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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Exploits of Juve, by Pierre Souvestre and
+Marcel Allain
+
+
+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 Exploits of Juve
+       Being the Second of the Series of the "Fantômas" Detective Tales
+
+
+Author: Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 2, 2009  [eBook #30586]
+Most recently updated: May 11, 2011
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPLOITS OF JUVE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Woodie4, Suzanne Shell, and the Project Gutenberg
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from digital
+material generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
+(http://www.archive.org/details/americana)
+
+
+
+Note: Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      http://www.archive.org/details/exploitsofjuvebe00souviala
+
+
+      There has been some confusion about the authors of
+      this book. The cover credits Pierre Souvestre and
+      Marcel Allain, but the title page lists Émile
+      Souvestre and Marcel Allain. Pierre Souvestre
+      (1874-1914) and Marcel Allain (1885-1969) were
+      contemporaries, while Émile Souvestre (1806-1854)
+      was the great-uncle of Pierre and died before
+      Marcel Allain was born.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE EXPLOITS OF JUVE
+
+Being the Second of the Series of the "Fantômas" Detective Tales
+
+by
+
+EMILE SOUVESTRE and MARCEL ALLAIN
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York
+Brentano's
+1917
+
+Copyright, 1917, by Brentano's
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                  PAGE
+
+       I. THE COMRADES' TRYST                                  1
+
+      II. ON THE TRACK                                        14
+
+     III. BEHIND THE CURTAIN                                  22
+
+      IV. A WOMAN'S CORPSE                                    33
+
+       V. LOUPART'S ANGER                                     42
+
+      VI. THE LÂRIBOISIÈRE HOSPITAL                           50
+
+     VII. A REVOLVER SHOT                                     58
+
+    VIII. THE SEARCH FOR THE CRIMINAL                         64
+
+      IX. IN THE REFRIGERATORY                                70
+
+       X. THE BLOODY SIGNATURE                                75
+
+      XI. THE SHOWER OF SAND                                  81
+
+     XII. FOLLOWING JOSEPHINE                                 90
+
+    XIII. ROBBERY; AMERICAN FASHION                           99
+
+     XIV. FLIGHT THROUGH THE NIGHT                           107
+
+      XV. THE SIMPLON EXPRESS DISASTER                       113
+
+     XVI. A DRAMA AT THE BERCY WAREHOUSE                     118
+
+    XVII. ON THE SLABS OF THE MORGUE                         131
+
+   XVIII. FANTÔMAS' VICTIM                                   142
+
+     XIX. THE ENGLISHWOMAN OF BOULEVARD INKERMANN            147
+
+      XX. THE ARREST OF JOSEPHINE                            153
+
+     XXI. AT THE MONTMARTRE FÊTE                             165
+
+    XXII. THE PUGILIST'S WHIM                                176
+
+   XXIII. "STATE'S EVIDENCE"                                 185
+
+    XXIV. A MYSTERIOUS CLASP                                 192
+
+     XXV. THE TRAP                                           204
+
+    XXVI. AT THE HOUSE OF BONARDIN, THE ACTOR                212
+
+   XXVII. THE MOTHER SUPERIOR                                222
+
+  XXVIII. AN OLD PARALYTIC                                   230
+
+    XXIX. THROUGH THE WINDOW                                 238
+
+     XXX. UNCLE AND NEPHEW                                   245
+
+    XXXI. LOVERS AND ACCOMPLICES                             256
+
+   XXXII. THE SILENT EXECUTIONER                             268
+
+  XXXIII. A SCANDAL IN THE CLOISTER                          280
+
+   XXXIV. FANTÔMAS' REVENGE                                  291
+
+
+
+
+EXPLOITS OF JUVE
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE COMRADES' TRYST
+
+
+"A bowl of claret, Father Korn."
+
+The raucous voice of big Ernestine rose above the hubbub in the
+smoke-begrimed tavern.
+
+"Some claret, and let it be good," repeated the drab, a big, fair damsel
+with puckered eyes and features worn by dissipation.
+
+Father Korn had heard the first time, but he was in no hurry to comply
+with the order.
+
+He was a bald, whiskered giant, and at the moment was busily engaged in
+swilling dirty glasses in a sink filled with tepid water.
+
+This tavern, "The Comrades' Tryst," had two rooms, each with its
+separate exit. Mme. Korn presided over the first in which food and drink
+were served. By passing through the door at the far end, and crossing
+the inner courtyard of the large seven-story building, the second "den"
+was reached--a low and ill-lit room facing the Rue de la Charbonnière,
+a street famed in the district for its bad reputation.
+
+At a third summons, Father Korn, who had sized up the girl and the crowd
+she was with, growled:
+
+"It'll be two moons; hand over the stuff first."
+
+Big Ernestine rose, and pushing her way to him, began a long argument.
+When she stopped to draw a breath, Korn interposed:
+
+"It's no use trying that game. I said two francs and two francs it is."
+
+"All right, I won't argue with a brute like you," replied the girl.
+"Everyone knows that you and Mother Korn are Germans, dirty Prussians."
+
+The innkeeper smiled quietly and went on washing his glasses.
+
+Big Ernestine glanced around the room. She knew the crowd and quickly
+decided that the cash would not be forthcoming.
+
+For a moment she thought of tackling old Mother Toulouche, ensconced in
+the doorway with her display of portugals and snails, but dame
+Toulouche, snuggled in her old shawl, was fast asleep.
+
+Suddenly from a corner of the tavern, a weary voice cried with
+authority:
+
+"Go ahead, Korn, I'll stand treat."
+
+It was the Sapper who had spoken.
+
+A man of fifty who owed his nickname to the current report that he had
+spent twenty years in Africa, both as a soldier and a convict.
+
+While Ernestine and her friends hastened to his table, the Sapper's
+companion, a heavily built man, rose carelessly and slouched off to join
+another group, muttering:
+
+"I'm too near the window here."
+
+"It's Nonet," explained the Sapper to Ernestine. "He's home from New
+Caledonia, and he doesn't care to show himself much just now."
+
+The girl nodded, and pointing to one of her companions, became
+confidential. "Look at poor Mimile, here. He's just out of quod and has
+to start right off to do his service. Pretty tough."
+
+The Sapper became very interested in the conversation. Meanwhile Nonet,
+as he crossed the tap-room, had stopped a few moments before a pretty
+girl who was evidently expecting some one.
+
+"Waiting again for the Square, eh, Josephine?" Nonet inquired.
+
+The girl, whose big blue eyes contrasted strikingly with her jet black
+hair, replied:
+
+"Why not? Loupart doesn't think of quitting me that I know of."
+
+"Well, when he does let me know," Nonet suggested smilingly.
+
+Josephine shrugged her shoulders contemptuously, and, glancing at the
+clock above the bar, rose suddenly and left the tap-room.
+
+She went rapidly down the Rue Charbonnière and along the boulevard, in
+the direction of the Barbès Metropolitan Station. On reaching the level
+of the Boulevard Magenta, she slackened and walked along the right-hand
+pavement toward the centre of Paris.
+
+"My little Jojo!"
+
+The girl who, after leaving the tavern, had assumed a quiet and modest
+air, now came face to face with a stout gentleman with a jovial face and
+one gleaming eye, the other eye being permanently closed. He wore a
+beard turning grey and his derby hat and light cane placed him as
+belonging to the middle class.
+
+"How late you are, my adored Jojo," he murmured tenderly. "That accursed
+workshop been keeping you again after hours?"
+
+The mistress of Loupart checked a smile.
+
+"That's it!" she replied, "the workshop, M. Martialle."
+
+The man addressed made a warning gesture.
+
+"Don't mention my name here; I'm almost home." He pulled out his watch.
+"Too bad; I'll have to go in or my wife will kick up a row. Let's see,
+this is Tuesday; well, Saturday I'm off to Burgundy on my usual
+half-monthly trip. Meet me at the Lyons station, platform No. 2,
+Marseilles express. We won't be back till Monday. A delightful week-end
+of love-making with my darling who at last consents.... What's that!"
+
+The stout man broke off his impassioned harangue. A beggar, emerging
+from the darkness, importuned him:
+
+"Have pity on me, kind sir."
+
+"Give him something," urged Josephine.
+
+The middle-aged lover complied and tenderly drew away the pretty girl,
+repeating carefully the details of the assignation:
+
+"Lyons Station; a quarter past eight. The train leaves at twenty to
+nine."
+
+Then suddenly dropping Josephine's arm:
+
+"Now, sweetheart, you'd better hurry home to your good mother, and
+remember Saturday."
+
+The outline of the portly personage faded into the night. Loupart's
+mistress shrugged her shoulders, turned, and made her way back to the
+"Tryst," where her place had been kept for her.
+
+At the back of the tavern, the group which Nonet had joined were
+discussing strange doings. "The Bear," head of the band of the Cyphers,
+had just returned from the courthouse. He brought the latest news.
+Riboneau had been given ten years, but was going to try for a reduced
+sentence.
+
+The talk suddenly dropped. A hubbub arose outside, a dull roar which
+waxed louder and louder. The sound of hurrying footsteps mingled with
+shrill cries and oaths. Doors in the street slammed. A few shots were
+fired, followed by a pause, and then the stampede began again.
+
+Father Korn, deserting his bar, warily planted himself at the entry to
+his establishment, his hand on the latch of the door. He stood ready to
+bar entrance to any who might try to press in.
+
+"The raid," he warned in a low tone.
+
+His customers, glad to feel themselves in safety, followed the
+vicissitudes of what to them was almost a daily occurrence.
+
+First came the frenzied rush of the "street walkers," deserted by their
+sinister protectors and fleeing madly in search of shelter in terror of
+the lock-up. Behind the shrieking herd the constables, in close ranks,
+swept and cleared the street, leaving no corner, no court, no door that
+remained ajar unsearched. Then the whirl swept away, the noise died
+down, and the street resumed its normal aspect: drab, weird and
+alarming.
+
+Father Korn laughed. "All they've bagged is Bonzville!" he cried, and
+the customers responded to his merriment. The police had been fooled
+again. Bonzville was a harmless old tramp, who got himself "jugged"
+every winter on purpose to lay up for repairs.
+
+The passage of the "driver" had caused enough stir in the tap-room to
+distract attention from the entry at the back of a stoutly built man
+with a bestial face, known by the title of "The Cooper."
+
+Swiftly he passed to the Beard's table, and, taking the latter aside,
+began:
+
+"The big job is fixed for the end of the week. On my way back from the
+station I saw Josephine palavering with the swell customer...."
+
+Suddenly the Beard stopped him short.
+
+The general attention had become fixed on the street entrance to the
+tap-room. The door had opened with a bang and Loupart, alias "The
+Square," the popular lover of the pretty Josephine, came on the scene,
+his eyes gleaming, his lips smiling under his upturned moustache.
+
+Then there broke out cries of stupefaction. Loupart was between two
+policemen, who had stopped short in the doorway.
+
+The Square turned to them: "Thank you, gentlemen," he said in his most
+urbane tone. "I am very grateful to you for having seen me this far. I
+am quite safe now. Let me offer you a drink to the health of authority!"
+
+However, the two policemen did not dare to enter the tavern, so they
+briefly declined and made off. Josephine had risen, and Loupart, after
+pressing a tender kiss upon her lips, turned to the company.
+
+"That feazes you, eh! I was just heading this way when I ran into the
+drive. As I'm a peaceful citizen, I got hold of two cops and begged them
+to see me safely home. They thought I was really scared."
+
+There was a burst of general laughter. No one could bluff the police
+like the Square.
+
+Loupart turned to Josephine: "How are things going, ducky?"
+
+The girl repeated in a low tone to her lover her recent talk with M.
+Martialle.
+
+Loupart nodded approvingly, but grumbled when he found the meeting was
+fixed for Saturday.
+
+"Hang the fellow! Must hustle with all the jobs on hand this week.
+Anyway, we won't let this one slip by. Plenty of shiners, eh,
+Josephine?"
+
+"You bet. He carries the stuff to his partners every fortnight."
+
+"That's first rate, but in the meantime there's something doing
+to-night. Here, kiddy, take a pen and scratch off a letter for me."
+
+The Square dictated in a low voice:
+
+"Sir, I am only a poor girl, but I've some feeling and honesty and I
+hate to see wrong done around me. Believe me, you'd better keep an eye
+open on some one pretty close to me. Maybe the police have already told
+you I am the mistress of Loupart, alias the Square. I'm not denying it;
+in fact, I'm proud of it. Well, I swear to you that this Loupart is
+going to try a dirty game."
+
+Josephine stopped writing.
+
+"Look here, what are you at?"
+
+"Scribble, and don't bother yourself. This doesn't concern you," replied
+Loupart drily.
+
+Josephine waited, docile and ready, but the Square's attention was now
+focussed upon Ernestine, her young man and the generous Sapper.
+
+"Yes," Ernestine was explaining to Mimile while the Sapper nodded
+approvingly, "the Beard is, as you might say, the head of the band of
+Cyphers, next to Loupart, of course. To belong to the Beard's gang
+you've got to have done up at least one guy. Then you get your Number 1.
+Your figure increases according to the number of deaders you have to
+your credit."
+
+"So then," inquired Mimile, with eager curiosity, "Riboneau, who has
+just been sentenced, is called number 'seven' because ..."
+
+"Because," added the Sapper in his serious voice, "because he has killed
+off seven."
+
+In a few curt questions the Square posted himself as to young Mimile,
+who had impressed him favourably.
+
+Josephine turned to Loupart: "What else am I to put in the letter? Why
+are you stopping?"
+
+For answer, the Square suddenly sprang to his feet, seized a half-empty
+bottle and flung it on the floor, where it broke. This act of violence
+sent the company scattering, and Loupart roared out:
+
+"It's on account of spies that I'm stopping! By God! When are we going
+to see their finish? And besides," he added, staring hard at Ernestine,
+"I've had enough of all this nonsense; better clear out of here or
+there'll be trouble."
+
+Cunningly, with bloodshot eyes, her fists clenched in fury, but humbly
+submissive, the girl made ready to comply. She knew the Square was
+master, and there was no use standing out against his will.
+
+The Sapper himself, growling, picked up his change, little disposed to
+have a row, and beckoning to his comrade, Nonet, effected a humble exit
+under cover of the girl Ernestine.
+
+Loupart's arm fell upon the shoulder of Mimile, who alone seemed to defy
+Josephine's formidable lover.
+
+"Hold on, young 'un," ordered Loupart. "You seem to have some nerve;
+better join us."
+
+Mimile's eyes lighted up with joy.
+
+"Oh!" he stammered, "Loupart, you'll take me in the Cypher gang?"
+
+"Maybe," was the enigmatic reply. Then with a shove he sent the young
+man to the back of the den. "Must go and talk it over with the Beard."
+Without paying heed to the thanks of his new recruit, Loupart continued
+his dictation to Josephine.
+
+As the Sapper and Nonet went quickly down the Rue Charbonnière, Nonet
+inquired:
+
+"Well, chief, what do you think of our evening?"
+
+The individual that the hooligans of La Chapelle knew by the nickname of
+the Sapper, and who was no other than Inspector Michel, slowly stroked
+his long beard:
+
+"Not much," he declared, "except that we've been bluffed by the Square."
+
+"Why not round up the bunch?" suggested Nonet, who was known as
+Inspector Léon.
+
+"It's easy enough to talk, but what can two do against twenty? Who wants
+to take such risks for sixty dollars a month?"
+
+In the meantime Josephine was writing at the Square's dictation:
+
+     "I know, sir, that to-morrow Loupart will be at Garnet's wine-shop
+     at seven o'clock, which you know is to the right as you go up the
+     Faubourg Montmartre, before you reach the Rue Lamartine. From there
+     he will go to Doctor Chaleck's to tackle the safe, which is placed,
+     as I told you, at the far side of the study, facing the window,
+     with its balcony overlooking the garden. I wouldn't have meddled in
+     the matter except that there'll be something worse regarding a
+     woman. I can't tell you any more, for this is all I know. Make the
+     best of it, and for God's sake never let Loupart know the letter
+     was sent to you by the undersigned.
+
+                                              "Very respectfully,"
+
+
+About to sign her name, Josephine looked up, trembling and anxious.
+
+"What does it mean, Loupart? You've been drinking, I'm sure you have!"
+
+"Sign, I tell you," calmly replied the Square, and the girl, hypnotised,
+proceeded to trace in her large clumsy hand, her name, "Josephine
+Ramot."
+
+"Now put it in an envelope."
+
+From the end of the saloon the Beard was signalling Loupart.
+
+"What is it?" the latter cried, annoyed at the interruption.
+
+The Beard came near and whispered:
+
+"Important business. The dock man's scheme is going well--it'll be for
+the end of the week, Saturday at latest."
+
+"In four days, then?"
+
+"In four days."
+
+"All right," declared Josephine's lover, "we'll be on hand. It'll be a
+big haul, I hear."
+
+"Fifty thousand at least, the Cooper told me."
+
+Loupart nodded, waved the Beard aside and resumed:
+
+"Address it to
+
+                                  "Monsieur Juve,
+
+                                      "Commissioner of Safety,
+
+                                           "At the Prefecture, Paris."
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+ON THE TRACK
+
+
+The daily paper, _The Capital_, was about to go to press. The editors
+had handed over the last slips of copy with the latest news.
+
+"Well, Fandor," asked the Secretary, "nothing more for me?"
+
+"No, nothing."
+
+"You won't spring a 'latest' on me?"
+
+"Not unless the President of the Republic should be assassinated."
+
+"Right enough. But don't joke. Lord, there's something else to be done
+just now."
+
+The "setter up" appeared in the editor's rooms:
+
+"I want sharp type for 'one,' and eight lines for 'two.'"
+
+Discreetly, as a man accustomed to the business, Fandor withdrew on
+hearing the request of the "setter up," avoiding the searching glance of
+the sub-editor, who forthwith to meet the demands of the paging, called
+at random one of the reporters and passed on the order to him.
+
+"Some lines of special type; eight lines. Take up the Cretan question on
+the Havas telegrams. Be quick!"
+
+Fandor picked up his hat and stick and left the office. His berth as
+police-reporter meant a constantly active and unsettled existence. He
+was never his own master, never knew ten minutes beforehand what he was
+going to do, whether he might go home, start on a journey, interview a
+minister or risk his life by an investigation in the world of thugs and
+cut-throats.
+
+"Deuce take it!" he cried as he passed the office door and saw what the
+time was. "I simply must go to the courts, and it's already very
+late...." He ran forward a few paces, then stopped short. "And that
+porter murdered at Belleville!... If I don't cover that affair I shall
+have nothing interesting to turn in...."
+
+He retraced his steps, looking for a cab and swearing at the narrowness
+of the Rue Montmartre, where the inadequate pavements forced the foot
+passengers to overflow on to the roadway, which was choked with
+costermongers' carts, heavy motor-buses, and all that swarm of vehicles
+which gives a Paris street an air of bustle unequalled in any other
+capital in the world. As he was about to pass the corner of the Rue
+Bergère, a porter laden down with sample boxes, strung on a hook, ran
+into him, almost knocking him down.
+
+"Look where you're going!" cried the journalist.
+
+"Look out yourself," replied the man insolently.
+
+Fandor, with an angry shrug of his shoulders, was about to pursue his
+way, when the man stopped him.
+
+"Sir, can you direct me to the Rue du Croissant?"
+
+"Follow the Rue Montmartre and take the second turning to the right."
+
+"Thank you, sir; could you give me a light?"
+
+Fandor could not repress a smile. He held out his cigarette. "Here; is
+that all you want to-day?"
+
+"Well, you might offer me a drink."
+
+Fandor was about to answer sharply when something in the man's face
+seemed vaguely familiar. He was about sixty. His clothes were threadbare
+and green with age, his shoes down at the heels, his moustache and
+shaggy beard a dirty yellow.
+
+"Why the devil should I stand you a drink?"
+
+"A good impulse, M. Fandor."
+
+In a moment the man's features seemed to change. He appeared quite a
+different person and Fandor recognised who was speaking to him.
+Accustomed by long habit to conceal his impressions, the journalist
+spoke nonchalantly:
+
+"All right; let's go to the 'Grand Charlemagne.'"
+
+They started off together, reached the Faubourg Montmartre and entered a
+small wine-shop. Having taken their seats and ordered drinks, Fandor
+turned to the porter.
+
+"What's up?" he asked.
+
+"It takes you a long time to recognise your friends."
+
+Fandor scrutinised his companion.
+
+"You are wonderfully made up, Juve."
+
+On hearing his name mentioned, the man gave a start. "Don't utter my
+name! They know me here as old Paul."
+
+"But why the disguise? Who are you after? Is it anything to do with
+Fantômas?"
+
+Juve shrugged his shoulders. "Let's leave Fantômas out of it," he said.
+"At least for the moment. No, my lad, it's a very commonplace affair
+to-day, and I wouldn't have bumped into you except that I have an hour
+to while away and wanted your company."
+
+"This disguise for a commonplace affair?" cried Fandor. "Come, Juve,
+don't keep me in the dark."
+
+Juve laughed at his friend's eagerness.
+
+"You'll always be the same. When it's a matter of detective work,
+there's no keeping you out of it. Well, here's the information you're
+after. Read that."
+
+He passed Fandor a greasy, ill-written letter. Fandor took it in at a
+glance.
+
+"This refers to Loupart, alias the Square?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you call it a commonplace affair? But, look here, can you trust
+information given by a loose woman?"
+
+"My dear Fandor, the police largely depend upon such tips, given through
+revenge by women of that class."
+
+"Well, I'm going with you."
+
+"No, I won't have you mixed up in this business; it's too dangerous."
+
+"All the more reason for my being in it! What is really known about this
+Loupart?"
+
+"Very little, unfortunately," rejoined Juve. "And it's the mystery
+surrounding him which makes us uneasy. Although he has been involved in
+some of the worst crimes, he has always managed to escape arrest. He is
+supposed to be one of an organised gang. In any case, he's a resolute
+scoundrel who wouldn't hesitate to draw his gun in case of need."
+
+Fandor nodded.
+
+"His arrest will make bully copy."
+
+"And for the pleasure of writing a sensational story you want to put
+your life in peril again!" Juve smiled sympathetically as he spoke. He
+had known the young journalist, when, scarcely grown up, he had been
+involved in the weird affairs of "Fantômas."
+
+Fandor was an assumed name. Juve recalled the young Charles Rambert,
+victim of the mysterious Fantômas, the most redoubtable ruffian of
+modern times, whom Juve declared to be Gurn and still alive, although
+Gurn had supposedly died on the scaffold. He recalled the sensational
+trial and the terrible revelations that had appalled society. Gurn he
+had then affirmed to be the lover of the Englishwoman, Lady Beltham.
+Gurn it was who had killed her husband, and Gurn was no other than
+Fantômas.
+
+He recalled the tragical morning when Gurn, in the very shadow of the
+scaffold, had found means to send in his stead an innocent victim,
+Valgrand, the actor.
+
+"When will you begin to draw in your net?" inquired Fandor.
+
+Juve motioned to his companion to be silent and listen.
+
+"Fandor, you hear what that man's singing; the one drinking at the
+bar?"
+
+"Yes, 'The Blue Danube.'"
+
+"Well, that gives me the answer. We shall soon be on Loupart's tracks.
+By the way, are you armed?"
+
+"If you won't run me in for carrying concealed weapons I'll confess that
+Baby Browning is in my pocket."
+
+"Good. Now, then, listen to my directions. Loupart was seen at the
+markets this morning by two of my watchers, and you may be sure he
+hasn't been lost sight of since. Reports I have received indicate that
+he will presumably go to the Chateaudun cross-roads and from there to
+the Place Pigalle, in the direction of Doctor Chaleck's house. We shall
+nab him at the cross-roads. Needless to say we are not going to keep
+together. As soon as our man comes in sight you will pass on ahead,
+walking at his pace on the same pavement and without turning round."
+
+"And if Loupart doesn't appear?"
+
+"Why then--" began Juve. "The deuce! There's another customer whistling
+'The Blue Danube.' It's time to be off."
+
+"Are those your agents whistling?" asked Fandor, as they left the shop.
+
+"No."
+
+"What! Isn't it a signal?"
+
+"It is, and you'll be able to find your trail by the passers-by who
+whistle that air."
+
+While talking, the journalist and the detective arrived at the
+Chateaudun cross-roads. Juve cast an eye over the ground.
+
+"It's six o'clock. Be off and prowl around Notre Dame de Lorette.
+Loupart will probably come out of that wine-shop you see to the right.
+You can easily recognise him by his height and a scar on his left
+cheek."
+
+"Look here, Juve, why should these people whistle 'The Blue Danube' if
+they are not detectives?"
+
+Juve smiled. "It's quite simple. If you whistle a popular tune in a
+crowd, some one is bound to take it up. Well, the two men I put to
+watching Loupart this morning were whistling this same tune, and now we
+are meeting persons who caught the air."
+
+Fandor crossed the road and proceeded toward Notre Dame de Lorette to
+the post the detective had allotted to him. The man hunt was about to
+begin.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+BEHIND THE CURTAIN
+
+
+The Cité Frochot is shut in by low stone walls, topped by grating round
+which creepers intertwine.
+
+The entry to its main thoroughfare, shaded by trees and lined with small
+private houses, is not supposed to be public, and a porter's lodge to
+the right of the entrance is intended to enforce its private character.
+
+It was about seven in the evening. As the fine spring day drew to a
+close, Fandor reached the square of the Cité. For an hour past the
+journalist had been wholly engaged in keeping track of the famous
+Loupart, who, after leaving the saloon, had sauntered up the Rue des
+Martyrs, his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth.
+
+Fandor allowed him to pass at the corner of the Rue Claude, and from
+there on kept him in view.
+
+Juve had completely disappeared.
+
+As Loupart, followed by Fandor, was about to enter the Cité Frochot, an
+exclamation made them both turn.
+
+Fandor perceived a poorly dressed man anxiously searching for something
+in the gutter. A curious crowd had instantly collected, and word was
+passed round that the lost object was a twenty-five-franc gold piece.
+
+Fandor, joining the crowd, was pushed close to the man, who quickly
+whispered:
+
+"Idiot! Keep out of the Cité."
+
+The owner of the gold piece was no other than the detective. Then, under
+cover of loud complaint, Juve muttered to Fandor, "Let him go! Watch the
+entrance to the Cité!"
+
+"But," objected Fandor in the same key, "what if I lose sight of him?"
+
+"No fear of that. The doctor's house is the second on the right." The
+hooligan, who had for a moment drawn near the crowd, was now heading
+straight for the Cité.
+
+Juve went on: "In a quarter of an hour at the latest join me again, 27
+Rue Victor Massé."
+
+"And if Loupart should enter the Cité in the meantime?"
+
+"Come straight back to me."
+
+Fandor was moving off when Juve addressed him out loud: "Thank you, kind
+gentlemen! But as you are so charitable, give me something more for
+God's sake."
+
+The other drew near the pretended beggar and Juve added:
+
+"If anyone questions you as you pass through, say you are going to
+Omareille, the decorator's; you'll find me on the stairs."
+
+Some moments later the little crowd had melted away and a policeman,
+arriving as usual too late, wondered what had been going on.
+
+Fandor carried out Juve's instructions to the letter. Hiding behind a
+sentry box he kept an eye on the doctor's house, but nothing out of the
+way happened. Loupart had vanished, although he was probably not far
+away. When the fifteen minutes were up Fandor left his post and entered
+No. 27 Rue Victor Massé. As he reached the third floor he heard Juve's
+voice:
+
+"Is that you, lad?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"The porter didn't question you?"
+
+"I've seen no one."
+
+"All right, come up here."
+
+Juve was seated at a hall window examining Doctor Chaleck's house
+through a field glass.
+
+"You've not seen Loupart go in?" he inquired as Fandor joined him.
+
+"Not while I was on watch."
+
+"It's well to know one's Paris and have friends everywhere, isn't it?"
+continued Juve. "It occurred to me quite suddenly that this might be an
+excellent place from where to follow citizen Loupart's doings. You would
+have spoiled everything if you had followed him into the Cité. That's
+why I devised my little scheme to hold you back."
+
+"You are right," admitted Fandor, who, the next moment, gave a jump as
+Juve's hand gripped him hard.
+
+"Look, Fandor! The bird is going into the cage!"
+
+The journalist, excited, saw a figure already familiar to him in the act
+of slipping into the little garden which separated Dr. Chaleck's house
+from the main thoroughfare.
+
+The detective went on: "There he goes, skirting the house until he
+reaches the little door hidden in the wall. What's he up to now? Ah!
+He's fumbling in his pocket. False keys, of course."
+
+They saw Loupart open the door and make his way into the house.
+
+"What comes next?" inquired Fandor.
+
+"We are going to tighten the net which the silly bird has hopped into,"
+rejoined Juve, as he bolted down the stairs, and added as a
+precautionary measure: "While I question the porter, you slip by me
+into the main street. I have every reason to believe that M. Chaleck has
+been absent for two days, and as soon as I get this information, I shall
+pretend to go away, and then--the rest is my concern."
+
+Juve's program was carried out in all points.
+
+To his questions, the porter replied:
+
+"Why, sir, I can't really say. I saw Doctor Chaleck go off with his bag
+and I haven't seen him come back. However, if you care to see for
+yourself----"
+
+"No, thanks," replied Juve, "I'll return in a few days. But look out,
+your lamp's flaring!"
+
+As the porter turned to remedy the trouble, Juve, instead of going off
+to the right, quickly followed the direction Fandor had taken and caught
+up with the latter just outside Doctor Chaleck's house.
+
+"Now for our plan of campaign," he said. "It's darker now than it will
+be later when the street lamps are lit and the moon rises. That
+excellent Josephine sent me a rough plan of the house. You see there are
+two windows on the ground floor on either side of the hall. Naturally
+they belong to the dining-room and drawing-room. The window to the right
+on the first floor is evidently that of the bedroom. On the left, this
+window with a balcony belongs to the study of our dealer in death!
+That's where we must plant ourselves. Understand, Fandor?"
+
+The journalist nodded. "I understand."
+
+The two men advanced carefully, holding their breath and halting at
+every step. To catch the ruffian in the act they must reach the study
+without giving the alarm.
+
+The first story of Doctor Chaleck's house was only slightly raised above
+the ground: by the aid of a drain-pipe, Juve and Fandor managed without
+difficulty to hoist themselves on to the balcony.
+
+"Here's luck," cried Juve. "The study window is wide open!"
+
+After putting on a pair of rubbers and making Fandor remove his boots,
+the two men entered the room. Juve's first precaution was to test the
+two halves of the window. Finding that their hinges did not creak, he
+fastened the latch and drew the curtains.
+
+"We'll risk a light," he whispered, taking out a pocket-lamp, which lit
+up the room sufficiently to allow him to take his bearings.
+
+The study was elegantly furnished. In the middle was a huge desk piled
+with papers, reports, and files. To the right of the desk in the corner
+opposite the window and half hidden by a heavy velvet curtain was the
+door leading to the landing. A large corner sofa occupied the space of
+two wall panels. A set of book-shelves covered a whole wall. Here and
+there cosy armchairs invited meditation.
+
+"I don't see the famous safe," Murmured Fandor.
+
+"That's because your eyes aren't trained," replied the detective. "Look
+at that corner sofa, topped by that richly carved bracket. Observe the
+thick appearance of the delicate mahogany panel. You may be quite sure
+that it hides a solid steel casket which the best tools would have no
+easy job to cut through. That little moulding you see to the right can
+be easily pushed aside."
+
+Here Juve, with the precision of an expert, set the woodwork in motion
+and showed the astonished Fandor a scarcely visible key-hole.
+
+"Now, let's put out the light and hide ourselves behind the curtains.
+Luckily they are far enough from the window for our presence not to be
+noticed."
+
+For about an hour the men remained motionless, then, weary of standing,
+they squatted on the floor. Each had his revolver ready to hand.
+
+Ten had just struck from a distant clock when suddenly a slight sound
+reached their attentive ears.
+
+The two had whiled away the time of waiting by drilling the curtains
+with a small penknife. These holes were invisible at a distance, but
+enabled them to see what was going on in the room.
+
+The noise continued, slow and measured; some one was walking about in
+the adjacent rooms without any attempt to disguise the sound. Evidently
+Loupart believed himself quite alone in the house of the absent doctor.
+
+The steps drew nearer, and Fandor, in spite of his courage, felt the
+rapid beating of his heart. The handle of the door leading from the hall
+to the study was turned, and some person entered the room.
+
+There was an instant of silence, and then the desk was suddenly lit up.
+The new-comer had found the switch. But he was not Loupart.
+
+He seemed a man of forty and wore a brown beard, brushed fan-shape; a
+noticeable baldness heightened his forehead. On his strongly arched nose
+a double eye-glass was balanced. Suddenly, having looked at the clock
+which marked half-past eleven, he began to loosen his tie and unbutton
+his waistcoat and then went out, leaving the study lit as if intending
+to come back.
+
+"It's Chaleck!" exclaimed Fandor.
+
+"Just so," replied the detective. "And this complicates matters; we may
+have to protect him as well as his safe."
+
+Indeed, Juve's first impulse was to go straight to Doctor Chaleck,
+apprise him of the situation, and, under his guidance, search the house
+thoroughly. But that would have put Loupart on the alert. It would be
+taking too great a chance. If Juve should lay hands on him outside of
+Chaleck's house he would have no right to hold him. For the subtle power
+of Loupart, that well-loved hooligan of the purlieus of Paris, lay in
+his remaining constantly a source of fear, always a suspect without ever
+being caught with the goods.
+
+Coming back to his first idea of insuring Chaleck's safety, Juve said to
+himself: "The doctor is coming back here, that's sure, and we must
+protect him without his knowing it. That is the best plan for the
+present."
+
+Sure enough after an absence of ten minutes Chaleck returned to the
+study and seated himself at his desk. He had now changed into his
+pajamas.
+
+Time passed.
+
+When the little Empire time piece which decorated the mantel struck
+three, Fandor, for all his anxiety, could not repress a yawn: the night
+was long and thus far had been devoid of incidents. From their
+hiding-place, he and Juve kept an eye on Doctor Chaleck. When did the
+man sleep?
+
+Nothing in the physician's countenance betrayed the slightest weariness.
+He examined numerous documents spread out on the desk, and also wrote a
+letter which he sealed by lighting a candle and melting some wax. He
+lingered a good twenty minutes afterwards, then finally put out the
+lights and left the room.
+
+The room was now in total darkness. The journalist and the detective
+listened a few moments longer as a precaution, but nothing happened to
+break the hush of the waning night.
+
+Half an hour more and the outlines of the two would be visible on the
+thin curtains. It was high time to be off.
+
+Fandor and Juve rose with difficulty to their feet, so cramped were
+their legs from the enforced rigidity.
+
+"What now?" asked Fandor.
+
+"Listen!" Juve abruptly gripped the other's arm as a fresh noise came to
+their ears. This time it was not the footsteps of a man walking
+carelessly, but weird creakings, sly gropings. The noise stopped, began
+again and again stopped. Where did it come from?
+
+"This room is a mass of hangings," muttered Juve.
+
+"It's impossible to locate those sounds or determine their origin."
+
+"You would suppose," began Fandor----
+
+But he stopped short. The door had opened, the light was switched on
+and Doctor Chaleck appeared once more, probably disturbed in his sleep
+by the mysterious noises.
+
+Chaleck gave a quick glance round the room, and then, to the
+consternation of the two men, he took a few steps toward the window,
+revolver in hand. At this moment dull creakings were heard, apparently
+coming from the landing. Chaleck turned quickly, and, leaving the door
+open, went out. An increase of light indicated that the other rooms in
+the house were being searched, and as the lights were gradually switched
+off again, it was apparent that Chaleck was concluding his domiciliary
+visit without having noticed anything abnormal.
+
+The two remained still for an hour longer, although they had heard
+Chaleck go back to his room and lock himself into it.
+
+Meantime the daylight was growing brighter, and in a little while the
+neighbourhood would be awake.
+
+"We must slip out," decreed Juve, as he turned the hasp of the window
+with infinite care and set it ajar to reach the balcony.
+
+A few moments later Juve had shed his disguise and the two men drew
+breath in the middle of the Place Pigalle, having fled ignominiously
+like common criminals.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+A WOMAN'S CORPSE
+
+
+"Well, Juve, I suppose you'll agree with me that Josephine's information
+was a piece of pure fiction," said Fandor as they turned into the Rue
+Pigalle.
+
+"You are talking nonsense," replied Juve.
+
+"But," protested the other, "we arrived punctually at the place
+appointed, and most assuredly nothing happened there."
+
+"We were punctual, it is true, but so was Loupart. Josephine's letter
+gave us two items of information: That her lover would be at Doctor
+Chaleck's house and that he would rob the safe. Events have proved her
+correct in one case. As to the second, while he did not break open the
+safe, nothing proves that he had not that intention. He may have been
+frustrated by the unexpected appearance of Doctor Chaleck, or he may
+have discovered that we were following him."
+
+At this moment Fandor pointed out to Juve three men who were running
+toward them, violently gesticulating.
+
+"What does that mean?" he asked.
+
+Before Juve could reply one of the men, much out of breath, inquired:
+"Well, chief!"
+
+"Why, it's Michel and Henri and Léon!" Then, turning to Fandor, he
+explained: "Three inspectors."
+
+Michel repeated the question: "Well, chief, what's up?"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"You've just come from the Cité Frochot, chief?"
+
+Juve was amazed. "Look here," he said, "where do you come from, Michel?
+The Prefecture?"
+
+"No, chief, from the head office of No. IX."
+
+"Then how do you know we were at the Cité Frochot?"
+
+Taken aback, Michel replied: "Why, from seeing you here, after the
+affair."
+
+"What affair?" insisted Juve.
+
+"Well, chief, it's this way. The three of us were on duty this morning
+at the Rue Rochefoucauld Station. About twenty minutes ago the telephone
+rang and I heard a woman asking in a broken and choked voice if it was
+the police station. On my answering it was, she begged me to come to
+the rescue, crying, 'Murder! I'm dying!'"
+
+"What then?" questioned Juve.
+
+"Then I asked who was speaking, but unfortunately Central had cut me
+off."
+
+"You made inquiries?"
+
+"Yes, chief, and after a quarter of an hour Central told me that only
+one subscriber had called up the police station, the number being
+928-12, name of Doctor Chaleck in the Cité Frochot."
+
+"I suppose you asked for the number again?"
+
+"I did, but I could get no reply."
+
+After a pause, during which Juve was lost in thought, the officer added
+timidly: "We'd better hurry if a crime has been committed."
+
+Juve beckoned Michel to him.
+
+"There are too many of us," he said. "You come along, Michel; the other
+two must go back to the station and be ready to join us in case of
+need."
+
+The two officers and Fandor went hurriedly up the Rue Pigalle and came
+to a halt by Doctor Chaleck's door.
+
+A loud ringing brought no reply. It was repeated, and finally a voice
+cried: "Who is there; what's the matter?"
+
+"Open," ordered Juve.
+
+"To whom do you wish to speak?"
+
+"To Doctor Chaleck." And Juve added: "Open, it's the police."
+
+"The police! What the deuce do they want with me?"
+
+"You'll soon find out," answered Michel. "Do you suppose we'd be making
+this row if we were criminals?"
+
+Doubtless convinced by this reasoning, Doctor Chaleck decided at length
+to open his door.
+
+"What do you want with me?" he repeated.
+
+Juve quickly explained matters.
+
+"We've just had a telephone message to say that some ruffians, possibly
+murderers, are in your house."
+
+"Murderers!" cried Chaleck in amazement. "But whom could they murder?
+I'm living here alone."
+
+At this assertion, Juve, Fandor and Michel looked at each other,
+mystified.
+
+"Well, in any case we must search your house from top to bottom," said
+Juve, and added as an afterthought: "I suppose you are thoroughly
+satisfied that we come with honest intentions?"
+
+Doctor Chaleck smiled:
+
+"Oh! Inspector Juve's features are very well known to me, and I place
+myself entirely at his disposition."
+
+The three men, led by Chaleck, ransacked all the rooms on the ground
+floor; finding nothing suspicious, they then went up to the floor above.
+
+"I have only three more rooms to show you, gentlemen," said the doctor.
+"My bathroom, my bedroom and my study."
+
+The bathroom disclosed nothing of interest, and Chaleck, throwing open
+the door of another room, announced, "My study."
+
+Scarcely had Fandor set foot in the study, from which he and Juve had so
+recently made their escape, when a cry burst from his lips:
+
+"Good God! How horrible!"
+
+The apartment was in the greatest disorder. Overturned chairs bore
+witness to a violent struggle. One of the mahogany panels of the desk
+had been partly smashed in. A window curtain was torn and hanging, and
+the small gas stove was broken.
+
+Fandor, at the first glance, saw what appeared to be a long trail of
+blood, extending from the window to the desk. Stepping forward quickly,
+he discovered the body of a woman frightfully crushed and covered with
+blood.
+
+"Dead some time," cried Fandor. "The body is cold and the blood already
+congealed."
+
+Juve tranquilly examined the room, and took in its tragic horror. "The
+telephone apparatus is overturned," he muttered to himself. "There has
+been a struggle between the victim and the murderer. Ah!--theft was the
+object of the crime."
+
+"Theft!" cried Doctor Chaleck, coming forward.
+
+"Look, doctor, your safe has been overturned, broken in and ransacked,"
+answered Juve, as he and Fandor cautiously lifted the woman. The body
+was a mass of contusions and appeared to be one large wound.
+
+Juve turned to the doctor, who, livid with consternation, was holding up
+a small grey linen bag which had contained his bonds.
+
+"Come, doctor, calm yourself and give us some information. Can you make
+anything of it?"
+
+"Nothing! nothing! I heard nothing. Who is this woman? I don't know
+her!"
+
+Fandor pointed to a small shoe lying in a corner.
+
+"A fashionable woman," he said.
+
+"Quite so," was Juve's reply, and putting his hands on Chaleck's
+shoulders he inquired: "A friend of yours, a mistress, eh? Come now,
+don't deny it."
+
+"Deny!" protested the doctor, "deny what? You are not accusing me, are
+you? I know nothing of what has taken place here, and, as you see, have
+been robbed into the bargain."
+
+"Is she a patient of yours?"
+
+"I don't practise."
+
+"A visitor, perhaps?"
+
+"No one has been to see me to-day."
+
+"It is not your maid?"
+
+"No; I tell you. I am living here all by myself."
+
+"Have you noticed this, sir?" put in Michel, as he gave Juve a
+handkerchief on which some vicious, greyish substance was spread in
+thick layers.
+
+"Shoemakers' wax," Juve explained, after a brief glance at it. "That
+explains the burns we noticed. The murderer covered his victim's face
+with the handkerchief to prevent identification." Then, turning to
+Fandor, he went on in a low tone:
+
+"But it doesn't explain how and when the crime was committed. Less than
+an hour ago we were in this very room, and the burgling of the safe
+alone would take fully an hour."
+
+Michel, ignorant of this fact, was for arresting the doctor.
+
+"Look here," he said sharply to Chaleck, "we've had enough yarns from
+you; now tell us the truth."
+
+"But, good God! I have told you the truth!" cried Chaleck.
+
+"And you heard nothing, although you were only a few yards away?"
+
+"Nothing at all. I sat up working very late last night. When I went to
+bed, nothing had happened in the least suspicious. Oh, by the way,
+toward morning I did hear a slight noise. I rose and went over the
+house, even coming into this room. I found everything in order."
+
+"That's a likely tale!"
+
+"Here's a proof of what I say! When I returned to this study I used that
+candle and sealing wax to seal my letter, which, as you can see, is
+still here. Your ring at the bell awoke me not more than twenty minutes
+later, just as I was getting to sleep again."
+
+"Lies!" cried Michel, turning to Juve. "Shall I arrest him?"
+
+"The doctor is telling the truth," replied Juve, half regretfully.
+
+Chaleck seemed very much relieved.
+
+"Oh, you'll help me, won't you? Get me out of this abominable affair!"
+
+As a matter of fact, Chaleck had accounted for his time with exact
+truthfulness.
+
+Juve crossed the room and drew aside the curtains; upon the floor he
+pointed out to Fandor traces of mud. It was there that he and the
+journalist had stood.
+
+"Doctor," said Juve at length, "I must ask you not to go out this
+morning. I am going to headquarters to ask them to send experts in
+anthropometry. We must photograph in detail the appearance of your
+study; then I will come back and make an extended inquiry and I shall
+want you. Michel, remain here with the doctor."
+
+Without further words, Juve, followed by Fandor, left the house of
+mystery, jumped into the first cab that passed and, mopping his
+forehead, cried:
+
+"It's astounding! This murder presents mysteries worthy of Fantômas
+himself!"
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+LOUPART'S ANGER
+
+
+Loupart was taking a fruit cure. It was about ten in the morning, and
+along the Rues Charbonnière, Chartres and Goutte d'Or the women hawkers,
+driven from central Paris by the police, were making for the high ground
+of the populous quarters.
+
+Loupart strolled along the pavement, making grabs at the barrows,
+picking a handful of strawberries or cherries as he went by. If by
+chance the dealer complained, she was quickly silenced by a chaffing
+speech or a stern glance.
+
+The hooligan stopped at the "Comrades' Tryst," in front of which Mother
+Toulouche had set out a table with a large basket of winkles.
+
+"Want to try them?" suggested the old woman on catching sight of
+Josephine's lover.
+
+"Hand me a pin," he answered harshly, and in a few moments had emptied
+half a dozen shells.
+
+"Friend Square, I've something to say to you."
+
+"Out with it, then."
+
+But before the old woman could reply, a noise of roller skates coming
+down the pavement made her turn.
+
+Loupart looked round with a smile.
+
+"Why here comes the auto-bus," he cried.
+
+A cripple moving at a great pace came plump into the basket of
+shell-fish. The speed with which he travelled had earned him the
+nickname of the Motor. He was said to be an old railway mechanic, who
+had lost both legs in an accident.
+
+"Motor," cried Mother Toulouche, "I have to be away for ten minutes or
+so; look after my basket, will you?"
+
+Following the old dame to her den Loupart entered with difficulty, on
+account of the great quantity of heterogeneous objects with which it was
+crowded. The product of innumerable thefts lay heaped up pell-mell in
+this illicit bazaar.
+
+Dame Toulouche, having shut the door, plunged into her subject.
+
+"Big Ernestine is furious with you, Loupart."
+
+"If she's threatening me," the hooligan replied, "I'll soon fix her."
+
+"No, big Ernestine didn't want to fight, but she was annoyed at the
+public affront put upon her by Josephine's lover when he drove her from
+'The Good Comrades' the evening before last without any reason."
+
+"Without any reason!" growled Loupart. "Then what was her business with
+those spies, the Sapper and Nonet?"
+
+"That can't be! Not the Sapper!"
+
+"Spies, I tell you; they belong to headquarters."
+
+The old receiver of stolen goods cast up her eyes. "And they looked such
+decent people, too! Who can one trust?"
+
+Loupart, for reply, suddenly picked up a scarf pin set with a diamond,
+and, tossing the old Woman a five-dollar piece, said as he left the
+room: "You can tell Ernestine that I bear her no malice."
+
+Loupart had hardly gone a few steps along the Rue Charbonnière, when, at
+the corner of the Rue de Chartres, he bumped into a passer-by who was
+coming down the street.
+
+Loupart burst out laughing: "What! Can this be you, Beard? What's
+happened to you?"
+
+It certainly needed a practised eye to recognise the famous leader of
+the Cypher gang. For the Beard, who owed his name to an abnormal hairy
+development, was clean shaved; in addition, he wore a soft, greenish
+hat and was clad in a suit with huge checks.
+
+"You told me to make up as an American."
+
+"I did, and you've made yourself look like a hayseed juggins. For
+Heaven's sake, take it off. By the way, what about young Mimile?"
+
+"He's with us."
+
+"Well, get him the togs of a collegian for the job at the docks. What
+night do we bring it off?"
+
+"Saturday night, unless the Cooper changes the time."
+
+Loupart bent close to the ear of his lieutenant.
+
+"Is he--easy to recognise?"
+
+"No chance of making an error. Lean, togged in dark clothes and with one
+goggle eye."
+
+Loupart touched the "Beard's" arm.
+
+"First-class tickets for everybody."
+
+"How many will there be?"
+
+"Five or six."
+
+"Women, too?"
+
+"No, only my girl. But you can bet we shan't be bored!" With these
+words, Loupart walked away. He stopped a little later at the second
+house in the Rue Goutte d'Or, a decent-looking house with carpet on the
+stairs.
+
+On reaching the fifth floor, he knocked several times on the door facing
+him, but without reply. This annoyed him; he didn't like Josephine to
+sleep late, and he expected her to be always ready when he condescended
+to come and fetch her.
+
+Josephine was a pretty burnisher from Belleville, and Loupart, who had
+met her at a ball in that quarter six months ago had made her his
+favourite mistress.
