my whole force on the job; I'll get Chief Wilkie to lend me some of +his men...." + +"Oh, there is no use taking all that trouble," broke in Godfrey, +negligently. "Crochard won't try to sell them." + +"Won't try to sell them?" echoed Grady. "What's the reason he won't?" + +"Because he hasn't got them," answered Godfrey, smiling with an +evidently deep enjoyment of Grady's dazed countenance. + +"Oh, come off!" said that worthy disgustedly. "If he hasn't got 'em +I'd like to know who has!" + +"I have," said Godfrey, and cleared my desk with a sweep of his arm. +"Spread out your handkerchief, Lester," and as I dazedly obeyed, he +picked up the little leather bag, opened it, and poured out its +contents in a sparkling flood. "There," he added, turning to Grady, +"are the Michaelovitch diamonds." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +CROCHARD WRITES AN EPILOGUE + + +For an instant, we gazed at the glittering heap with dazzled eyes; +then Grady, with an inarticulate cry, sprang to his feet and picked +up a handful of the diamonds, as though to convince himself of their +reality. + +"But I don't understand!" he gasped. "Have you got Croshar too?" + +"No such luck," said Godfrey. + +"Do you mean to say he'd give these up without a fight!" + +The same thought was in my own mind; if Godfrey had run down Crochard +and got the diamonds, without a life-and-death struggle, that +engaging rascal must be much less formidable than I had supposed. + +"My dear Grady," said Godfrey, "I haven't seen Crochard since the +minute you took him off the boat. I'd have had him, if you had let +Simmonds call me. That's what I had planned. But he was too clever +for us. I knew that he would come to-day...." + +"You knew that he would come to-day?" repeated Grady blankly. "How +did you know that--or is it merely hot air?" + +"I knew that he would come," said Godfrey, curtly, "because he wrote +and told me so." + +M. Pigot laughed a dry little laugh. + +"That is a favourite device of his," he said; "and he always keeps +his word." + +"The trouble was," continued Godfrey, "that I didn't look for him so +early in the day, and so he was able to send me on a wild-goose chase +after a sensation that didn't exist. There's where I was a fool. But +I discovered the secret drawer ten days ago--while the cabinet was +still at Vantine's--the evening after the veiled lady got her +letters. It was easy enough. I am surprised you didn't think of it, +Lester." + +"Think of what?" I asked. + +"Of the key to the mystery. The drawer containing the letters was on +the left side of the desk; I saw at once that there must be another +drawer, opened in the same way, on the right side." + +"I didn't see it," I said. "I don't see it yet." + +"Think a minute. Why was Drouet killed? Because he opened the wrong +drawer. He pressed the combination at the right side of the desk, +instead of that at the left side. The fair Julie must have thought +the drawer was on the right side, instead of the left. It was a +mistake very easy to make, since her mistress doubtless had her back +turned when Julie saw her open the drawer. The suspicion that it was +Julie's mistake becomes certainty when she shows the combination to +Vantine, and he is killed, too. Besides, the veiled lady herself made +a remark which revealed the whole story." + +"I didn't notice it," I said, resignedly. "What was it?" + +"That she was accustomed to opening the drawer with her left hand, +instead of with her right. After that, there could be no further +doubt. So I discovered the drawer very simply. It had to be there." + +"Yes," I said; "and then?" + +"Then I removed the jewels, took them down to a dealer in paste gems +and duplicated them as closely as I could. I had a hard time getting +a good copy of this big rose-diamond." + +He picked it from the heap and held it up between his fingers. + +"It's a beauty, isn't it?" he asked. + +M. Pigot smiled a dry smile. + +"It is the Mazarin," he said, "and is worth three million francs. +There is a copy of it at the Louvre." + +"So that's true, is it?" I asked. "Crochard told us the story." + +"It is unquestionably true," said M. Pigot. "It is not a secret--it +is merely something which every one has forgotten." + +"Well," continued Godfrey, "after I got the duplicates, I rolled them +up in the cotton packets, and placed them back in the drawer, being +careful to put the Mazarin at the bottom, where I had found it." + +"It was lucky you thought of that," I said, "or Crochard would have +suspected something." + +Godfrey looked at me with a smile. + +"My dear Lester," he said, "he knew that the game was up the instant +he opened the first packet. Do you suppose he would be deceived? Not +by the best reproduction ever made!" + +And then I remembered the slow flush which had crept into Crochard's +cheeks as he opened that first packet! + +"I didn't expect to deceive him," Godfrey explained. "I just wanted +to give him a little surprise. And to think I wasn't there to see +it!" + +"But if he knew they were imitations," I protested, "why should he go +to all that trouble to steal them?" + +"That is what puzzled me last night," said Godfrey; "and, for that +matter, it puzzles me yet." + +"Maybe he's got the real stones, after all," suggested Grady, who had +been listening to all this with incredulous countenance. "The story +sounds fishy to me. Maybe these are the imitations." + +M. Pigot came forward