+
+Among the bullies and drabs that frequented the place, Josephine had
+appeared to him seductive, charming, almost virginal, and the popular
+hooligan had promptly chosen her from her sisters of the underworld.
+
+Certainly Josephine had no reason to complain of her lover's conduct,
+and if at times he demanded of her a blind submission, he never treated
+her with that fierce brutality which characterised most of his fellows.
+But if Josephine had felt any leaning toward a good life, or any
+scruples of conscience, she must necessarily have thrown them overboard
+as soon as her connection with Loupart began. With a different start in
+life she might have become an honest little woman, but circumstances
+made her the mistress of a hooligan ring-leader, and, everything
+considered, she had a certain pride in being so, without imitating the
+vulgar and brutal behaviour of her companions.
+
+At the third summons, Loupart, none too patient, drove the door in with
+a vigorous shove of his shoulders.
+
+Josephine's apartment, a comfortable and spacious room, with a fine
+bird's-eye view of Paris, was empty.
+
+Fancying his mistress was at some neighbour's gossiping, he bawled:
+"Josephine! Come here!"
+
+Heads appeared, looking anxiously out of rooms on the same floor.
+
+"Where is Josephine?" Loupart cried.
+
+Mme. Guinon came forward.
+
+"I don't know," she replied, stammering. "She complained of pains in her
+stomach last evening, and I was told she's gone."
+
+"Gone? Gone where?" stormed Loupart.
+
+"Why, I don't know; it was Julie who told me."
+
+A freckled face, half hidden by a matted shock of hair, appeared. Julie
+was not reticent like her mother. She explained in a hoarse, alcoholic
+voice:
+
+"It's quite simple. When I came in last night about four I heard groans
+in Josephine's room. I went to see and found Josephine writhing in pain
+as if she had been--poisoned."
+
+"What did you do then?"
+
+"Oh, nothing," declared Julie. "I just trotted away again; it wasn't my
+business, but the Flirt came and meddled in it."
+
+"The Flirt! Where is she?"
+
+The Flirt, a faded, wrinkled woman of fifty, appeared from a doorway
+where she had been listening.
+
+"Where is Josephine?" demanded Loupart.
+
+"At Lâriboisière hospital, ward 22, since you want to know."
+
+After a moment's amazement, Loupart broke out furiously:
+
+"You sent off Josephine in the middle of the night! You took her to a
+hospital for a little indigestion! Without asking my consent! Why she's
+no more ill than I am!"
+
+"Have to believe she is," replied the Flirt, "since the 'probes' have
+kept her."
+
+Loupart turned and tramped downstairs swearing.
+
+"She'll come out of that a damned sight quicker than she went in!"
+
+A few moments later Loupart entered Father Korn's saloon. Having set
+forth his plans to that worthy, the latter proceeded to demolish them.
+
+"You can't do anything to-day, so there's no use trying. You'll have to
+wait till to-morrow at midday, the proper visiting hour."
+
+Loupart recognised the truth of the publican's assertion and, calling
+for writing paper, sat down and scrawled a letter to his mistress.
+
+"Motor," he cried to the cripple who was still at Mother Toulouche's
+basket, "tumble along with this note to Lâriboisière; look sharp, and
+when you get back I'll stand you a glass."
+
+As the cripple hurried away he was all but knocked down by a newsboy,
+running and shouting:
+
+"Extra! Extra! Get _The Capital_. Extraordinary and mysterious crime of
+the Cité Frochot. Murder of a woman."
+
+"Shall I get a copy?" asked the publican.
+
+Loupart stalked out of the saloon without turning.
+
+"Oh, I know all about that," he cried.
+
+Father Korn stood rooted to the spot at Loupart's answer.
+
+"What! He knows already!"
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+THE LÂRIBOISIÈRE HOSPITAL
+
+
+The clerk, who had admitted Juve, withdrew, and M. de Maufil, the
+amiable director, gave the police officer his most gracious smile.
+
+"When I applied this morning at headquarters for an officer to be sent
+here, I scarcely expected to receive so celebrated a detective, upon a
+matter which is really very commonplace."
+
+"Your letter to M. Havard mentioned a person I have been looking for
+with the greatest interest for the past two days. Loupart, alias 'The
+Square,'" replied Juve, "that is why I came myself. What is it about,
+sir?"
+
+"Well, the day before yesterday, we took in at the instance of Doctor
+Patel, a patient suffering from acute gastric trouble. The woman gave us
+for identification the name of Josephine, no calling, residing in Paris,
+Rue de Goutte d'Or, in furnished rooms. Some hours after her admission
+to the hospital, she received a letter, brought by a messenger, which
+threw her into a violent state of terror. The nurse on duty sent for me,
+and I succeeded, after great difficulty, in quieting her; but she
+insisted most emphatically on leaving the hospital at once. The poor
+creature was in a high fever, and to grant her request would have been
+sending her to her death. At length she intrusted me with the letter
+which had excited her so. Here it is, kindly look it over."
+
+Juve took the letter and read:
+
+     "Am just back from the doss. You ain't there, and I don't want any
+     more of these dodges. You are no more ill than I am. See here,
+     you'll either leave the hospital and slope back to the house right
+     off or to-morrow, Friday, at visiting time, as sure as my name's
+     what it is, you'll get two bullets in your hide to teach you to
+     hold your tongue."
+
+Juve gave a grunt of satisfaction.
+
+"You understand what is going on?" asked the director.
+
+"Yes, but please go on with your story."
+
+"Well, sir, you can guess that having read this letter, I easily got
+from the girl some information as to the writer. According to what she
+told me this Loupart is her lover, and he seems to have in a high degree
+that inconceivable pride which causes folks of his class, when they
+have sworn to kill some one, to carry out their threat, no matter what
+risk they may run themselves. The girl, Josephine, is convinced that
+to-morrow Loupart will come and kill her."
+
+"You have told her that all precautions will be taken?"
+
+"Of course. I pointed out to her that people do not come in here as they
+do into a bar; that being warned, I should have all the visitors watched
+who come here and asked to see her. I repeated to her that her lover
+probably wanted to frighten her, but that he could not do anything to
+injure her. I insisted that in the state she was in it was physically
+impossible for her to obey that wretch's bidding."
+
+"And what was her answer to that?"
+
+"Nothing. Her attack of alarm having subsided she seemed to fall into a
+condition of extreme prostration. I realised quite well that she
+regarded herself as condemned, that she had a far higher opinion of
+Loupart's daring than of my watchfulness, and, lastly, if she stayed it
+was because she realised that it was out of the question for her, in her
+weak state, to go back to her home."
+
+While the director was speaking, Juve had retained a smiling and
+satisfied expression, seeming but little affected by Josephine's
+terrible plight.
+
+"I should very much like to know," continued the director, "why you said
+you knew the reasons for the threat being sent by this man to his
+mistress?"
+
+Juve hesitated some moments; then, without going into details, said: "It
+would take too long to recount the motives which prompted Loupart to
+write that letter. This Josephine whom you see to-day trembling at her
+lover's threat not so long ago supplied the police with valuable hints
+concerning him. Has he learned that? Does he know the woman has rounded
+on him? Did he fear, above all, that she would tell tales again here at
+the hospital? It is quite possible. You see he must have had very strong
+reasons for giving her the order to come home----"
+
+Juve here broke off, fingering Loupart's letter; then at length he
+placed it in his pocketbook.
+
+"I will keep this document, director; it is a tangible proof of
+Loupart's criminal intentions. If he should put his threats into
+practice it would be difficult after that to deny premeditation."
+
+"You think that such a thing is possible?"
+
+"Don't you?"
+
+"Loupart declares he will come to the hospital before three and kill his
+mistress, but surely it must be easy to render that impossible."
+
+"You think the police are all-powerful, that we can arrest would-be
+murderers and render them incapable of harm? That is an error. We are
+prevented from taking effective action by a swarm of regulations. If I
+met Loupart on the street I would not be able to arrest him. I have no
+warrant. When a man holds his life cheap and is determined to risk
+everything, he has a pretty good chance of succeeding. Of course I shall
+take every measure to prevent Loupart killing his mistress, but I'm not
+at all sure of success."
+
+"But M. Juve, we must have this girl Josephine transferred to another
+hospital if necessary."
+
+Juve shook his head.
+
+"And show Loupart we are aware of his purpose? Flatter the ruffian's
+vanity? No, we must let Loupart come, and catch him as he is about to
+commit the crime."
+
+"What do you propose to do?"
+
+"Study the hospital; arrange where to place my men," replied Juve.
+
+"In that case, I will do everything I can to help you." M. de Maufil
+rang for an attendant and bade him take Juve to Doctor Patel's
+department.
+
+Juve thanked the obliging director and took leave. The attendant
+pointed to a row of windows under the roof.
+
+"Doctor Patel's division begins at the corner window and runs to the
+window near the cornice."
+
+"What are the means of access to the female ward?"
+
+"Oh, that's quite simple, sir; you get into the woman's ward either by
+the door on the staircase or by the door at the back, which leads into
+the laboratory of the head physician, the room of the house surgeon on
+duty, and the departmental offices."
+
+"And how do visitors pass in?"
+
+"Visitors always go up the main staircase."
+
+"Now," said Juve, "show me over Doctor Patel's division."
+
+"Very good, sir. It will be all the more interesting to you, as it is
+just the visiting hour."
+
+When Juve made his way into the woman's ward, Doctor Patel was actually
+in process of seeing his patients. He was passing from bed to bed,
+questioning each of the women under treatment and listening to the
+comments of the house staff who followed him.
+
+"Gentlemen," the doctor was saying as Juve joined the group, "the
+patient we have just seen affords a very excellent and typical instance
+of intermittent fever. The serum tests have not given any appreciable
+result; it is therefore impossible to arrive at----"
+
+A hand was laid on Juve's shoulder.
+
+"Why, the tests are always absolutely indicative! Palpable typhoid, eh?
+What do you think?"
+
+Juve turned his head and could not suppress a cry of surprise.
+
+"Doctor Chaleck!"
+
+"What! M. Juve!--You here! Were you looking for me?"
+
+Juve was dumbfounded. He drew Chaleck aside.
+
+"Then you're attached to this hospital?"
+
+"Oh, I have only leave to attend the courses."
+
+"And I came here out of curiosity."
+
+"In any case, allow me to thank you for the service you rendered me the
+other day. The officer who was with you seemed to take me for the guilty
+man."
+
+"Well, you see, appearances...."
+
+"But if anyone was a victim it was I. Apart from the finding of the
+murdered woman in my house, I have been robbed!"
+
+Here the doctor broke off. A house surgeon was beckoning to him.
+
+"Forgive me," he said to Juve. "I cannot keep my colleague waiting."
+
+Leaving Chaleck, Juve went back to the attendant who had patiently
+waited for him.
+
+"Stranger than ever!" he murmured. "There is no making it all out.
+Josephine writes that Loupart means to rob Chaleck. I track Loupart and
+he gives me the slip. I spend a night in a room where I see nothing, and
+where nevertheless a horrible amazing crime is committed. The murder
+takes place scarce a yard from me, and the doctor, the tenant of the
+house, sees nothing either, and does not even know the victim who is
+found next morning on his premises! Thereupon our informant, Josephine,
+goes into hospital; pain in the stomach, they say--hem! Poison, maybe?
+Then she gets a threatening letter from Loupart. And when I come to the
+hospital to protect her, whom do I meet but Doctor Chaleck!"
+
+Juve, turning to the attendant who was escorting him, asked:
+
+"You know the person I was speaking to just now?"
+
+"Doctor Chaleck? Yes, sir."
+
+"What is his business here?"
+
+"He is a foreign doctor, I believe. I should fancy a Belgian. Anyhow, he
+is allowed by the authorities to follow the clinical courses and make
+researches in the laboratory."
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+A REVOLVER SHOT
+
+
+Doctor Patel's division presented an unusually animated appearance that
+afternoon. Not only were the patients allowed to receive visitors, but
+quite a number of strange doctors had spent the day going from bed to
+bed, note-books in hand, studying the patients and their temperature
+charts. The nurses hesitated to call these individuals doctors, and the
+patients, too, seemed aware of their true status. Whispers were hushed,
+and all eyes turned toward the far end of the ward.
+
+There, in a bed set slightly apart and near the house staff's quarters,
+lay Josephine, a prey to a racking fever and breathing with difficulty.
+
+Exactly opposite her was the bed of an old woman who had been admitted
+that morning. Her face had almost entirely disappeared under voluminous
+bandages.
+
+As the ward clock struck a quarter to three, an attendant appeared and
+announced:
+
+"In ten minutes visitors will be requested to leave."
+
+Two of the staff who had paced the ward since early in the day exchanged
+a smile.
+
+"Here's the end of the farce," remarked one; "Loupart isn't coming."
+
+"He said three; there are still thirteen minutes left," replied the
+other.
+
+"Well, every precaution is taken."
+
+"Precautions are of no use with men like Loupart."
+
+"Eleven minutes left."
+
+"What the devil could happen? There is no longer admission to the
+hospital; the visitors are leaving."
+
+"Three minutes!"
+
+"Look here, you'll end by making me think..."
+
+"Two minutes."
+
+"Well, own yourself beaten!"
+
+"One minute."
+
+Bang! Bang! Two shots from a revolver suddenly startled the silent ward.
+
+There was a moment's consternation and uproar. The patients leaped from
+their beds and sought refuge in the corners of the ward, while the two
+house surgeons and the policemen, passing as doctors, rushed in a body
+toward Josephine's bed. Doors slammed. People came hurrying from all
+quarters.
+
+Above the hubbub rose a calm voice.
+
+"What the devil! Here I am drenched! What does that mean?"
+
+The house surgeon reached the bed where the hopeless Josephine lay,
+white as a corpse, motionless. A large red blood stain was spreading on
+her sheet. Quickly the doctor uncovered the wounded woman and examined
+her.
+
+"Fainted, she has only fainted!" And, silencing all comments, he called:
+
+"Monsieur Juve! Monsieur Juve!"
+
+The old woman who, a few moments before, had been dozing, now quickly
+sprang out of bed, and, tearing off her bandages, revealed the placid
+features of detective Juve.
+
+"I understand everything except that I'm drenched to the bones,"
+declared Juve, as he crossed to Josephine's bed, oblivious to the
+amazement his appearance caused.
+
+"That's easily explained," said the house surgeon. "The girl was lying
+on a rubber mattress filled with water. One of the bullets punctured
+it."
+
+"What damage did she receive?"
+
+"A contusion on the shoulder. The murderer aimed badly owing to her
+recumbent position."
+
+Juve beckoned to the officers.
+
+"Your report? You've seen nothing?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"That's strange," declared the detective. "I kept an eye on Josephine
+myself, thinking that a movement on her part would betray the entrance
+of Loupart. She made no sign; but, however Loupart may have got in, he
+can't get out without falling into a trap. I have fifty men posted round
+the building. Now, the first point to clear up is the exact place from
+where the shot was fired."
+
+"How can we get at that?"
+
+"Very simply. By drawing an imaginary line between the spot where the
+bullet struck the mattress and where it went into the floor--extend this
+line and we find the quarter from where the shot was fired." A doctor
+came forward.
+
+"M. Juve," he said, "that would bring us to the door of the staff's
+room."
+
+"Ah, it's you, Doctor Chaleck! I'm glad to see you! You are quite right
+in your surmise. Do you see any objection to my reasoning?"
+
+"I do. I came into the ward barely two seconds before the firing. No one
+was behind me and no one was walking before me."
+
+Juve crossed to the door.
+
+"It is from here that the shots were fired!"
+
+And the detective added triumphantly as he stooped and picked up an
+object from the floor:
+
+"And this backs up my assertion!"
+
+He held out a revolver, still loaded in four chambers. "A precious bit
+of evidence!" He turned to the doctor:
+
+"Can a stranger get into the wards by this door?"
+
+"Utterly impossible, M. Juve! Only those thoroughly familiar with
+Lâriboisière can get into the ward through the laboratory. You must pass
+through the surgical divisions."
+
+The detective seated himself at the foot of the sick woman's bed and
+mechanically laid the revolver beside him. But scarcely had he done so
+when he sprang up. Upon the sheet was a tiny red speck left by the
+muzzle of the weapon.
+
+"Ah!--that's very instructive!" he cried. And as the others crowded
+round, puzzled, Juve added: "Don't you see? The murderer ran his finger
+along the barrel to steady his aim, and as the barrel is very short, the
+bullet grazed the tip of his finger which extended slightly beyond it.
+If I find anyone in the hospital with a wounded finger, I've got the
+murderer! Gentlemen, I am going to ask the director to issue orders for
+everyone within the hospital gates to pass before me. I reckon that in
+two hours at most the culprit will no longer be at large."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The attempted murder happened at three o'clock; about six o'clock, those
+who had first been examined by Juve had received permission to leave the
+hospital and were beginning to depart.
+
+With a careless step Doctor Chaleck made for the exit by which he issued
+every evening from Lâriboisière. As he was about to pass out, a police
+inspector barred his way.
+
+"Excuse me, sir. Have you a pass?"
+
+"A pass?"
+
+"Yes, sir; no one is allowed to leave to-day without a pass from M.
+Juve."
+
+The doctor looked at his watch.
+
+"The deuce," he said. "I'm late as it is. Where am I to get this pass?"
+
+"You must ask M. Juve himself for it. He is in the director's private
+room."
+
+"All right, I'll go there." And Doctor Chaleck retraced his steps.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+THE SEARCH FOR THE CRIMINAL
+
+
+"It's astounding!" declared M. de Maufil. "We have already examined
+nearly two hundred persons and found nothing."
+
+"That may be," replied Juve, "but we may discover the culprit by the two
+hundred and first hand held out to us."
+
+"There is one thing you forget, M. Juve."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"If the culprit gets wind of our method of investigation, if he has any
+notion that you are inspecting the hands of all those who desire to
+leave the hospital, he won't be such a ninny as to come and submit to
+your inspection."
+
+Juve nodded approval of the comment.
+
+"You are right; but I have taken means to obviate that difficulty."
+
+Since he had begun his inquiry on the spot, from the very moment when
+the revolver shots had rung out, the great detective was growing more
+and more sure that the arrest of the mysterious offender would be a
+matter of considerable time. The buildings of the establishment were
+extensive, and it was easy for a man to move about them without
+attracting attention. They offered really strange facilities for hiding.
+
+"Mr. Director," said Juve, "I fancy we have inspected pretty well all
+the persons who leave Lâriboisière as a rule, at this time?"
+
+"That is so."
+
+"Then we must now change our plan. Let us leave a nurse here to detain
+those who come to ask for passes, and begin a search of the hospital
+ourselves. I shall post my officers in line, each man keeping in sight
+the one behind and the one before him. At the foot of every staircase I
+shall leave a sentry. Then, beginning at the outer wall of the building
+we will drive everyone on the ground floor toward the other end. If we
+don't round up our man there, we will proceed to the floor above."
+
+"A good idea," replied M. de Maufil. "We shall catch him in a trap."
+
+When Doctor Chaleck found that the inspector watching the exit leading
+to the main door in the Rue Ambroise Paré refused him leave to pass out
+of the hospital without the sanction of the great detective, he had
+perforce to retrace his steps. Skirting the bushes in the courtyard he
+took his way toward the medical wards, turning his back on the
+directoral offices, where he might have encountered our friend Juve. He
+had taken off his white uniform and was dressed in his street clothes.
+He halted at the entrance to the long glazed gallery which extends to
+the operating rooms of the surgical department. Turning suddenly, he saw
+in the distance and coming his way Inspector Juve, accompanied by the
+director. He noticed at the same time the cordon of officers preparing
+to sweep the hospital from end to end. Mechanically, and as if bent on
+putting a certain distance between him and the new-comers, he turned
+into the glazed gallery, and reached the far end of it. He was about to
+go into the surgical ward when a nurse stopped him.
+
+"Doctor, you can't go in just now; Professor Hugard is operating and has
+given express orders that no one is to be admitted."
+
+Chaleck turned up the gallery again, but abruptly swung round again as
+he caught sight of Juve and the director just entering the gallery,
+driving before them half a dozen patients and orderlies. Chaleck joined
+this little group, which had pulled up at the end of the gallery and was
+making laughing comments on the rigid inspection to which Juve was just
+about to subject them.
+
+"Now's the time to show clean hands," joked a non-resident, "eh, Miss
+Victorine?" he added, smiling at a buxom nurse whom the chances of duty
+had blockaded in the corridor.
+
+"Depend upon it," growled one of the accountants of the administrative
+department, shrugging his shoulders, "they are making a great fuss over
+nothing. After all, no one is hurt. Just one more pistol shot; in this
+neighbourhood we have ceased to count them."
+
+An old man, who had his hand bandaged, suggested: "Perhaps they'll be
+wanting to arrest me since the culprit is wounded in the fingers, they
+say."
+
+Dignified and calm, Juve did his best to restore liberty to each of the
+persons brought together. They had only to show their two hands held up
+in front of the face, the fingers apart. M. de Maufil, at a sign from
+Juve, immediately bade the attendant hand the person in question a card
+bearing his name and description. Armed with this "Sesame" he could come
+and go unimpeded all over the hospital.
+
+Pointing to a large door at the extreme end of the corridor, Juve asked:
+
+"What exit is that?"
+
+The other smiled. "You want to see everything, don't you?"
+
+The director, opening the heavy door, made room for Juve, who entered a
+very narrow passage, damp and quite dark. The passage, a short one,
+opened on a vast apartment, much like a cellar, lighted by air-holes in
+the ceiling and intensely cold. A noise of running water from open taps
+broke with its monotonous splash the silence of this place, solely
+furnished with a huge slab of wood running from one end to the other.
+Upon the slab dim and lengthy white shapes were outstretched, and when
+his eyes grew accustomed to the twilight, Juve recognised the vague
+outline of these weird bundles. They were corpses swathed in shrouds.
+The heads and shoulders alone were visible, and on the brows of the dead
+trickled icy water, dispensed sparingly but regularly by duck-billed
+taps that overhung the inclined plane.
+
+The director explained: "This is the amphitheatre where we keep the
+bodies for post-mortems. Do you want to stay any longer?"
+
+"There is no access to the room except by the door we came in at?"
+
+"None."
+
+"In that case," rejoined Juve, "and as there is no furniture here for a
+person to hide in, let us look elsewhere. It's a rather gruesome
+place."
+
+"You're not used to the sight, that's all," replied the director, as he
+led the way back to his office.
+
+Juve looked at his watch. "Well, I must leave you now and make a report
+to M. Havard. I'm afraid the murderer has slipped through our fingers."
+
+"But you'll come back?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"What am I to do meanwhile?"
+
+"Nothing, unless you care to go over the hospital again."
+
+"And the passes? Are they to be in force still? We have no one in the
+place but the staff."
+
+"That is essential," replied Juve. "I must know with certainty who comes
+in and goes out. However, anyone known to your doorkeeper who wishes to
+leave need only sign in a register."
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+IN THE REFRIGERATORY
+
+
+It was light in the evening. One by one the rooms in Lâriboisière were
+being lit up.
+
+The one exception was the grim amphitheatre, whose occupants would never
+need to see again.
+
+Suddenly--and if anyone had been present, he would have experienced the
+most frightful impression it is possible to conceive--a corpse stirred.
+
+Having assured himself that the door between the amphitheatre and the
+gallery was shut, the corpse, shivering with cold, threw off the shroud
+which enveloped him, and set to work to move his legs and arms about to
+start up his circulation. Then at the far end of the apartment this
+living corpse discovered, under a zinc basin attached to the wall, a
+bundle of linen and garments, which he seized upon.
+
+His body shaking with cold, the man dressed himself in haste, and then
+waited until he considered his clothes sufficiently dry not to attract
+attention.
+
+Carefully ascertaining that the gallery was deserted, he then entered it
+and walked rapidly to the courtyard. To the right of the main gateway,
+the smaller gate leading into the Rue Ambroise Paré was open.
+
+The man passed under the archway, and in a moment would have been clear
+of Lâriboisière, when the doorkeeper barred his way.
+
+"Excuse me, who goes there?"
+
+Then, having looked more closely:
+
+"Why it's Doctor Chaleck! You're late in leaving us this evening,
+doctor. I suppose you've been kept pretty busy in ward 22?"
+
+"That's so," replied Chaleck, for it was he. "That's why I'm in a hurry,
+Charles."
+
+And Chaleck, with an impatient gesture, was about to slip out, but the
+porter stopped him again.
+
+"One moment, doctor; you must register first."
+
+"Is this a new hospital regulation?"
+
+"No, doctor, it's the police who have ordered everyone entering or
+leaving the hospital to sign his name in this book."
+
+The porter, having taken Doctor Chaleck into his lodge, opened a new
+register, and pointing to half a dozen names already written on the
+first page, he added:
+
+"You'll not be in bad company; you're to sign just below Professor
+Hugard."
+
+Chaleck smiled. "Tell me the latest news, Charles. Do they suspect
+anyone?"
+
+"All I know is that fifty of them came here with dirty shoes, made a
+hubbub round the patients, put the service out of gear, and in the end
+caught nobody at all. But if the culprit is still here, he won't get out
+without the bracelets on his wrists!"
+
+An equivocal smile touched the pale lips of Chaleck. It might be the
+weird inhabitant of the little house in Cité Frochot was not so sure as
+the porter was of the astuteness of the police. Perhaps he was thinking
+that a few hours before a certain Doctor Chaleck, hemmed in a passage
+with no exits and about to be compelled to show, like everyone else, the
+tips of his fingers, had, under the nose of the officers, and even of
+the artful and astute Juve, suddenly vanished, gone out of the world of
+the living and thought it necessary, for reasons he alone knew, to
+assume the rigidity of a corpse, the stillness of death. But the smile
+in a moment became frozen.
+
+The doctor who had kept both hands in his pockets while talking to the
+porter, suddenly felt a sharp twinge in the fingers of his right hand,
+and it became moist and lukewarm. This happened as the porter held out
+the register for him to sign.
+
+"Charles," he cried, "I'm in a great hurry; while I'm signing, please go
+out and stop the first taxi that passes."
+
+"Certainly, sir," replied the man.
+
+Scarcely had the doorkeeper turned his back when the doctor, with
+infinite precautions drew out his right hand and with evident difficulty
+began to write, holding the pen between the third and fourth fingers, as
+though unable to use the fore and middle ones.
+
+As he was finishing his entry, he made what was doubtless an unintended
+movement, something unexpected happened, for he suddenly turned pale and
+repressed a heavy oath. Charles was just coming back to the lodge.
+
+"Your taxi is here, Doctor."
+
+"Right. Thank you."
+
+Chaleck closed the register abruptly, jumped into the motor, threw an
+address to the driver, who got under way. On seeing the doctor shut the
+register, Charles cried: "The devil--there's no blotting paper in it, it
+will be sure to blot!"
+
+And, though it was too late, the careful man rushed to the book and
+opened it. His eyes became fixed on the page where the signatures were.
+He stared, wide-eyed.
+
+"Oh!--Oh!--" he murmured.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE BLOODY SIGNATURE
+
+
+M. de Maufil was exceedingly nervous.
+
+"As soon as you went back to headquarters," he declared to Juve, some
+moments after that officer had been shown into his private room, "I
+continued the search with redoubled efforts. Neither the ward-nurses, in
+whom I place complete confidence, nor the heads of my staff, whom I have
+known for ever so long, passed the doors of the hospital. In fact, I
+took every precaution and obeyed your instructions to the letter--yet
+all in vain."
+
+"You found nothing?"
+
+"Nothing. Not only did we not discover the criminal, but we did not come
+upon any trace of him."
+
+"That's strange.".
+
+"It is maddening. It would seem that from the instant the man fired
+those two shots in the woman's ward in Patel's department he vanished,
+unaccountably. Your notion of examining the hands of all those in the
+hospital was an excellent one, but nothing came of it.
+
+"He must have known the snare we were preparing for him and did not turn
+up at the hospital exit, so we must naturally conclude he is still
+inside the gates, hidden in some remote corner, or underground. However,
+the first thing to do is to protect the girl, Josephine. By the by, she
+saw nothing, I suppose?"
+
+"She declares she did not see Loupart come in, but she asserts with a
+sort of perverse pride that it was certainly Loupart who fired at her
+because he had threatened to do so."
+
+A knock at the door was followed by the timid entrance of the
+doorkeeper.
+
+"Is that you, Charles? Come in," cried the director. "What do you want?"
+
+"It's about the signature, sir. There is blood on my book."
+
+In a moment Juve leaped from his chair and tore the register out of the
+porter's hands.
+
+"Blood!"
+
+Feverishly he turned the pages until he came to the writing. Without
+waiting for de Maufil's permission, he dismissed the porter.
+
+"Very good, I'll see you presently."
+
+Scarcely had the door shut, when Juve pointed to the page. "Look! Doctor
+Chaleck's signature! And just below it this mark of blood! What do you
+say to that, sir?"
+
+"But it's sheer madness. Chaleck cannot be guilty!"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because he is known to me. He was recommended to me seven months ago by
+an old comrade of mine. Chaleck is a man of brains, a foreign physician,
+a Belgian. He comes here specially to study intermittent fevers. M.
+Juve, I tell you he has nothing whatever to do with this affair." Juve
+picked up his hat and stick. He was restless and uneasy; the directors'
+outburst had not greatly impressed him.
+
+"Doctor Chaleck could not explain how his finger came to be hurt and he
+did not inform us of the fact."
+
+"A mere coincidence."
+
+"Possibly, but it is a terrible coincidence for that man," replied Juve.
+
+On leaving the director's room, the distinguished detective could not
+refrain from rubbing his hands. "This time I have him!" he muttered. He
+went rapidly down the stairs, crossed the great courtyard of the
+hospital, and proceeded to knock at the porter's lodge.
+
+"Tell me, my friend, precisely how Doctor Chaleck's leaving the hospital
+came about?"
+
+The worthy man with much detail, for he now felt very proud of having
+played a part in the affair, related how Doctor Chaleck came to the
+gate, sent him after a cab while signing his name, then made off, after
+having, no doubt by an oversight, closed the register.
+
+"Very good! Thank you," was Juve's comment, bestowing a liberal tip on
+the man.
+
+This time he was leaving Lâriboisière for good.
+
+"Very characteristic, that piece of impudence," he reflected; "very like
+Doctor Chaleck that device of shutting the register he had just stained
+with blood in order to give himself time to make off!" On reaching the
+Boulevard Magenta he hailed a cab.
+
+"Rue Montmartre. Stop at the _Capital_ office. You know it?"
+
+A few minutes later Juve was shown into Fandor's office. But the
+detective no longer wore a smiling face, and his air of abstraction did
+not escape his friend.
+
+"Anything fresh?" inquired Fandor.
+
+"Much that is fresh! That's why I came here to see you."
+
+The journalist smiled. "Thanks, Juve. It is, indeed, owing to you that
+the _Capital_ is the best posted sheet in town."
+
+Then the detective proceeded to tell the reporter the startling
+discovery he had just made at Lâriboisière. He concluded:
+
+"There, I suppose you can turn that into a thrilling story, eh?"
+
+"I certainly can."
+
+"The arrest is now scarcely more than a matter of time."
+
+"And how are you going to set about it?"
+
+"I don't quite know. Well, good-bye."
+
+Fandor let the officer reach the door of the office, then called him
+back.
+
+"Juve!"
+
+"Fandor!"
+
+"You are hiding something from me."
+
+"I? Nonsense."
+
+"Yes," persisted Fandor. "You are concealing something. Don't deny it. I
+know you too well, my friend, to be content with your reticences."
+
+"My reticences?"
+
+"You didn't come here merely to give me copy."
+
+"Why----"
+
+"No. You had some idea in coming to look me up and then you changed your
+mind. Why?"
+
+"I assure you you are mistaken."
+
+Fandor rose.
+
+"All right, if you won't tell me, I shall follow you." At the
+journalist's announcement Juve shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"That's what I feared. But it's absurd to be always dragging you into
+risky affairs."
+
+"Where are we going?" asked Fandor briefly, as he lit a cigarette.
+
+"We are going to-night to Doctor Chaleck's. If he's there we will force
+a confession from him; if he's not there, we will ransack his house for
+clues," and Juve added, smiling, "like good burglars. I have a whole
+bunch of false keys. We shall be able to get into Doctor Chaleck's
+without ringing his bell. Here's a snapshot I took of Josephine at the
+hospital." And throwing the proof on Fandor's desk, he said smilingly:
+
+"The young woman's not bad looking, is she?"
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE SHOWER OF SAND
+
+
+"I'm afraid it's not quite the thing to enter people's houses in this
+fashion," whispered Juve, as the two men found themselves in the hall of
+Doctor Chaleck's little house in the Frochot district.
+
+It was about midnight, and through the fan-light of the outer door a dim
+twilight enabled the detective and the journalist to get an idea of the
+place in which they stood.
+
+It was a fairly large hall with double doors on either hand, leading
+into the drawing-and dining-rooms. At the far end rose a winding
+staircase, and under it a door to the cellar. A hanging lamp, unlit, was
+suspended from the ceiling and the walls were covered with dark
+tapestries.
+
+Juve and Fandor remained silent and motionless for some moments. They
+might well be perturbed, for they had just entered the house in the
+most unwarrantable manner, and they knew the doctor to be at home. The
+lodge-keeper of the Cité had seen him return about two hours ago. For
+one moment Juve had asked himself whether he should not ring in the most
+natural manner in the world, and afterwards contrive some explanation;
+but the silence, the peace which prevailed and the conviction that
+Doctor Chaleck, quite off his guard, must be enjoying deep slumber,
+prompted him to try and get into the house unannounced. If the door was
+only bolted, if it was not secured from within by a latch, the officer
+might reckon on finding among his pass keys one that would allow him to
+open it. Juve was, indeed, equipped like the prince of burglars.
+
+Well, the attempt had succeeded. Without trouble or noise, journalist
+and officer had made their way into the place.
+
+Before imparting to Fandor his plan of operations, Juve handed him a
+pair of rubbers, and then at a signal they both ascended to the first
+floor.
+
+The detective's plan was to make a sudden incursion into Chaleck's
+bedroom, and in the surprise of a sudden awakening, question him and
+inspect the fingers of his right hand, which, presumably, had left on
+the register a tell-tale trace of blood.
+
+Juve had scarcely entered the room when Fandor switched on the lights;
+the two men started back in disgust; the room was empty!
+
+Without pause, Juve cried: "To the study!"
+
+A moment later they found themselves in the room they knew so well from
+having spent a whole night there, behind the window curtains.
+
+Chaleck was not there either. Fandor searched the bathroom near by,
+careless of the noise he made, then hurried after Juve to the floor
+below in the fear that the doctor might already have made his escape.
+
+Juve quickly reassured him the windows and shutters of the rooms were
+hermetically closed; the hall door had not been touched.
+
+Suddenly slight sounds became audible from the floor above. A crackling
+of the boards, the muffled sounds of hasty footsteps, faint rustlings.
+
+"Chaleck knows we are here," whispered Juve. "We must play with our
+cards on the table."
+
+The two men cocked their pistols and made a rush upstairs. They had left
+the electric light burning on the floor above, and at first their eyes
+were dazzled by the sudden brightness, multiplied by the reflection from
+the glass which lined the octagonal-shaped landing.
+
+Again the noises were heard. Chaleck or some one else was in the study.
+
+Juve disappeared. In half a minute he returned and bumped into Fandor.
+
+"Where are you coming from?" he cried. "I thought you were behind me."
+
+"So I was," replied Fandor, "but I left you to take a look in the
+study."
+
+"But it was I who was in the study!"
+
+Fandor stared in amazement. "Are you losing your senses?"
+
+"I've just come from there myself!"
+
+"Well, we weren't there together, that's certain. Let's try again."
+
+The two proceeded in the dark to the head of the staircase. With their
+heels they verified the last step; then Juve said in a low voice:
+
+"I will go forward four paces. I am now in the middle of the landing; I
+lift the curtain, turn and go in."
+
+The steady tick of the little Empire clock on the mantelpiece assured
+Juve that he was indeed in the study.
+
+"Well, here I am," and mechanically he flung his hat on the sofa. But
+scarcely had he uttered these words when Fandor's voice, very clear, but
+some way off answered
+
+"I am in the study, too."
+
+Juve now switched on the light. Fandor was not there. Rushing back to
+the landing he ran full tilt into his friend and the two gripped each
+other in amazement.
+
+"Look here," exclaimed Fandor, "if I'm not mistaken, you turned to the
+right past the curtain while I went to the left; there may be two
+separate entrances to the study."
+
+"Let us keep together this time," replied Juve; "I propose to get to the
+bottom of this mystery."
+
+As they came out of the darkness of the passage and plunged into the
+full light of the room, Juve stopped short. His hat was no longer on the
+sofa.
+
+Fandor went to the mantelpiece, turned and confronted the detective.
+
+"I stopped the clock some moments ago, and here it is going and keeping
+exact time! How do you account for it?"
+
+Juve was about to reply, when suddenly with a dry click the light went
+out.
+
+Fandor, at the same moment, gave a startled cry: "Juve! the door is
+fastened; we are shut in!"
+
+With one bound Juve leaped for the window; but after opening the
+casement he perceived that thick iron shutters, padlocked, banished all
+hope of escape in that quarter. Fandor was ashy pale; Juve staggered as
+he moved toward him.
+
+"Walled in!" he cried. "We are walled in!"
+
+But a new terror suddenly confronted the two men. The floor appeared to
+be giving way, and as the descent proceeded regularly, they realised
+that they were in a strange form of elevator.
+
+The study, however, did not drop very far. With a slight shock it
+reached the end of the run and stopped short.
+
+Juve cried with an air of relief, "Well, here we are, and it now remains
+to find out where we are."
+
+The existence of two studies identical in every particular, one of which
+was housed in an elevator, explained not only the events of the evening,
+but also the tragedy of two days before.
+
+"Juve! did you feel anything?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+Both had just experienced a weird sensation, impossible to define. Upon
+their hands and faces slight prickings irritated the skin. The air at
+the same time seemed heavier and more difficult to breathe. There was,
+besides, a soft, vague crackling. With some difficulty Juve lighted his
+pocket-lamp. By its faint glimmer the two men made a discovery. A fine
+rain of sand was falling from the ceiling.
+
+"It's collapsed!" cried Fandor.
+
+"We're done for!" replied Juve.
+
+They passed through some awful moments. All around the sand gathered and
+rose.
+
+Juve tried to comfort his friend:
+
+"It would need an enormous amount of sand to fill this room and bury us
+alive. It will cease to fall presently."
+
+But horrible to relate, as the level of the sand rose on the floor, they
+observed by the flickering gleam of the lamp, that the ceiling was now
+being lowered little by little.
+
+Fandor raised his arm and touched it. They were about to be crushed.
+
+"Juve, do not let me die this way. Kill me!"
+
+His comrade made no reply. At first paralysed by the shock he now felt
+an unspeakable fury rise up in him. He began beating the walls with his
+fists, shaking the furniture. He seized a chair and drove it against the
+door. The chair struck with a ring upon metal and broke.
+
+Uttering a loud sigh, the detective drew out his revolver; he would, at
+least, save his friend the torments of an awful death. Suddenly a
+fearful crash resounded. The moving mass of sand was falling away from
+them into some gaping hole below, while at the same time fresh, moist
+air reached them and refreshed their lungs. Evidently some
+communication with the outside world had been established.
+
+Juve relit his lamp and was bending over to examine what had taken place
+when the floor all at once gave way under his feet and he fell, dragging
+Fandor with him.
+
+They found themselves up to mid-leg in water, but unhurt.
+
+Juve's voice rang out: "We are saved! I see now what happened! Our trap
+had a thin flooring, and, when down, it rested on a fragile arch. That
+arch gave way, and with the sand we have tumbled into the sewer of the
+Place Pigalle, which, if I am not mistaken, connects with the main of
+the Chaussée d'Autin. Come along, friend Fandor, we'll find means to get
+out of this before long."
+
+Floundering in the mud, they made their way along the drain until Juve
+halted and uttered a cry of triumph. On the left wall of the vault his
+hand encountered iron rings one above the other. It was a ladder leading
+to one of the manholes in the pavement. He quickly climbed up and, with
+a vigorous push, raised the heavy slab. In a few moments both men
+emerged and fell exhausted in the roadway.
+
+When Fandor recovered his senses he was lying in a large, ill-lighted
+hall. The first sound he heard was Juve's voice arguing hotly and
+volubly.
+
+"Why, you're nothing but a pack of idiots! We burglars! It's utter rot.
+I tell you I'm Juve, Inspector of Public Safety!"
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+FOLLOWING JOSEPHINE
+
+
+The captives had been recognised, and had been set at liberty. They had
+scarcely got a few yards from the police station, when Juve took the
+journalist's arm.
+
+"Let's make haste!" he cried. "This foolish arrest has made us lose
+precious hours."
+
+"You have a plan, Juve? What is it?"
+
+"We must now turn our attention to Josephine; we must use her as a bait
+to catch the others. The girl won't be much longer at Lâriboisière. She
+will be extremely anxious to leave that place and----"
+
+"And go back to clear herself of treachery in Loupart's eyes? Is that
+it?" added Fandor.
+
+"Exactly. Accordingly here is our plan of action. I must go at once to
+the Prefecture and advise M. Havard of our adventure. Meanwhile you go
+to the hospital. Contrive to see Josephine, make sure she has not left,
+watch her and then--wait for me; in two hours, at the latest, I shall be
+with you."
+
+"All right, Juve, you can reckon on me. Josephine shall not escape me."
+
+Fandor was already moving off when Juve called him back.
+
+"Wait! If ever for one reason or another you want an appointment with
+me, telegraph to the Safety, room 44, in my name. I will see that the
+messages always reach me."
+
+A quarter of an hour later Fandor was turning into the Rue Ambroise
+Paré, when all at once as he passed a woman he gave a start.
+
+"Hullo!" he cried; "that's something we didn't bargain for!..."
+
+The woman walked along the Boulevard Chapelle toward the Boulevard
+Barbès. Fandor followed her.
+
+When the great clock which adorns the main front of the Lâriboisière
+buildings struck six, the nurses in the hospital were busy finishing
+their preparations for the night.
+
+The surgeon in Dr. Patel's division was just concluding his evening
+visit to the patients. With a word of encouragement and cheer he passed
+from bed to bed until he reached the one at the end of the ward. The
+young woman occupying it was sitting up.
+
+"So you want to be off," exclaimed the surgeon.
+
+"Yes, doctor."
+
+"Then you're not comfortable here?"
+
+"Yes, doctor, but----"
+
+"But, what? Are you still afraid?"
+
+"No, no."
+
+The patient spoke these last words so confidently that the surgeon could
+not help smiling.
+
+"Do you know," he observed, "that in your place I should be much less
+confident. What are you going to do? Where do you think of going when
+you leave here? Come, now, you are still very weak; you had much better
+spend the night here. You could go to-morrow morning after the round at
+eleven. It would be much more rational."
+
+The young woman shook her head and replied curtly:
+
+"I want to go now, sir, at once."
+
+"Very good. They will give you your ticket."
+
+The doctor gone, the young woman quickly jumped out of bed and began to
+dress herself.
+
+"You don't suppose I'm going to stay here a minute longer than I have
+to," she grumbled with a laugh to her neighbour, who was watching her
+preparations with an envious eye.
+
+"Some one waiting for you?"
+
+"Sure there is. Loupart won't be pleased that I'm not back yet."
+
+"Are you going from here to his place?"
+
+"You bet I am."
+
+This she said in a tone that showed plainly she found the thing quite
+natural. The other was not of her mind.
+
+"Oh, well, I should be scared only at the thought of seeing that man.
+You were jolly lucky not to have been killed by him. And when he has got
+hold of you----"
+
+But Josephine laughed merrily.
+
+"My dear," she said, "you don't know what you're saying. Depend on it,
+if Loupart didn't kill me it's because he didn't want to. He's a
+splendid shot. I suppose he had his reasons for not wanting me to stay
+here; I don't know his affairs, and besides, I came here without
+consulting him."
+
+A vigorous "hush" from the nurse on duty stopped the conversation.
+
+Josephine meanwhile completed her toilet. A nurse had brought her back
+the clothes she wore when she entered the hospital. She slipped on a
+poor muslin skirt, laced her bodice, buttoned her boots and set her
+curls straight; she was ready.
+
+"I'm off," she cried gaily to the porter as she held out her pass to
+him. "Thank the Lord, I'm going, and I have no fancy to come back to
+your hotel!"
+
+Once in the street, Josephine walked quickly. She cast a glance at the
+clock at a cabstand, and found she was behind time.
+
+She went along the Rue Ambroise Paré, then turned on to the outer
+boulevards.
+
+The dinner-hour being at hand, the populous streets of the Chapelle
+quarter were at their lowest ebb of animation. The bookshops had long
+since released their employees, the cafés were giving up their
+customers. Fandor, having recognised Josephine, followed her closely as
+she passed the outer boulevards, then by Boulevard Barbès.
+
+"Beyond a doubt she is bound for the Goutte d'Or," he muttered.
+
+Some minutes later, sure enough, she reached her home.
+
+"Very good! The bird is back in the nest: My job is now to watch the
+visitors who come to call on her."
+
+Opposite Josephine's door there was a wine-shop. This Fandor entered.
+
+"Writing materials, please," he ordered. "I must drop a line to Juve,"
+he thought. "We must begin to set the trap."
+
+He was busy drawing up a detailed plan of the neighbourhood when, on
+raising his head, he gave a violent start, and, throwing a coin on the
+table, rushed out of the shop.
+
+"She is well disguised, but there's no mistaking her!"
+
+Without losing sight of the woman he was watching, Fandor reached the
+Metropolitan Station.
+
+"Good Lord! What does this mean?" he muttered. "Where is she off to?
+She's taking a first-class ticket. Can she have an appointment with
+Chaleck?" He also took a ticket behind the young woman and reached the
+platform.
+
+"I'm going where she goes," he thought. "But where the devil are we
+bound for?"
+
+Loupart's mistress was the embodiment of a charming Parisian.
+
+Her gown was tailor-made, of navy blue, plain but perfectly cut; she
+wore little shoes with high heels, and no one would have recognised in
+the well-dressed woman, who got out of the Metropolitan at the Lyons
+Station, the burnisher, who, a little while ago, had left Lâriboisière.
+
+Josephine had scarcely taken a few steps on the great Square which
+divides Boulevard Diderot from the Lyons Station, when a young man,
+quietly dressed, came toward her. He ogled her, then in a voice of
+marked cordiality, said:
+
+"Can I say a few words to you?"
+
+"But, sir----"
+
+"Two words, mademoiselle, I beg of you."
+
+"Speak," she said at last, after seeming to hesitate, halting on the
+edge of the pavement.
+
+"Oh, not here; surely you will accept a glass?"
+
+The young woman made up her mind:
+
+"Very well, if you like."
+
+The couple directed their steps toward a neighbouring "brasserie," and
+neither the young man nor Josephine dreamed of noticing that a passer-by
+entered the place in their wake.
+
+Fandor did not take a seat at one of the little tables outside, but made
+for the interior, cleverly finding means to watch the two in a glass.
+
+"Is this the person Josephine was to meet?" he wondered. "Can he be a
+messenger of Loupart's? Yet she did not seem to know him. Hullo!"
+
+Just as the waiter was bringing two glasses of wine to the table where
+Josephine and her partner had seated themselves, the young woman
+suddenly arose, and, without taking leave, made for the door.
+
+Fandor managed to pass close to the deserted man. He heard the waiter
+jokingly say:
+
+"Not very kind, the little lady, eh?"
+
+"I should think not! Didn't take her long to give me the slip."
+
+Then in a tone of regret the young man added: "Pity, she was a nice
+little thing."
+
+"That's all right," thought Fandor. "Now I know that Josephine accepted
+the drink because she thought he was sent by Loupart or one of the gang.
+Once enlightened as to his real object, she left him abruptly."
+
+Tracking the young woman, Fandor now felt sure he was going to witness
+an interesting meeting. Josephine, however, seemed in no hurry. She
+inspected the illustrated papers in the kiosks, and presently reached
+the box where platform tickets are distributed; having taken one, she
+sat down near the foot of the staircase which leads to the refreshment
+rooms. Behind her Fandor also took a ticket, and, going up the stairs,
+leaned against the balustrade.
+
+"I am waiting for some one," he said to the waiter who appeared. "You
+may bring me a cup of coffee."
+
+Scarcely five minutes had passed, when Fandor saw a shabby looking man
+approach Josephine and begin an earnest conversation.
+
+The man drew from his pocket a greasy note-book. From it he took a paper
+which he handed to the young woman, who promptly put it away in her
+handbag.
+
+Fandor was puzzled.
+
+"Where was she going? Why did this person hand her a ticket?"
+
+The man pointed to a train where passengers were already taking their
+seats.
+
+"The Marseilles train! So Loupart has left Paris!"
+
+Then he called a messenger.
+
+"Go and get me a first-class ticket to Marseilles. Here is money. Is
+there a telegraph office near at hand?"
+
+"On the arrival platform, sir."
+
+"Right. I will give you a message to take; go and hurry back."
+
+Fandor took out his note-book and scrawled a message:
+
+     "Juve, Prefecture of Police, Room 44.
+
+     "Have met Josephine and followed her. She is off first class, by
+     Marseilles train. Don't know her destination. Will wire you as soon
+     as there's anything fresh.
+
+                                                            "Fandor."
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+ROBBERY; AMERICAN FASHION
+
+
+"Tickets, please."
+
+The guard took the one offered by Fandor.
+
+"Excuse me, sir, there's a mistake here," he said.
+
+"This train doesn't go to Marseilles?"
+
+"The train, yes, but not the last carriage in which you are, for it is
+bound for Pontarlier, and will be slipped at Lyons from this express."
+
+Fandor was nonplussed. The essential was to follow Josephine, ensconced
+in the compartment next to his.
+
+"Well, I'll get into another carriage when we are off; it's so easy with
+the corridors."
+
+"You can't do that, sir," insisted the guard. "While all the carriages
+for Marseilles in the front of the train communicate, this one is
+separated from them by a baggage car."
+
+"Then I'll change later, during the night. I have till Dijon, haven't
+I?"
+
+"You have."
+
+The guard went away. Fandor suddenly asked himself:
+
+"Has Josephine made a mistake, too? Or has she a definite purpose in
+being in a carriage which is to be slipped from the Southern Express at
+Dijon to go on toward the Swiss frontier?"
+
+The guard was looking at tickets in Josephine's compartment. Fandor went
+near to listen; he heard the tail of a conversation between the fair
+traveller, her companion and the guard. The latter declared as he
+withdrew:
+
+"Exactly so, you shall not be disturbed."
+
+When Josephine had boarded the train, Fandor had not ventured to watch
+her too closely, nor the companion she had met on the platform at the
+last moment. He now decided to take advantage of the corridor to take a
+look at the man.
+
+He was quite stout, rather common in appearance, although with a
+prosperous air. A man of middle age, whose jolly face was framed in a
+beard, giving him the look of an old mariner. Moreover, he was one-eyed.
+
+Josephine was playful, full of smiles and amiability, but also somewhat
+absent-minded.
+
+The pair had decidedly the appearance of being lovers.
+
+Although it was quite early, passengers were arranging to pass the night
+as comfortably as possible. The lamps had been shaded with their little
+blue curtains, and the portières, facing the corridors, had been drawn.
+
+Fandor returned to his compartment. Two corners of it were already
+occupied--the two furthest away from the corridor. One was in possession
+of a man about forty, with a waxed moustache, having the air of an
+officer in mufti, the other was taken by a young collegian with a waxen
+complexion.
+
+The journalist determined to keep awake, but scarcely had he settled
+himself when drowsiness crept over him. Rocked by the regular motion of
+the train he sank into a slumber troubled by nightmares. Then suddenly
+he sprang up. He had the clear impression of some one brushing by him
+and opening the door to the corridor.
+
+"Who is there?" he murmured in a voice thick with sleep and drowned by
+the rush of the train. No one answered him. He staggered out into the
+corridor. At the far end of the carriage a passenger, with a long black
+beard, was standing smoking a cigar, and apparently studying the murky
+country. Not a sound came from Josephine's apartment. With a shrug of
+his shoulders and cursing his fears, Fandor returned to his own seat.
+
+Why should he fancy, because he was following Josephine, that all the
+passengers in the train were cut-throats and accomplices of Loupart's
+mistress? Yet, five minutes after these sage reflections, Fandor started
+again; he had distinctly seen, passing along the corridor, two fellows
+with villainous faces and suspicious demeanour. One of them cast into
+Fandor's compartment such a murderous glance that it made the
+journalist's heart palpitate.
+
+Fandor glanced at his companions. The officer was sleeping soundly, but
+the young fellow, although keeping perfectly still, opened his eyes from
+time to time and cast uneasy glances about him, then pretended to sleep
+as soon as he caught Fandor watching him.
+
+The train slackened speed; they were entering Laroche Station; there was
+a stop to change engines. The officer suddenly awoke and got out. The
+compartment holding Josephine and her companion was thrown open, and,
+strange to say, his neighbour, the collegian, had moved into it, sitting
+just opposite the stout gentleman.
+
+Fandor, with a view to keeping awake, abandoned his comfortable seat and
+settled himself in one of the hammocks in the corridor. He chose the
+one just opposite Josephine's door. But so great was his weariness that
+he quickly fell into a deep sleep. Suddenly a violent shock sent him
+rolling to the cross-seat in Josephine's compartment. As he picked
+himself up in a dazed condition, a cry of terror broke from his lips.
+Three inches from his head was the muzzle of a revolver held by a big
+ruffian wearing a mask, who cried:
+
+"Hands up, all!"
+
+Fandor and his companions were too amazed to immediately obey, and the
+command came again, more forcible.
+
+"Hands up, and don't stir or I'll blow out your brains."
+
+And now a gnome-like individual appeared, also masked.
+
+The first one turned to Josephine: "You, woman, out of here!"
+
+Without betraying by her expression whether or no she was his
+accomplice, Josephine hurriedly left her place and, slipping between the
+gnome and the colossus, went and cowered down at the end of the
+carriage.
+
+"Go on!" suddenly commanded the big ruffian, who seemed to be the
+leader. "Go on! rifle 'em!"
+
+The gnome, with wonderful adroitness, ransacked the coat and waistcoat
+pockets of the traveller. The stout man, shaking with alarm, made no
+resistance. After relieving him of his watch and pocketbook, they forced
+him to undo his shirt. Around his waist he wore a broad leather belt.
+
+"Go it, Beaumôme, relieve him of his burden, the fat jackass!"
+
+From the body of the traveller, the stolen belt passed to the big masked
+robber, who weighed the prize complacently. The belt contained pockets
+stuffed with gold and bank notes. The two robbers then moved away toward
+the further end of the carriage.
+
+Fandor, furious at being tricked like the simplest of greenhorns,
+determined to seize the occasion to give the alarm.
+
+The emergency bell was immediately above the pale-faced collegian. With
+a bound the journalist sprang for it, but fell back with a loud cry as
+he felt a sharp pain in his hand. The collegian had leaped up and
+cruelly bitten his finger. So great was the pain that Fandor swooned for
+a few seconds, and that gave his assailant time to cross the compartment
+and reach the corridor. At this moment the express slackened its speed
+and slowly came to a standstill.
+
+"Is it too high to jump?"
+
+Fandor knew the voice: it was Josephine's.
+
+"No," answered some one. "Let yourself go. I'll catch you."
+
+The sound of heavy shoes on the footboard told him that the robbers were
+making off. Josephine went with them, so she was their accomplice. The
+journalist sprang into the corridor to rush in pursuit. But he recoiled.
+A shot rang out, the glass fell broken before him, and a bullet
+flattened above his head in the woodwork.
+
+It now seemed to him that the train was gradually gathering way again.
+Fandor put his head through the broken glass and searched the darkness
+outside.
+
+"Ah!" he cried in amazement. There was no longer a train on the track,
+or rather, the main body of the train was vanishing in the distance,
+while the carriage in which he was and the rear baggage car had pulled
+up. Apparently the robbers had broken the couplings.
+
+At the moment, the stout man, having quite recovered, drew near Fandor
+and observed the situation.
+
+"Why, we're backing! We're backing!" he bellowed with alarm.
+
+"Naturally, we're going down a slope," calmly replied Fandor. The other
+groaned and wrung his hands.
+
+"It's appalling! The Simplon express is only twelve minutes behind us!"
+
+Fandor now realized the frightful danger. Without delay he made for the
+carriage door, ready to jump and risk breaking his bones rather than
+face the terrible crash which seemed inevitable. But before he could
+make up his mind to the leap, a grinding noise became audible. The guard
+in the baggage car had applied the Westinghouse brakes and in a few
+minutes they came to a stop.
+
+Fandor and the stout gentleman sprang frantically out of the carriage,
+and two brakemen jumped from the baggage car, crying: "Get away! Save
+yourselves!"
+
+Clambering over the ties, they jumped a hedge, floundered in a hole full
+of water, scratching their hands and tearing their clothes; they rolled
+down a grassy slope, stuck in a ploughed field, then dropped to the
+ground, motionless, as a fearful din burst like thunder on the hush of
+the night. The Simplon express, racing at full speed, had crashed into
+the two carriages left on the rails and smashed them to bits, while the
+engine and forward carriages of the train were telescoped.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+FLIGHT THROUGH THE NIGHT
+
+
+Scarcely had Loupart received Josephine in his arms, as she jumped from
+the carriage, than he strenuously urged his companions to make haste.
+
+"Now, then, boys, off we go, and quickly, too! Josephine, pick up your
+skirts and get a move on!"
+
+It was a dark night, without moon, favourable to the robber's plans. For
+a good fifteen minutes the ill-omened crew continued their retreat by
+forced march. From time to time Loupart questioned the "Beard":
+
+"This the way?"
+
+The other nodded assent: "Keep on, we'll get there."
+
+At length they descried the white ribbon of a road winding up the side
+of the low hill and vanishing in the distance into a small wood.
+
+"There's the track," declared the Beard.
+
+"To Dijon?"
+
+"No, to Verrez."
+
+"That's a good thing; now, stop and listen to me."
+
+Loupart sat down on the grass and addressed them.
+
+"It's been a good stroke, friends, but unfortunately it's not finished
+yet. They took precautions we couldn't foresee. We have only part of the
+fat. We share up to-morrow evening."
+
+He was answered by growls of disappointment.
+
+"I said to-morrow evening," he repeated. "Those who aren't satisfied
+with that can stay away. There'll be all the more for the others. Now,
+we must separate. Josephine, you, the Beard and I will get back
+together. There's work for us in Paris. The others scatter and take care
+not to get pinched; be back in the nest by ten."
+
+Loupart motioned to the Beard and Josephine to follow him.
+
+"Show us the way, Beard."
+
+"Where to?"
+
+"The telegraph office."
+
+"What's up?"
+
+"Why, you idiot," replied Loupart, "we've been robbed! The wine-dealer's
+notes are only halves! The swine insured himself for nothing."
+
+The Beard broke out into recriminations.
+
+"To have a hundred and fifty notes in your pocket, and they good for
+nothing! There was no such thing as Providence! It was sickening."
+
+"Come, don't get angry, two halves will make a whole."
+
+"You know where to lay hands on the rest?"
+
+"Yes, old man."
+
+"That's our job to-morrow evening? That's why you're chasing to the
+telegraph office?"
+
+Loupart clenched his fists.
+
+"That and something else; there's bigger game afoot."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Juve."
+
+"Oh, the devil!" murmured the Beard, divided between pleasure and fear.
+"You've got the beggar?"
+
+"I have."
+
+"Sure?"
+
+"Sure."
+
+The little group moved forward in silence. At length Josephine began to
+tire.
+
+"Say, have we much further to go?"
+
+"No," replied the Beard. "Verrez village is behind that hill. The main
+road runs by the row of poplars."
+
+"All right. Go and wait there with Josephine. I'll catch you up in a
+quarter of an hour," ordered Loupart. "I've a wire to send off."
+
+His acolytes gone, Loupart resumed his way. As a measure of precaution,
+he took off his jacket, turned it inside out and put it on again. The
+jacket was a trick one: the lining was a different colour and the
+pockets differently placed.
+
+On reaching Verrez, Loupart turned round. From the top of the little
+hill he could see, in the distance, the reddening flames.
+
+"That's going all right," thought the wretch; "the Simplon express has
+run into the cars. There must be a fine mix-up there."
+
+Reaching the post-office at last, he seized a blank and wrote on it
+hastily:
+
+     "Juve, Inspector of Safety, 142 Rue Bonaparte, Paris. All is well;
+     found gang complete, including Loupart. Robbery committed but
+     failed. Cannot give details. Be at Bercy Stores alone, but armed,
+     to-morrow at eleven at night, near the Kessler House cellars.
+
+                                                          "Fandor."
+
+
+The clerk held out her hand to take the message. The bandit was
+extremely polite.
+
+"Be so good as to pay special attention to this message. Read it over,
+madam. You grasp the importance of it? You see it must be kept
+absolutely secret. I rely on you."
+
+Ten minutes' quick walking brought Loupart once more to Josephine and
+the Beard.
+
+"Hullo!" he cried. "Anything new?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Josephine, go down the hill and the first motor that passes, set to and
+howl; call 'help' and 'murder'; got to stop it. Be off! Look sharp!"
+
+Some minutes passed. The two men watched Josephine go down the road and
+hide in one of the ditches.
+
+"Your barker is ready, Beard?"
+
+"Six plugs, Loupart."
+
+"Good! You go to the right, I to the left."
+
+Loupart had scarcely given these orders, when, on the horizon, a bright
+gleam became visible, growing larger every minute, while the noise of a
+motor broke the silence of the open country.
+
+Loupart laughed.
+
+"Look, Beard. Acetylene lamps, eh? That car will do our job splendidly."
+
+An automobile was fast nearing them. As it passed by Josephine, she
+rushed into the road, uttering piercing cries.
+
+"Help! Murder! Have pity! Stop!"
+
+With a hasty movement the chauffeur, taken aback by the sight of a woman
+rising unexpectedly on the lonely road, made a dash at his brakes.
+Meanwhile from the inside of the car a traveller leaned out.
+
+"What is it? What's the matter?"
+
+As the car was about to stop, Loupart and the Beard rushed out.
+
+"You take the passenger!" cried the former; "I'll attend to the
+chauffeur."
+
+The two brigands sprang on the footboards.
+
+"No tricks, or I'll shoot! Josephine, truss these fowls for me!" cried
+Loupart.
+
+Josephine took a roll of cord from her lover's pocket and tied the two
+victims firmly while Loupart gagged them.
+
+"Now, Beard, take them into the field and give them a rap on the head to
+keep them quiet."
+
+Then he got into the car and skilfully turned it round. When Josephine
+and the Beard were on board, he got under way at full speed with a grim
+smile.
+
+"And, now, Juve, it's between us two!"
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+THE SIMPLON EXPRESS DISASTER
+
+
+While Loupart and his mates were making off across country the disaster
+occurred. At a curve in the track the Simplon Express coming at full
+speed charged the cars and crushed them, then, lifted by the shock, the
+engine reared backwards on its wheels and fell heavily, dragging down in
+its fall a baggage car and the first two carriages coupled behind it.
+Then rose in the night cries of terror and the frantic rush of the
+passengers who fled from the luxurious train.
+
+Fandor picked himself up and went forward. From the tender of the engine
+a cloud of steam escaped with hoarse whistlings.
+
+The driver held out his two broken arms.
+
+"Give me a hand, for God's sake! Open the tap! There, that hoisted bar.
+Lift it up. Quick, the boiler is going to burst."
+
+Fandor was still engaged in carrying out this manoeuvre when succour
+began to arrive.
+
+The stoker, less seriously hurt than the driver, had managed to drag
+himself clear of the wreckage, which was beginning to catch fire. The
+head guard, and those passengers whose seats had been at the rear of the
+train, hurried up and the combined effort at rescue began. They searched
+for the injured and put out the incipient blazes.
+
+Instinctively those who had fled from the train followed in a frantic
+stampede the road at the foot of the embankment, reached Verrez village
+out of breath and gave the alarm.
+
+The countryside was soon in an uproar. Lights flashed, torches and lamps
+of vehicles harnessed in haste: a quarter of an hour after the disaster
+half the neighbourhood was afoot from all quarters.
+
+"A bit of luck, sir," remarked the conductor, still pallid with horror,
+to Fandor, "that the collision happened at the curve where our speed was
+slackened. Ten minutes sooner and all the carriages would have been
+telescoped."
+
+"Yes, it was luck," replied the journalist, as he wiped his face,
+covered with soot and coal dust. "The two carriages telescoped were
+almost empty."
+
+From a neighbouring way-station the railway officials had telephoned
+news of the accident. The section of line was kept clear by telegraph.
+Word came that a relief train was being made up, and would arrive in an
+hour.
+
+Fandor had quickly regained his coolness, and was one of the first to
+lend a hand in the rescue, turning over the wreckage and setting free
+the injured.
+
+As he passed along the track, he was attracted by the appeals of a stout
+man, who hurried toward him, wailing:
+
+"Sir! Sir! What a terrible calamity!"
+
+Fandor recognised his fellow-passenger, Josephine's lover.
+
+"Yes, and we had a lucky escape. But what has become of your wife?"
+
+In using the word "wife" Fandor was under no illusion; he merely wanted
+to interview the other.
+
+"My wife? Ah, sir, that's the terrible part of it. She's not my
+wife--she's a little friend, and now it's all bound to come out. My
+lawful wife will hear everything. As for the girl, I don't know what has
+become of her."
+
+"She knew that you were carrying money?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I am an agent for wines at Bercy, and I was going to pay over
+dividends to stock-holders, one hundred and fifty thousand francs. I
+recognised one of my men among the robbers, a cooper. He knew that every
+month I travel, carrying large sums of money. I am quite sure this
+robbery was planned beforehand."
+
+"And who are you, sir?"
+
+"M. Martialle, of Kessler & Barriès. Fortunately the money is not lost."
+
+"Not lost! You know where to find the robbers?"
+
+"That I do not, but they have only the halves of the notes. These are
+worth nothing to them unless they can lay their hands on the
+corresponding halves. It's a way of cheap insurance."
+
+"And where are the other halves of the notes?"
+
+"Oh, in a safe place, in the office of the firm at Bercy."
+
+Fandor abruptly left M. Martialle and approached an official.
+
+"When will the line be cleared?"
+
+"In an hour's time, sire."
+
+"There'll be no train for Paris till then?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+Fandor moved off along the track.
+
+"That's all right, I can make it. I'll have time to send a wire to _The
+Capital_."
+
+The journalist sat down on the grass, took out his writing-pad and began
+his article. But he had overrated his strength. He was worn out, body
+and soul. He had not been writing ten minutes when he dropped into a
+doze, the pencil slipped from his fingers and he was fast asleep.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Fandor opened his eyes, the twilight was beginning to come down. It
+was between five and six o'clock.
+
+"What a fool I've been! I've made a mess of the whole business now," he
+cried as he ran frantically to the nearest station.
+
+"How soon the first train to Paris?"
+
+"In two minutes, sir: it is signalled."
+
+"When does it arrive?"
+
+"At ten o'clock."
+
+Fandor threw up his hands.
+
+"I shall be too late. I haven't time to wire Juve and warn him. Oh! what
+an idiot I was to sleep like that!"
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+A DRAMA AT THE BERCY WAREHOUSE
+
+
+Juve passed the whole day at the Cité Frochot. Despite the precautions
+taken to keep the failure two days back a secret, the papers had got
+wind of the drama: _The Capital_ itself had spoken of it, though without
+naming his fellow-worker. The staff of that paper was unaware that
+Fandor was the other man who had so marvellously escaped from the sewer.
+Blood-curdling tales were told about Doctor Chaleck, Juve, Loupart, the
+house of the crime, the affair at the hospital; but to anyone familiar
+with the actual happenings, the newspaper accounts were very far from
+giving the truth.
+
+And Juve, far from contradicting these misstatements, took a delight in
+spreading them broadcast.
+
+It is sometimes useful to set astray the powerful voice of the Press so
+as to give a false security to the real culprits.
+
+However, when masons, electricians and zinc-workers were seen to take
+possession of Doctor Chaleck's house and begin to turn it upside down, a
+crowd quickly assembled to witness the performance.
+
+It was with great difficulty that Juve, who did not want too many
+witnesses round the place, organised arrangements of a vigorous
+character.
+
+Installed in the drawing-room on the ground floor, he first had a long
+interview with the owner of the house, M. Nathan, the well-known diamond
+broker of the Rue de Provence. The poor man was in despair to think his
+property had been the scene of the extraordinary events which were on
+everybody's tongue. All he knew of Doctor Chaleck was that that
+gentleman had been his tenant just four years, and had always paid his
+rent regularly.
+
+"You didn't suspect," asked Juve in conclusion, "the ingenious
+contrivance of that electric lift in which the doctor placed a study
+identically similar to the real one?"
+
+"Certainly not, sir," replied the worthy man. "Eighteen months ago my
+tenant asked permission to repair the house at his own expense; as you
+may suppose, I granted his request at once. It must have been at that
+time that the queer contrivance was built. Have I your permission to go
+down to the cellars and ascertain their condition?"
+
+"Not before to-morrow, sir, when I shall have finished my inspection,"
+replied Juve, as he saw M. Nathan out.
+
+The inspector was assisted in his investigation by detectives Michel and
+Dupation. They interviewed the old couple in charge of the Cité and
+various neighbours of Doctor Chaleck, but without lighting upon a clue.
+Nobody had seen or heard anything whatever.
+
+Toward noon he and Michel, who did not wish to leave the house, decided
+to have a modest repast brought to them. M. Dupation, a fidgety
+official, took this chance of getting away.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he declared, "you are much more up to this business
+than I, and besides my wife expects me to luncheon. You don't need any
+further help from me?"
+
+Juve reassured the worthy superintendent and gave him permission to go.
+He was only too glad to find himself alone with his lieutenant. The
+workmen who were repairing the caved-in basement of the little house
+were already gone, and there was no chance of their being back before
+two o'clock. Thus Juve found himself alone with Michel.
+
+"What I can't understand, sir," said Michel, "is the telephone call we
+got toward morning from here asking for help at the office in the Rue
+Rochefoucauld. Either the victim herself 'phoned, and in that case she
+did not die, as we think, in the early part of the night, or it was not
+she, and then----"
+
+Juve smiled.
+
+"You are right in putting the problem that way, but to my mind it is
+easy to solve. The call was not given by the murdered woman for,
+remember, when we raised the body at half-past six it was already cold.
+Now the call was not given till six, when the woman had been dead some
+little time. That I am sure of, and you will see the report of the
+medical expert will uphold me."
+
+"Then it was a third person who gave it?"
+
+"Yes, and one who sought to have the crime discovered as soon as
+possible, and who reckoned on the officers coming from the Central
+Station, but did not expect Fandor or me to come back."
+
+"Then according to you, sir, the murderer knew of your presence behind
+the curtain in the study while the crime was being committed."
+
+"I can't tell about the murderer, but Doctor Chaleck certainly knew we
+were there. That man must have watched us all night, known the exact
+instant we left the house, and immediately afterwards got some one to
+telephone or must have done so himself."
+
+Michel, becoming more and more convinced by Juve's reasoning, went on:
+
+"At any rate, the existence of two studies, in all respects similar,
+goes to show a carefully premeditated plan, but there is something I
+can't account for. When you came back to the study where we found the
+dead woman, you found traces of mud by the window brought in by your
+shoes. You must therefore have been watching through the night the room
+where the crime was committed."
+
+Juve was about to put in a word, but Michel, launched on his train of
+argument, continued:
+
+"Allow me, sir; you are going, no doubt, to tell me that they might
+during your short absence have carried the body of the victim into the
+study in question, but I would point out to you, that on the loosened
+hair of the poor creature blood had caked, that some was on the carpet
+and had even gone through it to the flooring beneath. Now if they
+carried in the body just a little while before we discovered it, that
+would not have been the case."
+
+Michel was delighted with his own argument. Juve smiled indulgently.
+
+"My poor Michel," he cried, "you would be quite right if I put forward
+such an explanation. It is certain that the room in which we found the
+body was that in which the crime took place. It is therefore that in
+which we were not! As for the marks of mud near the window, they are
+ours, but transferred from the room in which we were into the room in
+which we were not! Which again proves that our presence was known to the
+culprits.
+
+"Furthermore, the candle with which Doctor Chaleck melted the wax to
+seal his letters was scarcely used, it only burned in fact a few
+minutes. Now we found another candle in the same state. So you see that
+the precautions were well taken and everything possible done to lead us
+astray.
+
+"We see the puppets moving--Loupart, Chaleck, Josephine, others maybe,
+but we do not see the strings."
+
+"The strings which move them perhaps may be no other than--Fantômas,"
+ventured Michel.
+
+Juve frowned and suddenly fell silent. Then abruptly changing the
+conversation, he asked his lieutenant:
+
+"You told me, did you not, that you could no longer appear in the
+character of the Sapper?"
+
+"Quite true, Inspector, I was spotted just the day before the crime by
+Loupart, and so was my colleague, Nonet."
+
+"Talking of that," answered Juve, "Nonet mentioned vaguely something
+about an affair at the docks, supposed to have been planned by the Beard
+and an individual known as the Cooper. Are you fully informed?"
+
+"Unfortunately no, Inspector. I know no more about the matter than you
+do."
+
+"And what is Nonet about now?"
+
+"He has left for Chartres."
+
+Juve shrugged his shoulders. He was annoyed. Perhaps if Léon, nicknamed
+Nonet, had not been transferred he would by now have obtained pertinent
+clues to the dock's affair.
+
+After having enjoined Michel to devise a new disguise which allowed him
+to mix once more with the Band of Cyphers and going back to "The Good
+Comrades," Juve went down to the basement to supervise the workmen, who
+were now back; while Michel busied himself with the inventory of the
+papers found in Doctor Chaleck's study.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On leaving the house toward half-past seven in the evening Juve went
+slowly down to the Rue des Martyrs, pondering over the occurrences which
+for several days had succeeded each other with such startling rapidity.
+
+As he reached the boulevards the bawling of newsboys attracted his
+attention. An ominous headline was displayed in the papers the crowd was
+struggling for.
+
+                     "ANOTHER RAILROAD ACCIDENT.
+                     THE SIMPLON EXPRESS TELESCOPES
+                     THE MARSEILLES LIMITED. MANY
+                     VICTIMS."
+
+Juve anxiously bought a paper and scanned the list of the injured,
+fearful that Fandor would be found among the number. But as he read the
+details and learned that those in the detached carriage had escaped, he
+felt somewhat relieved. Hailing a taxi he drove off rapidly to the
+Prefecture in search of more precise information.
+
+"A message for you, M. Juve."
+
+The detective, hurrying home, was passing the porter's lodge. He pulled
+up short.
+
+"For me?"
+
+"Yes--it's certainly your name on the telegram."
+
+Juve took the blue envelope with distrust and uneasiness. He had given
+his home address to no one. He glanced over the message, and gave a sigh
+of relief.
+
+"The dear fellow," he muttered as he went upstairs. "He's had a narrow
+escape; however, all's well than ends well."
+
+After a hurried toilet and a bite of dinner, Juve set off again, jumped
+into a train for the Boulevard St. Germain and got down at the Jardin
+des Plantes. Then, sauntering casually along, he made for Bercy by the
+docks, which were covered as far as the eye could see with rows and rows
+of barrels.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+About two hours later, Juve, who had been wandering about the vast
+labyrinth of wine-docks, began to grow impatient.
+
+It was already fifty minutes past the appointed hour, and the detective
+began to feel uneasy. Why was Fandor so late? Something must surely have
+happened to him! And then what a queer idea to choose such a meeting
+place!
+
+Suddenly, Juve started. He recalled his talk that afternoon with Michel;
+the reference made to the affair of the docks in which the Beard and the
+Cooper were implicated. What if he had been drawn into a trap!
+
+The detective's reflections were suddenly cut short by unusual and
+alarming sounds.
+
+He fancied he heard the shrill blast of a whistle, followed by the rush
+of footsteps and a collision of empty barrels.
+
+Juve held his breath and crouched down under the shed in which he stood;
+he thought he saw the outline of a shadow passing slowly in the
+distance. Juve was stealthily following in its tracks when he caught a
+significant click.
+
+"Two can play at that," he growled between his teeth, as he cocked his
+revolver. The shadow disappeared, but the footsteps went on.
+
+Disguising his voice he called out: "Who goes there?"
+
+A sharp summons answered him, "Halt!"
+
+Juve was about to call upon his mysterious neighbour to do likewise,
+when a report rang out, at once followed by another. Juve saw where the
+shots came from. His assailant was scarcely fifteen paces from him, but
+luckily the shots had gone wide.
+
+"Use up your cartridges, my friend," muttered Juve; "when your get to
+number six, it will be my turn."
+
+The sixth shot rang out. This was the signal for Juve to spring forward.
+Leaping over the barrels, he made for the shadow which he espied at
+intervals. All at once he gave a cry of triumph. He was face to face
+with a man.
+
+His cry, however, changed into amazement.
+
+"You, Fandor?"
+
+"Juve!"
+
+"You've begun shooting at me, now, have you?"
+
+For answer, the journalist held out his revolver, which was fully
+loaded.
+
+"But what are you doing here, Juve?" he asked.
+
+"You wired to me to come."
+
+"That I never did."
+
+Juve drew the telegram from his pocket and held it out to Fandor, but as
+the two men drew close together, they were startled by a lightning
+flash, and a report. A bullet whistled past their ears. Instinctively
+they lay flat between two barrels, holding their breaths.
+
+Juve whispered instructions: "When I give the signal, fire at anything
+you see or toward the direction of the next report."
+
+The two men slowly and noiselessly raised their heads.
+
+"Ah," cried Juve.
+
+And he fired at the rapidly fleeing figure.
+
+"Did you see?" whispered Fandor, clutching Juve's arm. "It's Chaleck."
+
+Juve was about to leap up and start in pursuit when a series of dull
+thuds, the overturning of barrels, stifled oaths and cracking planks
+smote his ear. These noises were followed by the measured footfall of a
+body of men drawing near, words of command and shrill whistles.
+
+"What's all that now?" questioned Fandor.
+
+"The best thing that could happen for us," replied Juve. "The police are
+coming. These quays are a refuge for all kinds of tramps and crooks who
+from time to time are rounded up. We are probably going to see a
+'drive.'"
+
+Juve had scarcely finished speaking when several shots rang out; these
+were followed by a general uproar and then a great blue flame suddenly
+rose, died away and flared up again. A thick smoke permeated the
+atmosphere.
+
+"Fire," exclaimed Fandor.
+
+"The kegs of alcohol are alight," added Juve.
+
+The two had now to think of their own safety. Evidently bandits had been
+tracking them for more than an hour, guided by Doctor Chaleck.
+
+But they soon found that their retreat was cut off by a ring of flames.
+
+"Let us head for the Seine," suggested Fandor, who had discovered a
+break in the ring of fire at that point. A fresh explosion now took
+place. From a burst cask a spurt of liquid fire shot up, closing the
+circle. It had become impossible to pass through in any direction.
+
+They heard the cries of the rabble, the whistles of the officers. In the
+distance the horns of the fire engines moaned dolefully. The heat was
+growing unbearable, and the ring enclosing Fandor and Juve narrowed
+more and more. Suddenly Juve pointed to an enormous empty puncheon that
+had just rolled beside them.
+
+"Have you ever looped the loop?" he asked. "Hurry up now; in you go;
+we'll let it roll down the slope of the quay into the river."
+
+In a few moments the cask was rolling at top speed. Juve and Fandor
+guessed by the crackling of the outer planks and by a sudden rise in the
+temperature that they were passing through the fire. All at once the
+great vat reached the level of the river. It plunged into the waves with
+a dull thud.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+ON THE SLABS OF THE MORGUE
+
+
+As he turned at the far side of the Pont St. Louis, Doctor Ardel, the
+celebrated medical jurist, caught sight of M. Fuselier, the magistrate,
+chatting with Inspector Juve in front of the Morgue.
+
+"I am behind-hand, gentlemen. So sorry to have made you wait."
+
+M. Fuselier and Juve crossed the tiny court and entered the
+semi-circular lecture-room, where daily lessons in medical jurisprudence
+are given to the students and the head men of the detective police
+force.
+
+Doctor Ardel, piloting his guests, did the honours.
+
+"The place is not exactly gay; in fact, it has an ill reputation; but
+anyhow, gentlemen, it is at your disposition. M. Fuselier, you will be
+able to investigate in peace: M. Juve, you will be at liberty to put any
+questions you choose to your client."
+
+The doctor spoke in a loud voice, emphasising each word with a jolly
+laugh, good natured, devoid of malice, yet making an unpleasant
+impression on his two visitors less at home than he in the gruesome
+abode they had just entered.
+
+"You will excuse me," he went on, "if I leave you for a couple of
+minutes to put on an overall and my rubber gloves?"
+
+The doctor gone, the two instinctively felt a vague need to talk to
+counteract the doleful atmosphere the Morgue seemed to exhale, where so
+many unclaimed corpses, so much human flotsam, had come to sleep under
+the inquiring eyes of the crowd, before being given to the common ditch,
+being no more than an entry in a register and a date: "Body found so and
+so, buried so and so."
+
+"Tell me, my dear Juve," asked M. Fuselier. "This morning directly I got
+your message I at once acceded to your wish and asked Ardel to have us
+both here this afternoon, but I hardly understand your object. What have
+you come here for?"
+
+Juve, with both hands in his pockets, was walking up and down before the
+dissecting table. At the Magistrate's question he stopped short, and,
+turning to M. Fuselier, replied:
+
+"Why have I come here? I scarcely know myself. It's everything or
+nothing. The key to the puzzle. I tell you, M. Fuselier, things are
+becoming increasingly tragic and baffling."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"The part played by Josephine is less and less clear. She is Loupart's
+mistress; she informs against him, is fired at by him, then, according
+to Fandor, becomes in some manner his accomplice in a robbery so daring
+that you must search the annals of American criminality to find its
+like."
+
+"You refer to the train affair?"
+
+"Yes. Now, leaving Josephine on one side, we are confronted with two
+enigmas. Doctor Chaleck, a man of the world, a scholar, crops up as
+leader of a band of criminals. What we know for certain about him is
+that he fired at Josephine, that he was concerned in the affair of the
+docks--no more. There remains Loupart; and about him being the real
+culprit we know nothing. There is no proof that he killed the woman. In
+order to prove that we should have to know who that woman is and why she
+was killed, and also how. The how and why of the crime alone might
+chance to give us the answer."
+
+"What trail are you following?"
+
+"That of the dead woman. The body we are about to examine will determine
+me in which quarter to direct my search."
+
+M. Fuselier, looking at the detective with a penetrating eye, asked:
+
+"You surely haven't the notion of suspecting Fantômas?"
+
+"You are right, M. Fuselier," he replied. "Behind Loupart, behind
+Chaleck, everywhere and always it is Fantômas I am looking for."
+
+Whatever information the detective was about to impart to the magistrate
+was cut short by the return of Doctor Ardel. That gentleman, in donning
+the uniform of the expert, had resumed an appearance of professional
+gravity.
+
+"We are going to work now, gentlemen," he announced. "I need not remind
+you, of course, that the body you are about to see, that of the woman
+found in the Cité Frochot, has already undergone certain changes due to
+decomposition, which have modified its aspect."
+
+So saying, Dr. Ardel pressed a button and gave an attendant the
+necessary order. "Be so good as to bring the body from room No. 6."
+
+Some minutes later a folding door in the wall opened and two men pushed
+a truck into the middle of the hall upon which lay the corpse of the
+unknown.
+
+"I now give over the dead woman to you to identify," declared Doctor
+Ardel. "My examination has been carried out and my part as expert is
+over--I am ready to hand in my report."
+
+Fuselier and Juve bent long over the slab upon which the body had been
+placed.
+
+"Alas!" cried Juve, "how recognise anything in this countenance
+destroyed by pitch? What discover in these crushed limbs, this human
+form, which is now a shapeless mass?" And, turning to Dr. Ardel, he
+questioned:
+
+"Professor, what did you learn from your autopsy?"
+
+"Nothing, or very little," replied the doctor. "Death was not due to one
+blow more than another. A general effusion of blood took place
+everywhere at once."
+
+"Everywhere at once? What do you mean by that?" questioned Juve.
+
+"Gentlemen, that is the exact truth. In dissecting this body I was
+surprised to find all the blood vessels burst, the heart, the veins, the
+arteries, even the lung cells. More than this, the very bones are
+broken, splintered into a vast number of little pieces. Lastly, both on
+the limbs and over the whole body I find a general ecchymosis, reaching
+from the top of the neck to the lower extremities."
+
+"But," objected Juve, who feared the professor might linger over
+technical details too complex for him, "what general notion does this
+suggest to you as to the cause of death?"
+
+"A strange idea, M. Juve, and one it is not easy for me to define. You
+might say that the body of this woman had passed under the grinders of a
+roller! The body is 'rolled,' that is just the word, crushed all over,
+and there is no point where the pressure might be conjectured to have
+been greatest."
+
+M. Fuselier looked at Juve.
+
+"What can we deduce from that?" he asked.
+
+"Professor Ardel demonstrates scientifically the same doubts to which a
+rough inspection led me. How did the murderer go to work? It becomes
+more and more of a mystery."
+
+"It is so much so," declared Professor Ardel, "that even by postulating
+the worst complications I really cannot conceive of any machine capable
+of thus crushing a human being."
+
+"I do not believe," declared the magistrate, "that we have any more to
+see here. It is plain, Juve, that this corpse cannot furnish any clues
+to you and me for the inquest."
+
+"The corpse, no," cried Juve, "but there is something else."
+
+Then, turning to the professor, he asked:
+
+"Could you have brought to us the clothes this woman wore?"
+
+"Quite easily."
+
+From a bag that an attendant handed him Juve drew out the garments of
+the dead woman. The shoes were by a good maker, the silk stockings with
+open-work embroidery, the chemise and the drawers were of fine linen and
+the corset was well cut.
+
+"Nothing," he cried, "not a mark on this linen nor even the name of the
+shop where it was bought."
+
+He examined her petticoat, her bodice, a sort of elegant blouse, trimmed
+with lace, and the velvet collar which had several spots of blood upon
+it. He then drew a small penknife from his pocket and, kneeling on the
+floor, proceeded to probe the seams. Suddenly he uttered a muffled
+exclamation:
+
+"Ah! What's this?" From the lining of the bodice he drew out a thin roll
+of paper, crumpled, stained with blood, torn unfortunately.
+
+     "Goodness of God in whom I trust--I do not wish to die with this
+     remorse--I do not wish to risk his killing me to destroy this
+     secret--I write this confession, I will tell him it is deposited in
+     a safe place--yes, I was the cause of the death of that hapless
+     actor! Yes, Valgrand paid for the crime which Gurn committed....
+     Yes, I sent Valgrand to the scaffold by making him pass for
+     Gurn--Gurn who killed Lord Beltham, Gurn, who I sometimes think
+     must be Fantômas!"
+
+Juve read these lines in an agitated voice, and as he came to the
+signature he turned pale and was obliged to stop.
+
+"What is the matter?"
+
+"It is signed--'Lady Beltham.'"
+
+In order that Doctor Ardel, understanding nothing of Juve's agitation,
+might grasp that import of the paper just discovered he would have had
+to call to mind the appalling tragedy which three years before had
+stirred the whole world with its bloody vicissitude and mystery, one not
+solved to that hour.
+
+"Lady Beltham!"
+
+At that name Juve called up the whole blood-curdling past! He saw in
+fancy the English lady[A] whose husband was murdered by the Canadian
+Gurn, who perhaps was her lover.
+
+And Juve, following his train of thought, pondered that he had accused
+this same lady of having, to save her lover, the very day the guillotine
+was erected on the boulevard, found means to send in his stead the
+innocent actor, Valgrand.
+
+And here in connection with this affair of the Cité Frochot he found
+Lady Beltham involved in the puzzle of which he was so keenly seeking
+the key.
+
+Juve again read the momentous paper he had just unearthed.
+
+"By Jove, it was plain," ran his thought, "the lady, criminal though she
+might be, was first and foremost Fantômas' passionate inamorata. And
+this paper he held in his hands was the tail end of her confession--the
+remains of a document in which in a fit of moral distress she had avowed
+her remorse and made known the truth."
+
+And taking line by line the cryptic statement, Juve asked himself
+further:
+
+"What do these phrases signify? How extract the whole truth from these
+few words? 'I do not want him to kill me in order to destroy that
+secret'! When Lady Beltham wrote that she was angry with Gurn. Then
+again what did this other doubtful expression mean?--'Gurn who I
+sometimes fancy may be Fantômas.' She did not know then the precise
+identity of her lover! Oh, the wretch! To what depths had she sunk?"
+
+Then as he put this query to himself, Juve shook from head to foot. Like
+a thunderclap he thought he grasped the truth he had followed so
+eagerly. What had become of Lady Beltham? Must he not come to the
+conclusion that this woman whose face had been crushed out of all
+recognition by the murderer was none other than the lady? How else
+explain the discovery in her bodice of the betraying document? Who but
+she could have had it in her possession? Who else could have so
+sedulously concealed it?
+
+Juve read over another clause: "I will tell him it is deposited in a
+safe place."
+
+Feverishly Juve took up the garments trailing on the ground, carefully
+explored the fabric, made a minute search.
+
+"It is impossible," he thought, "that I should not find another
+document. The beginning of this confession--I must have it!"
+
+All at once he stopped short in his search. "Curse it all!" And he
+pointed out to M. Fuselier, disguised in the lining of a loose pocket in
+the petticoat--a fresh hiding place, but torn and alas! empty.
+
+This woman had split up her confession into several portions. And if she
+was killed it was certainly to strip her of these compromising papers.
+Well, the murderer had attained his object.
+
+"Look, Fuselier, this empty 'cache' is the proof of what I put forward,
+and chance alone allowed the page concealed in the collar of this bodice
+to fall into my hands."
+
+Long did the detective still grope and ponder, heedless of the
+questions the professor and the magistrate kept asking him. He rose at
+last, and with a distracted gesture took the arm of M. Fuselier, and
+dragged him before the stone slab on which the corpse, but recently
+unknown, smiled a ghastly smile.
+
+"M. Fuselier, the dead woman has spoken. She is Lady Beltham. This is
+the body of Lady Beltham!"
+
+The magistrate recoiled in horror. He murmured:
+
+"But who then can Doctor Chaleck be? Who can Loupart be?"
+
+Juve replied without hesitation.
+
+"Ask Fantômas the names of his accomplices!"
+
+And leaving him and Doctor Ardel without any farewell Juve rushed from
+the Morgue, his features so distorted that as they passed him people
+drew aside, amazed and murmuring:
+
+"A madman or a murderer!"
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+FANTÔMAS' VICTIM
+
+
+"You understand my object, Fandor? Hitherto I have worked unaided. I
+wanted to unearth Fantômas and bring him to Headquarters, saying to my
+superiors, 'For three years you have maintained this man was dead; well,
+here he is! I have put the darbies on the most terrible ruffian of
+modern times.' Well, I must forego my little triumph. We must now work
+in the open. Public opinion must come to our aid."
+
+"Then you want me to write my article?"
+
+"Yes, and tell all the details; wind up by putting the question
+squarely. 'Is not Fantômas still alive?' Then sum up in the affirmative.
+Now, be off. I want to read your article this evening in the _Capital_."
+
+Fandor had just left his detective friend when old Jean, the only
+servant that Juve tolerated in his private quarters, entered the room.
+
+"Don't forget the person who is waiting in the parlour, sir."
+
+"Ah, yes, to be sure. A person who comes to see me at home, when nobody
+knows my address should be interesting. Show him in, Jean."
+
+Juve placed his revolver in reach of his hand as Jean announced: "Maître
+Gérin, notary."
+
+Juve rose, motioned his visitor to a chair and inquired the object of
+his visit.
+
+Maître Gérin bowed respectfully to Juve.
+
+"I must apologise," he said, "for coming to disturb you at home, sir,
+but it concerns a matter of such importance and it involves names so
+terrible that I could not utter them within the walls of the Sûreté.
+What brings me here is a crime which must be laid to Fantômas or his
+heirs in crime."
+
+Juve was strangely moved.
+
+"Speak, sir, I am all attention."
+
+"M. Juve, I believe that one of my clients, a woman, has been killed. I
+have had for some time a certain sympathy, and, I don't disguise it, an
+immense curiosity concerning her because she was actually involved in
+the mysterious affairs of Fantômas."
+
+"The name of the woman, counsel, her name, I beg of you?"
+
+"The name of the woman who, I fear, has been murdered is--Lady
+Beltham!"
+
+Juve gave a sigh of relief. It was the name he wished to hear.
+
+Maître Gérin continued: "I have been Lady Beltham's lawyer for a long
+period of time, but since the Fantômas case came to an end in the
+sentencing to death of Gurn and the subsequent scandal attached to the
+name of Lady Beltham, I have ceased to have any further tidings of that
+unhappy woman.
+
+"Indirectly, through the medium of the papers which at times gave out
+some echo of her, I knew that she had been travelling, then, that she
+was back in Paris, and had gone to live at Neuilly, Boulevard Inkermann.
+But I did not see her again. It is true her family matters were settled,
+her husband's estate entirely wound up. In short, she had no reason to
+appeal to me professionally."
+
+"To be sure."
+
+"Well, some days ago, I was greatly surprised by her visiting my office.
+Naturally I refrained from asking her any awkward questions."
+
+Juve interrupted: "In Heaven's name, sir, how long ago is it since Lady
+Beltham called on you?"
+
+"Nineteen days, sir."
+
+A sigh of relief escaped Juve. He had feared all his theories regarding
+the body at the Morgue the day before were going to collapse. "Go on,
+sir," he cried.
+
+"Lady Beltham, on being shown into my private office, appeared to me
+much the same physically as I had known her previously, but she was no
+longer the great lady, cold, haughty, a trifle disdainful. She seemed
+crushed under a terrible load, a prey to awful mental torture. She made
+appeal to my discretion, both professionally and as a man of honour.
+
+"She then spoke as follows: 'I am going to write a letter which, if it
+fell into the hands of a third person, would bring about a great
+calamity. This letter I shall intrust to you together with my Will which
+will instruct you what to do with it at my death. I will send you a
+visiting card with a line in my own handwriting every fortnight. If ever
+this card fails to come, conclude that I am dead, that they have
+murdered me, and carry that letter where I tell you--Avenge me!'"
+
+"Well, what then?" cried Juve, anxiously.
+
+"That is all, M. Juve. I have not seen Lady Beltham again, nor had any
+news of her. When I called at her residence I was told she was away. I
+have come to ask you whether you think she has been murdered."
+
+Juve was pacing his room with great strides.
+
+"Maître," he said at last, "your story confirms all I have suspected.
+Yes, Lady Beltham is dead. She has been murdered. That letter contained
+her confession and revealed not only her own crimes, but those of her
+accomplices, of her master--of--Fantômas. Fantômas killed her to free
+himself of a witness to his evil life."
+
+"Fantômas! But Fantômas is dead."
+
+"So they say."
+
+"Have you proofs of his existence?"
+
+"I am looking for them."
+
+"What do you think of doing?"
+
+"I am going to make an investigation. I am going to learn where and how
+Lady Beltham was killed. I shall see you again, Maître. Read _The
+Capital_ this evening. You will find in it many interesting surprises."
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+THE ENGLISHWOMAN OF BOULEVARD INKERMANN
+
+
+"To sum up what I have just learned."
+
+Juve was seated at his desk, and those who knew the private life of the
+great detective would assuredly have guessed that he was gravely
+preoccupied. He was trying to extract some useful information from the
+notary's visit, some hints essential to the investigation he had taken
+in hand, and that at all hazards he meant to pursue to a successful
+termination. The task was fraught with difficulties and even peril. But
+the triumph would be great if he should succeed in putting the
+"bracelets" on the "genius of crime," as he had called him to his friend
+Fandor.
+
+"Lady Beltham had gone to visit Gérin. She was an astute woman after
+all, and knew how to get her own way. There must have been powerful
+motives which urged her to write that confession. What were those
+motives?
+
+"Remorse? No. A woman who loves has no remorse. Fear? Probably, but fear
+of what?"
+
+Juve, without being aware of it, had just written on the paper of his
+note-book the ill-omened name which haunted him.
+
+"Fantômas!"
+
+"Why, of course, Fantômas killed Lady Beltham, and killed her in the
+house of Doctor Chaleck, an accomplice. And Loupart, a third accomplice,
+got his mistress to write to me, and I believed the denunciation.
+Loupart got us to dog him, led me unawares behind the curtains in the
+study, and made me witness that Chaleck was innocent. Oh, the ruse was a
+clever one. Josephine herself, by the two shots she received some days
+later at Lâriboisière, became a victim. In short, the scent was crossed
+and broken."
+
+The detective snatched up his hat, saw carefully to the charges of his
+pocket revolver, then gravely and solemnly cried:
+
+"It is you and I now, Fantômas!" with which he left his rooms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Juve and Fandor were entering a taxi-cab.
+
+"To Neuilly Church," cried Juve to the driver. "And, now, my dear
+Fandor, you must be thinking me crazy, as less than two hours ago I
+sent you off to write an article, and here I come taking you from your
+paper and carrying you away in this headlong fashion. But just listen to
+the tale of this morning's doings."