and picked up the Mazarin and looked at it. + +"This one, at least, is real," he said, after a moment. "And I have +no doubt the others are," he added, turning them over with his +finger. + +Grady, still incredulous, picked up one of the brilliants, went to +the window, and drew it down the pane. It left a deep scratch behind +it. + +"Yes," he admitted reluctantly, "I guess they're diamonds, all +right," and he sat down again. + +"And now, gentlemen," continued Godfrey, who had watched Grady's +byplay with a tolerant smile, "I am ready to turn these diamonds over +to you. I should like you to count them, and give me a receipt for +them." + +"And then, of course, you will write the story," sneered Grady, "and +give yourself all the credit." + +"Well," asked Godfrey, looking at him, "do you think you deserve +any?" And Grady could only crimson and keep silent. "As for the +story, it is already written. It will be on the streets in ten +minutes--and it will create a sensation. Please count the diamonds. +You will find two hundred and ten of them." + +"That is the exact number stolen from the Grand Duke," remarked M. +Pigot, and fell to counting. The number was two hundred and ten. + +"Mr. Shearrow has the receipt," Godfrey added, and Shearrow took a +paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and read the contents. + +It proved to be not only a receipt, but a full statement of the facts +of the case, without omitting the details of the robbery and the +credit due the _Record_ for the recovery of the diamonds. Grady's +face grew redder and redder as the reading proceeded. + +"I won't sign no such testimonial as that," he blustered. "Not on +your life I won't!" + +"You will sign it, will you not, M. Pigot?" asked Godfrey. + +"Certainly," said the Frenchman; "it is a recognition of your +services very well deserved," and he stepped forward and signed it +with a flourish. + +"Now, Simmonds," said Godfrey. + +"No you don't!" broke in Grady. "Stay where you are, Simmonds. I +forbid you to sign that. Remember, I'm your superior officer." + +"No, he's not, Simmonds," said Godfrey, quietly. "He hasn't been an +officer at all for an hour and more." + +Grady sprang to his feet, his eyes blazing, and strode toward +Godfrey. + +"What do you mean by that?" he shouted. + +"I mean," said Godfrey, looking him squarely in the eye, "that Mr. +Shearrow and myself had a talk with the mayor this morning, and laid +before him certain evidence in our possession--this latest case among +others--and that your resignation was accepted at noon to-day." + +"My resignation!" snorted Grady. "I never wrote one!" + +"Tell the public that, if you want to," retorted Godfrey coldly. +"That's your affair. You ought to have 'phoned it in when I told you +to. Now, Simmonds." + +Grady stood glaring about him an instant, like an enraged bull, and I +half expected him to hurl himself on Godfrey; instead, he crushed his +hat upon his head, strode to the door, jerked it open, and banged it +behind him. + +"Now, Simmonds," Godfrey repeated, as the echo died away, and +Simmonds came forward and signed. I witnessed the signatures, and +Godfrey, with more eagerness than he had shown in the whole affair, +caught up the paper and sprang with it to the door. + +"Get that down to the office, as quick as you can," he said, to a man +outside. "I'll 'phone instructions. That," he added, closing the door +and turning back to us, "is my reward for all this--or, rather, the +_Record's_ reward. And now, gentlemen, Mr. Shearrow has his car +below, and I think we would better drive around to some safe-deposit +box with this plunder." + +It was perhaps ten days afterwards that Godfrey dropped in to see me +one evening. I was just back from a week on Cape Cod, which had done +me a world of good; and, I need hardly say, was glad to see him. + +"You're looking normal again," he said, surveying me, as he sat +down. "I was worried about you for a while." + +"I never felt better. I told you that all I needed was to have that +mystery solved." + +"And it was solved on schedule time, wasn't it," he smiled; "though +not quite in the way I had anticipated. Do you know, Lester," he +added, "I am going to claim that cabinet." + +"On what grounds?" I demanded. + +"Because the man who owned it gave it to me," and he got a paper out +of his pocket-book and handed it across to me. + +I opened it and recognised the delicate and feminine writing which I +had seen once before. + + "_My dear sir_ [the letter ran]: + + "I find that I made the mistake of underestimating you, and I + present you my sincere apologies. I trust that, at some future + time, it may be my privilege to be again engaged with you--the + result is certain to be most interesting. But at present I find + that I must return to Europe by _La Bretagne_; since, after the + trouble I have taken, it is impossible that I should consent to + part with the brilliants of His Highness the Grand Duke. As a + slight souvenir of my high regard, I trust you will be willing + to accept the cabinet Boule, which I am certain that good M. + Lester will surrender to you if you will show to him this letter. + The cabinet is not only interesting in itself, but will be doubly + so to you because of the part it has played in our little comedy. + And I should like to know that it adorns a corner of your home. + + "Till we meet again, dear sir, believe me + + "Your sincere