+
+Juve then gave a full account of Maître Gérin's visit and wound up by
+saying: "It is through Lady Beltham that we must unearth that monster,
+Fantômas."
+
+"That's all very well," replied Fandor, "but as the lady is dead, how
+are we going to set about it?"
+
+"By reconstructing the last hours of her life. We are now on our way to
+Lady Beltham's residence, Boulevard Inkermann."
+
+"And what are we to do when we arrive there?"
+
+"I shall examine the house, which is probably empty, and you are to
+'pump' the neighbours, to ask questions of the tradespeople. I should
+attract too much attention if I were to do this myself, and that is why
+I dragged you away from your work."
+
+Some moments later the taxi pulled up at the corner of Boulevard
+Inkermann.
+
+"The house is number--" said Juve as he took Fandor by the arm. "Bless
+me, you remember the house! It is the one in which I arrested Gurn
+three years ago; that famous day he came to see Lady Beltham, disguised
+as a beggar."
+
+The two friends soon found themselves at their destination. Through the
+garden railing, which was wholly covered with a dense growth of ivy, the
+two saw the house, which now looked very dilapidated.
+
+"It doesn't look as if it had been inhabited for a long while," said
+Fandor.
+
+"That's what we want to make sure of. Go and make your inquiries."
+
+Fandor left his companion and made his way back to the commercial
+section of Neuilly. He stopped opposite a sign which read:
+
+"Gardening done."
+
+"Anyone there?" he inquired.
+
+An old woman, standing in the doorway, came forward. "What can I do for
+you, sir?"
+
+"If I am not mistaken, it was you who attended to Lady Beltham's
+garden?"
+
+"Yes, sir, we kept her garden in order. But my husband hasn't worked
+there for several months, as Lady Beltham has been away."
+
+"I heard she was coming back to Paris, and called to-day, but found the
+house closed up."
+
+"Oh, I am sorry. Lady Beltham's an excellent customer and Mme. Raymond
+also bought flowers of us."
+
+"Mme. Raymond. She is a friend of Lady Beltham?"
+
+"Her companion. It is now close to a year that Mme. Raymond has been
+living with her. Oh! a very pleasant lady; a pretty brunette, very
+elegant and not at all proud."
+
+Fandor thought it well not to seem astonished.
+
+"Oh, yes, of course," he cried, "Mme. Raymond. I remember now. Lady
+Beltham's life is so sad and lonely."
+
+"True enough," the woman replied, and, lowering her voice: "And then,
+what with all these tales of noises and ghosts, the house can't be too
+pleasant to live in, eh?"
+
+Fandor pretended to be well posted. "People still talk of these
+incidents?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir."
+
+Fandor did not venture to press the subject, and, taking leave of the
+worthy woman, he made his way back to the Boulevard. As soon as Juve
+caught sight of him in the distance he ran up eagerly.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, Juve, what have you found out during my absence?"
+
+"In the first place that it is exactly sixty-four days since Lady
+Beltham left Neuilly. I discovered this by the dates on a lot of
+circulars in the letter box. I also had a talk with a butcher's man and
+learned that Lady Beltham had a companion."
+
+"Oh! I was bringing you that same news!"
+
+"This Mme. Raymond is young, dark, very pretty. Can't you guess who she
+is?"
+
+Fandor stared at Juve.
+
+"You mean----"
+
+"Josephine. It's perfectly clear. We know Lady Beltham wrote a
+confession, that Fantômas suspected this and murdered her to get hold of
+it, and further that in this murder Loupart was involved. Josephine was
+introduced to Lady Beltham by Fantômas. A spy going there to betray the
+great lady and possibly entice her later to the Cité Frochot. Let us
+make haste, lad. We thought we had to follow the trail of Loupart and
+Chaleck, but we mustn't lose sight of Josephine. She may be the means of
+helping us to the truth."
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+THE ARREST OF JOSEPHINE
+
+
+The somewhat grim faces of Mme. Guinon, Julie and the Flirt lit up
+suddenly. Bonzille, the tramp set free by the police the day after the
+"drive" in the Rue Charbonnière, had opened the bottle of vermouth, and
+Josephine bustled around to find glasses to put on the table.
+
+Josephine had visitors in her little lodging. There was to be a quiet
+lunch. On the sideboard attractive dishes were ready, a fine savour of
+cooking onions came from the dark corner in which Loupart's pretty
+mistress was doing hasty cookery over the gas.
+
+"Neat or with water?" asked Bonzille, performing his office of cup
+bearer with comical dignity.
+
+Mme. Guinon asked for plenty of water. Julie shrugged her shoulders
+indifferently; she didn't care so long as there was drink, while the
+Flirt, in her cracked voice, breathed in the loafer's ear: "How about a
+sip of brandy to put with it?"
+
+The appetiser loosened tongues: they began to cackle. From a drawer
+Josephine got out a pack of cards, which the Flirt promptly seized,
+while Julie, leaning familiarly on her shoulder, counselled her:
+
+"Cut with the left and watch what you are doing; we shall see if there's
+any luck for us in the pack."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Josephine had now been back three days from her painful journey and had
+not seen Loupart. The latter, after having abandoned the motor in some
+waste ground among the fortifications, had vanished with the Beard, only
+bidding his mistress go home as if nothing had happened and wait for
+news of him.
+
+The Simplon Express affair had made a great stir in the fashionable
+world, and had produced considerable uneasiness among the criminal
+class.
+
+To be sure no name had been mentioned, and apparently the police were
+not following any definite clue. Still, in the Chapelle quarter, and
+especially in the den of the "Goutte d'Or" and the Rue de Chartres, it
+was noticed that the absence of the chief members of the Band of
+Cyphers coincided with the date of the tragedy.
+
+At first there had been some slight stand-offishness shown to Josephine
+on her return. She was greeted with doubtful allusions, equivocal
+compliments, with a touch of coldness, and folks were also amazed at not
+seeing Loupart reappear with her.
+
+Josephine told herself that she must at all costs disabuse her
+neighbours of this bad impression, and that is why she had decided to
+give a luncheon party to her most intimate friends. These might also be
+her most formidable opponents, for such damsels as the Flirt and Julie,
+even big Ernestine, could not fail to be jealous of the mistress of a
+distinguished leader; besides, she was the prettiest woman in the
+quarter.
+
+Joining the conversation from time to time, Josephine smiled and
+regained confidence. Her manoeuvre bade fair to be crowned with
+success.
+
+As they sat down to table the door opened and Mother Toulouche came in,
+carrying a capacious basket.
+
+"Well," cried the old fence, "I got wind that something was going on
+here, and I said to myself, 'Why shouldn't Mother Toulouche be in it as
+well?' One more or less don't matter, eh, Josephine?"
+
+Josephine assented and made room for her. Before sitting down the old
+woman put her basket on the floor.
+
+"If I invite myself, Fifine, I bring something to the feast. Here are
+some portugals and two dozen snails which will help out."
+
+All at once, Josephine, who, despite the general gaiety, was
+absent-minded and preoccupied, rose and ran to the door, answering a
+knock. She was at bottom horribly uneasy at hearing nothing of her
+lover. She began to fear that the police for once might have got the
+upper hand. It was little Paulot, the porter's son, who rushed in quite
+out of breath.
+
+"Mme. Josephine, mother told me to come up and warn you that two
+gentlemen were asking for you in the lodge just now. Two gentlemen in
+special 'rig.'"
+
+"Do you know them, Paulot?"
+
+"I don't, Mme. Josephine."
+
+"What did they want of me?"
+
+"They didn't say."
+
+"What did your mother answer?"
+
+"Don't know. Believe she told 'em you were in your den."
+
+The occurrence cast a chill over the company. Little Paulot was given a
+big glass of claret, and when he had left the Flirt observed gravely:
+
+"It's the cops."
+
+"Why should they come and inquire for me?"
+
+Julie tried to console her.
+
+"Anyhow they'll not come up to your place."
+
+Josephine was greatly upset. Were they after her or Loupart? Why had
+they withdrawn? Would they come back?
+
+In a flash she burst out, beating her fist on the table:
+
+"Bah! I've had enough of this, not knowing what is going to happen from
+one moment to the next. Sooner than stay here, I'll go and find out."
+
+The Flirt suggested, with a spiteful smile.
+
+"Go ahead, my girl, they won't be far away; go and ask them what they
+want."
+
+"Very well," cried Josephine, "I will."
+
+And the young girl emptied her glass to give her courage.
+
+"And if you don't come back, we'll set your room to rights," cried the
+Flirt after her. "Good luck, try and not sleep in the jug."
+
+Josephine rushed downstairs, and then, after a moment's hesitation,
+turned and went down the Rue de Chartres.
+
+At first she noticed nothing unusual or suspicious. The faces of those
+she met were mostly familiar to her. But suddenly her heart stopped
+beating. Two men accosted her simultaneously, one on her right, the
+other on her left.
+
+Her neighbour on the right asked very softly:
+
+"Are you Josephine Ramot?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You must come with us."
+
+"Yes," said Josephine, resigned.
+
+A few moments later, Josephine, seated in a cab between the two men, was
+crossing Paris. The detectives had given the address: "Boulevard du
+Palais."
+
+Loupart's mistress, taken on her arrival to the ante-room adjoining the
+private rooms of the examining magistrates, had not much time for
+reflection.
+
+To be sure, she was not guilty. Not guilty? Well, at bottom the affair
+of the Marseilles train made Josephine uneasy. And the story of the
+motor, too, the motor taken by force from unknown travellers. What
+knowledge had the police of these events? When questioned, was she to
+confess or deny?
+
+A little old man, bald and fussy, appeared at the end of the passage and
+called her.
+
+"Josephine Ramot, the private room of Justice Fuselier."
+
+Mechanically she went forward between her two captors, who pushed her
+into a well-lit apartment, in the corner of which stood a big desk. A
+well-dressed gentleman was sitting there, writing; opposite him, in the
+shadow, some one stood motionless. The magistrate raised his head; his
+face was cold and contained, but not spiteful.
+
+"What is your name?"
+
+"Josephine Ramot."
+
+"Where were you born?"
+
+"Rue de Belleville."
+
+"What is your age?"
+
+"Twenty-two."
+
+"You live by prostitution?"
+
+Josephine coloured and, with an angry voice, cried:
+
+"No, your honour, I have a calling. I am a polisher."
+
+"Are you working now?"
+
+Josephine felt awkward.
+
+"Well, to say the truth, at the moment I have no work, but they know me
+at M. Monthier's, Rue de Malte; it was there I was apprenticed, and----"
+
+"And since you became the mistress of the ruffian Loupart, known as 'The
+Square,' you have ceased to practise an honest calling?"
+
+"I won't deny being Loupart's mistress, but as for prostitution----"
+
+The man Josephine had noticed standing in the shadow came forward and
+murmured a few words in the magistrate's ear.
+
+"M. Juve," cried Josephine, moving toward the inspector with her hand
+out. She stopped short as the detective motioned to her that such a
+familiarity was not allowable, and the examination was resumed.
+
+The magistrate, after having by some curt questions brought to light the
+salient points of Josephine's life, and clearly mapped out the speedy
+development of the honest little work girl into a ruffian's mistress,
+and in all probability, accomplice, began the interrogation on the main
+point.
+
+At some length he narrated without losing a single change of her
+countenance, the various incidents of the evening begun in the railway
+which ended with the disaster to the Simplon Express.
+
+Fuselier made Josephine pass again through her headlong exit from
+Lâriboisière, her quick passage through Paris when she was barely
+convalescent, and still suffering from the effects of the fever, her
+departure in the Marseilles Express, where she picked up half a score of
+footpads headed by her redoubtable lover; then the waiting in the
+silence of the night, the affray, the threats, and lastly, after
+breaking the couplings to the train, the dangerous flight of the band,
+the headlong rush through the country.
+
+The magistrate wound up:
+
+"You came to town afterwards, Josephine Ramot, in company with Loupart,
+called 'The Square,' and his factotum, the ruffian 'Beard.'"
+
+Josephine, embarrassed by the steady glance of the magistrate,
+endeavoured to keep her face devoid of expression, but as in his recital
+the points of the adventure she had shared grew more definite, she felt
+she was constantly changing colour and at certain moments her eyelids
+quivered over her downcast eyes.
+
+Evidently he was well posted. That young man who got into the same
+compartment as M. Martialle must certainly have belonged to the police.
+But for that the judge would never have known precisely what took place.
+Decidedly this was a bad beginning.
+
+Josephine now dreaded to see the door open and Loupart appear, the
+bracelets on his wrists, followed by the Beard, similarly fettered, for
+beyond a doubt the two men had been nabbed.
+
+Hunched up, her nerves tense, Josephine kept her mind fixed on one
+point. She was waiting anxiously for the first chance to protest. At a
+certain juncture the magistrate declared:
+
+"You three, Loupart, 'The Beard' and yourself, shared between you the
+proceeds of the robberies committed."
+
+As soon as she could get a word in, Josephine shouted her innocence.
+
+Oh, as to that, no! She had not touched a cent from the business. She
+did not even know what was involved.
+
+The exact truth was this. She was ill in the hospital when all of a
+sudden she remembered that Loupart had some days before bidden her be at
+all costs at the Lyons Station, on a certain Saturday evening at exactly
+seven o'clock. Now that particular Saturday was the day after the
+attempt on her life. As she was much better she set off in obedience to
+her lover. She knew no more; she had done no more; she would not have
+them accuse her of any more.
+
+The young woman had gradually grown warm, her voice rose and vibrated.
+The judge let her have her say, and when she had finished there was a
+silence.
+
+M. Fuselier slowly dipped a pen in the ink, and in his level voice
+declared, casting a glance in Juve's direction:
+
+"After all, what seems clearly established is complicity."
+
+Josephine gave a start--she knew the terrible significance of the term.
+Complicity meant joint guilt.
+
+But Juve intervened:
+
+"Excuse me, in place of 'complicity' perhaps we had better say
+'compulsion.'"
+
+"I don't follow you, Juve."
+
+"We must bear in mind, your honour, that this girl is to be pardoned to
+a certain extent for having obeyed her lover's order, more particularly
+at a time when the latter had gained quite a victory over the police.
+For in spite of the protection of our people, his attempt against her
+partially succeeded."
+
+Taken aback, M. Fuselier looked from the detective to the young woman
+whom he regarded as guilty. Juve's outburst seemed to him out of place.
+
+"Your pardon, Juve, but your reasoning seems to me somewhat specious;
+however, I will not press this charge against the girl; we have
+something better."
+
+Turning to Loupart's mistress, the judge asked abruptly:
+
+"What has become of Lady Beltham?"
+
+Josephine was amazed by the question. She turned inquiring eyes toward
+Juve, who quickly said:
+
+"M. Fuselier, this is not the moment----"
+
+The magistrate, dropping this line, again tackled Josephine on her
+relations with Loupart.
+
+In a flash Josephine made up her mind. She would simulate innocence at
+all costs. With the craft of a consummate actress, she began in a low
+voice, which gradually rose and became impressive, insinuating:
+
+"How pitiful it is to think that everyone bears a grudge against a poor
+girl who, some day in springtime, has given herself the pleasure of a
+lover! Is there any harm in giving oneself to the man who loves you? Who
+forbids it? No one but the priests, and they have been kicked out of
+doors!"
+
+The magistrate could not help smiling, and Juve showed signs of
+amusement.
+
+"But I am honest, and when I understand something of what was going on,
+I wrote to M. Juve. And what thanks did I get? Two bullet holes in my
+skin!"
+
+M. Fuselier hesitated about turning his summons into a committal.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+AT THE MONTMARTRE FÊTE
+
+
+The fête of Montmartre was at its height. In the Place Blanche a joyous
+crowd was pressing round a booth of huge dimensions, splendidly lighted.
+On the stage a cheap Jack, decked out in many-coloured frippery, was
+delivering his patter:
+
+"Walk in, ladies and gentlemen; it's only ten cents, and you won't
+regret your money! The management of the theatre will present to you,
+without delay, the prettiest woman in the world and also the fattest,
+who weighs a trifle over 600 pounds and possibly more; as no scale has
+yet been found strong enough to weigh her without breaking into a
+thousand pieces.
+
+"You will also have the rare and weird sight of a black from Abyssinia
+whose splendid ebony hide has been tattooed in white. Furthermore, a
+young girl of scarcely fourteen summers will astound you by entering
+the cage of the ferocious beasts, whose terrible roarings reach you
+here! The programme is most interesting, and after these incomparable
+attractions, you will applaud the cinema in colours--the last exploit of
+modern science--showing the recent tour of the President of the
+Republic, and himself in person delivering his speech to an audience as
+numerous as it is select. You will also see, reproduced in the most
+stirring and life-like manner, all the details of the mysterious murder
+which at this moment engages public interest and keeps the police on
+tenter-hooks. The crime at the Cité Frochot, with the murdered woman,
+the Empire clock, and the extinguished candle: all the accessories in
+full, including the collapse of the elevator into the sewer. The show is
+beginning! It has begun!"
+
+Among the throng surrounding the mountebank three persons seemed
+especially amused by the peroration. They were two gentlemen, very
+elegant and distinguished, in evening clothes, and with them a pretty
+woman wearing a loose silk mantle over her low dress.
+
+She put her lips to the ear of the older of her companions, who, with
+his turned-up moustache and grey hair, looked like a cavalry officer.
+
+She murmured to him these strange words:
+
+"Squint at the guy on the left, the one passing before the
+clock-seller's booth. That's one of the gang. He was in the Simplon
+affair."
+
+The pretty Parisian, so smartly dressed, was no other than Josephine.
+The young man with the fair beard was Fandor and the cavalry officer was
+Juve. The three now "worked" together. The partnership dated from the
+afternoon that Josephine escaped arrest, thanks to the lucky
+intervention of Juve.
+
+The latter had little belief in the young woman's innocence, but by
+getting her on his side, he hoped to secure information as to Loupart's
+doings.
+
+Juve was talking to a ragged Arab selling nougat to the passers-by.
+
+"Ay, sir," explained the Arab. "I have been dogging little Mimile since
+two this afternoon."
+
+"Bravo, my dear Michel, your disguise is a perfect success."
+
+Josephine came suddenly close and pulled Juve by the sleeve, and then
+pointed to a group of persons who were crossing the Place Blanche.
+Without troubling further about the Arab, Juve at once began to follow
+this group, motioning to Josephine and Fandor to follow him closely. The
+three threaded their way through the crowd with a thousand precautions,
+seeking to avoid attention, yet not losing sight of their quarry. All
+three had recognised Loupart!
+
+The outlaw, dressed in a long blouse, with a tall cap, and armed with a
+stout cudgel, was walking among half a dozen individuals similarly
+attired. By their garb they would be taken for cattle-herders from La
+Villette.
+
+This group proceeded slowly in the direction of Place Pigalle, and Juve,
+who was pressing hard on his quarry, slackened his pace in order to let
+them forge ahead a little. The square, which was surrounded by
+brilliantly illuminated restaurants, was a flood of light, and the
+detective did not want people to notice him. Moreover, the
+pseudo-cattle-drivers had stopped, too: gathering round Loupart they
+listened attentively to his remarks, made in a low tone. Clearly they
+were accomplices of the robber, who, perhaps, realised that they were
+being followed.
+
+Fandor, who had put his arm through Josephine's, felt the young woman's
+heart beating as though it would burst. They were all playing for high
+stakes. Josephine, especially, was in a compromising and dangerous
+plight. Not only had she to fear the wrath of her lover, but she ran the
+risk of being "spotted" by one of the many satellites of the gang of
+Cyphers, in which case her condemnation would be certain.
+
+Fandor encouraged her with a few kind words:
+
+"You know, mademoiselle, you mustn't be frightened. If I am not greatly
+mistaken, Loupart is about to be nabbed, and once in Juve's hands he
+won't get out of them in a hurry."
+
+Josephine's perturbation was scarcely quieter, and Fandor, a trifle
+skeptical, asked himself whether in reality the girl was on their side
+or if she were not playing the game of false information. Suddenly
+something fresh happened.
+
+Loupart, separating himself from his companions, entered a restaurant
+upon which the words
+
+   "The Crocodile"
+
+were inscribed in dazzling letters on its front. The Crocodile
+comprised, like most night resorts, a large saloon on the ground floor
+and a dining-room on the first floor which was reached by a little
+stairway and guarded by a giant clad in magnificent livery. Above this
+were apartments and private rooms.
+
+Just then, as it was near midnight, a number of carriages were bringing
+couples in evening dress, who mounted the staircase. To their great
+surprise, Fandor and Josephine saw Loupart make for this staircase. The
+long smock of the seeming cattle-driver would certainly make a queer
+showing. What was the formidable robber's game? Juve gave hasty
+directions:
+
+"It's all right. I know the house. It has only one exit. You, Ramot," he
+went on, addressing the young woman, "go up to the first floor and take
+your place at a table; here are ten dollars, order champagne and don't
+be too stiff with the company."
+
+Josephine nodded and went upstairs.
+
+Juve and Fandor followed a few minutes later and took up a strategic
+position at a table near the doorway. Fandor had a view of the room and
+Juve commanded the hall and stairway. From the room came a confused hum
+of laughter, cries and doubtful jokes. A negro, clad in red and armed
+with a gong, capered among the tables, dancing and singing.
+
+Fandor caught sight of Josephine, who appeared to be carrying out Juve's
+instructions. Beside her was a fair giant of red complexion and
+clean-shaven face, whose Anglo-Saxon origin was beyond doubt. Fandor
+knew the face; he had seen the man somewhere; he remembered his square
+shoulders and bull-like neck, and the enormous biceps which stood out
+under the cloth of his sleeves.
+
+"By Jove!" he cried suddenly. "Why it's Dixon, the American heavyweight
+champion!"
+
+Juve signalled to the waiter to bring him the bill as he fitted a
+monocle into his right eye.
+
+Fandor stared at him, surprised.
+
+"Well, Juve, when you get yourself up as a man of the world, you omit no
+detail."
+
+Juve made no reply for some moments, then turned to his companion.
+
+"Who else do you see in the room?"
+
+Fandor looked carefully, and then made a gesture of amazement.
+
+"Chaleck! Chaleck is over there eating his supper!"
+
+"Yes," said Juve simply, "and you are stupid not to have seen him
+before."
+
+The profile of the mysterious doctor was in fact outlined very sharply
+at a table, amply served and covered with bottles and flowers, around
+which half a score of persons, men and women, had taken their places.
+
+Without turning his head, Juve remarked:
+
+"Judging by the action of the person who is at this moment lighting a
+cigar the supper is not far from coming to an end."
+
+"Come, now, Juve, have you eyes in your back? How can you know what is
+going on at Doctor Chaleck's table, while you are looking in the
+opposite direction?"
+
+Juve handed his eye-glass to the journalist.
+
+"Ah! Now I see! A trick eye-glass, with a mirror in it--not a bad idea."
+
+"It is quite simple," murmured Juve. "The main thing is to have thought
+of it. Come, let us go down."
+
+"What? And desert the doctor?"
+
+"An arrest should never be made in a public place when it can be
+avoided. Here, give me your card that I may send it up with mine."
+
+Juve called M. Dominique, the manager, and, pointing out Chaleck to him,
+said:
+
+"M. Dominique, please give our cards to that gentleman and say that we
+are waiting outside to speak to him."
+
+In a few moments Chaleck came out of the saloon to the Place Pigalle.
+
+His face was calm and his glance unmoved. Juve laid his hand upon the
+doctor's shoulder, and, signalling to a subordinate in uniform, cried:
+
+"Doctor Chaleck, I arrest you in the name of the law."
+
+Chaleck quietly flicked off his cigar ash and smiled:
+
+"Do you know, M. Juve, I am not pleased with you. I read in the papers,
+during a recent holiday abroad, that you had pulled my house absolutely
+to pieces! That was not nice of you, when we had been on such good
+terms."
+
+This speech was so startling, so unlooked for, that Juve, though not
+easily surprised, had nothing to answer for the moment.
+
+Meanwhile, Chaleck tamely let himself be dragged toward the station in
+the Rue Rochefoucauld.
+
+"The fine fellow," thought Juve, "must have got his whole case
+prepared--he will give us a run for our money; still it must----"
+
+The detective gave vent to a loud yell. They had just got to the point
+where the Rue Rochefoucauld is intersected by the Rue Notre Dame de
+Lorette: a cab drawn by a big horse was moving in one direction and a
+motor-bus coming from another. It had already cleared the Rue Pigalle,
+and in a second would cut across the Rue Rochefoucauld, when Chaleck,
+literally coming out of the Inverness coat he wore, leaped ahead of
+Juve, dodged under the cab horse and boarded the bus, which rapidly went
+on its way. All this had been accomplished in an instant.
+
+Left dumbfounded, face to face, Juve and Fandor, together with the
+officer, contemplated the only token left them by Chaleck. An elegant
+Inverness cloak with capes, which, oddly enough, had shoulders and
+arms--arms of India-rubber, so well imitated that through the cloth they
+distinctly gave the impression of human arms.
+
+Juve let fly a tremendous oath, then turned to Fandor and cried:
+
+"How about Loupart?"
+
+The two men hastily reascended the Rue Pigalle. They counted on standing
+sentry again before the "Crocodile." But as they reached the square Juve
+and Fandor were faced by fresh surprises. A powerful motor-car was
+slowly getting under way. In it was the American Dixon, with Josephine
+beside him.
+
+Was the girl playing them false? That was the most important thing to
+ascertain.
+
+The car made off at a good pace toward the Place Clichy. Half a moment
+later Juve was bowling after them in a taxi, calling to Fandor as he
+left:
+
+"Look after the other."
+
+Fandor understood "The other" referred to Loupart, and carefully pumped
+M. Dominique, but could get no further news from him, so, after waiting
+an hour for Juve to return, he went home to bed far from easy in his
+mind.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Juve followed the American through Billancourt, past Sèvres Bridge, and
+finally into the Bellevue District, when, opposite Brimboison Park,
+Dixon, with the air of a proprietor, took his motor into a fine looking
+estate. Then, having housed the car, the pugilist, with Loupart's
+mistress, went into the house, which was lit up for half an hour, after
+which all was plunged again into darkness.
+
+Juve had left his taxi at the bottom of the hill, and, having cleared
+the low wall of the grounds, hid himself in view of the house. He waited
+until daybreak, but nothing occurred to trouble the peace and hush of
+the night. And then, unwilling to be seen in his evening clothes by
+chance passers-by, he regretfully returned to the Rue Bonaparte.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+THE PUGILIST'S WHIM
+
+
+An old servant had brought out the early coffee to the arbour in the
+garden. It was about eight o'clock, and in the shady retreat the
+freshness of springtime reigned. Soon down the gravel walk appeared the
+well-built figure of Dixon, dressed in white flannels. He bent under the
+arch of greenery that led to the arbour, and seemed vexed to find that
+it was empty.
+
+Clearly the pugilist was not going to breakfast alone and, to while away
+the time until his companion should appear, he lighted a cigarette.
+
+Suddenly the door of the house opened to give passage to a gracious
+apparition--Josephine. Wrapped in a kimona of bright silk and smiling at
+the fine morning, the young woman came slowly down the steps and then
+stopped short, blushing. Some one came to meet her--it was Dixon.
+
+The giant, too, seemed moved. Lowering his eyes he asked:
+
+"How are you this morning, fair lady?"
+
+"And you, M. Dixon?"
+
+"Mlle. Finette, the coffee is served, won't you join me?"
+
+The two young people broke their fast in silence, exchanging only
+monosyllables, to ask for a napkin, a plate, the sugar. At last,
+overcoming his bashfulness Dixon asked in a voice full of entreaty:
+
+"Will you always be so hard-hearted?"
+
+Josephine, embarrassed, evaded the question, and with a show of gaiety
+to hide her confusion, remarked:
+
+"This is an awfully nice place of yours."
+
+The pugilist answered her by describing the calm and simple delights of
+a country life in the springtime, and, slipping his arm round her supple
+waist, asked her softly:
+
+"As you consented to come this far with me, why did you repel me
+afterwards? Why resist me so stubbornly?"
+
+"I was a trifle tipsy yesterday," she replied. "I don't know what I did
+or why I came here with you." And then, with a touch of sadness:
+"Naturally, finding me in such a place you took me for a----"
+
+"Sure enough," replied the American, "but I can see you are not like the
+others."
+
+"And what attracts me to you," continued Josephine, "is that you are not
+a brute. Why, yesterday evening, if you had wanted, when we were alone
+together, eh?"
+
+And she gave Dixon such a queer look that he asked himself whether she
+did not regard him as absurd for having respected her.
+
+"I like you very much," he said, "more than any other woman. In a month
+from now I shall be off to America. I have already a good deal of money
+and I shall earn much more out there. If you will come with me, we won't
+part any more. Do you agree?"
+
+Josephine was at first amused by this downright declaration, but
+gradually she took it more seriously. She would see the world, be
+elegant, rich, well dressed. She would have her future secured and no
+more bother with the police. But, on the other hand, it might become
+terribly boring after the exciting life she had led. And there was
+Loupart. Certainly he was often repellant to her, but he had only to
+come back and speak to her to be again submissive, loving and tractable.
+And, strange to say, there was also--just of late--at the bottom of
+Josephine's heart, a feeling of friendship, almost affection, for the
+stern and thorough-going detective, for Juve, to whom she owed her
+escape from a very bad fix. Fandor, too, she liked pretty well. She
+valued the daring journalist, quick, full of courage, and yet a good
+sort, free from prejudice. The more she thought about it, the more
+Josephine felt herself to be strikingly complex: she felt that she could
+not analyse her feelings, she was incomprehensible even to herself.
+
+"Let me think it over a little longer," she asked. Dixon rose
+ceremoniously.
+
+"Dear friend," he declared, "you are at home here, as long as you care
+to stay, and I hope you will consent to lunch with me at one o'clock.
+From now till then I shall leave you alone to think at your leisure."
+
+The old servant, too, having gone off shopping, Josephine remained alone
+in the place, and after visiting the charming villa from top to bottom
+strolled delightedly amid the lovely scenery of the park. As she was
+about to turn into a narrow path, she uttered a loud cry. Loupart was
+before her. The leader of the Gang of Cyphers had his evil look and
+savage smile.
+
+"How goes it?" he cried, then queried, sardonically: "Which would madame
+prefer, the pig-sticker or the barker?"
+
+Josephine, in terror, stepped backwards till she rested against the
+trunk of a great tree.
+
+Loupart carelessly got out his revolver and his knife: he seemed to
+hesitate which weapon to use.
+
+"Loupart," stammered Josephine, in a choking voice, "don't kill me--what
+have I done?"
+
+The ruffian snarled.
+
+"Not only do you peach to M. Juve, but you let yourself be carried off
+by the first toff that comes along; you don't stick at making me a
+cuckold! That's very well!"
+
+Josephine fell on her knees in the thick grass. Sure enough she had
+played Loupart false, and suddenly a wave of remorse rose in her heart.
+She was overcome at the thought that she could have endangered her lover
+even for a moment, that she could have informed the police. She was
+honestly maddened by the thought that Loupart had all but been arrested
+through her fault. Yes, he was right in reproaching her, she deserved to
+be punished. As for having wronged him, that was not true. She protested
+with all her might against his accusation of unfaithfulness.
+
+"I was wrong in listening to the pugilist, in coming here, but in spite
+of appearances--Loupart, believe me, I am still worthy of you."
+
+Loupart shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Well, we'll leave that for the moment. Just now you are going to obey
+me without a word or protest."
+
+Josephine's heart stopped; she knew these preambles. She tried to turn
+the conversation.
+
+"And how did you get here?"
+
+"How did you get here yourself?"
+
+"M. Dixon's motor-car."
+
+"And who tracked you?"
+
+"Why--no one."
+
+"No one?" jeered the ruffian. "Then what was Juve doing in the taxi
+which was rolling after you?"
+
+Josephine uttered an exclamation of surprise. Loupart went on, greatly
+satisfied with himself:
+
+"And what was Loupart up to? That crafty gentleman was cosily ensconced
+on the springs behind the taxi in which the worthy inspector was
+riding."
+
+The ruffian was teasing, and that showed he was in good humour again.
+Josephine put her arms round his neck and hugged him.
+
+"It's you that I love and you alone--let's go, take me away, won't you?"
+
+Loupart freed himself from the embrace.
+
+"Since you are at home here--the American said as much--I must see to
+profiting by it. You will stay here till this evening: at five you will
+be at the markets, and so shall I. You won't recognise me, but I shall
+speak to you, and then you will tell me exactly where this pugilist
+locks up his swag. I want a full plan of the house, the print of the
+keys, all the usual truck. This evening I shall have something new for
+Juve and his crew, an affair in which you will serve me."
+
+Josephine, panting, did not pay heed to this last sentence. She flushed
+crimson, perspiration broke out on her forehead, a great agony tightened
+her heart. She, so docile till then, so devoted, suddenly felt an
+immense scruple, an awful shame at the thought of being guilty of what
+her lover demanded. Against any other man, she would have obeyed, but to
+act in that way toward Dixon, who had treated her so considerately, she
+felt was beyond her powers. Here Josephine showed herself truly a woman.
+While determined not to be false to Loupart, she would not leave the
+pugilist with an evil memory of her. She hesitated to betray him and
+unwittingly proved the truth of the philosopher's dictum: "The most
+honest of women, though unwilling to give hope, is never sorry to leave
+behind her a regret!"
+
+But Loupart was not going to stay discussing such subtleties with his
+mistress. He never gave his orders twice. To seal the reconciliation he
+imprinted a hasty kiss on Josephine's cheek and vanished. A sound of
+crackling marked his passage through the thickets. Josephine was once
+more alone in the great park around the villa.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Fandor and Dixon were taking tea in the drawing-room. The journalist
+came, he alleged, to interview Dixon about his fight with Joe Sans, the
+negro champion of the Soudan, which was to come off next day. After
+getting various details as to weight, diet and other trifles, Fandor
+inquired with a smile:
+
+"But to keep in good form, Dixon, you must be as sober as a camel, as
+chaste as a monk, eh?"
+
+The American smiled. Fandor had told him a few moments before that he
+had seen him supping at the "Crocodile" with a pretty woman.
+
+At Juve's instigation Fandor had alleged a sporting interview, in order
+to get into the American's house and discover if Josephine was still
+there. He meant to ascertain what the relations were between the
+pugilist and the girl.
+
+The allusion to that evening loosened the American's tongue. Absorbed by
+the pleasing impression which his pretty partner had made on him, Dixon
+began talking on the subject. He belonged to that class of men who, when
+they are in love, want the whole world to know it.
+
+The American set the young woman on such a pedestal of innocence and
+purity--that Fandor wondered if the pugilist were not laughing at him.
+But Dixon, quite unconscious, did not conceal his intention to elope
+with Josephine and shortly take her to America. Suddenly he rose.
+
+"Come," he said, "I will introduce you to her."
+
+Fandor was about to protest, but the American was already scouring the
+house and searching the park, calling:
+
+"Finette, Mlle. Finette, Josephine!"
+
+Presently he returned, his face distorted, unnerved, dejected, and in a
+toneless voice he ejaculated painfully:
+
+"The pretty little woman has made off without a word to me. I am very
+much grieved!"
+
+Five minutes later, Fandor jumped into a train which took him back to
+Paris.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+"STATES EVIDENCE"
+
+
+"Juve, I've been fooled." The journalist was resting on the great couch
+in his friend's study, Rue Bonaparte, and wound up with this assertion
+the long account of the fruitless inquiry he had made at Dixon's.
+
+"I'm played out! For two days I haven't stopped a minute. After the
+night at the "Crocodile," which I spent for the most part, as I told
+you, in search of Loupart, yesterday my day went in fruitless trips; my
+mind is made up; to-night I shall do no more!"
+
+"A cigarette, Fandor?"
+
+"Thanks."
+
+From the crystal vase where Juve, an inveterate smoker, always kept an
+ample stock of tobacco, he chose an Egyptian cigarette.
+
+"My dear Juve, it is absolutely necessary to go again to Sèvres and draw
+a close net round Dixon. He needs watching. Isn't that your opinion?"
+
+"I'm not sure."
+
+Juve thought for a few moments, then:
+
+"After all, what grounds have you for thinking that Dixon should be
+watched?"
+
+"Why, any number of reasons."
+
+"What are they?"
+
+It was Fandor's turn to be surprised. He had given Juve the account of
+his visit, supposing that would bring him to his way of thinking, and
+now Juve doubted Dixon being a suspect.
+
+"You ask me for particulars. I am going to reply with generalisations.
+Taking it all in all, what do we know of Dixon? That he was in a certain
+place and carried off Josephine under our very eyes. Hence he is a
+friend of Josephine's, which in itself looks compromising."
+
+"Oh!" protested Juve. "You arrive at your conclusions very quickly,
+Fandor. Josephine is not an honest woman. She may know the type of
+people that haunt the night resorts, yet who, for all that, need not be
+murderers."
+
+"Then, Juve, how do you account for it that during my visit Dixon
+tricked me and kept me from meeting Josephine while making believe to
+look for her? Is not that again a sign of complicity? Does not that show
+clearly that Josephine, realising that she is suspected in our eyes,
+has decided to evade us?"
+
+Juve smiled.
+
+"Fandor, my lad, you are endowed with a prodigious imagination. You
+impute to Dixon the worst intentions without any proof. He got Josephine
+away, you say? What makes you think so? If you did not see her it was
+due to collusion between them both. Why? As far as I can see, Josephine
+simply picked up an old lover of hers at the 'Crocodile' and went off
+with him as naturally as possible, preferring not to see the arrest of
+Loupart or of Chaleck. I admit that next day she simply took French
+leave of the worthy American, and you may be sure he knew nothing about
+her going."
+
+Fandor was silent and Juve resumed:
+
+"That being so, what can we bring against Dixon? Merely that he knows
+Josephine."
+
+"You are right, Juve; perhaps I went too far with my deductions, but to
+speak frankly, I don't see clearly what we are to do now. All our trails
+are crossed. Loupart is in flight, Chaleck vanished, and as for
+Josephine, I doubt our finding her again for ever so long."
+
+All the while the journalist was speaking, Juve had remained leaning
+against the window, watching the passers-by.
+
+"Fandor, come and see! By the omnibus, there. The person who is going to
+cross."
+
+The journalist burst out:
+
+"Well, I'm damned!"
+
+"You see, Fandor, you must never swear to anything."
+
+"Well, ain't we going to catch and arrest her?"
+
+"Why? Do you think her being in this street is due to chance? Look, she
+is crossing; she is coming straight here. She is entering the house. I
+tell you in a few moments Josephine will have climbed my stairs and will
+be seated cosily in this armchair, which I get ready and set full in the
+light."
+
+Fandor could not get over his astonishment.
+
+"Did you make an appointment with her?"
+
+"Not at all."
+
+Jean, the detective's servant, came into the room and announced:
+
+"There is a lady waiting in the sitting-room. She would not give her
+name."
+
+"Show her in, Jean."
+
+A few moments later Josephine entered.
+
+"Good day, Mademoiselle," cried Juve in a cordial tone. "What fresh news
+have you to tell us?"
+
+Loupart's mistress stood in the middle of the room, somewhat taken
+aback. But Juve set her at ease.
+
+"Sit down, Josephine. You mustn't mind my friend Fandor. He has just
+been telling me about your friend Dixon."
+
+"You know him, sir?"
+
+"A little," said Fandor. "And you, Mademoiselle, have been seeing
+something of him lately?"
+
+"I happened to meet him at the 'Crocodile.'"
+
+"And took a liking to him?"
+
+"We took a liking to each other." She turned to Juve. "I suppose you
+distrust me for giving you the slip with another man?"
+
+Juve smiled. "You found a good companion and forgot us. There is really
+nothing to be angry about. Now, won't you tell us what brings you here?"
+
+"Yes, but M. Juve, you must swear to me that you will never repeat what
+I am going to tell you."
+
+"It is very serious then?"
+
+"M. Juve, I am going to put you in the way of arresting Loupart."
+
+"You are very kind, my dear Josephine, but if the attempt is to succeed
+no better than that we made at the 'Crocodile'----"
+
+"No, no, this time you'll be sure to nab him. Day after to-morrow at 2
+o'clock, Loupart is going with some of his gang to Nogent, 7 Rue des
+Charmilles. He has a job there under way."
+
+Juve laughed. "They've been fooling you, Josephine. Isn't that your
+view, Fandor? Do you think that Loupart would try a stroke in broad
+daylight?"
+
+Josephine gave more details, eager to persuade him.
+
+"There will be fifteen of them outside a little house whose tenants are
+away. Some of them will make a crowd to help their mates in case of
+danger. The Beard is to be in it, too."
+
+"And Loupart?"
+
+"Yes, Loupart, I tell you. He will wear a black mask by which you can
+identify him."
+
+"Very well, if we have nothing better to do we will take a trip to
+Nogent day after to-morrow; eh, Fandor?"
+
+"As you like, Juve."
+
+"Only, remember this, my dear Josephine, if you are putting up a game on
+us you'll be sorry for it. There is a way, to be sure, in which you can
+prove your good faith. Be at Nogent Station at half-past one. If we find
+Loupart where you say he will be, we shall arrest him; if we don't find
+him----"
+
+The detective paused, significantly.
+
+"You will nab him. Only we mustn't look as if we met by appointment. No
+one must suspect that I gave you the tip."
+
+Hereupon, Josephine started to go. Her manoeuvre had succeeded, and
+Loupart's business would go ahead safely. She turned at the door and
+nodded, looking at Fandor.
+
+"Another thing; Loupart doesn't love you; you had better be on your
+guard."
+
+Juve turned thoughtfully to Fandor:
+
+"Strange! Is this woman playing with us, or is she in earnest, and how
+she looked at you when telling us to be on our guard!"
+
+
+
+
+XXIV
+
+A MYSTERIOUS CLASP
+
+
+"Hullo! Hullo!"
+
+Waking with a start, Juve rushed to the telephone. It was already broad
+daylight, but the detective had gone to bed very late and had been
+sleeping profoundly.
+
+"Yes, it's I, Juve. The Sûreté? It's you, M. Havard? Yes, I am free. Oh!
+That's strange. No signs? I understand. Count on me. I'll go there and
+keep you informed."
+
+Juve dressed in haste, went down to the street and hailed a taxi.
+
+"To Sèvres, the foot of the hill at Bellevue, and look sharp about it!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Juve left his taxi-cab, and mounted the slope on foot to the elegant
+villa inhabited by Dixon. All was quiet, and if he had not had word, the
+detective would have doubted that he was close to the scene of a crime,
+or at least of an attempted one.
+
+Scarcely had he entered the grounds when a sergeant came toward him and
+saluted. Juve inquired:
+
+"What has happened?"
+
+"M. Dixon is resting just now, and the doctor has forbidden the least
+noise."
+
+"Is his condition serious?"
+
+"I think not from what Doctor Plassin says."
+
+"Now, Sergeant, tell me everything from the beginning."
+
+The sergeant drew Juve to the arbour, where a policeman was seated
+making out a report. Juve took the paper and read:
+
+     "We, the undersigned, Dubois, Sergeant in the second squad of
+     foot-police, quartered at Sèvres, together with Constable Verdier,
+     received this morning, June 28th, at 6.35 from M. Olivetti, a
+     business man, living in Bellevue, the following declaration:
+
+          "'Having left my home at 6.15 and being on the way to the
+          State Railway to take the 6.42 train, by which I go every day
+          to my work, I was passing the slopes of Bellevue, when, being
+          level with Brimborion Park, a little short of the villa number
+          16, which I hear belongs to M. Dixon, an American pugilist, I
+          heard a revolver shot followed by the noise of breaking
+          glass, the pieces falling on to a hard ground, most likely
+          stone.
+
+          "'Having halted for a moment through caution, I looked to see
+          if anyone was hiding near by. I saw nothing but heard three
+          more revolver shots in quick succession, seeming to come from
+          Dixon's house. After some minutes I went near the house and
+          ascertained that the panes of the window on the right side of
+          the front were broken, and the pieces strewed the asphalt
+          terrace in front of the house.
+
+          "'I made up my mind to ring, but no one opened the door. I
+          then thought that some prowlers had amused themselves by
+          making a shindy, and I was about to continue to the train when
+          I thought I heard faint cries coming from the inside of the
+          house. Then, fearing there was a mishap or a crime, I ran to
+          the police station and made the above statement in presence of
+          the sergeant.'"
+
+Juve turned to the sergeant, who gave further details.
+
+"Constable Verdier and I immediately hastened here. We reached the
+terrace of the house, but there we came to a closed door we could not
+break in. Having shouted loudly we were answered by groans and cries for
+help which came from the room on the first floor of which the windows
+were broken. We then got a ladder and climbed up. I passed my hand
+inside and worked the hasp of the window. We went in and found ourselves
+in a bedroom in apple-pie order and in which nothing appeared to have
+been disarranged."
+
+"And on a second inspection?" queried Juve.
+
+"I went to the far end of the room and found stretched on the bed a man
+in undress, who seemed a prey to violent pains. I learned afterwards
+that this was M. Dixon, the tenant of the house. He could scarcely utter
+a word or move. His shoulders and arms were out of the clothes, and I
+could discern that the skin of his chest and shoulders bore traces of
+blood effusion. On a bracket to the right of the bed lay a revolver, the
+six cartridges of which had been recently fired."
+
+"Ah!" cried Juve. "And then?"
+
+"I thought the first thing to do was to call in a doctor. M. Olivetti
+consented to go and call Doctor Plassin, who lives near by. Five minutes
+later the doctor came, and I took advantage of his presence to send my
+man to the Station."
+
+"Have you been over the house?"
+
+"Not yet, Inspector, but nothing will be easier, for in turning out the
+pockets of the victim's clothes we found his bunch of keys."
+
+"To bring the doctor into the house, you must have opened the door to
+him, and therefore had a glimpse of the other rooms in the house, the
+lobby, the staircase?"
+
+The sergeant shook his head.
+
+"No, Inspector. We went up the ladder. I tried to get out of the door of
+M. Dixon's room, but found it was locked. This seemed strange, for the
+assailant presumably entered by the door."
+
+"By the by, Sergeant, are there no servants here? The place seems
+deserted."
+
+Constable Verdier put in his word:
+
+"The American lives here alone except for an old charwoman who comes in
+before nine. She will probably be here in half an hour, for she can have
+no idea of what has happened."
+
+"Good," said Juve. "You will let me know as soon as she comes; wait for
+her in the garden. As for us," and he turned to the sergeant, "let us
+make our way inside."
+
+The two, armed with Dixon's keys, opened without difficulty the main
+entrance door to the ground floor. There they found nothing out of the
+way, but on reaching the first floor, the marks of some one's passage
+was clearly visible.
+
+The door of a lumber room stood wide open, and on its floor sheets of
+paper, letters and documents lay scattered about. Juve took a candle
+and, after a brief investigation, exclaimed:
+
+"They were after the strong box."
+
+A large steel safe, built into the wall, had been burst open, and the
+workman-like manner in which it had been done showed clearly the hand of
+an expert. Juve carefully examined the floor, picked up two or three
+papers that had evidently been trodden on, took some measurements which
+he jotted down in his note-book, and, without telling the sergeant his
+conclusions, went downstairs again, paying no heed to the next room in
+which Dixon lay, watched over by Doctor Plassin.
+
+Verdier, who was mounting guard before the house, came forward and said:
+
+"Mr. Inspector, the doctor says M. Dixon is awake. Do you care to see
+him?"
+
+Juve at once had the ladder put to the first story window and made his
+way into the pugilist's room. The men's description was correct. No
+disorder reigned in the chamber, at the far end of which, on a great
+brass bed, a sturdy individual, his face worn with suffering, lay
+stretched.
+
+In two words Juve introduced himself to the doctor; then expressed his
+sorrow for Dixon's plight.
+
+"These are only contusions, M. Juve. Serious enough, but nothing more.
+By the by, M. Dixon may congratulate himself upon owning muscles of
+exceptional vigour. Otherwise, from the grip he must have undergone,
+his body would be no more than a shapeless pulp."
+
+Juve pricked up his ears. He had heard before of bones snapped and
+broken under a strain that neither flesh nor muscle could resist. The
+mysterious death of Lady Beltham at once occurred to his memory.
+
+"Mr. Dixon, you will tell me all the details of the tragic night you
+have passed through. You probably dined in Paris last evening?"
+
+The sick man replied in a fairly firm voice:
+
+"No, sir, I dined at home alone."
+
+"Is that your usual habit?"
+
+"No, sir, but between five and seven I had been training hard for my
+match which was to have come off to-morrow with Joe Sans."
+
+"Do you think your opponent would have been capable of trying to injure
+you to keep you out of the ring?"
+
+"No, Joe Sans is a good sportsman; besides, he lives at Brussels, and
+isn't due in Paris till to-morrow."
+
+"And after dinner, what did you do?"
+
+"I fastened the shutters and doors, came up here and undressed."
+
+"Are you in the habit of bolting yourself into your room?"
+
+"Yes, I lock my door every evening."
+
+"What time was it when you went to bed?"
+
+"Ten at latest."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"Then I went fast asleep, but in the middle of the night I was waked by
+a strange noise. It sounded like a scratching at my door. I gave a shout
+and banged my fist on the partition."
+
+"Why?" asked Juve, surprised.
+
+The American explained:
+
+"I thought the scratching came from rats, and I simply made a noise to
+frighten them away. Then, the sound having ceased, I fell asleep again."
+
+"And afterwards?"
+
+"I was waked again by the sound of stealthy footsteps on the landing of
+the first floor."
+
+"This time you went to see?"
+
+"I meant to do so, I was about to get up. I had put out my arm to get my
+matches and revolver, when suddenly I felt a weight on my bed and then I
+was corded, bound like a sausage, my arms tight to my body! For ten
+minutes I struggled with all the power of my muscles against a frightful
+and mysterious grip which continually grew tighter."
+
+"A lasso!" suggested Doctor Plassin in a low voice.
+
+"Were you able to determine the nature of the thing that was gripping
+you?" asked Juve.
+
+"I don't know. I remember feeling at the touch of the thing a marked
+sensation of dampness and cold."
+
+"A wetted lasso, exactly. A rope dipped in water tautens of itself,"
+remarked the doctor.
+
+"You had to make a great effort to prevent being crushed or broken?"
+
+"A more than human effort, Mr. Inspector, as the doctor has witnessed;
+if I had not muscles of steel and exceptional strength I should have
+been flattened."
+
+"Good--good," applauded Juve. "That's exactly it!"
+
+"Really! You think so?" queried the American with a touch of sarcasm.
+
+Juve smilingly apologised. His approval meant no more than that the
+statements of the victim coincided with the theories he had formed. And
+indeed he saw clearly in the unsuccessful attempt on the American and
+the achieved killing of Lady Beltham a common way of going to work, the
+same process. Undoubtedly the American owed it to his robust physique
+that he got off but slightly scathed, whereas the hapless woman had been
+totally crushed.
+
+The similarity of the two crimes allowed Juve to make further
+inductions. He reckoned that it was not by chance that Dixon had met
+Josephine at the "Crocodile" two nights before, while the presence of
+both Chaleck and Loupart in that establishment was still less
+accidental. And already he felt pleased at the thought that he knew
+almost to a certainty the villains to whom this fresh crime must be
+ascribed. They had wanted to get rid of Dixon, that was sure, and by a
+process still unknown to Juve, but which he would soon discover. They
+had rendered the pugilist helpless while they were robbing him.
+
+"Had you a large sum of money in your safe?" he asked.
+
+The American gave a violent start.
+
+"They've burgled me! Tell me, sir, tell me quickly!"
+
+Juve nodded in the affirmative. Dixon stammered feebly:
+
+"Four thousand pounds! They've taken four thousand pounds from me! I
+received the sum a few days ago!"
+
+"Gently, gently!" observed the doctor. "You will make yourself feverish
+and I shall have to stop the interview."
+
+Juve put in:
+
+"I only want a few moments more, doctor. It is important." Then, turning
+to Dixon, he resumed: "How did your struggle with the mysterious
+pressure end?"
+
+"After about ten minutes I felt my bands relaxing. In a short while I
+was free; I heard no more, but suffered such great pain that I fell back
+in bed and either slept or fainted."
+
+"Then you did not get up at all?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And the door of your room to the landing remained locked all night?"
+
+"Yes, all night."
+
+"How about this broken glass in your window? Those revolver shots at six
+in the morning?"
+
+"It was I, firing from my bed to make a noise and bring some one here."
+
+"I thought as much," said Juve, as he went down on all fours and
+proceeded to examine the carpeting of the room between the bed and the
+door, a distance of some seven feet. The carpet, of very close fabric,
+afforded no trace, but on a white bearskin rug the detective noted in
+places tufts of hair glued together as if something moist and sticky had
+passed over it. He cut off one of these tufts and shut it carefully in
+his pocketbook. He then went to the door which was hidden by a velvet
+curtain. He could not suppress a cry of amazement. In the lower panel of
+the door a round hole had been made about six or eight inches in
+diameter. It was four inches above the floor, and might have been made
+for a cat.
+
+"Did you have that hole made in the door?" asked Juve.
+
+"No. I don't know what it is," replied the American.
+
+"Neither do I," rejoined Juve, "but I have an idea." Doctor Plassin was
+jubilant.
+
+"There you are!" he cried. "A lasso! And it was thrust in by that hole."
+
+Through the window, Verdier called:
+
+"M. Inspector, the charwoman is coming."
+
+Juve looked at his watch.
+
+"Half-past nine. I will see her in a minute."
+
+
+
+
+XXV
+
+THE TRAP
+
+
+"Twelve o'clock! Hang it! I've just time to get there to keep my
+engagement with Josephine."
+
+Juve was going down Belleville hill as fast as his legs could take him
+by a short cut past the Sèvres school. He cast a mocking glance toward
+the little police station which stands smart and trim at one side of the
+high road.
+
+"Pity," he murmured, "that I can't escort my friends to that delightful
+country house."
+
+Then he hastened his pace still more. He was growing angry.
+
+"I told Fandor to be at Nogent Station exactly at 1.30. It is now five
+past twelve and I am still at Sèvres. Matters are getting complicated.
+Oh, I'll take the tramway to Versailles' gate. From there I'll drive to
+Nogent Station in a taxi."
+
+He put this plan into execution, and was lucky enough to find a place
+in the Louvre-Versailles' tram.
+
+"All things considered, I have not wasted my morning. Poor Dixon! He was
+lucky to get off so cheaply. It would seem now that Josephine told the
+truth in saying he is not an accomplice of the Gang."
+
+Juve reflected a while, then added:
+
+"Only it looks as if that accursed Josephine had put her friends up to
+the job."
+
+At the St. Cloud gate the tram came to a stop and Juve got down, hailed
+a taxi, and told the driver:
+
+"To Nogent Station and look sharp. I'm in a terrible hurry."
+
+The driver nodded assent, Juve got in, and the vehicle started. The taxi
+had hardly been going five minutes when Juve became impatient.
+
+"Go quicker, my man! Don't you know how to drive?"
+
+The man replied, nettled:
+
+"I don't want to get run in for breaking the regulations."
+
+Juve laughed.
+
+"Never mind the regulations, I'm from Police Headquarters."
+
+The magical word took effect. From that moment, heedless of the frantic
+signals of policemen, the driver tore along at full speed and reached
+the square in front of Nogent Station.
+
+"It is only 1.45--Fandor should just have got here."
+
+Juve, indeed, had only just settled with his driver when Fandor popped
+up from the waiting-room.
+
+"Well, Juve! Anything fresh this morning?"
+
+The detective smiled.
+
+"Any number of things. But I'll tell you later. Where is Josephine?"
+
+"Not here yet."
+
+"The deuce!"
+
+"That confirms my suspicions; eh, Juve?"
+
+"Somewhat. I should be astonished if we did see her."
+
+The detective led the journalist away, and the two went for a turn
+beside the railway-line on the deserted boulevard.
+
+"Fandor, this is the time to draw up a plan of action. Do you remember
+the directions Josephine gave us?"
+
+"Vaguely."
+
+"Well, we are now going to the neighbourhood of the Rue des Charmilles.
+It is number 7 that Loupart and his gang are to loot, according to
+Josephine. Yesterday afternoon I sent my men to look at the street; this
+is how they described it to me. It is a sort of lane with no issue; the
+house which we are concerned with is the last, standing on the right. It
+is a lodge of humble aspect, the tenants of which are really away. There
+are not many people living in this Charmilles Lane, and the place is
+well chosen for such a job, at least that is Michel's opinion.
+
+"Oh, I forgot one thing, round the house is a fairly large garden of
+which the walls are luckily high. So it is likely that even if the
+burglars should discover our presence they could not get off the back
+way."
+
+"And what is your plan of action, Juve?"
+
+"A very simple one. We are going to the entry of the Rue Charmilles and
+wait there. When our men come up with us I shall try to pick out Loupart
+and fly at his throat. There will be a struggle, no doubt, but in the
+meantime you must bellow with all your might: 'Murder' and 'Help.' I
+trust that succour will reach us."
+
+"Then you haven't any plain-clothes men here?"
+
+"No. I don't want to let my superiors know about this expedition."
+
+The two men went forward some paces in silence along an empty side
+street, till Juve halted in a shady corner and drew out his Browning,
+carefully seeing to the magazine.
+
+"Do as I do, Fandor"; he prepared for a tussle. "I smell powder in the
+air."
+
+Juve was about to start forward again when suddenly a tremendous uproar
+broke out: "Help! Help!"
+
+Juve seized Fandor by the arm.
+
+"Take the left-hand pavement!"
+
+The two had just reached the corner of the street where the house spoken
+of by Josephine should stand, when a jostling crowd of people came in
+sight, rushing toward them, uttering shouts and yells. Juve and Fandor
+recognised a man fleeing at full speed in front of them, whose face was
+hidden by a black mask! Behind him two other men were running, also
+masked, but with grey velvet. In the crowd following were grocers'
+assistants, workmen of all kinds, even a Nogent policeman.
+
+"Help! Murder! Arrest him!"
+
+The fleeing man was threatening his pursuers with an enormous revolver.
+
+"Look out!" shouted Juve. "Loupart is mine! You tackle the others!"
+
+But suddenly catching sight of the detective Loupart slackened his pace.
+
+"Get out of the way!" he cried, flourishing his revolver.
+
+"Stop, or I fire!" returned Juve.
+
+"Fire then! I, too, shall fire!" And, leaping toward the detective, the
+outlaw pointed his revolver at him and fired twice.
+
+With a quick movement Juve leaped aside. The bullets must have brushed
+him, but luckily he was not touched. The plucky detective again flung
+himself on Loupart, seized him by the collar and tried to throw him
+down.
+
+"Let me go! I'll do for you----"
+
+For a moment Juve felt the cold muzzle of the weapon on his neck. Then,
+with a supreme effort, he forced the outlaw's hands down and, aiming his
+revolver, fired.
+
+"Help! I--I----"
+
+A gush of blood welled up from the ruffian's collar. He turned twice,
+and then fell heavily on the ground.
+
+In the meantime Fandor was struggling with the two men in the grey
+masks. Juve was about to go to his assistance, when the crowd now made a
+rush and the detective became the central point of a furious encounter:
+blows and kicks rained on him. He succumbed to numbers.
+
+It was now Fandor's turn to help his friend, and he was about to join
+the fight when he stood rooted to the spot in utter amazement. A little
+beyond the groups of struggling men he caught sight of an individual
+standing beside a tripod on which was placed a contrivance he did not
+at once identify. The man seemed greatly amused, and was watching the
+scene laughing and showing no desire to intervene.
+
+"Very good! Very good! That will make a splendid film!"
+
+Fandor understood----
+
+His head bandaged and his arm in a sling, Juve was replying in a shaky
+voice to the Superintendent of Police of Nogent.
+
+"No, Superintendent, I realised nothing. It is monstrous! I asked in the
+most perfect good faith. I did not fire till I had been fired at three
+times."
+
+"You didn't notice the strange get-up of the burglars? And of the
+policemen? Of that poor actor, Bonardin, you half killed?"
+
+Juve shook his head.
+
+"I hadn't time to notice details. I want you to understand,
+Superintendent, how things came about, to realise how the trap was laid
+for me.... I came to Nogent, assured that I was about to face dangerous
+ruffians. I was to encounter them at such an hour, in such a street. I
+was given their description: they would have their faces masked and come
+out of a certain house. And it all happened as described. I hadn't gone
+ten paces in the said street when sure enough I saw people rushing
+toward me bawling 'Help.' I recognised men in masks: had I time to look
+at the details of their costumes? Certainly not! I spring at the throat
+of the fugitive. He has a revolver and fires. How could I know the
+weapon was only loaded blank? He, an actor in a cinematograph scene,
+takes me for another, acting the part of a policeman. He fires at me and
+I retaliate."
+
+"And you half kill him."
+
+"For which I am exceedingly sorry. But nothing could lead me to suspect
+a trap."
+
+"It's lucky you didn't wound anyone else. How did matters end?"
+
+"The actors, naturally enough, were furious with me, and I was being
+roughly handled when the real policemen arrived and rescued me. All was
+explained when I brought out my card of identity. While they were taking
+me to the station, the actor Bonardin was being carried to the nearest
+house, a convent, I believe."
+
+"Yes, the Convent of the Ladies of St. Clotilde."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The trap had been well devised, and Juve was not wrong in saying that
+anyone in his place would have been taken in by it. And so while the
+detective was detained at the station, Fandor, after a long and minute
+interrogation, returned to Paris in a state of deep dejection.
+
+
+
+
+XXVI
+
+AT THE HOUSE OF BONARDIN, THE ACTOR
+
+
+In the Place d'Anvers, Fandor was passing Rokin College. He heard some
+one calling him. "Monsieur Fandor! Monsieur Fandor!"
+
+It was Josephine, breathless and panting, her bright eyes glowing with
+joy.
+
+Fandor turned, astonished.
+
+"What is up?"
+
+Josephine paused a second, then taking Fandor's hand familiarly drew him
+into the square, which at this time of day was almost deserted.
+
+"Oh, it's something out of the common, I can assure you. I am going to
+astonish you!"
+
+"You've done that already. The mere sight of you----"
+
+"You thought I was arrested, didn't you?"
+
+Fandor nodded.
+
+"Well, it's your Juve who is jugged!"
+
+Contrary to Josephine's expectation, Fandor did not appear very
+astonished.
+
+"Come now, Miss Josephine, that's a likely tale! Juve arrested? On what
+grounds?"
+
+Josephine began an incoherent story.
+
+"I tell you they squabbled like rag-pickers! 'You make justice
+ridiculous,' shouted Fuselier. 'No one has the right to commit such
+blunders!' Well, they kept going on like that for a quarter of an hour.
+And then Fuselier rang and two Municipal guards came and he said:
+'Arrest that man there!' pointing to Juve. And your friend the detective
+was obliged to let them do it. Only as he left the room he gave Fuselier
+such a look! Believe me, between those two it is war to the death from
+now."
+
+When she had ended Fandor asked in a calm voice:
+
+"And how did you get away, Josephine?"
+
+"Oh, M. Fuselier was very nice. 'It's you again?' said he when he saw
+me. 'To be sure it is,' answered I, 'and I'm glad to meet you again, M.
+Magistrate.' Then he began to hold forth about the cinema business. I
+told him what I knew about it, what I told you. Loupart stuffed me up
+with his tale of a trap. As sure as my name's Josephine I believed what
+my lover told me."
+
+Fandor gave her a penetrating glance.
+
+"And how about the Dixon business?"
+
+Josephine coloured, and said in a low tone:
+
+"Oh, the Dixon business, as to that--we are very good pals, Dixon and I.
+Just fancy, I went to see him yesterday afternoon. He has taken a fancy
+to me. He promised to keep me in luxury. Ah, if I dared," sighed the
+girl.
+
+"You would do well to leave Loupart."
+
+"Leave Loupart? Especially now that Juve is in quod, Loupart will be the
+King of Paris!"
+
+"Do you think your lover will attach much weight to the arrest of Juve?
+Won't he fancy it's a put-up job?"
+
+"A put-up job! How could it be? Why, I saw with my two eyes Juve led
+away with the bracelets on his wrists."
+
+The growing hubbub of the newsboys crying the evening papers drew near
+the Place d'Anvers. Instinctively Fandor, followed by Josephine, went
+toward them. On the boulevard he bought a paper.
+
+"There you see!" cried Josephine triumphantly. "Here it is in print, so
+it is true!"
+
+In scare headlines appeared this notice--"Amazing development in the
+affair of the Outlaws of La Chapelle. Detective Juve under lock and
+key."
+
+Fandor, when he met Josephine in the Place d'Anvers, was on his way to
+the Rue des Abesses where Bonardin occupied a nice little suite of three
+rooms, tastefully decorated and comfortably furnished.
+
+The actor had his shoulder in plaster--Juve's bullet had broken his
+clavicle, but the doctor declared that with a few days' rest he would be
+quite well again.
+
+"M. Fandor, I am very sorry for what is happening to M. Juve. Do you
+think if I were to declare my intention not to proceed against him----"
+
+Fandor cut his companion short.
+
+"Let justice take its course, M. Bonardin. There will always be time
+later on."
+
+Although M. Bonardin was only twenty-five, he was beginning to have some
+reputation. By hard work he had come rapidly to the front, and was fast
+gaining a position among the best interpreters of modern comedy.
+
+"My dream," he exclaimed to Fandor, "is one day to attain to the fame of
+my masters, of such men as Tazzide, Gémier, Valgrand and Dumény."
+
+"You knew Valgrand?" asked Fandor.
+
+Bonardin smiled.
+
+"Why, we were great friends. When I first made my appearance at the
+theatre, after the Conservatoire, Valgrand was my model, my master. You
+certainly don't recollect it, M. Fandor, but I played the lover in the
+famous play 'La Toche Sanglante,' for which Valgrand had made himself up
+exactly like Gurn, the murderer of Lord Beltham. You must have heard of
+the case?"
+
+Fandor pretended to tax his memory.
+
+"Why, to be sure I do recall certain incidents, but won't you refresh my
+memory?"
+
+Bonardin asked no better than to chatter.
+
+"Valgrand, on the first night of his presentation of Gurn,[B] was quite
+worn out and left the theatre very late. He did not come again! For the
+second performance, his understudy took his part. The following day they
+sent to Valgrand's rooms; he had not been there for two days. The third
+day from the 'first night' Valgrand came among us again."
+
+"Pray go on, you interest me immensely!"
+
+"Valgrand came back, but he had gone mad. He managed to get to his
+dressing-room after taking the wrong door. 'I don't know a single word
+of my part,' he confessed to me. I comforted him as best I could, but he
+flung himself down on his couch and shook his head helplessly at me. 'I
+have been very ill, Bonardin,' then suddenly he demanded: 'Where is
+Charlot?'
+
+"Charlot was his dresser. I remembered now that Charlot had not returned
+to the theatre since his master's disappearance. His body was found
+later in the Rue Messier. He had been murdered. I did not want to
+mention this to him for fear it might upset him still more, so I advised
+my old friend to wait for me till the end of the play and let me keep
+him company. I intended to take him home and fetch a doctor. Valgrand
+assented readily. I was then obliged to leave him hurriedly: they were
+calling me--it was my cue. When I returned Valgrand had vanished: he had
+left the theatre. We were not to see him again!"
+
+"A sad affair," commented Fandor.
+
+Bonardin continued his narrative:
+
+"Shortly afterwards in a deserted house in the Rue Messier, near
+Boulevard Arago, the police found the body of a murdered man. The corpse
+was easily identified; it was that of Charlot, Valgrand's dresser."
+
+"How did he come there? The house had no porter: the owner, an old
+peasant, knew nothing."
+
+"Well, what do you conclude from this?" asked Fandor.
+
+"My theory is that Valgrand murdered his dresser, for some reason
+unknown to us. Then, overcome by his crime, he went mad and committed
+suicide. Of that there is no doubt."
+
+"Oh!" muttered Fandor, a little taken aback by this unexpected
+assertion.
+
+The journalist, though he had closely followed the actor's account, was
+far from drawing the same conclusions. For in fact, Gurn, Lord Beltham's
+murderer, whom Fandor believed to be Fantômas, had certainly got
+Valgrand executed in his stead. The Valgrand who came back to the
+theatre, three days after the execution, was not the real one, but the
+man who had taken his place--Gurn, the criminal, Gurn--Fantômas. Ah!
+that was a stroke of the true Fantômas sort! It was certain that if
+Valgrand's disappearance had been simultaneous with Gurn's execution,
+there might have been suspicions. Gurn--Fantômas then found it necessary
+to show Valgrand living to witnesses, so that these could swear that the
+real Valgrand had not died instead of Gurn.
+
+But Valgrand was an actor, Gurn--Fantômas was not! Not enough of one at
+least to venture to take the place on the boards of such a consummate
+player, such a famous tragedian.
+
+"And that was the end?" asked Fandor.
+
+"The end, no!" declared the actor. "Valgrand was married and had a son.
+As is often the case with artists, the Valgrand marriage was not a
+success, and madame, a singer of talent, was separated from her husband,
+and travelled much abroad.
+
+"About a year after these sad occurrences I had a visit from her. On her
+way through Paris, she had come to draw the allowance made her by her
+husband, to supply not only her own wants, but also those of her son, of
+whom she had the custody. Mme. Valgrand chatted with me for hours
+together. I recounted to her at length what I have had the honour of
+telling you, and it seemed to me that she gave no great credence to my
+words.
+
+"Not that she threw doubts on my statements, but she kept reiterating,
+'That is not like him; I know Valgrand would never have behaved in such
+a way!'
+
+"But I never could get her to say exactly what she thought. Some weeks
+after this first visit I saw her again. Matters were getting
+complicated. There was no certificate of her husband's death. Her men of
+business made his 'absence' a pretext: she no longer drew a cent of her
+allowance, and yet people knew that Valgrand had left a pretty large
+amount, and it was in the bank or with a lawyer, I forget which. You are
+aware, M. Fandor, that when the settling of accounts, or questions of
+inheritance or wills, come to the fore there is no end to them."
+
+"That's a fact," replied Fandor.
+
+"We must believe," went on Bonardin, "that the matter was important in
+Mme. Valgrand's eyes, for she refused fine offers from abroad, and
+planted herself in Paris, living on her savings. The good woman
+evidently had a double object, to recover the inheritance for her son,
+little René, and also to get at the truth touching her husband's fate.
+
+"She evidently cherished the hope that her husband was not guilty of the
+dresser's murder, that perhaps he was not even dead, that he would get
+over his madness if ever they managed to find him. In short, M. Fandor,
+some six or seven months ago, when I had quite ceased to think of these
+events, I found myself face to face with Mme. Valgrand on the Boulevard.
+I had some difficulty in recognising her, for my friend's widow was no
+longer dressed like the Parisian smart woman. Her hair was plastered
+down and drawn tightly back, her garments were plain and humble, her
+dress almost neglected. No doubt the poor woman had experienced cruel
+disappointments.
+
+"'Good day, Mme. Valgrand,' I cried, moving toward her with
+outstretched hands. She stopped me with a gesture.
+
+"'Hush,' she breathed, 'there is no Mme. Valgrand now. I am a
+companion.' And the unhappy woman explained that to earn her living she
+had to accept an inferior position as reader and housekeeper to a rich
+lady."
+
+"And to whom did Mme. Valgrand go as companion?"
+
+"To an Englishwoman, I believe, but the name escapes me."
+
+"Mme. Valgrand wished, you say, that her identity should remain unknown?
+Do you know what name she took?"
+
+"Yes--Mme. Raymond."
+
+Some moments later Fandor left the actor and was hastening down the Rue
+Lepic as fast as his legs would take him.
+
+
+
+
+XXVII
+
+THE MOTHER SUPERIOR
+
+
+"The Mother Superior, if you please?"
+
+The door shut automatically upon Fandor. He was in the little inner
+court of the small convent, face to face with a Sister, who gazed in
+alarm at the unexpected guest. The journalist persisted:
+
+"Can I see the Mother Superior?"
+
+"Well, sir, yes--no, I think not."
+
+The worthy nun evidently did not know what to say. Finally making up her
+mind she pointed to a passage, and, drawing aside to let the journalist
+pass, said:
+
+"Be good enough to go in there and wait a few moments."
+
+Fandor was ushered into a large, plain and austere room--doubtless the
+parlour of the community. At the windows hung long, white curtains,
+while before the half-dozen armchairs lay tiny rugs of matting; the
+floor, very waxed, was slippery to the tread. The journalist regarded
+curiously the walls upon which were hung here and there religious
+figures or chromos of an edifying kind. Above the chimney hung a great
+crucifix of ebony. But for the noise from without, the passing of the
+trains and motors, and were it not also for the fine savour of cooking
+and roast onions, one might have thought oneself a hundred leagues from
+the world in the peaceful calm of this little convent.
+
+Fandor, on leaving Bonardin, had decided to fulfill without delay a
+pious mission given him by Juve's victim.
+
+Taken in at the time of his accident by the Sisters of the Rue
+Charmille, Bonardin had received from them the first aid his condition
+required, and as he had left them without a word of thanks, he had
+begged Fandor to return and hand them on his behalf a fifty-franc bill
+for their poor.
+
+After some minutes the door opened and a nun appeared. She greeted
+Fandor with a slight movement of the head; while the journalist bowed
+deferentially before her.
+
+"Have I the honour of speaking to the Mother Superior?"
+
+"Our Mother sends her excuses," murmured the nun, "for not being able
+to receive you at this moment. However, I can take her place, sir. I am
+in charge of the finances of the house."
+
+"I bring you news, Sister."
+
+The nun clasped her hands.
+
+"Good news, I hope! How is the poor young man doing?"
+
+"As well as can be expected; the ball was extracted without trouble by
+the doctors."
+
+"I shall thank St. Comus, the patron saint of surgeons. And his
+assailant? Surely he will be well punished?"
+
+Fandor smiled.
+
+"His assailant was the victim of a terrible misconception. He is a most
+upright man."
+
+"Then I will pray to St. Yves, the patron saint of advocates, to get him
+out of his difficulty."
+
+"Well," cried Fandor, "since you have so many saints at command, Sister,
+you would do well to point out to me one who might favour the efforts of
+the police in their struggle with the ruffians."
+
+The nun was a woman of sense who understood a joke. She rejoined: "You
+might try St. George, sir, the patron saint of warriors." Then becoming
+serious again, the Sister made an end of the interview. "Our Mother
+Superior will be much touched, sir, when I report the kind step you have
+taken in coming here to us."
+
+"Allow me, Sister," broke in Fandor, "my mission is not over yet."
+
+Here the journalist discreetly proffered the note.
+
+"This is from M. Bonardin, for your poor."
+
+The nun was profuse in her thanks, and looking at Fandor with a touch of
+malice:
+
+"You may perhaps smile, sir, if I say I shall thank St. Martin, the
+patron saint of the charitable. In any case I shall do it with my whole
+heart."
+
+The soft sound of a bell came from the distance; the Sister
+instinctively turned her head and looked through the windows at the
+inner cloister of the convent.
+
+"The bell calls you, no doubt, Sister?" he inquired.
+
+"It is, indeed, the hour of Vespers."
+
+Fandor, followed by the Sister, left the parlour and reached the outer
+gate. Already the porter was about to open it for him when he pulled up
+short. Moving at a measured pace, one behind the other, the ladies of
+the community crossed the courtyard, going toward the chapel at the far
+end of the garden.
+
+"Sister," Fandor inquired anxiously, "who is that nun who walks at the
+head?"
+
+"That is our holy Mother Superior."
+
+Fandor was lucky enough to find a taxi as he left the little convent,
+into which he jumped: he was immersed in such deep reflections that when
+the taxi stopped he was quite surprised to find himself in Rue
+Bonaparte, when he had meant to go up to Bonardin's and expected to
+reach Montmarte.
+
+"Where did I tell you to go?" he asked the driver.
+
+The man looked at his fare in amazement:
+
+"To the address you gave me, I suppose."
+
+Fandor did not reply, but paid his fare.
+
+"Heaven inspires me," he thought. "To be sure I wanted to see Bonardin
+to tell him I had done his commission, but it was to prove I should have
+gone after what I found out at the convent."
+
+The journalist remained motionless on the pavement without seeming to
+feel the jostling of the passers-by. He stood there with his eyes fixed
+on the ground, his mind lost in a dream. He had unconsciously gone back
+several years, to his mysterious childhood, stormy and restless. He went
+over again in thought, this last affair, which had once more brought him
+so intimately into Juve's life: the abominable crime in the Cité
+Frochot, in which Chaleck and Loupart were involved, and behind them
+Fantômas--the crime of which the victim--as Juve had clearly
+established--was no other than Lady----
+
+He quickly entered the house and rushed up the stairs, but halted on the
+landing.
+
+"What have I come here for? If I am to believe the papers, Juve is under
+lock and key: It must be instinct that guides me. I feel that I am going
+to see Juve: besides, I must."
+
+He did not ring, for he enjoyed the unique favour of a key which allowed
+him to enter Juve's place at will. He entered and went straight to the
+study: it was empty. He then cried out:
+
+"Juve! Many things have happened since I had the pleasure of seeing you!
+Be good enough to let me into your office. I have two words to say to
+you."
+
+But Fandor's words fell dead in the silence of the apartment. After this
+summons he made his way into the office, and ensconced himself in an
+armchair: clearly Fandor was assured his friend had heard him. And he
+was not wrong! Two seconds later, lifting a curtain that hid a secret
+entrance to the study, Juve appeared.
+
+"You speak as if you knew I was here!"
+
+The two men looked at each other and burst into shouts of laughter.
+
+"So you understood it was all a put-up affair intended to make our
+opponents believe that for a time I was powerless to hurt them. What do
+you think of my notion?"
+
+"First rate," replied Fandor. "The more so that the fair Josephine 'saw
+with her own eyes' some of the force taking you off to prison."
+
+"Everybody believe it, don't they?"
+
+"Everybody."
+
+"Look here. You spoke just now as though you knew I was here?"
+
+Fandor smiled.
+
+"The odour of hot smoke is easily distinguished from the dankness of
+cold tobacco."
+
+Juve approved.
+
+"Well done, Fandor. Here, for your pains, roll a cigarette and let's
+talk. Have you anything fresh?"
+
+"Yes--and a lot, too!"
+
+Fandor related the talk he had had with Bonardin touching Valgrand, the
+actor, and Mme. Valgrand, alias--Mme. Raymond.
+
+Juve uttered his reflections aloud.
+
+"This is one riddle the more to solve. I still adhere to the theory that
+Josephine, some months ago, was brought into intimate relations with
+Lady Beltham, whose body I discovered at Cité Frochot and later
+identified."
+
+Fandor sprang up and placed both of his hands upon Juve's shoulders.
+
+"Lady Beltham is not dead: She is alive! As surely as my name's Fandor,
+the Superior of the Convent at Nogent is--Lady Beltham."
+
+
+
+
+XXVIII
+
+AN OLD PARALYTIC
+
+
+At the far end of the Rue de Rome Fandor halted. "After all," he
+thought, "maybe I am going straight into a trap. Who sent me the letter?
+Who is this M. Mahon? I never heard of him. Why this menacing phrase,
+'Come, if you take any interest in the affairs of Lady B---- and F----.'
+Oh, if only I could take counsel of Juve!"
+
+But for the last fortnight, since the ill-starred affair of Nogent and
+the almost incredible discovery he had made that Lady Beltham was still
+alive, Fandor had not seen Juve. He had been to the Sûreté a number of
+times, but Juve had vanished.
+
+Fandor stopped before a private house on the Boulevard Pereire North. He
+passed in through the outer hall and reached the porter's lodge.
+
+"Madame, have you a tenant here named Mahon?"
+
+The porteress came forward.
+
+"M. Mahon? To be sure--fifth floor on the right."
+
+"Thank you. I should like to ask a few questions about him. I have
+come--to negotiate an insurance policy for him and I should like to know
+about the value of the furniture in his rooms. What sort of a man is
+this M. Mahon? About how old is he?"
+
+Fandor had, by pure professional instinct, found the best device in the
+world. There is not a porteress who has not many times enlightened
+insurance agents.
+
+"Why, sir, M. Mahon has lived here only a month or six weeks. He can
+scarcely be very well off, for when he moved in I did not see any fine
+furniture go up. I believe for that matter he is an old cavalry officer,
+and, in the army nowadays, folks scarcely make fortunes."
+
+"That's true enough," assented Fandor.
+
+"Anyhow he is a very charming man, an ideal lodger. To begin with, he is
+infirm, almost paralysed in both legs. I believe he never goes out of an
+evening. And then he never has any visitors except two young fellows who
+are serving their time in the army."
+
+"Are they with him now?"
+
+"No, sir, they never come till three or four in the afternoon."
+
+Fandor slipped a coin into the woman's hand and went upstairs. He rang
+at the door and was surprised at a strange, soft rolling sound.
+
+"Oh, I know," he thought; "the poor man must move about his rooms in a
+rubber-tired wheel chair."
+
+He was not mistaken. Scarcely was the door opened when he caught sight
+of an old man of much distinction seated in a wheel chair. This invalid
+greeted the journalist pleasantly.
+
+"M. Fandor?"
+
+"The same, sir."
+
+M. Mahon pushed forward his chair and motioned to his visitor to come
+in.
+
+Fandor entered a room in which the curtains were closely drawn and which
+was brilliantly illuminated with electric lights, although it was the
+middle of the afternoon. Was it a trap? The journalist instinctively
+hesitated in the doorway. But behind him a cordial voice called:
+
+"Come in, you all kinds of an idiot!"
+
+The door clicked behind him and the invalid, getting out of his chair,
+burst into a fit of laughter.
+
+"Juve! Juve!"
+
+"As you see!"
+
+"Bah, what farce are you playing here? Why this lit-up room?"
+
+"All for very good reasons. If you will be kind enough to take a seat, I
+will explain."
+
+Fandor dropped into a chair staring at Juve, who continued:
+
+"When you came back the other day and told me that unlikely yarn about
+Lady Beltham being alive, I decided to try new methods. First of all, I
+became a cavalry officer, then I got this wheel chair and moved into
+this apartment."
+
+As Juve paused, Fandor, more and more amazed, inquired:
+
+"But your reason for all this!"
+
+"Just wait! The day after the Dixon business, I put three of my best men
+on the track of the American. I had a notion he would want to see
+Josephine again, and I was not mistaken. She came back to justify
+herself in his eyes. The story ended as might have been foreseen.
+Michel, who brought me the news, said that Josephine had agreed to
+become Dixon's mistress."
+
+"The deuce!"
+
+"Oh, there is nothing to be surprised at that. Michel made arrangements
+to learn all the details. Josephine is to live at 33 C in Boulevard
+Pereire South; that is, to the right of the railway line, fourth floor.
+Here we are at 24 B Boulevard Pereire North, to left of the railway,
+fifth floor, and just opposite."
+
+"And what does this old M. Mahon do, Juve?"
+
+Juve smiled.
+
+"You are going to see, my lad."
+
+He settled himself again in the wheel chair, drew a heavy rug over his
+knees and became once more the old invalid.
+
+"My dear friend, will you open the door for me?"
+
+Fandor laughingly complied, and Juve wheeled himself into another room.
+
+"You see I have plenty of air here thanks to this balcony upon which I
+can wheel my chair. Would you be good enough to pass me that spy-glass?"
+
+Juve pointed the glass toward the far end of Boulevard Pereire, in the
+direction of Poste Maillot.
+
+"Mlle. Josephine has lately had a craze for keeping her nails polished."
+
+"But you are not looking toward the house opposite, you are looking in a
+contrary direction!"
+
+Juve laid his spy-glass on his knees and laughed.
+
+"I expected you to make that remark. See, those glasses at the end are
+only for show, inside is a whole system of prisms. With this perspective
+you see not in front of you, but on one side. In other words, when I
+point it at the far end of the boulevard, what I am really looking at is
+the house opposite."
+
+Fandor was about to congratulate his friend on this new specimen of his
+ingenuity, but Juve did not give him time. He startled the journalist by
+suddenly asking him:
+
+"Tell me, do you love the army?"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I think those two soldiers you see over there are coming."
+
+"To see you," added Fandor.
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"From your porteress."
+
+"You pumped her?"
+
+"I did. I got her to talk a bit about that excellent M. Mahon."
+
+Juve laughed:
+
+"Confound you!"
+
+With a quick movement Fandor, at the detective's request, drew back the
+wheel chair and shut the window.
+
+"You understand," explained Juve, "there is nothing to surprise my
+neighbours in my having two soldiers to visit me. But I don't care for
+third persons to hear what they say to me." There was a ring at the
+apartment door. "Go and open, Fandor. I don't leave my cripple's chair
+for them; people can see through the curtains."
+
+Shown in by Fandor, the soldiers shook hands with Juve and took seats
+opposite him.
+
+"Do you recognise Michel and Léon?"
+
+"Oh, perfectly!" cried Fandor, "but why this disguise?"
+
+"Because no heed is paid to uniforms, there are soldiers everywhere, and
+also it is not easy to recognise a civilian suddenly appearing in
+uniform. What is fresh, Michel?"
+
+"Something pretty serious, sir. According to your instructions we have
+been shadowing the Superior of the Nogent Convent."
+
+"Well, what have you discovered?"
+
+"Every Tuesday evening the Superior leaves Nogent and goes to Paris."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"To one of the branches of her religious house in the Boulevard
+Jourdan."
+
+"No. 180?"
+
+Michel was dumbfounded.
+
+"Yes, sir, you knew?"
+
+"No," said Juve, coldly. "What does she do at this branch?"
+
+"There are four or five old nuns there. The Superior spends Tuesday
+night there and on Wednesday goes back to Nogent about one in the
+afternoon."
+
+"And you know no more than that?"
+
+"No, sir. Must we go on with the shadowing?"
+
+"No, it is not worth while. Return to the Prefecture and report to M.
+Havard."
+
+When the two men had left, Fandor turned to Juve.
+
+"What do you make of it?"
+
+Juve shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Michel is an idiot. That house has two exits; one to the Boulevard, the
+other to waste ground that leads to the fortifications. The Superior, or
+Lady Beltham, goes there to change her dress, and then hastens to some
+prearranged meeting elsewhere. The house at Neuilly will bear
+watching."
+
+
+
+
+XXIX
+
+THROUGH THE WINDOW
+
+
+"What a splendid fellow! One can count on him at any time. A friendship
+like his is rare and precious."
+
+Fandor had just left Juve, and the detective could not help being
+strangely moved as he thought of the devotion shown him by the
+journalist.
+
+The detective was still in his wheel chair; with a skilful turn he went
+back to the balcony and his post of observation.
+
+Evening was coming on. After a fine day the sky had become leaden and
+overcast with great clouds: a storm was threatening. Juve swore.
+
+"I shan't see much this evening; this confounded Josephine is so
+sentimental that she loves dreaming in the gloaming at her window
+without lighting up. Devil take her!"
+
+Juve had armed himself with his spy-glass; he apparently levelled it at
+Porte Maillot, and in that way he could see something of the movements
+of Josephine in the rooms opposite him.
+
+"Flowers on the chimney and on the piano! Expecting her lover probably!"
+
+Suddenly he started up in his chair.
+
+"Ah! some one has rung her bell. She is going toward the entrance door."
+
+A minute passed; in the front rooms Juve no longer saw anyone. Josephine
+must be receiving a visitor.
+
+Some minutes more went by; a heavy shower of rain came down and Juve was
+forced to leave his balcony.
+
+When he resumed his watching he could not suppress an exclamation of
+surprise.
+
+"Ah, if he would only turn! This cursed rain prevents me from seeing
+clearly what is afoot. The brute! Why won't he turn! There, he has laid
+his bag on a chair, his initials must be on it, but I can't read them.
+Yet the height of the man! His gestures! It's he, sure enough, it's
+Chaleck!"
+
+Juve suddenly abandoned his post of observation, propelled his chair to
+the back room of the suite and seized the telephone apparatus.
+
+"Hello! Give me the Prefecture. It is Juve speaking. Send at once
+detectives Léon and Michel to No. 33 C Boulevard Pereire South. They
+are to wait at the door of the house and arrest as they come out the
+persons I marked as numbers 14 and 15. Let them make haste."
+
+"Assuredly Chaleck won't leave at once if he has come to see Josephine;
+no doubt he has important things to say. Léon and Michel will arrive in
+time to nab him first and Josephine after. And to-morrow, when I have
+them handcuffed before me, it's the deuce if I don't manage to get the
+truth out of them."
+
+Juve went back to his look-out.
+
+"Oh, they seem very lively, both of them; the talk must be serious.
+Josephine doesn't look pleased. She seems to disagree with what Chaleck
+is saying. One would think he was giving her orders. No! she is down on
+her knees. A declaration of love! After Loupart and Dixon it's that
+infernal doctor's turn!"
+
+Juve watched for a moment longer the young woman and the mysterious and
+elusive Chaleck.
+
+"Ah! that's what I feared! Chaleck is going and Léon and Michel haven't
+come!"
+
+Juve hesitated. Should he go down, rush to the Boulevard and try to
+collar the ruffian? That wasn't possible. Juve lived on the fifth floor,
+so that he had one more story to get down than Chaleck, then there was
+the railway line between him and Josephine's house. Chaleck would have
+ample time to disappear. But Juve reassured himself.
+
+"Luckily he has left his hold-all, and if I mistake not, that is his
+stick on the chair. Therefore he expects to come back."
+
+Powerless to act, Juve witnessed the exit of Chaleck, who soon appeared
+at the door of Josephine's house and went striding off. Juve followed
+him with his eyes, intensely chagrined. Would he ever again find such a
+good opportunity of laying hands on the ruffian?
+
+Chaleck vanished round the corner of the street, and Juve again took to
+watching Josephine! The young woman did not appear to be upset by her
+late visitor. She sat, her elbows on the table, turning with a listless
+finger the pages of a volume.
+
+"Clearly he is coming back," thought Juve, "or he would not have left
+his things there. I shall nab him in a few days at latest."
+
+Juve was about to leave his post of observation when he saw Josephine
+raise her head in an attitude of listening to an indefinable and
+mysterious noise.
+
+"What is going on?" Juve asked himself. "She cannot be already watching
+for Chaleck's return."
+
+Then Juve started.
+
+"Oh! oh!"
+
+He had just seen Josephine at a single bound spring toward the window.
+The young woman gazed steadily in front of her, her arms outstretched in
+a posture of horror. She seemed in a state of abject terror. There was
+no mistaking her motions. She was panic-stricken, panting, trembling in
+all her limbs. Juve, who lost no movement of the hapless woman, felt a
+cold sweat break out on his forehead.
+
+"What's the matter with her? There is nobody in the room, I see nothing!
+What can frighten her to that extent? Oh, my God!"
+
+Forgetting all precautions, all the comedy he was preparing so carefully
+for the neighbour's benefit, he sprang to his feet, deserting his wheel
+chair. His hands clenched on the rail of the balcony while spellbound by
+the sight he beheld, he leaned over the rail as if in a frantic desire
+to fling himself to the young woman's help. Josephine had bestridden the
+sash of her window. She was now standing on the ledge, holding with one
+hand to the rail of her balcony and her body flung backwards as if mad
+with terror.
+
+"What is happening? Oh, the poor soul!"
+
+Josephine, uttering a desperate cry, had let go of the supporting rail
+and had flung herself into space. Juve saw the young woman's body spin
+in the air, heard the dull thud that it made as it crashed against the
+ground.
+
+"It is monstrous!"
+
+Juve beside himself tore down the stairs full tilt, passed breathlessly
+the porteress, who seemed likely to faint at the sight of the headlong
+pace of the supposed paralytic.
+
+He went round Boulevard Pereire, darted along the railway line, and,
+panting, got to the side of the ill-starred Josephine. At the sound of
+her fall and the cries she uttered people had flown to the windows,
+passers-by had turned round: when Juve got there a ring of people had
+already formed round the unfortunate woman. The detective roughly pushed
+some of them aside, knelt down beside the body and put his ear to the
+chest.
+
+"Dead? No!"
+
+A faint groan came from the lips of the poor sufferer. Juve realised
+that by unheard-of luck, Josephine, in the course of her fall, had
+struck the outer branches of one of the trees that fringed the
+Boulevard. This had somewhat broken the shock, but her legs were
+frightfully broken and one of her arms hung lifeless.
+
+"Quick!" commanded Juve. "A cab; take her to the hospital."
+
+As soon as help was forthcoming, Juve, recalled to the duties of his
+profession, asked himself:
+
+"What can have occurred? What was it she tried to escape by throwing
+herself into space? I saw the whole room, there was no one with her. She
+must have been the victim of a delusion."
+
+
+
+
+XXX
+
+UNCLE AND NEPHEW
+
+
+"So, uncle, you have decided to live at Neuilly?"
+
+"Oh, it's quite settled. Your aunt finds the place charming, and
+besides, it would be so pleasant to have a garden. Also, the land is
+sure to grow more valuable in this neighbourhood and the purchase of a
+house here would be a good speculation!"
+
+The stout man, as he uttered the word "speculation," beamed. The mere
+sight of him suggested the small tradesman grown rich by dint of long
+and arduous years of toil, retired from business and prone to fancy he
+was a man of genius.
+
+Compared with him the young man he styled nephew, slim, elaborately
+elegant, his little moustache carefully curled, gave the impression of
+coming out of a draper's shop and wanting to be taken for a swell.
+Evidently the nephew courted the uncle and flattered him.
+
+"You are right, land speculations are very sure and very profitable. So
+you wrote to the caretaker of the house to let you view it?"
+
+"I did, and he answered, 'Come to-day or to-morrow. I shall be at your
+orders.' That is why I sent you word to go with me, for since you are
+the sole heir of my fortune----"
+
+"Oh, uncle, you may be sure----"
+
+The Madeleine tramway where the two men were talking aloud, heeding
+little the amused notice of the other passengers, pulled up a moment in
+the Place de l'Eglise at Neuilly.
+
+"Let us get down. Boulevard Inkermann begins here."
+
+With the pantings and gaspings of a man whose stoutness made all
+physical exercise irksome, the uncle lowered himself off the footboard
+of the tram. The young man sprang to his side. After five minutes' walk
+the two men were in front of Lady Beltham's house, the identical house
+to which Juve and Fandor had previously come before to make exhaustive
+inquiries.
+
+"You see, my boy," declared the stout party, "it is not at all a bad
+looking house. Evidently it has not been lived in for a long time, its
+state of outside dilapidation shows how neglected it has been, but it
+is possible that inside there may not be many repairs to be made."
+
+"In any case, the garden is very fine."
+
+"Yes, the grounds are large enough. And then what I like is its
+wonderful seclusion: the wall surrounding it on all sides is very high,
+and the entrance gate would be hard for robbers to tackle."
+
+"Shall I ring?"
+
+"Yes, ring."
+
+The young man pressed the button, a peal rang out in the distance:
+presently the porter appeared. He was a big fellow with long whiskers
+and a distinguished air, the perfect type of the high-class servant.
+
+"You gentlemen have come to see the house?"
+
+"Exactly. I am M. Durant. It is I who wrote to you."
+
+"To be sure, sir, I remember."
+
+The porter showed the two visitors into the garden, and forthwith the
+stout man drew his nephew along the paths. The sense of proprietorship
+came over him at once; he spared his relative none of the points of the
+property.
+
+"You see, Emile, it isn't big, but still it is amply sufficient. No
+trees before the house, which allows a view of the Boulevard from all
+the windows. The servants' quarters being in the far part of the garden
+can in no way annoy the people in the house: Notice, too, that the trees
+are quite young and their foliage thin. I don't care for too luxuriant
+gardens which are apt to block the view."
+
+"That's right, Uncle."
+
+The porter, who was following the two, broke in upon the ecstasy of the
+prospective owner.
+
+"Would you gentlemen like to see the house?"
+
+"Why, certainly, certainly."
+
+The stout man, however, before entering, was bent on going round it. He
+noticed the smallest details, growing more and more enthusiastic.
+
+"Look, Emile, it is very well built. The ground floor is sufficiently
+raised so as not to be too damp. This big terrace, on which the three
+French windows open, must be very cheerful in summer. Oh, there are
+drain pipes at the four corners! And we mustn't fail to see the cellars.
+I'm sure they are very fine. Bend down over the air-holes; what do you
+think of the gratings that close them? And, now, shall we go in?"
+
+The porter led them to the main entrance door.
+
+"Here is the vestibule, gentlemen, to the left, the servants' hall and
+kitchen; to the right, the dining-room; facing you a small drawing-room,
+then the large drawing-room, and, lastly, the double staircase leading
+to the first floor."
+
+The stout man dropped into a chair.
+
+"And to whom does this place belong?"
+
+"Lady Beltham, sir."
+
+"She does not live here?"
+
+"Not now. At this moment she is travelling."
+
+In the wake of the porter, uncle and nephew went through the rooms on
+the ground floor. As happens in all untenanted houses, the damp had
+wrought terrible havoc. The flooring, worm-eaten, creaked under their
+feet, the carpets had large damp spots on them, the paper hung loose on
+the walls, while the furniture was covered with a thick coat of dust.
+
+"Don't pay any attention to the furniture, Emile, it matters little;
+what we must first look at is the arrangement of the rooms. Why, there
+are iron shutters--I like that."
+
+"To be sure, Uncle, they are very practical."
+
+"Yes, yes; to begin with, when those shutters are closed it would be
+impossible from the outside to see anything in the rooms. Not even the
+least light."
+
+The porter proceeded to show them the first floor of the house.
+
+"There is only one staircase?" asked the stout man.
+
+"Yes, only one."