admirer, + + "CROCHARD, L'Invincible!" + +"He's a good sport, isn't he?" asked Godfrey, as I silently handed +the letter back to him. "What do you say about the cabinet?" + +"I suppose there is no doubt that Crochard bought it," I said. + +"So that it is mine now?" + +"Yes; but I'm going to solicit a bribe." + +"Go ahead and solicit it." + +"I want a souvenir, too," I said. "I'd like awfully well to have that +letter--besides," I added, "it will be a kind of receipt, you know, +if anybody ever questions my giving you the cabinet." + +Godfrey laughed and threw the letter across the table to me. + +"It's yours," he said. "And I'll send for the cabinet to-morrow. I +suppose it is still at the station?" + +"Yes; I haven't had time to put in a claim for it. But, Godfrey," I +added, "when did _La Bretagne_ sail?" + +"A week ago to-day. She is due at Havre in the morning." + +"Did you warn them?" + +"Warn them of what?" + +"That Crochard is after the diamonds. They went back on _La +Bretagne_, I suppose?" + +"Yes--and Pigot went with them. So why should I warn any one? Surely +they know that Crochard will get those diamonds if he can. It has +become a sort of point of honour with him, I imagine. It is up to +them to take care of them." + +"That oughtn't to be difficult," I said. "The strong-room of a liner +is about the safest place on earth." + +"Yes," Godfrey agreed, and blew a meditative ring toward the ceiling. + +And presently he went away without saying anything more. + +But the more I thought of it, the more the inflection he had given +that word seemed an interrogation rather than an affirmation. + +And when I opened my paper next morning, I more than half expected to +be greeted with a black headline announcing the looting of the +strong-room of _La Bretagne_. But there was no such headline, and +with a sigh, half of relief and half of disappointment, I turned to +the other news. + +But two weeks later, a black headline _did_ catch my eye: + + MICHAELOVITCH JEWELS FALSE! + + FRENCH DETECTIVE TAKES BACK PASTE IMITATIONS FROM AMERICA. + + Fraud Discovered When the Grand Duke Michael Sends them to a + Jeweller to be Reset. + +I had no need to read the article which followed, for I saw in a +flash what had occurred. I saw, too, why Crochard had retained the +paste jewels--he had a use for them! How or where the substitution +had been made, I could only guess; but one thing was certain: the two +weeks which had elapsed before the theft was discovered had given him +ample opportunity to dispose of his plunder. I felt sorry for the +Grand Duke; sorrier still for that admirable M. Pigot; but, after +all, one could not but admire the cleverness of the man who had +despoiled them. + +Who, I wondered, had bought the Mazarin? Surely there was a diamond +most difficult to sell. + +It could, of course, be cut up--- but that would be sacrilege! + +That question was answered, before long, in an unexpected way--a way +which filled many columns in the papers, which delighted the +comedy-loving French, and which gave Crochard a unique advertisement. +One morning, in the personal column of _Le Matin_, appeared a notice, +of which this is the English: + + "To M. the Director of the Museum of the Louvre: + + "It has been my good fortune to come into possession of the + rose-diamond known as the Mazarin. It is my wish to restore it + to your collection, in order that it may no longer be necessary + to delude the public with an imitation of coloured glass. It will + give me great pleasure to present this brilliant to you, with my + compliments, provided His Highness, the Grand Duke Michael, who + preceded me in possession of the diamond, will join me in the gift. + Should he refuse, it will be my melancholy duty to cleave the + diamond into a number of smaller stones, as it is too large for + my use. But I hope that he will not refuse. + + "CROCHARD, L'Invincible!" + +What could the Grand Duke do? To have refused, would have made him +the butt of the boulevards. Besides, he was, after all, losing +nothing which he had not already lost. So, with a better grace than +one might have expected, he consented to join in the restoration. Two +days later, the director of the Louvre discovered a packet upon his +desk. He opened it and found within the Mazarin. When you visit the +Louvre, you will see it in the place of honour in the glass case in +the centre of the Gallery of Apollo, with an attendant on guard +beside it. But already the circumstances of its restoration are +fading from the public memory. + +And Crochard? I do not know. Each morning, I read first the news from +Paris, searching for L'Invincible in some new incarnation. I have his +letter framed and hanging above my desk, and every day I read it +over. One sentence, especially, is forever running in my head: + + "I trust that, at some future time, it may be my privilege to be + again engaged with you--the result is certain to be most + interesting." + +And I trust that it may be my privilege, also, to be present at that +engagement! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mystery Of The Boule Cabinet +by Burton Egbert Stevenson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERY OF THE BOULE CABINET *** + +***** This file should be named 10067.txt or 10067.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/6/10067/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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