+
+"And what is the cause of the unusual dampness? We are far from the
+Seine; the garden is not very leafy."
+
+"There is a leaky cistern in the cellars, sir. Here is the largest
+bedroom. It was my Lady's."
+
+"Yes, one sees it has been the last room to be lived in."
+
+At this harmless remark the porter seemed very upset.
+
+"What makes you think that, sir?"
+
+"Why, the chairs are pushed about as though recently used. There is much
+less dust on the furniture. And--there's a print--look at the desk,
+there is a trace of dust on the diary. The blotting paper has been moved
+lately, some one has been writing there--why, what's wrong with you?"
+
+As he listened to the stout man's remarks the porter grew strangely
+pale.
+
+"Oh," he stammered, "it's nothing, nothing at all."
+
+"One would say you were afraid."
+
+"Afraid? No, sir. I am not afraid--only----"
+
+"Only what?"
+
+"Well, gentlemen, it is best not to stay here--Lady Beltham is selling
+the house because it is--haunted!"
+
+Neither of the visitors seemed impressed by the statement of their
+guide. The elder laughed a jolly laugh.
+
+"Are there ghosts?"
+
+"Why, sir, 'spirits' come here."
+
+"Have you seen them?"
+
+"Oh! certainly not, sir. When they are there, I shut myself up in the
+lodge, I can assure you----"
+
+"When do they appear?"
+
+"They come almost always on Tuesday nights."
+
+And warming to his subject the porter gave details. He got the
+impression first on one occasion when her Ladyship was absent. She had
+left some days before for Italy. It was Sunday, and then during Tuesday
+night while walking in the garden he heard movements inside the house.
+
+"I went to fetch my keys and when I came back I found nobody! I thought
+at first it was burglars, but I saw nothing had been taken away. Yet, I
+was not mistaken, furniture had been moved. There were bread crumbs on
+the floor."
+
+The young man roared with laughter.
+
+"Bread crumbs! Then your spirits come and sup here?"
+
+The uncle, equally amused, asked:
+
+"And what did Lady Beltham think when you told her that?"
+
+"Lady Beltham laughed at me. But, sir, I had my own ideas. I watched in
+the garden daily and I heard the same sounds and always on Tuesday
+nights. At last I laid a trap; I put a chalk mark round the chairs in
+Lady Beltham's room, she being still away. Well, sir, when I came to the
+house again on Thursday the chairs had been moved. I told Lady Beltham,
+and this time she seemed very much frightened. It is since then she made
+up her mind to sell the house."
+
+"For all that, what makes you say they are spirits?"
+
+"What else could it be, sir. I also heard the sounds of chains jangling.
+One night I even heard a strange and terrible hiss."
+
+"Well!" cried the stout man, beginning to go down the staircase, "since
+the house is haunted I shall have to pay less for it; eh, Emile?"
+
+"You will buy, sir, in spite of that?"
+
+"To be sure. Your phantoms alarm me less than the damp."
+
+"Oh, the damp? That can be easily remedied. You will see that we have a
+central heating stove installed."
+
+The porter led his visitors down a narrow stair to the cellars.
+
+"Take care, gentlemen, the stairs are slippery."
+
+Then he observed: "You don't need a candle, the gratings are big enough
+to give plenty of light."
+
+"What is that?" asked the young man, pointing to a huge iron cylinder
+embedded in the earth and rising some four-and-a-half feet above the
+floor.
+
+"The cistern of which I spoke, as you can see for yourselves, it is all
+but full."
+
+The porter hurried them on.
+
+"That is the heating stove. There are conductors throughout the house.
+When it is in full blast the house is even too warm."
+
+"But your grate stove is in pieces!" objected the stout man, pointing
+with his stick to iron plates torn out of one side of the central
+furnace.
+
+"Oh, sir, that happened at the time of the floods. But it won't cost
+much to put it right. If you gentlemen will examine the inside of the
+apparatus you will see that the pipes are in perfect order."
+
+The uncle followed the porter's suggestion.
+
+"Your pipes are as big as chimneys; a man could pass through them."
+
+The inspection ended, uncle and nephew bestowed a liberal tip on their
+guide. They would think it over and write or come again soon.
+
+The two relatives retraced their steps to Boulevard Inkermann.
+
+"Fandor?"
+
+"Juve?"
+
+"We have got them!"
+
+Uncle and nephew--that is to say, Juve and Fandor--could talk quite
+freely now.
+
+"Juve, are you certain that we have got them?"
+
+Juve pushed his friend into a wine-shop and ordered drinks. He then drew
+from his pocket a piece of paper, quite blank.
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"A bit of paper I picked up on Lady Beltham's desk while the porter's
+back was turned. It will serve for a little experiment. If it is not
+long since a hand rested on it, we shall find the print."
+
+"On this blank paper?"
+
+"Yes, Fandor. Look!"
+
+Juve drew a pencil from his pocket and scratched off a fine dust of
+graphite which he shook over the paper. Gradually the outline of a hand
+appeared, faint, but quite visible.
+
+"That is how," resumed Juve, "with this very simple process, you can
+decipher the finger prints of persons who have written or rested their
+hands on anything--paper, glass, even wood. According to the clearness
+of this outline which is thrown up by the coagulation of the
+plumbago--thanks to the ordinary moisture of the hand--which was laid
+on the paper, I can assure you that some one wrote on Lady Beltham's
+desk about ten days ago."
+
+"It is wonderful," said Fandor. "Here, then, is proof positive that her
+Ladyship visits her house from time to time."
+
+"Correct--or at least that some one goes there, for that is a man's
+hand."
+
+"Well, what are you going to do now, Juve?"
+
+"Now? I'm off to the Prefecture to get rid of my false embonpoint, which
+bothers me no end. I have never been so glad that I am not naturally
+stout."
+
+Fandor laughed.
+
+"And I own to you that I shan't be sorry to get rid of my false
+moustache. All the while I was inspecting that cursed house, this
+moustache kept tickling my nose and making me want to sneeze."
+
+"You should have done so."
+
+"But suppose my moustache had come off?"
+
+
+
+
+XXXI
+
+LOVERS AND ACCOMPLICES
+
+
+"Oh! who is that?"
+
+From the shadow issued some one who calmly replied:
+
+"It is I."
+
+"Ah!--I know you now, but why this disguise?"
+
+"Madame the Superior--I present myself--Doctor Chaleck. Isn't my
+disguise as good as yours?"
+
+"What do you want of me? Speak quickly, I am frightened."
+
+"To begin with, I thank you for coming to the tryst at your house--at
+ours. For five Tuesdays I have waited in vain. But first, madame,
+explain your sudden conversion, the reason of your sudden entry into
+Orders. That is a strange device for the mistress of Gurn."
+
+Doctor Chaleck held under the lash of his irony the unhappy woman who
+seemed overcome by anxiety. The two were facing each other in the large
+room that formed the middle of the first floor of the house in Boulevard
+Inkermann at Neuilly. It was, in fact, the only room fit to use: they
+had left to neglect and inclement weather the other rooms in the elegant
+mansion which some years before was considered in the Parisian world as
+one of the most comfortable and luxurious in the foreign colony.
+
+It was in truth here that in days gone by the tragic drama had been
+played: death had laid its cold hand upon the gilded trappings of the
+great apartment and laughter and joy had taken flight. However, time
+passes so quickly and evil memories so soon grow dim that many had
+forgotten the grim happenings which three years before had beset the
+mansion on the Boulevard.
+
+It was at first the deep mourning of Lady Beltham whose husband had been
+mysteriously done to death at Belleville. Then, some weeks later,
+occurred the awful scene of the arrest of Lord Beltham's murderer, just
+as he was leaving the house, an arrest due to Juve, who, though he
+succeeded in laying hands on the assassin, the infamous Gurn, was not
+able to prove--sure though he might be of it--that the slayer of the
+husband was the lover of the wife.
+
+After these shocking events Lady Beltham left France, dismissing the
+many attendants with whom she loved to surround herself like a true
+queen of beauty, luxury and wealth.
+
+At rare intervals the Lady, whose existence grew more and more
+mysterious, went back for a few days to her house at Neuilly. She would
+vanish, would reappear, living like a recluse, almost in entire
+solitude, receiving none of her old acquaintances.
+
+About a year ago she seemed to want to settle finally at Boulevard
+Inkermann. Workmen began to put the house in order again, the lodge was
+opened and a family of caretakers came; then suddenly the work had been
+broken off; some weeks went by while Lady Beltham lived alone with her
+companion; then both disappeared.
+
+Lady Beltham shivered, and, gathering about her shoulders the cloak
+which covered her religious habit, muttered: "I'm cold."
+
+"Beastly weather, and to think this is July."
+
+Chaleck crossed to a register in the corner of the room.
+
+"No good to leave that open! An icy wind comes through the passage to
+the cellar."
+
+Lady Beltham turned in alarm toward her enigmatic companion.
+
+"Why did you let it be supposed I was dead?"
+
+"Why did you yourself leave here two days before the crime at the Cité
+Frochot?"
+
+Lady Beltham hung her head and with a sob in her voice:
+
+"I was deserted and jealous. Besides, I was enduring frightful remorse.
+The idea had come to me to write down the terrible secret which haunted
+my spirit, to give the story to some one I could trust, an attorney, and
+then----"
+
+"Go on, pray!"
+
+"And, then, what I had written suddenly vanished. It was after that I
+lost my head and fled. I had long been meaning to withdraw from the
+world. The Sisters of St. Clotilde offered to receive me in their house
+at Nogent."
+
+Chaleck added brutally:
+
+"That isn't all. You forgot to say you were afraid. Come, be frank,
+afraid of Gurn, of me!"
+
+"Well, yes, I was afraid, not so much of you, but of our crimes. I am
+also afraid of dying."
+
+"That confession you wrote became known to some one who confided it to
+me."
+
+"Heavens," murmured the unhappy woman. "Who mentioned it?"
+
+Chaleck had again crossed to the register, which, although closed by him
+some moments before, was open again, letting into the room a blast of
+icy air from the basement.
+
+"This can't stay shut, it must be seen to," he muttered.
+
+Lady Beltham, shaken by a nervous tremour, insisted:
+
+"Who betrayed me? Who told?"
+
+Chaleck seated himself by her side.
+
+"You remember Valgrand, the actor? Well, Valgrand was married. His wife
+sought to clear up the mystery of his disappearance and went--where, I
+ask you? Why, to you, Lady Beltham! You took her as companion! It would
+have been impossible to introduce a more redoubtable spy into the house
+than the widow Valgrand, known by you under the false name of Mme.
+Raymond."
+
+Lady Beltham remained panic-stricken.
+
+"We are lost!"
+
+Chaleck squeezed her two hands in a genuine burst of affection.
+
+"We are saved!" he shouted. "Mme. Raymond will talk no more!"
+
+"The body at the Cité Frochot!"
+
+Chaleck nodded. "Yes."
+
+She looked at him in alarm, mingled with repulsion and horror.
+
+"Now, understand that that death saved you, and if I saved you it is
+because I loved you, love you still, will always love you!"
+
+Lady Beltham, overcome, let herself fall into Chaleck's arms, her head
+resting on her lover's shoulder as she wept hot tears.
+
+Lady Beltham was once more enslaved, a captive! More than two years ago
+she had broken with the mysterious and terrible being whom she had once
+egged on to kill her husband, and with whom she then committed the most
+appalling of crimes. During this separation the unhappy woman had tried
+to pull herself together, to acquire a fresh honesty of mind and body, a
+new soul; dreamed of finding again in religion some help, some
+forgetfulness. She had later experienced the frightful tortures of
+jealousy, knowing her late lover had mistresses! But she resisted the
+craving to see him again, and pictured him to herself in such terrible
+guise that she felt an overwhelming fear of finding herself face to face
+with him. Now the season of calm and quiet she had evoked was suddenly
+dispelled. First came the mysterious disappearance of her confession and
+the weird crime of the Cité Frochot following on its loss. To be sure
+she did not then know that Doctor Chaleck, of whom the papers spoke, was
+none other than Gurn, but had they not in _La Capitale_ spoken of
+Fantômas in that connection? And at this disquieting comparison Lady
+Beltham had felt sinister forebodings. Other mysteries had then
+supervened, unaccountable to the guilty lady who by that time was
+already seeking her new birth in the bosom of Religion. Alas! her
+miseries were to grow definite enough.
+
+At the very gate of the convent an innocent man, Bonardin, the actor,
+fell victim to the attack of Juve, also innocent, and in that affair she
+felt the complicity of her late lover grow more and more certain. She
+then received a letter from him, followed by a second. Gurn called her
+to his place--their place--the mansion at Neuilly, every Tuesday night.
+She held out several times despite threatened reprisals. At last she
+yielded and went: she expected Gurn--it was Chaleck she found. The two
+were one!
+
+From henceforth she was faced with this accomplice, guilty of new
+crimes, clothed in a new personality, already under suspicion, which
+doubtless he would cast off only to assume another which would enable
+him still further to extend the list of his crimes! But despite all the
+horror her lover inspired her with she felt herself tamed again,
+powerless to resist him, ready to do anything the moment he bade her!
+
+She inquired feebly:
+
+"Who was it killed Mme. Raymond? Was it that ruffian--whom they speak of
+in the papers--Loupart?"
+
+"Well, not exactly!"
+
+"Then was it you? Speak, I would rather know."
+
+"It was neither he nor I, and yet it was to some extent both."
+
+"I do not understand."
+
+"It is rather difficult to understand. Our 'executioner' does not lack
+originality. I may say it is something which lives yet does not think."
+
+"Who is it! Who is it!"
+
+"Why not ask Detective Juve. Oh! Juve, too, would like to know who the
+deuce all these people are. Gurn, Chaleck, Loupart, and, above
+all--Fantômas!"
+
+"Fantômas! Ah, I scarcely dare utter that name. And yet a doubt
+oppresses my heart! Tell me, are you not, yourself--Fantômas?"
+
+Chaleck freed himself gently, for Lady Beltham had wound her arms round
+his neck.
+
+"I know nothing, I am merely the lover who loves you."
+
+"Then let us go far away. Let us begin a new existence together. Will
+you? Come!" She stopped all at once--"I heard a noise." Chaleck, too,
+listened. Some slight creakings had, indeed, disturbed the hush of the
+room. But outside the wind and the rain whirled around the dilapidated,
+lonely abode, and it was not surprising that unaccountable sounds should
+be audible in the stillness. Once more Lady Beltham built up her plans,
+catching a glimpse of a future all peace and happiness.
+
+With a brief, harsh remark, Chaleck brought her back to reality.
+
+"All that cannot be, at least for the moment, we must first----"
+
+Lady Beltham laid her hand on his lips.
+
+"Do not speak!" she begged. "A fresh crime--that's what you mean?"
+
+"A vengeance, an execution! A man has set himself to run me down, has
+determined my ruin: between us it is a struggle without quarter; my life
+is not safe but at the cost of his, so he must perish. In four days they
+will find Detective Juve dead in his own bed. And with him will finally
+vanish the fiction he has evoked of Fantômas! Fantômas! Ah, if society
+knew--if humanity, instead of being what it is--but it matters little!"
+
+"And Fantômas? What will become of him--of you?"
+
+"Have I told you that I was Fantômas?"
+
+"No," stammered she, "but----"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The dim light of a pale dawn filtered through the closed shutters of the
+big drawing-room in which lover and mistress had met again, after long
+weeks of separation, to call up sinister memories. For all their hopes
+the limit of the tribulations to which they were a prey seemed still far
+off.
+
+Chaleck blew out the lamp. He drew aside the curtains. Sharply he put an
+end to the interview:
+
+"I am off, Lady Beltham. Soon we shall meet again. Never let anyone
+suspect what we have said to each other--Farewell."
+
+The hapless woman, crushed and broken by emotion, remained nearly an
+hour alone in the great room. Then the requirements of her official life
+came to her mind. It was necessary to return to the convent at Nogent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Extricating themselves painfully from the pipes of the great stove, Juve
+and Fandor, covered with plaster, wreathed with cobwebs, and freely
+sprinkled with dust, fell back suddenly into the middle of the cellar.
+The two men, heedless of the disarray of their dress and their painful
+cramped limbs, spoke both at once, dumbfounded but joyful:
+
+"Well, Juve?"
+
+"Well, Fandor, we got something for our money."
+
+"Oh, what a lovely night, Juve; I wouldn't have given up my place for a
+fortune."
+
+"We had front seats, though to be sure the velvet armchairs were
+lacking."
+
+They were silent for a moment, their minds fully occupied with a crowd
+of ideas. So Chaleck and Loupart were one and the same? And Lady Beltham
+was indeed the accomplice of Gurn. An unhappy accomplice, repentant,
+wretched, a criminal through love.
+
+"Fandor, they are ours now. Let us act!"
+
+The pair, not sorry to breathe a little more easily than they had done
+for the past few hours, went upstairs, reached the ground floor and made
+their way into the drawing-room, where during the night Doctor Chaleck
+and Lady Beltham had had their memorable interview.
+
+Juve, without a word, paced up and down the room, poking in all the
+corners, then gave a cry:
+
+"Here is the famous mouth of the heater which that brute Chaleck tried
+to shut, and I persisted in opening so as not to lose a word of his
+instructive conversation. No matter, if he felt cold, what did I feel
+like?"
+
+"The fact is," added Fandor, whose hoarse voice bore witness to the
+difficulties he had just passed through, "these stove pipes have very
+little comfort about them."
+
+"What can you expect?" cried Juve. "The architect did not think of us
+when he built the house. And now, Fandor, we have a hard task before us
+and we need all the luck we can get. For certainly it is Fantômas we
+have unearthed: Fantômas, the lover of Lady Beltham, the slayer of her
+husband, the murderer of Valgrand, the master that got rid of Mme.
+Raymond! Gurn, Chaleck, Loupart. The one being who can be all those and
+himself too--Fantômas."
+
+As the two friends left Lady Beltham's house without attracting notice,
+the detective drew from his pocket a species of little scale which he
+showed Fandor.
+
+"What do you make of that?"
+
+"I haven't the least idea."
+
+"Well, I have, and it may put us in the way of a great discovery. Did
+you notice that Chaleck did not say definitely who the 'executioner' of
+Mme. Raymond was?"
+
+"To be sure."
+
+"Well, I believe that I have a morsel of this 'executioner' in my
+pocket."
+
+
+
+
+XXXII
+
+THE SILENT EXECUTIONER
+
+
+Juve was in his study smoking a cigarette. It was nine in the evening.
+The door leading to the lobby opened and Fandor walked in.
+
+"All right, this evening?"
+
+"All right. What brings you here, Fandor?"
+
+The journalist smiled and pointed to a calendar on the wall: "The fact
+that--it's this evening, Juve."
+
+"The date fixed by Chaleck or Fantômas for my demise. To-morrow morning
+I am to be found in my bed, strangled, crushed, or something of the
+sort. I suppose you've come to get a farewell interview for _La
+Capitale_. To gather the minutest details of the frightful crime so that
+you can publish a special edition. '_The tragedy in Rue Bonaparte! Juve
+overcome by Fantômas!_'"
+
+Fandor listened, amused at the detective's outburst.
+
+"You'd be angry with me, Juve," he declared, in the same jocular strain,
+"for passing by such a sensational piece of news, wouldn't you?"
+
+"That is so. And then I own I expected my last evening to be a lonely
+one, there was a feeling of sadness at the bottom of my heart. I thought
+that before dying I should have liked to say farewell to young Fandor,
+whose life I am continually putting in peril by my crazy ventures, but
+whom I love as the surest of companions, the sagest of advisers, the
+most discreet of confidants."
+
+Fandor was touched. With a spontaneous movement he sprang to the
+armchair in which Juve sat, seized and wrung the detective's hands.
+
+"What?"
+
+"I shall stay here. You don't suppose I'm going to leave you to pass
+this night alone?"
+
+Juve, touched beyond measure by Fandor's words, seemed uncertain what he
+ought to decide.
+
+"I can't pretend, Fandor, that your presence is not agreeable, and I'm
+grateful to you for your sympathy; I knew I could count on you: but
+after all, lad, we must look ahead and consider all contingencies.
+Fantômas may succeed! Now you know what I have set out to do; if I
+should fail, I should like to think that you would carry on the work as
+my successor and put an end to Fantômas."
+
+"But, Juve, you are threatened by Fantômas; that is why I am here to
+help you."
+
+"Well, I have no bed to put you in."
+
+Fandor, taken aback, stared at the detective. The latter rose and began
+walking about the room, then turned sharply and gazed at the young man:
+
+"You are quite determined to stay with me?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And if I bade you go?"
+
+"I should disobey you."
+
+"Very well, then," concluded Juve, shrugging his shoulders, "come along
+and light me."
+
+The detective passed out of the apartment and made for the stairs.
+
+"Where are we bound for?" asked Fandor.
+
+"The garret," Juve replied.
+
+A quarter of an hour later Juve and Fandor dragged into the bedroom a
+huge open-work wicker-basket.
+
+"Whew!" cried Juve, mopping his forehead, "no one would believe it was
+so heavy."
+
+Fandor smiled.
+
+"It's full of rubbish. Really, Juve, you are not a tidy man!"
+
+Juve, without reply, proceeded to empty the basket, pulling out books,
+linen, pieces of wood, carpet, rolls of paper; in fact, the accumulated
+refuse of fifteen years.
+
+"What is your height?" he asked.
+
+"If I remember right, five feet ten."
+
+Juve got out his pocket measure and took the length of the crate.
+
+"That's all right," he murmured. "You'll be quite snug and comfortable
+in it."
+
+Fandor burst out:
+
+"You're a cheerful host, Juve. You bottle up your guests in cages now!"
+
+Juve placed a mattress at the bottom of the basket and laid two blankets
+over that, then he put a pillow on top. Patting the bedding to make it
+smooth, he declared with a laugh:
+
+"I fear nothing, but I have taken precautions. I have posted two men in
+the porter's lodge. I have loaded my revolver, and dined comfortably.
+About half-past eleven I shall go to bed as usual. However, instead of
+going to sleep I shall endeavour to keep awake. At dinner I took three
+cups of coffee, and when you go I shall drink a fourth."
+
+"Excuse me," said Fandor, "but I am not going away."
+
+"There! You'll sleep splendid inside that, Fandor."
+
+The journalist, used to the devices of his friend, nodded his head. Juve
+had already taken off his coat and waistcoat and now drew from a box
+three belts half a yard in breadth and studded outside with sharp
+points. "Look, Fandor! I shall be completely protected when I am swathed
+in them. Oh," he added, "I was going to forget my leg guards!"
+
+Juve went back to the box and took out two other rolls, also studded
+with spikes. Fandor looked in amazement at this gear and Juve observed
+laughingly:
+
+"It will cost me a pair of sheets and maybe a mattress."
+
+"What does it mean?"
+
+"These defensive works have a double object. To protect me against
+Fantômas, or the 'executioner' he will send, and also I shall be able to
+determine the civil status of the 'executioner' in question."
+
+Fandor, more and more puzzled, inspected the iron spikes, which were two
+or more inches in length.
+
+"This contrivance is not new," said Juve; "Liabeuf wore arm guards like
+these under his jacket, and when the officers wanted to seize him they
+tore their hands."
+
+"I know, I know," replied Fandor, "but----"
+
+The detective all at once laid a finger on his lips.
+
+"It's now twenty past eleven, and I am in the habit of being in bed at
+half past. Fantômas is bound to know it: when he comes or sends, he must
+not notice anything out of the way. Get into your wicker case and shut
+the lid down carefully. By the by, I shall leave the window slightly
+open."
+
+"Isn't that a bit risky?"
+
+"It is one of my habits, and not to make Fantômas suspicious I alter my
+ways in nothing."
+
+Fandor settled himself in his case and Juve also got into bed. As he put
+out the light he gave a warning.
+
+"We mustn't close an eye or utter a word. Whatever happens, don't move.
+But when I call, strike a light at once and come to me."
+
+"All right," replied Fandor.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Fandor!"
+
+Juve's cry rent the stillness of the night, loud and compelling. The
+journalist leaped from his wicker-basket so abruptly that he knocked
+against the lamp stand and the lamp fell to the floor. Fandor searched
+for his matches in vain.
+
+"Light up, Fandor!" shouted Juve.
+
+The noise of a struggle, the dull thud of a fall on the floor, maddened
+the journalist. In the darkness he heard Juve groaning, scraping the
+floor with his boots, making violent efforts to resist some mysterious
+assailant.
+
+"Be quick, in God's name," implored the pain-wrung voice of the
+detective. Fandor trod on the glass of the lamp, which broke. He
+tripped, knocked his head against a press, rebounded, then suddenly
+uttered a terrible cry. His hands, outstretched apart, in the gloom, had
+brushed a cold, shiny body which slid under his palms.
+
+"Fandor! Help, Fandor!"
+
+Desperate, Fandor plunged haphazard about the disordered chamber,
+wrapped in darkness. Suddenly, he rushed into the study hard by, found
+there another lamp which he lit in haste, and hurried back with it.
+
+A fearful sight wrung a cry of terror from him. Juve, on his knees on
+the floor, was covered with blood.
+
+"Juve!"
+
+"It's all right, Fandor. Some one has bled, but not I."
+
+The detective rushed to the open window and leaned out into the dark
+night.
+
+"Listen!" he cried. "Do you hear that low hissing, that dull rustling?"
+
+"Yes. I heard it just now."
+
+"It was the 'executioner.'"
+
+The detective drew back into the room, shut the window, pulled down the
+blinds, and then took off his armour. Curiously he examined the stains
+of blood, the tiny shreds of flesh that had remained on the points.
+
+"We have no more to fear now," he said, "the stroke has been tried--and
+has failed."
+
+"Juve! tell me what has just happened? I may be an idiot, but I don't
+understand at all!"
+
+"You are no fool, Fandor; far from it, but if in many circumstances you
+reason and argue with considerable aptness, I grant you far less
+deductive faculty. That does not seem to be your forte."
+
+Fandor seated himself before the detective, and the latter held forth.
+
+"When we found ourselves faced with the first crime, that of the Cité
+Frochot, and our notice was drawn to the elusive Fantômas, we were
+unable to decide in what manner that hapless Mme. Raymond, whom we then
+took for Lady Beltham, had been done to death. Now, remember, Fandor,
+that during that night of mystery, hidden behind the curtains in
+Chaleck's study we heard weird rustlings and faint sort of hissings,
+didn't we?"
+
+"We did," admitted Fandor, at a loss, "but go on, Juve."
+
+"When we were called to investigate the attack on the American, Dixon,
+it was easy for us to conclude that the attempt of which the pugilist
+had been the object was the outcome of the same plan of battle as that
+which cost the widow Valgrand her life. The mysterious 'executioner,'
+which Chaleck did not disguise from Lady Beltham, was thus a being
+endowed with vigour enough to completely crush a woman's body, and
+likely do as much to that of an ordinary man. But the 'executioner' in
+question was not strong enough to get the better of the grand physique
+of the champion pugilist, since it failed in its attempt.
+
+"This instrument 'of limited power,' if I may so describe it, must then
+be, not a mechanism which nothing can resist, but a living being! It
+must also be a creature striking panic, terrifying, formidable: you ask
+why, Fandor?"
+
+"Yes, to be sure."
+
+"I am going to tell you. If our poor friend Josephine were not still in
+a high fever she would certainly uphold me. You remember the business on
+the Boulevard Pereire? Chaleck or Fantômas wants to be rid of the woman
+he loved under the guise of Loupart, since he has gone back to Lady
+Beltham. Moreover, Josephine chatters too much with Dixon, with the
+police.
+
+"Chaleck, Fantômas, therefore, goes up to Josephine's. After having told
+the poor creature I know not what yarn, he departs, leaving behind in
+his hold-all, the instrument. Now this last, when it shows itself, so
+terrifies the poor girl that she throws herself out of the window."
+
+"I begin to see what you mean," said the journalist.
+
+"Listen," replied Juve. "The mysterious, nameless and terrible
+accomplice of Fantômas, is no other than a snake! A snake trained to
+crush bodies in its coils. After having long suspected its existence, I
+began to be sure of it when I found that strange scale at Neuilly. This
+accounts for the incomprehensible state of Mme. Valgrand's body, the
+extraordinary attempt on Dixon, the murderous thing that terrified
+Josephine! That is why, expecting to-night's visit, I barbed myself with
+iron like a knight of old, feeling pretty sure that if the hands of the
+officers were torn by the armlets of Liabeuf, the coils of Fantômas'
+serpent would be flayed on touching my sharp spikes."
+
+"Juve!" cried Fandor, "if I hadn't had the bad luck to upset the lamp,
+we should have caught this frightful beast."
+
+"Probably, but what should we have done with it? After all, it's better
+that it should go back to Fantômas."
+
+"But you haven't yet told me what happened!"
+
+The young man's face displayed such curiosity that Juve burst out
+laughing.
+
+"Journalist! Incorrigible newsmonger! All right, take notes for your
+article describing this appalling adventure. So, then, Fandor, the lamp
+once out, the hours go by, a trifle more slowly in the darkness than in
+the light. You are silent and still like a little Moses in your wicker
+cradle. As for me, armoured as I was, I tried not to stir in my bed--to
+spare the sheets--Juve is not wealthy. Midnight, one o'clock, two, the
+quarter past. How long it is!--Then, an alarm! A cat that mews
+strangely. Then comes that little hissing sound I begin to know.
+Hiss--hiss! Oh, what a horrid feeling! I guess that the window is
+opening wider. You heard, as I did, Fandor, the revolting scales grit on
+the boards. But you didn't know what it was, whereas I did know it was
+the snake! I swear to you it needed all my pluck not to flinch, for I
+wanted at any cost to see it through to the end, and know whether,
+behind this reptile, Fantômas was not going to show his vile snout.
+
+"Ah, the brute, how quickly he went to work. As I was listening, my
+muscles tense, my nerves on edge, I suddenly felt my sheet stir--the
+foul beast is trained to attack beds, remember the attack on Dixon--and
+suddenly it was the grip, furious, quick as a whip stroke, twining about
+me. I was thrown down, tossed, shaken, torn like a feather, tied up like
+a sausage!
+
+"My arms glued to my body, my loins hampered. I intended not to say a
+word, I had faith in my iron-work; but to be frank, I was scared,
+awfully scared. And I yelled: 'Fandor! Help!'
+
+"Oh, those accursed moments. He began to squeeze horribly when all at
+once I felt a cold liquid flow over my skin--blood. The brute was
+wounded. We still wrestled, and you tripped in the darkness and smashed
+the glass of the lamp, and I was choking gradually. All my life I shall
+remember it. And then, what relief, what joy when the grip slackened,
+when he gives up and makes off. The beast glided over the floor, reached
+the window, hissed frantically and vanished. There, M. Reporter, you
+have impressions from life, and rough ones, too! Well, the luck is
+turning, and I think it is veering to our quarter. Things are going from
+bad to worse for Fantômas. I tell you, Fandor, we shall nab him before
+long!"
+
+
+
+
+XXXIII
+
+A SCANDAL IN THE CLOISTER
+
+
+Slight sounds, scarcely audible, disturbed the peace of the cloister. In
+the absolute silence of the night, vague noises could be distinguished.
+Furtive steps, whisperings, doors opened or shut cautiously. Then the
+blinking light of a candle shone at a casement, two or three other
+windows were illuminated and the hubbub grew general. Voices were heard,
+frightened interjections, the stir increased in the long corridor on
+which cells opened. Generally the curtains of these cells were
+discreetly drawn; now they were being pulled aside. Drowsy faces looked
+out of the gloom; the excitement increased.
+
+"Sister Marguerite! Sister Vincent! Sister Clotilde! What is it? What is
+happening? Listen!"
+
+The alarmed nuns gathered at the far end of the passage. The worthy
+women, roused from their rest, had hastily arranged their coifs, and
+chastely wrapped themselves in their flowing robes. They turned their
+frightened faces toward the chapel.
+
+"Burglars!" murmured the Sister who was treasurer of the convent,
+thinking of the cup of gold that the humble little sisterhood preserved
+as a relic with jealous care.
+
+Another Sister, recently come from the creuse, from which she had been
+driven by the laws, did not conceal her fears.
+
+"More emissaries of the government! They are going to turn us out!"
+
+The Senior, Sister Vincent, quivering with alarm, stammered:
+
+"It is a revolution--I saw that in '70."
+
+A heap of chairs under the vaulting suddenly toppled down. Panic
+stricken, the sisters crowded closed together, not daring to go to the
+chapel, which was joined to the passage by a little staircase.
+
+"And the Mother Superior, what did she think of it all--what would she
+say?"
+
+They drew near the cell, a little apart from the others, occupied by the
+lady, who, on taking the headship of the "House," had brought with her
+precious personal assistance and a good deal of money as well. Sister
+Vincent, who had gone forward and was about to enter the little
+chamber, drew back.
+
+"Our Holy Mother," she informed the others, "is at her prayers."
+
+At this very moment broken cries rang down the passage. Sister Frances,
+the janitress, who everyone believed was calmly slumbering in her lodge,
+suddenly appeared, her eyes wild, her garments in disarray.
+
+The sisters gathered round her, but the helpless woman shrieked, quite
+beside herself.
+
+"Let me go! Let us flee! I have seen the devil! He is there! In the
+church! It is frightful!"
+
+Mad with terror, the Sister explained in disjointed phrases what had
+alarmed her. She had heard a noise and fancied it might be the
+gardener's dog shut by mistake in the chapel. Then behold! At the moment
+she entered the choir the stained-glass window above the shrine of St.
+Clotilde, their patroness, suddenly gave way, and through the opening
+appeared a supernatural being who came toward her ejaculating words she
+could not understand. Armed with a great cudgel, he struck right and
+left, making a terrible uproar.
+
+Thereupon the janitress made an effort to escape, but the demon barred
+her path, and in a sepulchral voice commanded her to go for the Mother
+Superior and bid her come at once, if she did not want the worst of
+evils to fall upon the sisterhood.
+
+She had scarcely finished when an echoing crash was heard. The sisters
+suppressed a cry, and as they turned, pale with dread, before them stood
+their Mother Superior. With a sweeping gesture, she vaguely gave a
+blessing as if to endow them with courage, then turned to the janitress.
+
+"My dear Sister Françoise, calm yourself! Be brave! God will not forsake
+us! I intend to comply with the desire of the stranger. I will go
+alone--with God alone!" Lady Beltham made a mighty effort to disguise
+the emotion she felt. Slowly she went down the steps and entered the
+sanctuary, where she halted in a state of terror.
+
+The choir was lit up. The tapers were flaring on the high altar, and in
+the middle of the chapel, wrapped in a large black cloak, his face
+hidden by a black mask, stood a man, mysterious and alarming.
+
+"Lady Beltham!"
+
+At the sound of this voice, Lady Beltham fancied she recognised her
+lover.
+
+"What do you want? What are you doing? It is madness!"
+
+"Nothing is madness in Fantômas!"
+
+Lady Beltham pressed her hands to her heart, unable to speak.
+
+The voice resumed: "Fantômas bids you leave here, Lady Beltham. In two
+hours you will go from this convent; a closed motor will be waiting for
+you at the back of the garden, at the little gate. The vehicle will take
+you to a seaport, where you will board a vessel which the driver will
+indicate; when the voyage is over you will be in England: there you will
+receive fresh orders to make for Canada."
+
+Lady Beltham wrung her hands in despair.
+
+"Why do you wish to force me to leave my dear companions?"
+
+"Were you not ready to leave everything, Lady Beltham, to make a new
+life for yourself with--him you love?"
+
+"Alas!"
+
+"Remember last Tuesday night at the Neuilly mansion!"
+
+"Ah! You should have carried me off then, not left me time to think it
+over. Now I am no longer willing."
+
+"You will go! Yes or no. Will you obey?"
+
+"I will--for, after all, I love you!"
+
+The two tragic beings were silent for a moment, listening; outside the
+church the uproar grew in violence, brief orders were being shouted, a
+blowing of whistles. Suddenly, uttering a hoarse cry, the ruffian
+exclaimed:
+
+"The police! The police are on the track of Fantômas! Juve's police.
+Well, this time Fantômas will be too much for them. Lady Beltham--till
+we meet again."
+
+Beating a rapid retreat behind a pillar of the chapel he vanished. Lady
+Beltham found herself alone in the chapel. Five minutes later the heavy
+steps of the police sounded in the passages. They went through the
+house, searching for clues, then disappeared in the darkness of the
+night.
+
+Lady Beltham addressed the nuns:
+
+"A great peril threatens our sisters of the Boulevard Jourdan. They must
+be warned at all costs and at once. And it is necessary that I, and I
+only, should go to warn them. Have no fear. No harm will happen to me. I
+know what I am doing."
+
+Under the appalled eyes of the sisterhood the Mother Superior slowly
+passed from the assembled community with a sweeping gesture of farewell.
+The moment she was alone, she ran to the far end of the garden and
+passed through the little gate in the wall behind the chapel. She was
+gone!
+
+While these strange occurrences were in progress at the peaceful convent
+of Nogent, and the flight of Lady Beltham at the bidding of Fantômas was
+effected under the eyes of the sisters, no little stir was manifest in
+the environs of La Chapelle, in the dreaded region where the hooligans,
+forming the celebrated gang of Cyphers, have their haunts.
+
+A certain misrule reigned in the confederation, due to the fact that
+Loupart had not been seen for some time. None of its members believed
+for an instant the newspaper story that Loupart had turned out to be
+Fantômas--the elusive, the superhuman, the improbable, the weird
+Fantômas. This was beyond them. Good enough to stuff the numskull of the
+law with such a tale, but there was no use for it among the gang of
+Cyphers.
+
+That same evening there was considerable excitement at the station in
+the Rue Stephenson. Detectives, inspectors, real or sham hooligans, were
+assembled there.
+
+"Who is that gentleman?" asked M. Rouquelet, the Commissary of the
+district, pointing to a young man seated in a corner of the room, taking
+notes on a pad.
+
+Juve, to whom the query was addressed, turned his head.
+
+"Why, it's Fandor, Jerome Fandor, my friend."
+
+Juve was seated at the magistrate's table, comparing papers, documents,
+and material evidence; he had, standing round him men in uniform or
+mufti. One might have thought it the office of a general staff during a
+battle. The door opened to a man dressed like a market gardener.
+
+"Well, Léon?" asked Juve.
+
+"M. Inspector, it is done. We have nabbed the 'Cooper.'"
+
+A sergeant of the 19th Arrondissement appeared and saluted.
+
+"M. Inspector, my men are bringing in 'The Flirt.' Her throat is cut."
+
+"Is her murderer taken?"
+
+"Not yet--there are several of them--but we know them. The wounded woman
+was able to tell us their names. They 'bled' her because they suspected
+her of giving us information."
+
+M. Rouquelet telephoned to Lâriboisière for an ambulance, and the
+officers went to see the victim, who was lying on a stretcher in the
+hall. At that moment, the sound of a struggle hurried Juve to the
+entrance of the station. Some officers were hauling in a youth with a
+pallid complexion and wicked eyes. Fandor recognised the captive.
+
+"It's that little collegian who bit my finger the night of the
+Marseilles Express!"
+
+Léon, who had drawn near, likewise identified the youth.
+
+"I know him, that's Mimile. His account is settled, he is jugged!"
+
+The hall of the station filled once more: an old woman, dragged in
+forcibly, was groaning and bawling at the top of her voice:
+
+"Pack of swine! Isn't it shameful to treat a poor woman so!"
+
+"M. Superintendent," explained one of the men, "we caught this woman,
+Mother Toulouche--in the act of stowing away in her bodice a bundle of
+bank notes just passed to her by a man. Here they are."
+
+The constable handed the packet to the magistrate, and Fandor, who was
+watching, could not repress an exclamation.
+
+"Oh!--Notes in halves! Suppose they belong to M. Martialle! Allow me, M.
+Rouquelet, to look at the numbers."
+
+"In with Mother Toulouche!" cried the Superintendent, then rubbing his
+hands he turned to Juve and cried:
+
+"A fine haul, M. Inspector. What do you think?"
+
+But Juve did not hear him; he had drawn Fandor into a corner of the
+office and was explaining:
+
+"I have done no more at present than have Lady Beltham shadowed, but I
+do not mean to arrest her. You see, if I asked Fuselier for a warrant
+against Lady Beltham, a person legally dead and buried more than two
+months ago, that excellent functionary would swallow his clerk, stool
+and all, in sheer amazement."
+
+At that moment a cyclist constable, dripping with sweat and quite out of
+breath, came in and hastening straight to Juve, cried:
+
+"I come from Nogent!"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, M. Inspector, they saw a masked man come out of the convent,
+wrapped in a big cloak. They gave chase--he fired a revolver twice and
+killed two officers."
+
+"Good God! It was certainly----"
+
+"We thought, too--that perhaps--after all--it was--it was Fantômas!"
+
+"Juve!" called the Commissary. "You are wanted on the telephone. Neuilly
+is asking for you."
+
+The detective picked up the receiver.
+
+"Hello! hello! Is that you, Michel? Yes. What is it? In a motor? Oh, you
+have taken the driver. But he--curse it! Who the devil is this man who
+always escapes us? What? He is in Lady Beltham's house! You have
+surrounded the house? Good, keep your eyes open! Do nothing till I
+come."
+
+Juve hung up the receiver and turned to Fandor.
+
+"Fantômas is at Lady Beltham's; shut up in the house. I am going there."
+
+"I'll go with you."
+
+As the two men left the station, they were met by Inspector Grolle.
+
+"We have taken 'The Beard' at Daddy Korn's," he cried.
+
+"Confound that!" shouted Juve, as he jumped into a taxi with Fandor.
+"Neuilly! Boulevard Inkermann, and top speed!"
+
+
+
+
+XXXIV
+
+FANTÔMAS' REVENGE
+
+
+"Phew! Here I am!"
+
+Checking his headlong course at the top of the terrace steps, Fantômas
+rapidly entered the house, then double-locked himself in. The ruffian at
+once inspected the fastenings of the windows and doors on the ground
+floor.
+
+The monster cocked his ear. Three calls of the horn sounded dolefully in
+the silence of the night. Fantômas counted them anxiously and then
+exclaimed:
+
+"There! That's my signal! My driver is taken."
+
+A slight shudder shook the sturdy frame of the man. He went up to the
+first floor and peered through the shutters. He caught the sound of
+footsteps. In the light of a street lamp he suddenly descried the
+outline of his driver. The latter, among half a score of policemen, was
+walking, head bent, with his hands fettered.
+
+"Poor fellow!" he murmured. "Another who has to pay! Ah! they have left
+my 'sixty horse' for my use presently. But there is no time to lose,
+I'll bet that Juve, flanked by his everlasting journalist, will not be
+long in coming here. Very well! Juve, it is not as master that you will
+enter this house, but as a doomed man!"
+
+Fantômas now became absorbed in a strange task which claimed all his
+attention. On the floor of the dark closet where all the electric gear
+of the house terminated, the bandit laid a sort of oblong fusee that he
+drew from his capacious cloak.
+
+He fitted to the end of this fusee two electric wires previously freed
+of their insulator; then having verified the tie of the pulls of the
+distribution board, he hid the cartridge under a little lid of wood.
+Then he left the closet, taking care to double-lock the door.
+
+"These detectives," he growled, "are about to witness the finest
+firework display imaginable and, I dare say, take part in it, too.
+Dynamite can transform a respectable middle-class house into a sparkling
+bouquet of loose stone!"
+
+Such was, indeed, the fearful reception Fantômas held in reserve for his
+opponents. He had made everything ready to blow up the house and escape
+unhurt himself.
+
+If Juve and Fandor had paid more attention to the piping of the wires,
+they would have seen that some of them ran outside the house and
+disappeared below ground, reappearing at the far end of the property in
+an old deserted woodshed.
+
+Fantômas was about to leave the house. He was already stepping onto the
+terrace when, suppressing an oath, he wheeled about suddenly.
+
+As Juve and Fandor were about to enter the grounds, Detective Michel
+rose up out of the dusk.
+
+"That you, sir?"
+
+"Well," replied Juve, "is the bird in the nest?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and the cage is well guarded, I assure you. Fifteen of my men
+kept a strict guard round the house."
+
+"Good. Here is the plan of action. You, Sergeant, will enter the house
+with Inspector Michel, at my back. The men will continue to watch the
+exit."
+
+Juve broke off sharply. He saw the door of the house open a little way
+and Fantômas appear, then vanish again inside the house.
+
+"At last!" cried Juve, who sprang forward, followed by Fandor.
+
+"Slowly, gentlemen! We have now victory in sight, we mustn't imperil it
+by rashness. You remain on the ground floor. Each one in a room, and
+don't stir without good reason. I am going up."
+
+"I am going with you," exclaimed Fandor.
+
+The two went cautiously up the stairs to the first floor.
+
+"Fantômas!" challenged Juve, halting on the landing, "you are caught;
+surrender!"
+
+But the detective's voice only roused distant echoes; the big house was
+silent.
+
+"Now, this is what we must do," he cautioned Fandor. "Above us is a
+loft--we will search it first; if it is empty, we will close it again.
+Then we will come down again, taking each room in turn and locking it
+after us. At the slightest sound fling yourself on the ground and let
+Fantômas fire first; the flash of the shot will tell us where it comes
+from."
+
+The two man-hunters searched the loft without success. At the first
+floor Juve repressed a slight tremor, for the handle of the door leading
+into Lady Beltham's room creaked ominously. He opened it, springing
+aside quickly, expecting to be fired at. The room was empty, no trace of
+Fantômas. The two passed into another room, then as soon as their
+visitation was completed locked up the apartment.
+
+Suddenly, as they reached the foot of the stairs, Juve gave a violent
+start. From the door of the drawing-room a shadow, black from head to
+foot, came bounding out. Quick as lightning the form crossed the
+ante-room, then plunged by a low entrance into the cellarage.
+
+Two shots rang out!
+
+Fantômas drew behind him a big bar and prided himself on the barrier he
+thus put between his pursuers and himself. But despite his consummate
+confidence, he was beginning to feel a certain uneasiness, an undeniable
+anxiety. His black mask clung to his temples, dripping with sweat.
+
+He crossed the basement to the little air-hole overlooking the garden.
+
+"That is a way of escape," he thought, "unless----"
+
+But, baffled, he ceased his inspection.
+
+"Curse it! There are three policemen before that exit."
+
+He scraped a match and reviewed the place in which he found
+himself--which for that matter he knew better than any one.
+
+Facing him stood the dilapidated stove and at his feet shimmered the
+cistern.
+
+All at once Fantômas clenched his fists. Under the increasing blows of
+the detective and his men the door of the basement yielded. Above the
+crash of the boards and iron-work Juve's voice rang out:
+
+"Fantômas! Surrender!"
+
+Fantômas groped in the darkness. His hand came on a bottle. A crackle of
+shattered glass was heard, Fantômas had taken the bottle by the neck and
+broken it against the wall.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Juve, revolver in hand, followed by Fandor, moved cautiously down the
+stairs to the cellar: both men were brave, yet they felt their hearts
+beating as though they would burst.
+
+Juve reached the last step. He pressed the knob of his electric torch; a
+rush of light lit up the little room. It was empty!
+
+Juve went the round of the cellar, carefully inspecting the walls and
+sounding them with the butt of his revolver. He went round the cistern.
+Its surface was black and still. A broken bottle, floating head
+downward, remained half immersed, absolutely motionless.
+
+Fandor laid his hand on the detective's arm.
+
+"Did you hear; some one breathed!"
+
+Beyond doubt some one had breathed!
+
+"Idiots that we are! He is in there," cried Juve, pointing to the pipe
+of the great stove.
+
+The detective caught sight in a corner of a number of bundles of straw.
+
+"That is what we want, Fandor! We are going to make a bonfire."
+
+When the opening of the furnace was fitted, Juve set a light to it and
+the flames rose, crackling, while up the pipe of the heater rose a
+pungent smoke, thick and black.
+
+"And now to the openings of the stove! Sergeant! Michel! This way!"
+
+Through the apertures in the ground-floor rooms the great stove was
+beginning to smoke.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A broken bottle with the bottom gone was floating head downward on the
+black water of the tank. Scarcely had Juve and Fandor gone than the
+water was stirred, and slowly the mysterious bottle rose again to the
+top. Behind it rose the head of Fantômas, still wrapped in the black
+hood which now clung to his face like a mask moulded on the features.
+
+Dripping, he issued from the tank and breathed hard for some moments.
+Despite his ingenious contrivance for feeding his lungs he was not far
+from suffocating.
+
+"All the same," he growled, "if I hadn't remembered the plan of the
+Tonkingese who lie stretched at the bottom of a river for hours at a
+time, breathing through hollow reeds, I think that time we should have
+exchanged shots to some purpose!"
+
+Fantômas was wringing out his garments in haste when loud cries sounded
+above his head, and two or three shots rang out. At the same time a
+sudden stirring took place in and around the house. He turned it to
+account by going at once to the air-hole. Now there was no one on guard,
+so Fantômas put his head through, then his shoulders.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"That's all right; the brute is dead!"
+
+Juve was examining curiously the creature which lay helpless on the
+floor. Two trembling sergeants stood at the door of the room.
+
+"We were expecting Fantômas to appear and a snake unrolls itself and
+springs in our faces!" cried Fandor.
+
+Half emerging from the mouth of the heater the monstrous body of a boa
+constrictor lay on the floor. The men Juve had brought into the house
+were resolute, ripe for anything, but never did they imagine that
+Fantômas could assume such an unexpected shape. And terrified,
+overwhelmed with dread, they recoiled in a frenzy of fear and fled,
+calling on their mates outside, who at once ran to their assistance.
+
+"Sir!" A terrified voice called from outside.
+
+Juve rushed to the window. A dripping creature, clad in black from head
+to foot, crossed the garden, running toward the servants' quarters. It
+was Fantômas. Juve swore a great oath: "There he is! Getting away!"
+
+The detective left his cry unfinished.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As he issued by the air-holes, Fantômas leaped forward. He was free!
+
+"Juve scored the first game, the second is mine," he cried.
+
+He reached the woodshed. With a practised hand he turned the electric
+tap which ignited a spark in the dark closet behind the pantry.
+
+"I win!" shouted Fantômas, as a terrible explosion made itself heard.
+
+The earth shook, a huge column of black smoke rose skywards, explosion
+followed explosion. The roar of falling walls was mingled with fearful
+cries and dying groans.
+
+Lady Beltham's villa had been blown up, burying under its ruins the
+hapless men who in their pursuit of Fantômas had ventured too near.
+Assuredly this arch-criminal had got away once more. But were Juve and
+Fandor among the dead?
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
++-----------------------+
+| FOOTNOTES:            |
+|                       |
+| [A] See "Fantômas."   |
+|                       |
+| [B] See "Fantômas."   |
++-----------------------+
+
+
+
++---------------------------------------------------------------+
+|                                                               |
+| Transcriber's note:                                           |
+|                                                               |
+| Italics are represented in this text version by underscores.  |
+|                                                               |
+| The following printer's errors have been corrected.           |
+|                                                               |
+| Page  48  'turnd' to 'turned'                                 |
+| 'Loupart turned and tramped'                                  |
+|                                                               |
+| Page  83  'reasurred' to 'reassured'                          |
+| 'Juve quickly reassured him'                                  |
+|                                                               |
+| Page  96  'than' to 'then'                                    |
+| 'then in a voice'                                             |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 158  'Mechancially' to 'mechanically'                    |
+| 'mechanically she went forward'                               |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 176  'grenery' to greenery'                              |
+| 'under the arch of greenery'                                  |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 221  'unkown' to 'unknown'                               |
+| 'identity should remain unknown'                              |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 252  'vistors' to 'visitors'                             |
+| 'The porter led his visitors'                                 |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 266  'acccomplice' to 'accomplice'                       |
+| 'was indeed the accomplice of'                                |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 270  'later' to 'latter'                                 |
+| 'the latter rose and began'                                   |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 295  'drpping' to 'dripping'                             |
+| 'dripping with sweat'                                         |
+|                                                               |
+|                                                               |
++---------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Exploits of Juve, by Pierre Souvestre and
+Marcel Allain</h1>
+<pre>
+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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The Exploits of Juve</p>
+<p>       Being the Second of the Series of the "Fantômas" Detective Tales</p>
+<p>Author: Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain</p>
+<p>Release Date: December 2, 2009  [eBook #30586]<br />
+Most recently updated: May 11, 2011</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPLOITS OF JUVE***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>E-text prepared by Woodie4, Suzanne Shell,<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/c/">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br />
+    from digital material generously made available by<br />
+    Internet Archive/American Libraries<br />
+    (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/americana">http://www.archive.org/details/americana</a>)</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;" cellpadding="10">
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">
+      Note:
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/exploitsofjuvebe00souviala">
+      http://www.archive.org/details/exploitsofjuvebe00souviala</a><br />
+      <br />
+      There has been some confusion about the authors of
+      this book. The cover credits Pierre Souvestre and
+      Marcel Allain, but the title page lists &Eacute;mile
+      Souvestre and Marcel Allain. Pierre Souvestre
+      (1874-1914) and Marcel Allain (1885-1969) were
+      contemporaries, while &Eacute;mile Souvestre (1806-1854)
+      was the great-uncle of Pierre and died before
+      Marcel Allain was born.
+	</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter border" style="width: 260px; height: 400px;">
+<img src="images/cover01.jpg" width="260" height="400" alt="Cover" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><br /></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter border" style="width: 246px; height: 400px;">
+<img src="images/tp01.jpg" width="246" height="400" alt="Title page" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><i>The<br /></i>
+
+EXPLOITS OF JUVE</h2>
+
+<h3>BEING THE SECOND OF THE SERIES<br />
+
+OF THE "FANTÔMAS"<br />
+
+DETECTIVE TALES</h3>
+
+<h4>BY</h4>
+
+<h3>EMILE SOUVESTRE</h3>
+
+<h4>AND</h4>
+
+<h3>MARCEL ALLAIN<br /><br /></h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>NEW YORK<br />
+
+BRENTANO'S</h3>
+
+<h4>1917</h4>
+
+<p><br /><br /></p>
+
+<h5><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1917, by Brentano's</span></h5>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td align="right">CHAPTER</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#I">I</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Comrades' Tryst</span></td><td align="right">1</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II">II</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">On the Track</span></td><td align="right">14</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#III">III</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Behind the Curtain</span></td><td align="right">22</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#IV">IV</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Woman's Corpse</span></td><td align="right">33</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#V">V</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Loupart's Anger</span></td><td align="right">42</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VI">VI</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Lâriboisière Hospital</span></td><td align="right">50</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VII">VII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Revolver Shot</span></td><td align="right">58</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VIII">VIII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Search for the Criminal</span></td><td align="right">64</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#IX">IX</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">In the Refrigeratory</span></td><td align="right">70</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#X">X</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Bloody Signature</span></td><td align="right">75</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XI">XI</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Shower of Sand</span></td><td align="right">81</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XII">XII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Following Josephine</span></td><td align="right">90</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XIII">XIII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Robbery; American Fashion</span></td><td align="right">99</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XIV">XIV</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Flight Through the Night</span></td><td align="right">107</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XV">XV</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Simplon Express Disaster</span></td><td align="right">113</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XVI">XVI</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Drama at the Bercy Warehouse</span></td><td align="right">118</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XVII">XVII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">On the Slabs of the Morgue</span></td><td align="right">131</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XVIII">XVIII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Fantômas' Victim</span></td><td align="right">142</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XIX">XIX</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Englishwoman of Boulevard Inkermann</span></td><td align="right">147</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XX">XX</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Arrest of Josephine</span></td><td align="right">153</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXI">XXI</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">At the Montmartre Fête</span></td><td align="right">165</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span><a href="#XXII">XXII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Pugilist's Whim</span></td><td align="right">176</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXIII">XXIII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"State's Evidence"</span></td><td align="right">185</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXIV">XXIV</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Mysterious Clasp</span></td><td align="right">192</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXV">XXV</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Trap</span></td><td align="right">204</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXVI">XXVI</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">At the House of Bonardin, the Actor</span></td><td align="right">212</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXVII">XXVII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Mother Superior</span></td><td align="right">222</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXVIII">XXVIII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">An Old Paralytic</span></td><td align="right">230</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXIX">XXIX</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Through the Window</span></td><td align="right">238</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXX">XXX</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Uncle and Nephew</span></td><td align="right">245</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXI">XXXI</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Lovers and Accomplices</span></td><td align="right">256</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXII">XXXII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Silent Executioner</span></td><td align="right">268</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXIII">XXXIII</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Scandal in the Cloister</span></td><td align="right">280</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXIV">XXXIV</a>.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Fantômas' Revenge</span></td><td align="right">291</td></tr>
+</table><br /><br /></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>EXPLOITS OF JUVE</h2>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2>
+
+<h3>THE COMRADES' TRYST</h3>
+
+
+<p>"A bowl of claret, Father Korn."</p>
+
+
+<p>The raucous voice of big Ernestine rose above the hubbub in the
+smoke-begrimed tavern.</p>
+
+<p>"Some claret, and let it be good," repeated the drab, a big, fair damsel
+with puckered eyes and features worn by dissipation.</p>
+
+<p>Father Korn had heard the first time, but he was in no hurry to comply
+with the order.</p>
+
+<p>He was a bald, whiskered giant, and at the moment was busily engaged in
+swilling dirty glasses in a sink filled with tepid water.</p>
+
+<p>This tavern, "The Comrades' Tryst," had two rooms, each with its
+separate exit. Mme. Korn presided over the first in which food and drink
+were served. By passing through the door at the far end, and crossing
+the inner courtyard of the large seven-story building, the second "den"
+was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> reached&mdash;a low and ill-lit room facing the Rue de la Charbonnière,
+a street famed in the district for its bad reputation.</p>
+
+<p>At a third summons, Father Korn, who had sized up the girl and the crowd
+she was with, growled:</p>
+
+<p>"It'll be two moons; hand over the stuff first."</p>
+
+<p>Big Ernestine rose, and pushing her way to him, began a long argument.
+When she stopped to draw a breath, Korn interposed:</p>
+
+<p>"It's no use trying that game. I said two francs and two francs it is."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, I won't argue with a brute like you," replied the girl.
+"Everyone knows that you and Mother Korn are Germans, dirty Prussians."</p>
+
+<p>The innkeeper smiled quietly and went on washing his glasses.</p>
+
+<p>Big Ernestine glanced around the room. She knew the crowd and quickly
+decided that the cash would not be forthcoming.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment she thought of tackling old Mother Toulouche, ensconced in
+the doorway with her display of portugals and snails, but dame
+Toulouche, snuggled in her old shawl, was fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly from a corner of the tavern, a weary voice cried with
+authority:</p>
+
+<p>"Go ahead, Korn, I'll stand treat."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was the Sapper who had spoken.</p>
+
+<p>A man of fifty who owed his nickname to the current report that he had
+spent twenty years in Africa, both as a soldier and a convict.</p>
+
+<p>While Ernestine and her friends hastened to his table, the Sapper's
+companion, a heavily built man, rose carelessly and slouched off to join
+another group, muttering:</p>
+
+<p>"I'm too near the window here."</p>
+
+<p>"It's Nonet," explained the Sapper to Ernestine. "He's home from New
+Caledonia, and he doesn't care to show himself much just now."</p>
+
+<p>The girl nodded, and pointing to one of her companions, became
+confidential. "Look at poor Mimile, here. He's just out of quod and has
+to start right off to do his service. Pretty tough."</p>
+
+<p>The Sapper became very interested in the conversation. Meanwhile Nonet,
+as he crossed the tap-room, had stopped a few moments before a pretty
+girl who was evidently expecting some one.</p>
+
+<p>"Waiting again for the Square, eh, Josephine?" Nonet inquired.</p>
+
+<p>The girl, whose big blue eyes contrasted strikingly with her jet black
+hair, replied:</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? Loupart doesn't think of quitting me that I know of."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, when he does let me know," Nonet suggested smilingly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Josephine shrugged her shoulders contemptuously, and, glancing at the
+clock above the bar, rose suddenly and left the tap-room.</p>
+
+<p>She went rapidly down the Rue Charbonnière and along the boulevard, in
+the direction of the Barbès Metropolitan Station. On reaching the level
+of the Boulevard Magenta, she slackened and walked along the right-hand
+pavement toward the centre of Paris.</p>
+
+<p>"My little Jojo!"</p>
+
+<p>The girl who, after leaving the tavern, had assumed a quiet and modest
+air, now came face to face with a stout gentleman with a jovial face and
+one gleaming eye, the other eye being permanently closed. He wore a
+beard turning grey and his derby hat and light cane placed him as
+belonging to the middle class.</p>
+
+<p>"How late you are, my adored Jojo," he murmured tenderly. "That accursed
+workshop been keeping you again after hours?"</p>
+
+<p>The mistress of Loupart checked a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"That's it!" she replied, "the workshop, M. Martialle."</p>
+
+<p>The man addressed made a warning gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't mention my name here; I'm almost home." He pulled out his watch.
+"Too bad; I'll have to go in or my wife will kick up a row. Let's see,
+this is Tuesday; well, Saturday I'm off<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> to Burgundy on my usual
+half-monthly trip. Meet me at the Lyons station, platform No. 2,
+Marseilles express. We won't be back till Monday. A delightful week-end
+of love-making with my darling who at last consents.... What's that!"</p>
+
+<p>The stout man broke off his impassioned harangue. A beggar, emerging
+from the darkness, importuned him:</p>
+
+<p>"Have pity on me, kind sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Give him something," urged Josephine.</p>
+
+<p>The middle-aged lover complied and tenderly drew away the pretty girl,
+repeating carefully the details of the assignation:</p>
+
+<p>"Lyons Station; a quarter past eight. The train leaves at twenty to
+nine."</p>
+
+<p>Then suddenly dropping Josephine's arm:</p>
+
+<p>"Now, sweetheart, you'd better hurry home to your good mother, and
+remember Saturday."</p>
+
+<p>The outline of the portly personage faded into the night. Loupart's
+mistress shrugged her shoulders, turned, and made her way back to the
+"Tryst," where her place had been kept for her.</p>
+
+<p>At the back of the tavern, the group which Nonet had joined were
+discussing strange doings. "The Bear," head of the band of the Cyphers,
+had just returned from the courthouse. He brought the latest news.
+Riboneau had been given ten<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> years, but was going to try for a reduced
+sentence.</p>
+
+<p>The talk suddenly dropped. A hubbub arose outside, a dull roar which
+waxed louder and louder. The sound of hurrying footsteps mingled with
+shrill cries and oaths. Doors in the street slammed. A few shots were
+fired, followed by a pause, and then the stampede began again.</p>
+
+<p>Father Korn, deserting his bar, warily planted himself at the entry to
+his establishment, his hand on the latch of the door. He stood ready to
+bar entrance to any who might try to press in.</p>
+
+<p>"The raid," he warned in a low tone.</p>
+
+<p>His customers, glad to feel themselves in safety, followed the
+vicissitudes of what to them was almost a daily occurrence.</p>
+
+<p>First came the frenzied rush of the "street walkers," deserted by their
+sinister protectors and fleeing madly in search of shelter in terror of
+the lock-up. Behind the shrieking herd the constables, in close ranks,
+swept and cleared the street, leaving no corner, no court, no door that
+remained ajar unsearched. Then the whirl swept away, the noise died
+down, and the street resumed its normal aspect: drab, weird and
+alarming.</p>
+
+<p>Father Korn laughed. "All they've bagged is Bonzville!" he cried, and
+the customers responded to his merriment. The police had been fooled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
+again. Bonzville was a harmless old tramp, who got himself "jugged"
+every winter on purpose to lay up for repairs.</p>
+
+<p>The passage of the "driver" had caused enough stir in the tap-room to
+distract attention from the entry at the back of a stoutly built man
+with a bestial face, known by the title of "The Cooper."</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly he passed to the Beard's table, and, taking the latter aside,
+began:</p>
+
+<p>"The big job is fixed for the end of the week. On my way back from the
+station I saw Josephine palavering with the swell customer...."</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the Beard stopped him short.</p>
+
+<p>The general attention had become fixed on the street entrance to the
+tap-room. The door had opened with a bang and Loupart, alias "The
+Square," the popular lover of the pretty Josephine, came on the scene,
+his eyes gleaming, his lips smiling under his upturned moustache.</p>
+
+<p>Then there broke out cries of stupefaction. Loupart was between two
+policemen, who had stopped short in the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>The Square turned to them: "Thank you, gentlemen," he said in his most
+urbane tone. "I am very grateful to you for having seen me this far. I
+am quite safe now. Let me offer you a drink to the health of authority!"</p>
+
+<p>However, the two policemen did not dare to en<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>ter the tavern, so they
+briefly declined and made off. Josephine had risen, and Loupart, after
+pressing a tender kiss upon her lips, turned to the company.</p>
+
+<p>"That feazes you, eh! I was just heading this way when I ran into the
+drive. As I'm a peaceful citizen, I got hold of two cops and begged them
+to see me safely home. They thought I was really scared."</p>
+
+<p>There was a burst of general laughter. No one could bluff the police
+like the Square.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart turned to Josephine: "How are things going, ducky?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl repeated in a low tone to her lover her recent talk with M.
+Martialle.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart nodded approvingly, but grumbled when he found the meeting was
+fixed for Saturday.</p>
+
+<p>"Hang the fellow! Must hustle with all the jobs on hand this week.
+Anyway, we won't let this one slip by. Plenty of shiners, eh,
+Josephine?"</p>
+
+<p>"You bet. He carries the stuff to his partners every fortnight."</p>
+
+<p>"That's first rate, but in the meantime there's something doing
+to-night. Here, kiddy, take a pen and scratch off a letter for me."</p>
+
+<p>The Square dictated in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, I am only a poor girl, but I've some feeling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> and honesty and I
+hate to see wrong done around me. Believe me, you'd better keep an eye
+open on some one pretty close to me. Maybe the police have already told
+you I am the mistress of Loupart, alias the Square. I'm not denying it;
+in fact, I'm proud of it. Well, I swear to you that this Loupart is
+going to try a dirty game."</p>
+
+<p>Josephine stopped writing.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, what are you at?"</p>
+
+<p>"Scribble, and don't bother yourself. This doesn't concern you," replied
+Loupart drily.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine waited, docile and ready, but the Square's attention was now
+focussed upon Ernestine, her young man and the generous Sapper.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Ernestine was explaining to Mimile while the Sapper nodded
+approvingly, "the Beard is, as you might say, the head of the band of
+Cyphers, next to Loupart, of course. To belong to the Beard's gang
+you've got to have done up at least one guy. Then you get your Number 1.
+Your figure increases according to the number of deaders you have to
+your credit."</p>
+
+<p>"So then," inquired Mimile, with eager curiosity, "Riboneau, who has
+just been sentenced, is called number 'seven' because ..."</p>
+
+<p>"Because," added the Sapper in his serious voice, "because he has killed
+off seven."</p>
+
+<p>In a few curt questions the Square posted him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>self as to young Mimile,
+who had impressed him favourably.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine turned to Loupart: "What else am I to put in the letter? Why
+are you stopping?"</p>
+
+<p>For answer, the Square suddenly sprang to his feet, seized a half-empty
+bottle and flung it on the floor, where it broke. This act of violence
+sent the company scattering, and Loupart roared out:</p>
+
+<p>"It's on account of spies that I'm stopping! By God! When are we going
+to see their finish? And besides," he added, staring hard at Ernestine,
+"I've had enough of all this nonsense; better clear out of here or
+there'll be trouble."</p>
+
+<p>Cunningly, with bloodshot eyes, her fists clenched in fury, but humbly
+submissive, the girl made ready to comply. She knew the Square was
+master, and there was no use standing out against his will.</p>
+
+<p>The Sapper himself, growling, picked up his change, little disposed to
+have a row, and beckoning to his comrade, Nonet, effected a humble exit
+under cover of the girl Ernestine.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart's arm fell upon the shoulder of Mimile, who alone seemed to defy
+Josephine's formidable lover.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on, young 'un," ordered Loupart. "You seem to have some nerve;
+better join us."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mimile's eyes lighted up with joy.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" he stammered, "Loupart, you'll take me in the Cypher gang?"</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe," was the enigmatic reply. Then with a shove he sent the young
+man to the back of the den. "Must go and talk it over with the Beard."
+Without paying heed to the thanks of his new recruit, Loupart continued
+his dictation to Josephine.</p>
+
+<p>As the Sapper and Nonet went quickly down the Rue Charbonnière, Nonet
+inquired:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, chief, what do you think of our evening?"</p>
+
+<p>The individual that the hooligans of La Chapelle knew by the nickname of
+the Sapper, and who was no other than Inspector Michel, slowly stroked
+his long beard:</p>
+
+<p>"Not much," he declared, "except that we've been bluffed by the Square."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not round up the bunch?" suggested Nonet, who was known as
+Inspector Léon.</p>
+
+<p>"It's easy enough to talk, but what can two do against twenty? Who wants
+to take such risks for sixty dollars a month?"</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Josephine was writing at the Square's dictation:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"I know, sir, that to-morrow Loupart will be at Garnet's wine-shop
+at seven o'clock, which you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> know is to the right as you go up the
+Faubourg Montmartre, before you reach the Rue Lamartine. From there
+he will go to Doctor Chaleck's to tackle the safe, which is placed,
+as I told you, at the far side of the study, facing the window,
+with its balcony overlooking the garden. I wouldn't have meddled in
+the matter except that there'll be something worse regarding a
+woman. I can't tell you any more, for this is all I know. Make the
+best of it, and for God's sake never let Loupart know the letter
+was sent to you by the undersigned.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p style="margin-left: 65%;">"Very respectfully,"<br /></p>
+
+
+<p>About to sign her name, Josephine looked up, trembling and anxious.</p>
+
+<p>"What does it mean, Loupart? You've been drinking, I'm sure you have!"</p>
+
+<p>"Sign, I tell you," calmly replied the Square, and the girl, hypnotised,
+proceeded to trace in her large clumsy hand, her name, "Josephine
+Ramot."</p>
+
+<p>"Now put it in an envelope."</p>
+
+<p>From the end of the saloon the Beard was signalling Loupart.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?" the latter cried, annoyed at the interruption.</p>
+
+<p>The Beard came near and whispered:</p>
+
+<p>"Important business. The dock man's scheme<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> is going well&mdash;it'll be for
+the end of the week, Saturday at latest."</p>
+
+<p>"In four days, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"In four days."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," declared Josephine's lover, "we'll be on hand. It'll be a
+big haul, I hear."</p>
+
+<p>"Fifty thousand at least, the Cooper told me."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart nodded, waved the Beard aside and resumed:</p>
+
+<p>"Address it to</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 45%;">"Monsieur Juve,<br /></p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 55%;">"Commissioner of Safety,<br /></p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 65%;">"At the Prefecture, Paris."<br /></p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2>
+
+<h3>ON THE TRACK</h3>
+
+
+<p>The daily paper, <i>The Capital</i>, was about to go to press. The editors
+had handed over the last slips of copy with the latest news.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Fandor," asked the Secretary, "nothing more for me?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't spring a 'latest' on me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not unless the President of the Republic should be assassinated."</p>
+
+<p>"Right enough. But don't joke. Lord, there's something else to be done
+just now."</p>
+
+<p>The "setter up" appeared in the editor's rooms:</p>
+
+<p>"I want sharp type for 'one,' and eight lines for 'two.'"</p>
+
+<p>Discreetly, as a man accustomed to the business, Fandor withdrew on
+hearing the request of the "setter up," avoiding the searching glance of
+the sub-editor, who forthwith to meet the demands of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> the paging, called
+at random one of the reporters and passed on the order to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Some lines of special type; eight lines. Take up the Cretan question on
+the Havas telegrams. Be quick!"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor picked up his hat and stick and left the office. His berth as
+police-reporter meant a constantly active and unsettled existence. He
+was never his own master, never knew ten minutes beforehand what he was
+going to do, whether he might go home, start on a journey, interview a
+minister or risk his life by an investigation in the world of thugs and
+cut-throats.</p>
+
+<p>"Deuce take it!" he cried as he passed the office door and saw what the
+time was. "I simply must go to the courts, and it's already very
+late...." He ran forward a few paces, then stopped short. "And that
+porter murdered at Belleville!... If I don't cover that affair I shall
+have nothing interesting to turn in...."</p>
+
+<p>He retraced his steps, looking for a cab and swearing at the narrowness
+of the Rue Montmartre, where the inadequate pavements forced the foot
+passengers to overflow on to the roadway, which was choked with
+costermongers' carts, heavy motor-buses, and all that swarm of vehicles
+which gives a Paris street an air of bustle unequalled in any other
+capital in the world. As he was about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> to pass the corner of the Rue
+Bergère, a porter laden down with sample boxes, strung on a hook, ran
+into him, almost knocking him down.</p>
+
+<p>"Look where you're going!" cried the journalist.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out yourself," replied the man insolently.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, with an angry shrug of his shoulders, was about to pursue his
+way, when the man stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, can you direct me to the Rue du Croissant?"</p>
+
+<p>"Follow the Rue Montmartre and take the second turning to the right."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir; could you give me a light?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor could not repress a smile. He held out his cigarette. "Here; is
+that all you want to-day?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you might offer me a drink."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was about to answer sharply when something in the man's face
+seemed vaguely familiar. He was about sixty. His clothes were threadbare
+and green with age, his shoes down at the heels, his moustache and
+shaggy beard a dirty yellow.</p>
+
+<p>"Why the devil should I stand you a drink?"</p>
+
+<p>"A good impulse, M. Fandor."</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the man's features seemed to change. He appeared quite a
+different person and Fandor recognised who was speaking to him.
+Ac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>customed by long habit to conceal his impressions, the journalist
+spoke nonchalantly:</p>
+
+<p>"All right; let's go to the 'Grand Charlemagne.'"</p>
+
+<p>They started off together, reached the Faubourg Montmartre and entered a
+small wine-shop. Having taken their seats and ordered drinks, Fandor
+turned to the porter.</p>
+
+<p>"What's up?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It takes you a long time to recognise your friends."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor scrutinised his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"You are wonderfully made up, Juve."</p>
+
+<p>On hearing his name mentioned, the man gave a start. "Don't utter my
+name! They know me here as old Paul."</p>
+
+<p>"But why the disguise? Who are you after? Is it anything to do with
+Fantômas?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve shrugged his shoulders. "Let's leave Fantômas out of it," he said.
+"At least for the moment. No, my lad, it's a very commonplace affair
+to-day, and I wouldn't have bumped into you except that I have an hour
+to while away and wanted your company."</p>
+
+<p>"This disguise for a commonplace affair?" cried Fandor. "Come, Juve,
+don't keep me in the dark."</p>
+
+<p>Juve laughed at his friend's eagerness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You'll always be the same. When it's a matter of detective work,
+there's no keeping you out of it. Well, here's the information you're
+after. Read that."</p>
+
+<p>He passed Fandor a greasy, ill-written letter. Fandor took it in at a
+glance.</p>
+
+<p>"This refers to Loupart, alias the Square?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"And you call it a commonplace affair? But, look here, can you trust
+information given by a loose woman?"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Fandor, the police largely depend upon such tips, given through
+revenge by women of that class."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'm going with you."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I won't have you mixed up in this business; it's too dangerous."</p>
+
+<p>"All the more reason for my being in it! What is really known about this
+Loupart?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very little, unfortunately," rejoined Juve. "And it's the mystery
+surrounding him which makes us uneasy. Although he has been involved in
+some of the worst crimes, he has always managed to escape arrest. He is
+supposed to be one of an organised gang. In any case, he's a resolute
+scoundrel who wouldn't hesitate to draw his gun in case of need."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor nodded.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"His arrest will make bully copy."</p>
+
+<p>"And for the pleasure of writing a sensational story you want to put
+your life in peril again!" Juve smiled sympathetically as he spoke. He
+had known the young journalist, when, scarcely grown up, he had been
+involved in the weird affairs of "Fantômas."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was an assumed name. Juve recalled the young Charles Rambert,
+victim of the mysterious Fantômas, the most redoubtable ruffian of
+modern times, whom Juve declared to be Gurn and still alive, although
+Gurn had supposedly died on the scaffold. He recalled the sensational
+trial and the terrible revelations that had appalled society. Gurn he
+had then affirmed to be the lover of the Englishwoman, Lady Beltham.
+Gurn it was who had killed her husband, and Gurn was no other than
+Fantômas.</p>
+
+<p>He recalled the tragical morning when Gurn, in the very shadow of the
+scaffold, had found means to send in his stead an innocent victim,
+Valgrand, the actor.</p>
+
+<p>"When will you begin to draw in your net?" inquired Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>Juve motioned to his companion to be silent and listen.</p>
+
+<p>"Fandor, you hear what that man's singing; the one drinking at the
+bar?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, 'The Blue Danube.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that gives me the answer. We shall soon be on Loupart's tracks.
+By the way, are you armed?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you won't run me in for carrying concealed weapons I'll confess that
+Baby Browning is in my pocket."</p>
+
+<p>"Good. Now, then, listen to my directions. Loupart was seen at the
+markets this morning by two of my watchers, and you may be sure he
+hasn't been lost sight of since. Reports I have received indicate that
+he will presumably go to the Chateaudun cross-roads and from there to
+the Place Pigalle, in the direction of Doctor Chaleck's house. We shall
+nab him at the cross-roads. Needless to say we are not going to keep
+together. As soon as our man comes in sight you will pass on ahead,
+walking at his pace on the same pavement and without turning round."</p>
+
+<p>"And if Loupart doesn't appear?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why then&mdash;" began Juve. "The deuce! There's another customer whistling
+'The Blue Danube.' It's time to be off."</p>
+
+<p>"Are those your agents whistling?" asked Fandor, as they left the shop.</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"What! Isn't it a signal?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It is, and you'll be able to find your trail by the passers-by who
+whistle that air."</p>
+
+<p>While talking, the journalist and the detective arrived at the
+Chateaudun cross-roads. Juve cast an eye over the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"It's six o'clock. Be off and prowl around Notre Dame de Lorette.
+Loupart will probably come out of that wine-shop you see to the right.
+You can easily recognise him by his height and a scar on his left
+cheek."</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, Juve, why should these people whistle 'The Blue Danube' if
+they are not detectives?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve smiled. "It's quite simple. If you whistle a popular tune in a
+crowd, some one is bound to take it up. Well, the two men I put to
+watching Loupart this morning were whistling this same tune, and now we
+are meeting persons who caught the air."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor crossed the road and proceeded toward Notre Dame de Lorette to
+the post the detective had allotted to him. The man hunt was about to
+begin.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2>
+
+<h3>BEHIND THE CURTAIN</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Cité Frochot is shut in by low stone walls, topped by grating round
+which creepers intertwine.</p>
+
+<p>The entry to its main thoroughfare, shaded by trees and lined with small
+private houses, is not supposed to be public, and a porter's lodge to
+the right of the entrance is intended to enforce its private character.</p>
+
+<p>It was about seven in the evening. As the fine spring day drew to a
+close, Fandor reached the square of the Cité. For an hour past the
+journalist had been wholly engaged in keeping track of the famous
+Loupart, who, after leaving the saloon, had sauntered up the Rue des
+Martyrs, his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor allowed him to pass at the corner of the Rue Claude, and from
+there on kept him in view.</p>
+
+<p>Juve had completely disappeared.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As Loupart, followed by Fandor, was about to enter the Cité Frochot, an
+exclamation made them both turn.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor perceived a poorly dressed man anxiously searching for something
+in the gutter. A curious crowd had instantly collected, and word was
+passed round that the lost object was a twenty-five-franc gold piece.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, joining the crowd, was pushed close to the man, who quickly
+whispered:</p>
+
+<p>"Idiot! Keep out of the Cité."</p>
+
+<p>The owner of the gold piece was no other than the detective. Then, under
+cover of loud complaint, Juve muttered to Fandor, "Let him go! Watch the
+entrance to the Cité!"</p>
+
+<p>"But," objected Fandor in the same key, "what if I lose sight of him?"</p>
+
+<p>"No fear of that. The doctor's house is the second on the right." The
+hooligan, who had for a moment drawn near the crowd, was now heading
+straight for the Cité.</p>
+
+<p>Juve went on: "In a quarter of an hour at the latest join me again, 27
+Rue Victor Massé."</p>
+
+<p>"And if Loupart should enter the Cité in the meantime?"</p>
+
+<p>"Come straight back to me."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was moving off when Juve addressed him out loud: "Thank you, kind
+gentlemen! But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> as you are so charitable, give me something more for
+God's sake."</p>
+
+<p>The other drew near the pretended beggar and Juve added:</p>
+
+<p>"If anyone questions you as you pass through, say you are going to
+Omareille, the decorator's; you'll find me on the stairs."</p>
+
+<p>Some moments later the little crowd had melted away and a policeman,
+arriving as usual too late, wondered what had been going on.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor carried out Juve's instructions to the letter. Hiding behind a
+sentry box he kept an eye on the doctor's house, but nothing out of the
+way happened. Loupart had vanished, although he was probably not far
+away. When the fifteen minutes were up Fandor left his post and entered
+No. 27 Rue Victor Massé. As he reached the third floor he heard Juve's
+voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Is that you, lad?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"The porter didn't question you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've seen no one."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, come up here."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was seated at a hall window examining Doctor Chaleck's house
+through a field glass.</p>
+
+<p>"You've not seen Loupart go in?" he inquired as Fandor joined him.</p>
+
+<p>"Not while I was on watch."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It's well to know one's Paris and have friends everywhere, isn't it?"
+continued Juve. "It occurred to me quite suddenly that this might be an
+excellent place from where to follow citizen Loupart's doings. You would
+have spoiled everything if you had followed him into the Cité. That's
+why I devised my little scheme to hold you back."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right," admitted Fandor, who, the next moment, gave a jump as
+Juve's hand gripped him hard.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, Fandor! The bird is going into the cage!"</p>
+
+<p>The journalist, excited, saw a figure already familiar to him in the act
+of slipping into the little garden which separated Dr. Chaleck's house
+from the main thoroughfare.</p>
+
+<p>The detective went on: "There he goes, skirting the house until he
+reaches the little door hidden in the wall. What's he up to now? Ah!
+He's fumbling in his pocket. False keys, of course."</p>
+
+<p>They saw Loupart open the door and make his way into the house.</p>
+
+<p>"What comes next?" inquired Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"We are going to tighten the net which the silly bird has hopped into,"
+rejoined Juve, as he bolted down the stairs, and added as a
+precautionary measure: "While I question the porter, you slip<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> by me
+into the main street. I have every reason to believe that M. Chaleck has
+been absent for two days, and as soon as I get this information, I shall
+pretend to go away, and then&mdash;the rest is my concern."</p>
+
+<p>Juve's program was carried out in all points.</p>
+
+<p>To his questions, the porter replied:</p>
+
+<p>"Why, sir, I can't really say. I saw Doctor Chaleck go off with his bag
+and I haven't seen him come back. However, if you care to see for
+yourself&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No, thanks," replied Juve, "I'll return in a few days. But look out,
+your lamp's flaring!"</p>
+
+<p>As the porter turned to remedy the trouble, Juve, instead of going off
+to the right, quickly followed the direction Fandor had taken and caught
+up with the latter just outside Doctor Chaleck's house.</p>
+
+<p>"Now for our plan of campaign," he said. "It's darker now than it will
+be later when the street lamps are lit and the moon rises. That
+excellent Josephine sent me a rough plan of the house. You see there are
+two windows on the ground floor on either side of the hall. Naturally
+they belong to the dining-room and drawing-room. The window to the right
+on the first floor is evidently that of the bedroom. On the left, this
+window with a balcony belongs to the study<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> of our dealer in death!
+That's where we must plant ourselves. Understand, Fandor?"</p>
+
+<p>The journalist nodded. "I understand."</p>
+
+<p>The two men advanced carefully, holding their breath and halting at
+every step. To catch the ruffian in the act they must reach the study
+without giving the alarm.</p>
+
+<p>The first story of Doctor Chaleck's house was only slightly raised above
+the ground: by the aid of a drain-pipe, Juve and Fandor managed without
+difficulty to hoist themselves on to the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's luck," cried Juve. "The study window is wide open!"</p>
+
+<p>After putting on a pair of rubbers and making Fandor remove his boots,
+the two men entered the room. Juve's first precaution was to test the
+two halves of the window. Finding that their hinges did not creak, he
+fastened the latch and drew the curtains.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll risk a light," he whispered, taking out a pocket-lamp, which lit
+up the room sufficiently to allow him to take his bearings.</p>
+
+<p>The study was elegantly furnished. In the middle was a huge desk piled
+with papers, reports, and files. To the right of the desk in the corner
+opposite the window and half hidden by a heavy velvet curtain was the
+door leading to the landing. A large corner sofa occupied the space of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+two wall panels. A set of book-shelves covered a whole wall. Here and
+there cosy armchairs invited meditation.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see the famous safe," Murmured Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"That's because your eyes aren't trained," replied the detective. "Look
+at that corner sofa, topped by that richly carved bracket. Observe the
+thick appearance of the delicate mahogany panel. You may be quite sure
+that it hides a solid steel casket which the best tools would have no
+easy job to cut through. That little moulding you see to the right can
+be easily pushed aside."</p>
+
+<p>Here Juve, with the precision of an expert, set the woodwork in motion
+and showed the astonished Fandor a scarcely visible key-hole.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, let's put out the light and hide ourselves behind the curtains.
+Luckily they are far enough from the window for our presence not to be
+noticed."</p>
+
+<p>For about an hour the men remained motionless, then, weary of standing,
+they squatted on the floor. Each had his revolver ready to hand.</p>
+
+<p>Ten had just struck from a distant clock when suddenly a slight sound
+reached their attentive ears.</p>
+
+<p>The two had whiled away the time of waiting by drilling the curtains
+with a small penknife.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> These holes were invisible at a distance, but
+enabled them to see what was going on in the room.</p>
+
+<p>The noise continued, slow and measured; some one was walking about in
+the adjacent rooms without any attempt to disguise the sound. Evidently
+Loupart believed himself quite alone in the house of the absent doctor.</p>
+
+<p>The steps drew nearer, and Fandor, in spite of his courage, felt the
+rapid beating of his heart. The handle of the door leading from the hall
+to the study was turned, and some person entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>There was an instant of silence, and then the desk was suddenly lit up.
+The new-comer had found the switch. But he was not Loupart.</p>
+
+<p>He seemed a man of forty and wore a brown beard, brushed fan-shape; a
+noticeable baldness heightened his forehead. On his strongly arched nose
+a double eye-glass was balanced. Suddenly, having looked at the clock
+which marked half-past eleven, he began to loosen his tie and unbutton
+his waistcoat and then went out, leaving the study lit as if intending
+to come back.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Chaleck!" exclaimed Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," replied the detective. "And this complicates matters; we may
+have to protect him as well as his safe."</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, Juve's first impulse was to go straight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> to Doctor Chaleck,
+apprise him of the situation, and, under his guidance, search the house
+thoroughly. But that would have put Loupart on the alert. It would be
+taking too great a chance. If Juve should lay hands on him outside of
+Chaleck's house he would have no right to hold him. For the subtle power
+of Loupart, that well-loved hooligan of the purlieus of Paris, lay in
+his remaining constantly a source of fear, always a suspect without ever
+being caught with the goods.</p>
+
+<p>Coming back to his first idea of insuring Chaleck's safety, Juve said to
+himself: "The doctor is coming back here, that's sure, and we must
+protect him without his knowing it. That is the best plan for the
+present."</p>
+
+<p>Sure enough after an absence of ten minutes Chaleck returned to the
+study and seated himself at his desk. He had now changed into his
+pajamas.</p>
+
+<p>Time passed.</p>
+
+<p>When the little Empire time piece which decorated the mantel struck
+three, Fandor, for all his anxiety, could not repress a yawn: the night
+was long and thus far had been devoid of incidents. From their
+hiding-place, he and Juve kept an eye on Doctor Chaleck. When did the
+man sleep?</p>
+
+<p>Nothing in the physician's countenance betrayed the slightest weariness.
+He examined numerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> documents spread out on the desk, and also wrote a
+letter which he sealed by lighting a candle and melting some wax. He
+lingered a good twenty minutes afterwards, then finally put out the
+lights and left the room.</p>
+
+<p>The room was now in total darkness. The journalist and the detective
+listened a few moments longer as a precaution, but nothing happened to
+break the hush of the waning night.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour more and the outlines of the two would be visible on the
+thin curtains. It was high time to be off.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor and Juve rose with difficulty to their feet, so cramped were
+their legs from the enforced rigidity.</p>
+
+<p>"What now?" asked Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen!" Juve abruptly gripped the other's arm as a fresh noise came to
+their ears. This time it was not the footsteps of a man walking
+carelessly, but weird creakings, sly gropings. The noise stopped, began
+again and again stopped. Where did it come from?</p>
+
+<p>"This room is a mass of hangings," muttered Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"It's impossible to locate those sounds or determine their origin."</p>
+
+<p>"You would suppose," began Fandor&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>But he stopped short. The door had opened,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> the light was switched on
+and Doctor Chaleck appeared once more, probably disturbed in his sleep
+by the mysterious noises.</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck gave a quick glance round the room, and then, to the
+consternation of the two men, he took a few steps toward the window,
+revolver in hand. At this moment dull creakings were heard, apparently
+coming from the landing. Chaleck turned quickly, and, leaving the door
+open, went out. An increase of light indicated that the other rooms in
+the house were being searched, and as the lights were gradually switched
+off again, it was apparent that Chaleck was concluding his domiciliary
+visit without having noticed anything abnormal.</p>
+
+<p>The two remained still for an hour longer, although they had heard
+Chaleck go back to his room and lock himself into it.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime the daylight was growing brighter, and in a little while the
+neighbourhood would be awake.</p>
+
+<p>"We must slip out," decreed Juve, as he turned the hasp of the window
+with infinite care and set it ajar to reach the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>A few moments later Juve had shed his disguise and the two men drew
+breath in the middle of the Place Pigalle, having fled ignominiously
+like common criminals.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2>
+
+<h3>A WOMAN'S CORPSE</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Well, Juve, I suppose you'll agree with me that Josephine's information
+was a piece of pure fiction," said Fandor as they turned into the Rue
+Pigalle.</p>
+
+<p>"You are talking nonsense," replied Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"But," protested the other, "we arrived punctually at the place
+appointed, and most assuredly nothing happened there."</p>
+
+<p>"We were punctual, it is true, but so was Loupart. Josephine's letter
+gave us two items of information: That her lover would be at Doctor
+Chaleck's house and that he would rob the safe. Events have proved her
+correct in one case. As to the second, while he did not break open the
+safe, nothing proves that he had not that intention. He may have been
+frustrated by the unexpected appearance of Doctor Chaleck, or he may
+have discovered that we were following him."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At this moment Fandor pointed out to Juve three men who were running
+toward them, violently gesticulating.</p>
+
+<p>"What does that mean?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Before Juve could reply one of the men, much out of breath, inquired:
+"Well, chief!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it's Michel and Henri and Léon!" Then, turning to Fandor, he
+explained: "Three inspectors."</p>
+
+<p>Michel repeated the question: "Well, chief, what's up?"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"You've just come from the Cité Frochot, chief?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve was amazed. "Look here," he said, "where do you come from, Michel?
+The Prefecture?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, chief, from the head office of No. IX."</p>
+
+<p>"Then how do you know we were at the Cité Frochot?"</p>
+
+<p>Taken aback, Michel replied: "Why, from seeing you here, after the
+affair."</p>
+
+<p>"What affair?" insisted Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, chief, it's this way. The three of us were on duty this morning
+at the Rue Rochefoucauld Station. About twenty minutes ago the telephone
+rang and I heard a woman asking in a broken and choked voice if it was
+the police sta<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>tion. On my answering it was, she begged me to come to
+the rescue, crying, 'Murder! I'm dying!'"</p>
+
+<p>"What then?" questioned Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I asked who was speaking, but unfortunately Central had cut me
+off."</p>
+
+<p>"You made inquiries?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, chief, and after a quarter of an hour Central told me that only
+one subscriber had called up the police station, the number being
+928-12, name of Doctor Chaleck in the Cité Frochot."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you asked for the number again?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did, but I could get no reply."</p>
+
+<p>After a pause, during which Juve was lost in thought, the officer added
+timidly: "We'd better hurry if a crime has been committed."</p>
+
+<p>Juve beckoned Michel to him.</p>
+
+<p>"There are too many of us," he said. "You come along, Michel; the other
+two must go back to the station and be ready to join us in case of
+need."</p>
+
+<p>The two officers and Fandor went hurriedly up the Rue Pigalle and came
+to a halt by Doctor Chaleck's door.</p>
+
+<p>A loud ringing brought no reply. It was repeated, and finally a voice
+cried: "Who is there; what's the matter?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Open," ordered Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"To whom do you wish to speak?"</p>
+
+<p>"To Doctor Chaleck." And Juve added: "Open, it's the police."</p>
+
+<p>"The police! What the deuce do they want with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'll soon find out," answered Michel. "Do you suppose we'd be making
+this row if we were criminals?"</p>
+
+<p>Doubtless convinced by this reasoning, Doctor Chaleck decided at length
+to open his door.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want with me?" he repeated.</p>
+
+<p>Juve quickly explained matters.</p>
+
+<p>"We've just had a telephone message to say that some ruffians, possibly
+murderers, are in your house."</p>
+
+<p>"Murderers!" cried Chaleck in amazement. "But whom could they murder?
+I'm living here alone."</p>
+
+<p>At this assertion, Juve, Fandor and Michel looked at each other,
+mystified.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, in any case we must search your house from top to bottom," said
+Juve, and added as an afterthought: "I suppose you are thoroughly
+satisfied that we come with honest intentions?"</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Chaleck smiled:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Inspector Juve's features are very well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> known to me, and I place
+myself entirely at his disposition."</p>
+
+<p>The three men, led by Chaleck, ransacked all the rooms on the ground
+floor; finding nothing suspicious, they then went up to the floor above.</p>
+
+<p>"I have only three more rooms to show you, gentlemen," said the doctor.
+"My bathroom, my bedroom and my study."</p>
+
+<p>The bathroom disclosed nothing of interest, and Chaleck, throwing open
+the door of another room, announced, "My study."</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had Fandor set foot in the study, from which he and Juve had so
+recently made their escape, when a cry burst from his lips:</p>
+
+<p>"Good God! How horrible!"</p>
+
+<p>The apartment was in the greatest disorder. Overturned chairs bore
+witness to a violent struggle. One of the mahogany panels of the desk
+had been partly smashed in. A window curtain was torn and hanging, and
+the small gas stove was broken.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, at the first glance, saw what appeared to be a long trail of
+blood, extending from the window to the desk. Stepping forward quickly,
+he discovered the body of a woman frightfully crushed and covered with
+blood.</p>
+
+<p>"Dead some time," cried Fandor. "The body is cold and the blood already
+congealed."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Juve tranquilly examined the room, and took in its tragic horror. "The
+telephone apparatus is overturned," he muttered to himself. "There has
+been a struggle between the victim and the murderer. Ah!&mdash;theft was the
+object of the crime."</p>
+
+<p>"Theft!" cried Doctor Chaleck, coming forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, doctor, your safe has been overturned, broken in and ransacked,"
+answered Juve, as he and Fandor cautiously lifted the woman. The body
+was a mass of contusions and appeared to be one large wound.</p>
+
+<p>Juve turned to the doctor, who, livid with consternation, was holding up
+a small grey linen bag which had contained his bonds.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, doctor, calm yourself and give us some information. Can you make
+anything of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing! nothing! I heard nothing. Who is this woman? I don't know
+her!"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor pointed to a small shoe lying in a corner.</p>
+
+<p>"A fashionable woman," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite so," was Juve's reply, and putting his hands on Chaleck's
+shoulders he inquired: "A friend of yours, a mistress, eh? Come now,
+don't deny it."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Deny!" protested the doctor, "deny what? You are not accusing me, are
+you? I know nothing of what has taken place here, and, as you see, have
+been robbed into the bargain."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she a patient of yours?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't practise."</p>
+
+<p>"A visitor, perhaps?"</p>
+
+<p>"No one has been to see me to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not your maid?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; I tell you. I am living here all by myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you noticed this, sir?" put in Michel, as he gave Juve a
+handkerchief on which some vicious, greyish substance was spread in
+thick layers.</p>
+
+<p>"Shoemakers' wax," Juve explained, after a brief glance at it. "That
+explains the burns we noticed. The murderer covered his victim's face
+with the handkerchief to prevent identification." Then, turning to
+Fandor, he went on in a low tone:</p>
+
+<p>"But it doesn't explain how and when the crime was committed. Less than
+an hour ago we were in this very room, and the burgling of the safe
+alone would take fully an hour."</p>
+
+<p>Michel, ignorant of this fact, was for arresting the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here," he said sharply to Chaleck,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> "we've had enough yarns from
+you; now tell us the truth."</p>
+
+<p>"But, good God! I have told you the truth!" cried Chaleck.</p>
+
+<p>"And you heard nothing, although you were only a few yards away?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing at all. I sat up working very late last night. When I went to
+bed, nothing had happened in the least suspicious. Oh, by the way,
+toward morning I did hear a slight noise. I rose and went over the
+house, even coming into this room. I found everything in order."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a likely tale!"</p>
+
+<p>"Here's a proof of what I say! When I returned to this study I used that
+candle and sealing wax to seal my letter, which, as you can see, is
+still here. Your ring at the bell awoke me not more than twenty minutes
+later, just as I was getting to sleep again."</p>
+
+<p>"Lies!" cried Michel, turning to Juve. "Shall I arrest him?"</p>
+
+<p>"The doctor is telling the truth," replied Juve, half regretfully.</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck seemed very much relieved.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you'll help me, won't you? Get me out of this abominable affair!"</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, Chaleck had accounted for his time with exact
+truthfulness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Juve crossed the room and drew aside the curtains; upon the floor he
+pointed out to Fandor traces of mud. It was there that he and the
+journalist had stood.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor," said Juve at length, "I must ask you not to go out this
+morning. I am going to headquarters to ask them to send experts in
+anthropometry. We must photograph in detail the appearance of your
+study; then I will come back and make an extended inquiry and I shall
+want you. Michel, remain here with the doctor."</p>
+
+<p>Without further words, Juve, followed by Fandor, left the house of
+mystery, jumped into the first cab that passed and, mopping his
+forehead, cried:</p>
+
+<p>"It's astounding! This murder presents mysteries worthy of Fantômas
+himself!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2>
+
+<h3>LOUPART'S ANGER</h3>
+
+
+<p>Loupart was taking a fruit cure. It was about ten in the morning, and
+along the Rues Charbonnière, Chartres and Goutte d'Or the women hawkers,
+driven from central Paris by the police, were making for the high ground
+of the populous quarters.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart strolled along the pavement, making grabs at the barrows,
+picking a handful of strawberries or cherries as he went by. If by
+chance the dealer complained, she was quickly silenced by a chaffing
+speech or a stern glance.</p>
+
+<p>The hooligan stopped at the "Comrades' Tryst," in front of which Mother
+Toulouche had set out a table with a large basket of winkles.</p>
+
+<p>"Want to try them?" suggested the old woman on catching sight of
+Josephine's lover.</p>
+
+<p>"Hand me a pin," he answered harshly, and in a few moments had emptied
+half a dozen shells.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Friend Square, I've something to say to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Out with it, then."</p>
+
+<p>But before the old woman could reply, a noise of roller skates coming
+down the pavement made her turn.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart looked round with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Why here comes the auto-bus," he cried.</p>
+
+<p>A cripple moving at a great pace came plump into the basket of
+shell-fish. The speed with which he travelled had earned him the
+nickname of the Motor. He was said to be an old railway mechanic, who
+had lost both legs in an accident.</p>
+
+<p>"Motor," cried Mother Toulouche, "I have to be away for ten minutes or
+so; look after my basket, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>Following the old dame to her den Loupart entered with difficulty, on
+account of the great quantity of heterogeneous objects with which it was
+crowded. The product of innumerable thefts lay heaped up pell-mell in
+this illicit bazaar.</p>
+
+<p>Dame Toulouche, having shut the door, plunged into her subject.</p>
+
+<p>"Big Ernestine is furious with you, Loupart."</p>
+
+<p>"If she's threatening me," the hooligan replied, "I'll soon fix her."</p>
+
+<p>"No, big Ernestine didn't want to fight, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> she was annoyed at the
+public affront put upon her by Josephine's lover when he drove her from
+'The Good Comrades' the evening before last without any reason."</p>
+
+<p>"Without any reason!" growled Loupart. "Then what was her business with
+those spies, the Sapper and Nonet?"</p>
+
+<p>"That can't be! Not the Sapper!"</p>
+
+<p>"Spies, I tell you; they belong to headquarters."</p>
+
+<p>The old receiver of stolen goods cast up her eyes. "And they looked such
+decent people, too! Who can one trust?"</p>
+
+<p>Loupart, for reply, suddenly picked up a scarf pin set with a diamond,
+and, tossing the old Woman a five-dollar piece, said as he left the
+room: "You can tell Ernestine that I bear her no malice."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart had hardly gone a few steps along the Rue Charbonnière, when, at
+the corner of the Rue de Chartres, he bumped into a passer-by who was
+coming down the street.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart burst out laughing: "What! Can this be you, Beard? What's
+happened to you?"</p>
+
+<p>It certainly needed a practised eye to recognise the famous leader of
+the Cypher gang. For the Beard, who owed his name to an abnormal hairy
+development, was clean shaved; in addition, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> wore a soft, greenish
+hat and was clad in a suit with huge checks.</p>
+
+<p>"You told me to make up as an American."</p>
+
+<p>"I did, and you've made yourself look like a hayseed juggins. For
+Heaven's sake, take it off. By the way, what about young Mimile?"</p>
+
+<p>"He's with us."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, get him the togs of a collegian for the job at the docks. What
+night do we bring it off?"</p>
+
+<p>"Saturday night, unless the Cooper changes the time."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart bent close to the ear of his lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>"Is he&mdash;easy to recognise?"</p>
+
+<p>"No chance of making an error. Lean, togged in dark clothes and with one
+goggle eye."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart touched the "Beard's" arm.</p>
+
+<p>"First-class tickets for everybody."</p>
+
+<p>"How many will there be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Five or six."</p>
+
+<p>"Women, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, only my girl. But you can bet we shan't be bored!" With these
+words, Loupart walked away. He stopped a little later at the second
+house in the Rue Goutte d'Or, a decent-looking house with carpet on the
+stairs.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching the fifth floor, he knocked several times on the door facing
+him, but without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> reply. This annoyed him; he didn't like Josephine to
+sleep late, and he expected her to be always ready when he condescended
+to come and fetch her.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine was a pretty burnisher from Belleville, and Loupart, who had
+met her at a ball in that quarter six months ago had made her his
+favourite mistress.</p>
+
+<p>Among the bullies and drabs that frequented the place, Josephine had
+appeared to him seductive, charming, almost virginal, and the popular
+hooligan had promptly chosen her from her sisters of the underworld.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly Josephine had no reason to complain of her lover's conduct,
+and if at times he demanded of her a blind submission, he never treated
+her with that fierce brutality which characterised most of his fellows.
+But if Josephine had felt any leaning toward a good life, or any
+scruples of conscience, she must necessarily have thrown them overboard
+as soon as her connection with Loupart began. With a different start in
+life she might have become an honest little woman, but circumstances
+made her the mistress of a hooligan ring-leader, and, everything
+considered, she had a certain pride in being so, without imitating the
+vulgar and brutal behaviour of her companions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At the third summons, Loupart, none too patient, drove the door in with
+a vigorous shove of his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine's apartment, a comfortable and spacious room, with a fine
+bird's-eye view of Paris, was empty.</p>
+
+<p>Fancying his mistress was at some neighbour's gossiping, he bawled:
+"Josephine! Come here!"</p>
+
+<p>Heads appeared, looking anxiously out of rooms on the same floor.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Josephine?" Loupart cried.</p>
+
+<p>Mme. Guinon came forward.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," she replied, stammering. "She complained of pains in her
+stomach last evening, and I was told she's gone."</p>
+
+<p>"Gone? Gone where?" stormed Loupart.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I don't know; it was Julie who told me."</p>
+
+<p>A freckled face, half hidden by a matted shock of hair, appeared. Julie
+was not reticent like her mother. She explained in a hoarse, alcoholic
+voice:</p>
+
+<p>"It's quite simple. When I came in last night about four I heard groans
+in Josephine's room. I went to see and found Josephine writhing in pain
+as if she had been&mdash;poisoned."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you do then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothing," declared Julie. "I just trotted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> away again; it wasn't my
+business, but the Flirt came and meddled in it."</p>
+
+<p>"The Flirt! Where is she?"</p>
+
+<p>The Flirt, a faded, wrinkled woman of fifty, appeared from a doorway
+where she had been listening.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Josephine?" demanded Loupart.</p>
+
+<p>"At Lâriboisière hospital, ward 22, since you want to know."</p>
+
+<p>After a moment's amazement, Loupart broke out furiously:</p>
+
+<p>"You sent off Josephine in the middle of the night! You took her to a
+hospital for a little indigestion! Without asking my consent! Why she's
+no more ill than I am!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have to believe she is," replied the Flirt, "since the 'probes' have
+kept her."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart turned and tramped downstairs swearing.</p>
+
+<p>"She'll come out of that a damned sight quicker than she went in!"</p>
+
+<p>A few moments later Loupart entered Father Korn's saloon. Having set
+forth his plans to that worthy, the latter proceeded to demolish them.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't do anything to-day, so there's no use trying. You'll have to
+wait till to-morrow at midday, the proper visiting hour."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Loupart recognised the truth of the publican's assertion and, calling
+for writing paper, sat down and scrawled a letter to his mistress.</p>
+
+<p>"Motor," he cried to the cripple who was still at Mother Toulouche's
+basket, "tumble along with this note to Lâriboisière; look sharp, and
+when you get back I'll stand you a glass."</p>
+
+<p>As the cripple hurried away he was all but knocked down by a newsboy,
+running and shouting:</p>
+
+<p>"Extra! Extra! Get <i>The Capital</i>. Extraordinary and mysterious crime of
+the Cité Frochot. Murder of a woman."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I get a copy?" asked the publican.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart stalked out of the saloon without turning.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know all about that," he cried.</p>
+
+<p>Father Korn stood rooted to the spot at Loupart's answer.</p>
+
+<p>"What! He knows already!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE LÂRIBOISIÈRE HOSPITAL</h3>
+
+
+<p>The clerk, who had admitted Juve, withdrew, and M. de Maufil, the
+amiable director, gave the police officer his most gracious smile.</p>
+
+<p>"When I applied this morning at headquarters for an officer to be sent
+here, I scarcely expected to receive so celebrated a detective, upon a
+matter which is really very commonplace."</p>
+
+<p>"Your letter to M. Havard mentioned a person I have been looking for
+with the greatest interest for the past two days. Loupart, alias 'The
+Square,'" replied Juve, "that is why I came myself. What is it about,
+sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the day before yesterday, we took in at the instance of Doctor
+Patel, a patient suffering from acute gastric trouble. The woman gave us
+for identification the name of Josephine, no calling, residing in Paris,
+Rue de Goutte d'Or, in furnished rooms. Some hours after her ad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>mission
+to the hospital, she received a letter, brought by a messenger, which
+threw her into a violent state of terror. The nurse on duty sent for me,
+and I succeeded, after great difficulty, in quieting her; but she
+insisted most emphatically on leaving the hospital at once. The poor
+creature was in a high fever, and to grant her request would have been
+sending her to her death. At length she intrusted me with the letter
+which had excited her so. Here it is, kindly look it over."</p>
+
+<p>Juve took the letter and read:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Am just back from the doss. You ain't there, and I don't want any
+more of these dodges. You are no more ill than I am. See here,
+you'll either leave the hospital and slope back to the house right
+off or to-morrow, Friday, at visiting time, as sure as my name's
+what it is, you'll get two bullets in your hide to teach you to
+hold your tongue."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Juve gave a grunt of satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"You understand what is going on?" asked the director.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but please go on with your story."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir, you can guess that having read this letter, I easily got
+from the girl some information as to the writer. According to what she
+told me this Loupart is her lover, and he seems to have in a high degree
+that inconceivable pride<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> which causes folks of his class, when they
+have sworn to kill some one, to carry out their threat, no matter what
+risk they may run themselves. The girl, Josephine, is convinced that
+to-morrow Loupart will come and kill her."</p>
+
+<p>"You have told her that all precautions will be taken?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. I pointed out to her that people do not come in here as they
+do into a bar; that being warned, I should have all the visitors watched
+who come here and asked to see her. I repeated to her that her lover
+probably wanted to frighten her, but that he could not do anything to
+injure her. I insisted that in the state she was in it was physically
+impossible for her to obey that wretch's bidding."</p>
+
+<p>"And what was her answer to that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing. Her attack of alarm having subsided she seemed to fall into a
+condition of extreme prostration. I realised quite well that she
+regarded herself as condemned, that she had a far higher opinion of
+Loupart's daring than of my watchfulness, and, lastly, if she stayed it
+was because she realised that it was out of the question for her, in her
+weak state, to go back to her home."</p>
+
+<p>While the director was speaking, Juve had retained a smiling and
+satisfied expression, seeming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> but little affected by Josephine's
+terrible plight.</p>
+
+<p>"I should very much like to know," continued the director, "why you said
+you knew the reasons for the threat being sent by this man to his
+mistress?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve hesitated some moments; then, without going into details, said: "It
+would take too long to recount the motives which prompted Loupart to
+write that letter. This Josephine whom you see to-day trembling at her
+lover's threat not so long ago supplied the police with valuable hints
+concerning him. Has he learned that? Does he know the woman has rounded
+on him? Did he fear, above all, that she would tell tales again here at
+the hospital? It is quite possible. You see he must have had very strong
+reasons for giving her the order to come home&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Juve here broke off, fingering Loupart's letter; then at length he
+placed it in his pocketbook.</p>
+
+<p>"I will keep this document, director; it is a tangible proof of
+Loupart's criminal intentions. If he should put his threats into
+practice it would be difficult after that to deny premeditation."</p>
+
+<p>"You think that such a thing is possible?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Loupart declares he will come to the hospital before three and kill his
+mistress, but surely it must be easy to render that impossible."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You think the police are all-powerful, that we can arrest would-be
+murderers and render them incapable of harm? That is an error. We are
+prevented from taking effective action by a swarm of regulations. If I
+met Loupart on the street I would not be able to arrest him. I have no
+warrant. When a man holds his life cheap and is determined to risk
+everything, he has a pretty good chance of succeeding. Of course I shall
+take every measure to prevent Loupart killing his mistress, but I'm not
+at all sure of success."</p>
+
+<p>"But M. Juve, we must have this girl Josephine transferred to another
+hospital if necessary."</p>
+
+<p>Juve shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"And show Loupart we are aware of his purpose? Flatter the ruffian's
+vanity? No, we must let Loupart come, and catch him as he is about to
+commit the crime."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you propose to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Study the hospital; arrange where to place my men," replied Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"In that case, I will do everything I can to help you." M. de Maufil
+rang for an attendant and bade him take Juve to Doctor Patel's
+department.</p>
+
+<p>Juve thanked the obliging director and took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> leave. The attendant
+pointed to a row of windows under the roof.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor Patel's division begins at the corner window and runs to the
+window near the cornice."</p>
+
+<p>"What are the means of access to the female ward?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that's quite simple, sir; you get into the woman's ward either by
+the door on the staircase or by the door at the back, which leads into
+the laboratory of the head physician, the room of the house surgeon on
+duty, and the departmental offices."</p>
+
+<p>"And how do visitors pass in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Visitors always go up the main staircase."</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said Juve, "show me over Doctor Patel's division."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good, sir. It will be all the more interesting to you, as it is
+just the visiting hour."</p>
+
+<p>When Juve made his way into the woman's ward, Doctor Patel was actually
+in process of seeing his patients. He was passing from bed to bed,
+questioning each of the women under treatment and listening to the
+comments of the house staff who followed him.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," the doctor was saying as Juve joined the group, "the
+patient we have just seen affords a very excellent and typical instance
+of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> intermittent fever. The serum tests have not given any appreciable
+result; it is therefore impossible to arrive at&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>A hand was laid on Juve's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, the tests are always absolutely indicative! Palpable typhoid, eh?
+What do you think?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve turned his head and could not suppress a cry of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor Chaleck!"</p>
+
+<p>"What! M. Juve!&mdash;You here! Were you looking for me?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve was dumbfounded. He drew Chaleck aside.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you're attached to this hospital?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I have only leave to attend the courses."</p>
+
+<p>"And I came here out of curiosity."</p>
+
+<p>"In any case, allow me to thank you for the service you rendered me the
+other day. The officer who was with you seemed to take me for the guilty
+man."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see, appearances...."</p>
+
+<p>"But if anyone was a victim it was I. Apart from the finding of the
+murdered woman in my house, I have been robbed!"</p>
+
+<p>Here the doctor broke off. A house surgeon was beckoning to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me," he said to Juve. "I cannot keep my colleague waiting."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Leaving Chaleck, Juve went back to the attendant who had patiently
+waited for him.</p>
+
+<p>"Stranger than ever!" he murmured. "There is no making it all out.
+Josephine writes that Loupart means to rob Chaleck. I track Loupart and
+he gives me the slip. I spend a night in a room where I see nothing, and
+where nevertheless a horrible amazing crime is committed. The murder
+takes place scarce a yard from me, and the doctor, the tenant of the
+house, sees nothing either, and does not even know the victim who is
+found next morning on his premises! Thereupon our informant, Josephine,
+goes into hospital; pain in the stomach, they say&mdash;hem! Poison, maybe?
+Then she gets a threatening letter from Loupart. And when I come to the
+hospital to protect her, whom do I meet but Doctor Chaleck!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve, turning to the attendant who was escorting him, asked:</p>
+
+<p>"You know the person I was speaking to just now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor Chaleck? Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"What is his business here?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is a foreign doctor, I believe. I should fancy a Belgian. Anyhow, he
+is allowed by the authorities to follow the clinical courses and make
+researches in the laboratory."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2>
+
+<h3>A REVOLVER SHOT</h3>
+
+
+<p>Doctor Patel's division presented an unusually animated appearance that
+afternoon. Not only were the patients allowed to receive visitors, but
+quite a number of strange doctors had spent the day going from bed to
+bed, note-books in hand, studying the patients and their temperature
+charts. The nurses hesitated to call these individuals doctors, and the
+patients, too, seemed aware of their true status. Whispers were hushed,
+and all eyes turned toward the far end of the ward.</p>
+
+<p>There, in a bed set slightly apart and near the house staff's quarters,
+lay Josephine, a prey to a racking fever and breathing with difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>Exactly opposite her was the bed of an old woman who had been admitted
+that morning. Her face had almost entirely disappeared under voluminous
+bandages.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As the ward clock struck a quarter to three, an attendant appeared and
+announced:</p>
+
+<p>"In ten minutes visitors will be requested to leave."</p>
+
+<p>Two of the staff who had paced the ward since early in the day exchanged
+a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's the end of the farce," remarked one; "Loupart isn't coming."</p>
+
+<p>"He said three; there are still thirteen minutes left," replied the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, every precaution is taken."</p>
+
+<p>"Precautions are of no use with men like Loupart."</p>
+
+<p>"Eleven minutes left."</p>
+
+<p>"What the devil could happen? There is no longer admission to the
+hospital; the visitors are leaving."</p>
+
+<p>"Three minutes!"</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, you'll end by making me think..."</p>
+
+<p>"Two minutes."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, own yourself beaten!"</p>
+
+<p>"One minute."</p>
+
+<p>Bang! Bang! Two shots from a revolver suddenly startled the silent ward.</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment's consternation and uproar. The patients leaped from
+their beds and sought refuge in the corners of the ward, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> the two
+house surgeons and the policemen, passing as doctors, rushed in a body
+toward Josephine's bed. Doors slammed. People came hurrying from all
+quarters.</p>
+
+<p>Above the hubbub rose a calm voice.</p>
+
+<p>"What the devil! Here I am drenched! What does that mean?"</p>
+
+<p>The house surgeon reached the bed where the hopeless Josephine lay,
+white as a corpse, motionless. A large red blood stain was spreading on
+her sheet. Quickly the doctor uncovered the wounded woman and examined
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"Fainted, she has only fainted!" And, silencing all comments, he called:</p>
+
+<p>"Monsieur Juve! Monsieur Juve!"</p>
+
+<p>The old woman who, a few moments before, had been dozing, now quickly
+sprang out of bed, and, tearing off her bandages, revealed the placid
+features of detective Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"I understand everything except that I'm drenched to the bones,"
+declared Juve, as he crossed to Josephine's bed, oblivious to the
+amazement his appearance caused.</p>
+
+<p>"That's easily explained," said the house surgeon. "The girl was lying
+on a rubber mattress filled with water. One of the bullets punctured
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"What damage did she receive?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"A contusion on the shoulder. The murderer aimed badly owing to her
+recumbent position."</p>
+
+<p>Juve beckoned to the officers.</p>
+
+<p>"Your report? You've seen nothing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"That's strange," declared the detective. "I kept an eye on Josephine
+myself, thinking that a movement on her part would betray the entrance
+of Loupart. She made no sign; but, however Loupart may have got in, he
+can't get out without falling into a trap. I have fifty men posted round
+the building. Now, the first point to clear up is the exact place from
+where the shot was fired."</p>
+
+<p>"How can we get at that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very simply. By drawing an imaginary line between the spot where the
+bullet struck the mattress and where it went into the floor&mdash;extend this
+line and we find the quarter from where the shot was fired." A doctor
+came forward.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Juve," he said, "that would bring us to the door of the staff's
+room."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, it's you, Doctor Chaleck! I'm glad to see you! You are quite right
+in your surmise. Do you see any objection to my reasoning?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do. I came into the ward barely two seconds before the firing. No one
+was behind me and no one was walking before me."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Juve crossed to the door.</p>
+
+<p>"It is from here that the shots were fired!"</p>
+
+<p>And the detective added triumphantly as he stooped and picked up an
+object from the floor:</p>
+
+<p>"And this backs up my assertion!"</p>
+
+<p>He held out a revolver, still loaded in four chambers. "A precious bit
+of evidence!" He turned to the doctor:</p>
+
+<p>"Can a stranger get into the wards by this door?"</p>
+
+<p>"Utterly impossible, M. Juve! Only those thoroughly familiar with
+Lâriboisière can get into the ward through the laboratory. You must pass
+through the surgical divisions."</p>
+
+<p>The detective seated himself at the foot of the sick woman's bed and
+mechanically laid the revolver beside him. But scarcely had he done so
+when he sprang up. Upon the sheet was a tiny red speck left by the
+muzzle of the weapon.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!&mdash;that's very instructive!" he cried. And as the others crowded
+round, puzzled, Juve added: "Don't you see? The murderer ran his finger
+along the barrel to steady his aim, and as the barrel is very short, the
+bullet grazed the tip of his finger which extended slightly beyond it.
+If I find anyone in the hospital with a wounded finger, I've got the
+murderer! Gentlemen, I am going to ask the director to issue orders for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
+everyone within the hospital gates to pass before me. I reckon that in
+two hours at most the culprit will no longer be at large."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The attempted murder happened at three o'clock; about six o'clock, those
+who had first been examined by Juve had received permission to leave the
+hospital and were beginning to depart.</p>
+
+<p>With a careless step Doctor Chaleck made for the exit by which he issued
+every evening from Lâriboisière. As he was about to pass out, a police
+inspector barred his way.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me, sir. Have you a pass?"</p>
+
+<p>"A pass?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir; no one is allowed to leave to-day without a pass from M.
+Juve."</p>
+
+<p>The doctor looked at his watch.</p>
+
+<p>"The deuce," he said. "I'm late as it is. Where am I to get this pass?"</p>
+
+<p>"You must ask M. Juve himself for it. He is in the director's private
+room."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, I'll go there." And Doctor Chaleck retraced his steps.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SEARCH FOR THE CRIMINAL</h3>
+
+
+<p>"It's astounding!" declared M. de Maufil. "We have already examined
+nearly two hundred persons and found nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"That may be," replied Juve, "but we may discover the culprit by the two
+hundred and first hand held out to us."</p>
+
+<p>"There is one thing you forget, M. Juve."</p>
+
+<p>"What is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"If the culprit gets wind of our method of investigation, if he has any
+notion that you are inspecting the hands of all those who desire to
+leave the hospital, he won't be such a ninny as to come and submit to
+your inspection."</p>
+
+<p>Juve nodded approval of the comment.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right; but I have taken means to obviate that difficulty."</p>
+
+<p>Since he had begun his inquiry on the spot, from the very moment when
+the revolver shots<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> had rung out, the great detective was growing more
+and more sure that the arrest of the mysterious offender would be a
+matter of considerable time. The buildings of the establishment were
+extensive, and it was easy for a man to move about them without
+attracting attention. They offered really strange facilities for hiding.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Director," said Juve, "I fancy we have inspected pretty well all
+the persons who leave Lâriboisière as a rule, at this time?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is so."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we must now change our plan. Let us leave a nurse here to detain
+those who come to ask for passes, and begin a search of the hospital
+ourselves. I shall post my officers in line, each man keeping in sight
+the one behind and the one before him. At the foot of every staircase I
+shall leave a sentry. Then, beginning at the outer wall of the building
+we will drive everyone on the ground floor toward the other end. If we
+don't round up our man there, we will proceed to the floor above."</p>
+
+<p>"A good idea," replied M. de Maufil. "We shall catch him in a trap."</p>
+
+<p>When Doctor Chaleck found that the inspector watching the exit leading
+to the main door in the Rue Ambroise Paré refused him leave to pass out
+of the hospital without the sanction of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> the great detective, he had
+perforce to retrace his steps. Skirting the bushes in the courtyard he
+took his way toward the medical wards, turning his back on the
+directoral offices, where he might have encountered our friend Juve. He
+had taken off his white uniform and was dressed in his street clothes.
+He halted at the entrance to the long glazed gallery which extends to
+the operating rooms of the surgical department. Turning suddenly, he saw
+in the distance and coming his way Inspector Juve, accompanied by the
+director. He noticed at the same time the cordon of officers preparing
+to sweep the hospital from end to end. Mechanically, and as if bent on
+putting a certain distance between him and the new-comers, he turned
+into the glazed gallery, and reached the far end of it. He was about to
+go into the surgical ward when a nurse stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, you can't go in just now; Professor Hugard is operating and has
+given express orders that no one is to be admitted."</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck turned up the gallery again, but abruptly swung round again as
+he caught sight of Juve and the director just entering the gallery,
+driving before them half a dozen patients and orderlies. Chaleck joined
+this little group, which had pulled up at the end of the gallery and was
+making laughing comments on the rigid inspec<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>tion to which Juve was just
+about to subject them.</p>
+
+<p>"Now's the time to show clean hands," joked a non-resident, "eh, Miss
+Victorine?" he added, smiling at a buxom nurse whom the chances of duty
+had blockaded in the corridor.</p>
+
+<p>"Depend upon it," growled one of the accountants of the administrative
+department, shrugging his shoulders, "they are making a great fuss over
+nothing. After all, no one is hurt. Just one more pistol shot; in this
+neighbourhood we have ceased to count them."</p>
+
+<p>An old man, who had his hand bandaged, suggested: "Perhaps they'll be
+wanting to arrest me since the culprit is wounded in the fingers, they
+say."</p>
+
+<p>Dignified and calm, Juve did his best to restore liberty to each of the
+persons brought together. They had only to show their two hands held up
+in front of the face, the fingers apart. M. de Maufil, at a sign from
+Juve, immediately bade the attendant hand the person in question a card
+bearing his name and description. Armed with this "Sesame" he could come
+and go unimpeded all over the hospital.</p>
+
+<p>Pointing to a large door at the extreme end of the corridor, Juve asked:</p>
+
+<p>"What exit is that?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The other smiled. "You want to see everything, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>The director, opening the heavy door, made room for Juve, who entered a
+very narrow passage, damp and quite dark. The passage, a short one,
+opened on a vast apartment, much like a cellar, lighted by air-holes in
+the ceiling and intensely cold. A noise of running water from open taps
+broke with its monotonous splash the silence of this place, solely
+furnished with a huge slab of wood running from one end to the other.
+Upon the slab dim and lengthy white shapes were outstretched, and when
+his eyes grew accustomed to the twilight, Juve recognised the vague
+outline of these weird bundles. They were corpses swathed in shrouds.
+The heads and shoulders alone were visible, and on the brows of the dead
+trickled icy water, dispensed sparingly but regularly by duck-billed
+taps that overhung the inclined plane.</p>
+
+<p>The director explained: "This is the amphitheatre where we keep the
+bodies for post-mortems. Do you want to stay any longer?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is no access to the room except by the door we came in at?"</p>
+
+<p>"None."</p>
+
+<p>"In that case," rejoined Juve, "and as there is no furniture here for a
+person to hide in, let us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> look elsewhere. It's a rather gruesome
+place."</p>
+
+<p>"You're not used to the sight, that's all," replied the director, as he
+led the way back to his office.</p>
+
+<p>Juve looked at his watch. "Well, I must leave you now and make a report
+to M. Havard. I'm afraid the murderer has slipped through our fingers."</p>
+
+<p>"But you'll come back?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course."</p>
+
+<p>"What am I to do meanwhile?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing, unless you care to go over the hospital again."</p>
+
+<p>"And the passes? Are they to be in force still? We have no one in the
+place but the staff."</p>
+
+<p>"That is essential," replied Juve. "I must know with certainty who comes
+in and goes out. However, anyone known to your doorkeeper who wishes to
+leave need only sign in a register."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2>
+
+<h3>IN THE REFRIGERATORY</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was light in the evening. One by one the rooms in Lâriboisière were
+being lit up.</p>
+
+<p>The one exception was the grim amphitheatre, whose occupants would never
+need to see again.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly&mdash;and if anyone had been present, he would have experienced the
+most frightful impression it is possible to conceive&mdash;a corpse stirred.</p>
+
+<p>Having assured himself that the door between the amphitheatre and the
+gallery was shut, the corpse, shivering with cold, threw off the shroud
+which enveloped him, and set to work to move his legs and arms about to
+start up his circulation. Then at the far end of the apartment this
+living corpse discovered, under a zinc basin attached to the wall, a
+bundle of linen and garments, which he seized upon.</p>
+
+<p>His body shaking with cold, the man dressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> himself in haste, and then
+waited until he considered his clothes sufficiently dry not to attract
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>Carefully ascertaining that the gallery was deserted, he then entered it
+and walked rapidly to the courtyard. To the right of the main gateway,
+the smaller gate leading into the Rue Ambroise Paré was open.</p>
+
+<p>The man passed under the archway, and in a moment would have been clear
+of Lâriboisière, when the doorkeeper barred his way.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me, who goes there?"</p>
+
+<p>Then, having looked more closely:</p>
+
+<p>"Why it's Doctor Chaleck! You're late in leaving us this evening,
+doctor. I suppose you've been kept pretty busy in ward 22?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's so," replied Chaleck, for it was he. "That's why I'm in a hurry,
+Charles."</p>
+
+<p>And Chaleck, with an impatient gesture, was about to slip out, but the
+porter stopped him again.</p>
+
+<p>"One moment, doctor; you must register first."</p>
+
+<p>"Is this a new hospital regulation?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, doctor, it's the police who have ordered everyone entering or
+leaving the hospital to sign his name in this book."</p>
+
+<p>The porter, having taken Doctor Chaleck into his lodge, opened a new
+register, and pointing to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> half a dozen names already written on the
+first page, he added:</p>
+
+<p>"You'll not be in bad company; you're to sign just below Professor
+Hugard."</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck smiled. "Tell me the latest news, Charles. Do they suspect
+anyone?"</p>
+
+<p>"All I know is that fifty of them came here with dirty shoes, made a
+hubbub round the patients, put the service out of gear, and in the end
+caught nobody at all. But if the culprit is still here, he won't get out
+without the bracelets on his wrists!"</p>
+
+<p>An equivocal smile touched the pale lips of Chaleck. It might be the
+weird inhabitant of the little house in Cité Frochot was not so sure as
+the porter was of the astuteness of the police. Perhaps he was thinking
+that a few hours before a certain Doctor Chaleck, hemmed in a passage
+with no exits and about to be compelled to show, like everyone else, the
+tips of his fingers, had, under the nose of the officers, and even of
+the artful and astute Juve, suddenly vanished, gone out of the world of
+the living and thought it necessary, for reasons he alone knew, to
+assume the rigidity of a corpse, the stillness of death. But the smile
+in a moment became frozen.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor who had kept both hands in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> pockets while talking to the
+porter, suddenly felt a sharp twinge in the fingers of his right hand,
+and it became moist and lukewarm. This happened as the porter held out
+the register for him to sign.</p>
+
+<p>"Charles," he cried, "I'm in a great hurry; while I'm signing, please go
+out and stop the first taxi that passes."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, sir," replied the man.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the doorkeeper turned his back when the doctor, with
+infinite precautions drew out his right hand and with evident difficulty
+began to write, holding the pen between the third and fourth fingers, as
+though unable to use the fore and middle ones.</p>
+
+<p>As he was finishing his entry, he made what was doubtless an unintended
+movement, something unexpected happened, for he suddenly turned pale and
+repressed a heavy oath. Charles was just coming back to the lodge.</p>
+
+<p>"Your taxi is here, Doctor."</p>
+
+<p>"Right. Thank you."</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck closed the register abruptly, jumped into the motor, threw an
+address to the driver, who got under way. On seeing the doctor shut the
+register, Charles cried: "The devil&mdash;there's no blotting paper in it, it
+will be sure to blot!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And, though it was too late, the careful man rushed to the book and
+opened it. His eyes became fixed on the page where the signatures were.
+He stared, wide-eyed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!&mdash;Oh!&mdash;" he murmured.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X</h2>
+
+<h3>THE BLOODY SIGNATURE</h3>
+
+
+<p>M. de Maufil was exceedingly nervous.</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as you went back to headquarters," he declared to Juve, some
+moments after that officer had been shown into his private room, "I
+continued the search with redoubled efforts. Neither the ward-nurses, in
+whom I place complete confidence, nor the heads of my staff, whom I have
+known for ever so long, passed the doors of the hospital. In fact, I
+took every precaution and obeyed your instructions to the letter&mdash;yet
+all in vain."</p>
+
+<p>"You found nothing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing. Not only did we not discover the criminal, but we did not come
+upon any trace of him."</p>
+
+<p>"That's strange.".</p>
+
+<p>"It is maddening. It would seem that from the instant the man fired
+those two shots in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> woman's ward in Patel's department he vanished,
+unaccountably. Your notion of examining the hands of all those in the
+hospital was an excellent one, but nothing came of it.</p>
+
+<p>"He must have known the snare we were preparing for him and did not turn
+up at the hospital exit, so we must naturally conclude he is still
+inside the gates, hidden in some remote corner, or underground. However,
+the first thing to do is to protect the girl, Josephine. By the by, she
+saw nothing, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"She declares she did not see Loupart come in, but she asserts with a
+sort of perverse pride that it was certainly Loupart who fired at her
+because he had threatened to do so."</p>
+
+<p>A knock at the door was followed by the timid entrance of the
+doorkeeper.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that you, Charles? Come in," cried the director. "What do you want?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's about the signature, sir. There is blood on my book."</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Juve leaped from his chair and tore the register out of the
+porter's hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Blood!"</p>
+
+<p>Feverishly he turned the pages until he came to the writing. Without
+waiting for de Maufil's permission, he dismissed the porter.</p>
+
+<p>"Very good, I'll see you presently."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the door shut, when Juve pointed to the page. "Look! Doctor
+Chaleck's signature! And just below it this mark of blood! What do you
+say to that, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"But it's sheer madness. Chaleck cannot be guilty!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because he is known to me. He was recommended to me seven months ago by
+an old comrade of mine. Chaleck is a man of brains, a foreign physician,
+a Belgian. He comes here specially to study intermittent fevers. M.
+Juve, I tell you he has nothing whatever to do with this affair." Juve
+picked up his hat and stick. He was restless and uneasy; the directors'
+outburst had not greatly impressed him.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor Chaleck could not explain how his finger came to be hurt and he
+did not inform us of the fact."</p>
+
+<p>"A mere coincidence."</p>
+
+<p>"Possibly, but it is a terrible coincidence for that man," replied Juve.</p>
+
+<p>On leaving the director's room, the distinguished detective could not
+refrain from rubbing his hands. "This time I have him!" he muttered. He
+went rapidly down the stairs, crossed the great courtyard of the
+hospital, and proceeded to knock at the porter's lodge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, my friend, precisely how Doctor Chaleck's leaving the hospital
+came about?"</p>
+
+<p>The worthy man with much detail, for he now felt very proud of having
+played a part in the affair, related how Doctor Chaleck came to the
+gate, sent him after a cab while signing his name, then made off, after
+having, no doubt by an oversight, closed the register.</p>
+
+<p>"Very good! Thank you," was Juve's comment, bestowing a liberal tip on
+the man.</p>
+
+<p>This time he was leaving Lâriboisière for good.</p>
+
+<p>"Very characteristic, that piece of impudence," he reflected; "very like
+Doctor Chaleck that device of shutting the register he had just stained
+with blood in order to give himself time to make off!" On reaching the
+Boulevard Magenta he hailed a cab.</p>
+
+<p>"Rue Montmartre. Stop at the <i>Capital</i> office. You know it?"</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later Juve was shown into Fandor's office. But the
+detective no longer wore a smiling face, and his air of abstraction did
+not escape his friend.</p>
+
+<p>"Anything fresh?" inquired Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Much that is fresh! That's why I came here to see you."</p>
+
+<p>The journalist smiled. "Thanks, Juve. It is,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> indeed, owing to you that
+the <i>Capital</i> is the best posted sheet in town."</p>
+
+<p>Then the detective proceeded to tell the reporter the startling
+discovery he had just made at Lâriboisière. He concluded:</p>
+
+<p>"There, I suppose you can turn that into a thrilling story, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly can."</p>
+
+<p>"The arrest is now scarcely more than a matter of time."</p>
+
+<p>"And how are you going to set about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't quite know. Well, good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor let the officer reach the door of the office, then called him
+back.</p>
+
+<p>"Juve!"</p>
+
+<p>"Fandor!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are hiding something from me."</p>
+
+<p>"I? Nonsense."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," persisted Fandor. "You are concealing something. Don't deny it. I
+know you too well, my friend, to be content with your reticences."</p>
+
+<p>"My reticences?"</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't come here merely to give me copy."</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No. You had some idea in coming to look me up and then you changed your
+mind. Why?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I assure you you are mistaken."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor rose.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, if you won't tell me, I shall follow you." At the
+journalist's announcement Juve shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I feared. But it's absurd to be always dragging you into
+risky affairs."</p>
+
+<p>"Where are we going?" asked Fandor briefly, as he lit a cigarette.</p>
+
+<p>"We are going to-night to Doctor Chaleck's. If he's there we will force
+a confession from him; if he's not there, we will ransack his house for
+clues," and Juve added, smiling, "like good burglars. I have a whole
+bunch of false keys. We shall be able to get into Doctor Chaleck's
+without ringing his bell. Here's a snapshot I took of Josephine at the
+hospital." And throwing the proof on Fandor's desk, he said smilingly:</p>
+
+<p>"The young woman's not bad looking, is she?"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SHOWER OF SAND</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I'm afraid it's not quite the thing to enter people's houses in this
+fashion," whispered Juve, as the two men found themselves in the hall of
+Doctor Chaleck's little house in the Frochot district.</p>
+
+<p>It was about midnight, and through the fan-light of the outer door a dim
+twilight enabled the detective and the journalist to get an idea of the
+place in which they stood.</p>
+
+<p>It was a fairly large hall with double doors on either hand, leading
+into the drawing-and dining-rooms. At the far end rose a winding
+staircase, and under it a door to the cellar. A hanging lamp, unlit, was
+suspended from the ceiling and the walls were covered with dark
+tapestries.</p>
+
+<p>Juve and Fandor remained silent and motionless for some moments. They
+might well be perturbed, for they had just entered the house in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>
+most unwarrantable manner, and they knew the doctor to be at home. The
+lodge-keeper of the Cité had seen him return about two hours ago. For
+one moment Juve had asked himself whether he should not ring in the most
+natural manner in the world, and afterwards contrive some explanation;
+but the silence, the peace which prevailed and the conviction that
+Doctor Chaleck, quite off his guard, must be enjoying deep slumber,
+prompted him to try and get into the house unannounced. If the door was
+only bolted, if it was not secured from within by a latch, the officer
+might reckon on finding among his pass keys one that would allow him to
+open it. Juve was, indeed, equipped like the prince of burglars.</p>
+
+<p>Well, the attempt had succeeded. Without trouble or noise, journalist
+and officer had made their way into the place.</p>
+
+<p>Before imparting to Fandor his plan of operations, Juve handed him a
+pair of rubbers, and then at a signal they both ascended to the first
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>The detective's plan was to make a sudden incursion into Chaleck's
+bedroom, and in the surprise of a sudden awakening, question him and
+inspect the fingers of his right hand, which, presumably, had left on
+the register a tell-tale trace of blood.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Juve had scarcely entered the room when Fandor switched on the lights;
+the two men started back in disgust; the room was empty!</p>
+
+<p>Without pause, Juve cried: "To the study!"</p>
+
+<p>A moment later they found themselves in the room they knew so well from
+having spent a whole night there, behind the window curtains.</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck was not there either. Fandor searched the bathroom near by,
+careless of the noise he made, then hurried after Juve to the floor
+below in the fear that the doctor might already have made his escape.</p>
+
+<p>Juve quickly reassured him the windows and shutters of the rooms were
+hermetically closed; the hall door had not been touched.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly slight sounds became audible from the floor above. A crackling
+of the boards, the muffled sounds of hasty footsteps, faint rustlings.</p>
+
+<p>"Chaleck knows we are here," whispered Juve. "We must play with our
+cards on the table."</p>
+
+<p>The two men cocked their pistols and made a rush upstairs. They had left
+the electric light burning on the floor above, and at first their eyes
+were dazzled by the sudden brightness, multiplied by the reflection from
+the glass which lined the octagonal-shaped landing.</p>
+
+<p>Again the noises were heard. Chaleck or some one else was in the study.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Juve disappeared. In half a minute he returned and bumped into Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you coming from?" he cried. "I thought you were behind me."</p>
+
+<p>"So I was," replied Fandor, "but I left you to take a look in the
+study."</p>
+
+<p>"But it was I who was in the study!"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor stared in amazement. "Are you losing your senses?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've just come from there myself!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we weren't there together, that's certain. Let's try again."</p>
+
+<p>The two proceeded in the dark to the head of the staircase. With their
+heels they verified the last step; then Juve said in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p>"I will go forward four paces. I am now in the middle of the landing; I
+lift the curtain, turn and go in."</p>
+
+<p>The steady tick of the little Empire clock on the mantelpiece assured
+Juve that he was indeed in the study.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, here I am," and mechanically he flung his hat on the sofa. But
+scarcely had he uttered these words when Fandor's voice, very clear, but
+some way off answered</p>
+
+<p>"I am in the study, too."</p>
+
+<p>Juve now switched on the light. Fandor was not there. Rushing back to
+the landing he ran<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> full tilt into his friend and the two gripped each
+other in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here," exclaimed Fandor, "if I'm not mistaken, you turned to the
+right past the curtain while I went to the left; there may be two
+separate entrances to the study."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us keep together this time," replied Juve; "I propose to get to the
+bottom of this mystery."</p>
+
+<p>As they came out of the darkness of the passage and plunged into the
+full light of the room, Juve stopped short. His hat was no longer on the
+sofa.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor went to the mantelpiece, turned and confronted the detective.</p>
+
+<p>"I stopped the clock some moments ago, and here it is going and keeping
+exact time! How do you account for it?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve was about to reply, when suddenly with a dry click the light went
+out.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, at the same moment, gave a startled cry: "Juve! the door is
+fastened; we are shut in!"</p>
+
+<p>With one bound Juve leaped for the window; but after opening the
+casement he perceived that thick iron shutters, padlocked, banished all
+hope of escape in that quarter. Fandor was ashy pale; Juve staggered as
+he moved toward him.</p>
+
+<p>"Walled in!" he cried. "We are walled in!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But a new terror suddenly confronted the two men. The floor appeared to
+be giving way, and as the descent proceeded regularly, they realised
+that they were in a strange form of elevator.</p>
+
+<p>The study, however, did not drop very far. With a slight shock it
+reached the end of the run and stopped short.</p>
+
+<p>Juve cried with an air of relief, "Well, here we are, and it now remains
+to find out where we are."</p>
+
+<p>The existence of two studies identical in every particular, one of which
+was housed in an elevator, explained not only the events of the evening,
+but also the tragedy of two days before.</p>
+
+<p>"Juve! did you feel anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>Both had just experienced a weird sensation, impossible to define. Upon
+their hands and faces slight prickings irritated the skin. The air at
+the same time seemed heavier and more difficult to breathe. There was,
+besides, a soft, vague crackling. With some difficulty Juve lighted his
+pocket-lamp. By its faint glimmer the two men made a discovery. A fine
+rain of sand was falling from the ceiling.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It's collapsed!" cried Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"We're done for!" replied Juve.</p>
+
+<p>They passed through some awful moments. All around the sand gathered and
+rose.</p>
+
+<p>Juve tried to comfort his friend:</p>
+
+<p>"It would need an enormous amount of sand to fill this room and bury us
+alive. It will cease to fall presently."</p>
+
+<p>But horrible to relate, as the level of the sand rose on the floor, they
+observed by the flickering gleam of the lamp, that the ceiling was now
+being lowered little by little.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor raised his arm and touched it. They were about to be crushed.</p>
+
+<p>"Juve, do not let me die this way. Kill me!"</p>
+
+<p>His comrade made no reply. At first paralysed by the shock he now felt
+an unspeakable fury rise up in him. He began beating the walls with his
+fists, shaking the furniture. He seized a chair and drove it against the
+door. The chair struck with a ring upon metal and broke.</p>
+
+<p>Uttering a loud sigh, the detective drew out his revolver; he would, at
+least, save his friend the torments of an awful death. Suddenly a
+fearful crash resounded. The moving mass of sand was falling away from
+them into some gaping hole below, while at the same time fresh, moist
+air reached them and refreshed their lungs. Evi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>dently some
+communication with the outside world had been established.</p>
+
+<p>Juve relit his lamp and was bending over to examine what had taken place
+when the floor all at once gave way under his feet and he fell, dragging
+Fandor with him.</p>
+
+<p>They found themselves up to mid-leg in water, but unhurt.</p>
+
+<p>Juve's voice rang out: "We are saved! I see now what happened! Our trap
+had a thin flooring, and, when down, it rested on a fragile arch. That
+arch gave way, and with the sand we have tumbled into the sewer of the
+Place Pigalle, which, if I am not mistaken, connects with the main of
+the Chaussée d'Autin. Come along, friend Fandor, we'll find means to get
+out of this before long."</p>
+
+<p>Floundering in the mud, they made their way along the drain until Juve
+halted and uttered a cry of triumph. On the left wall of the vault his
+hand encountered iron rings one above the other. It was a ladder leading
+to one of the manholes in the pavement. He quickly climbed up and, with
+a vigorous push, raised the heavy slab. In a few moments both men
+emerged and fell exhausted in the roadway.</p>
+
+<p>When Fandor recovered his senses he was lying in a large, ill-lighted
+hall. The first sound<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> he heard was Juve's voice arguing hotly and
+volubly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you're nothing but a pack of idiots! We burglars! It's utter rot.
+I tell you I'm Juve, Inspector of Public Safety!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII</h2>
+
+<h3>FOLLOWING JOSEPHINE</h3>
+
+
+<p>The captives had been recognised, and had been set at liberty. They had
+scarcely got a few yards from the police station, when Juve took the
+journalist's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's make haste!" he cried. "This foolish arrest has made us lose
+precious hours."</p>
+
+<p>"You have a plan, Juve? What is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"We must now turn our attention to Josephine; we must use her as a bait
+to catch the others. The girl won't be much longer at Lâriboisière. She
+will be extremely anxious to leave that place and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And go back to clear herself of treachery in Loupart's eyes? Is that
+it?" added Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly. Accordingly here is our plan of action. I must go at once to
+the Prefecture and advise M. Havard of our adventure. Mean<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>while you go
+to the hospital. Contrive to see Josephine, make sure she has not left,
+watch her and then&mdash;wait for me; in two hours, at the latest, I shall be
+with you."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, Juve, you can reckon on me. Josephine shall not escape me."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was already moving off when Juve called him back.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait! If ever for one reason or another you want an appointment with
+me, telegraph to the Safety, room 44, in my name. I will see that the
+messages always reach me."</p>
+
+<p>A quarter of an hour later Fandor was turning into the Rue Ambroise
+Paré, when all at once as he passed a woman he gave a start.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo!" he cried; "that's something we didn't bargain for!..."</p>
+
+<p>The woman walked along the Boulevard Chapelle toward the Boulevard
+Barbès. Fandor followed her.</p>
+
+<p>When the great clock which adorns the main front of the Lâriboisière
+buildings struck six, the nurses in the hospital were busy finishing
+their preparations for the night.</p>
+
+<p>The surgeon in Dr. Patel's division was just concluding his evening
+visit to the patients. With a word of encouragement and cheer he passed
+from bed to bed until he reached the one at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> end of the ward. The
+young woman occupying it was sitting up.</p>
+
+<p>"So you want to be off," exclaimed the surgeon.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, doctor."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you're not comfortable here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, doctor, but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But, what? Are you still afraid?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no."</p>
+
+<p>The patient spoke these last words so confidently that the surgeon could
+not help smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know," he observed, "that in your place I should be much less
+confident. What are you going to do? Where do you think of going when
+you leave here? Come, now, you are still very weak; you had much better
+spend the night here. You could go to-morrow morning after the round at
+eleven. It would be much more rational."</p>
+
+<p>The young woman shook her head and replied curtly:</p>
+
+<p>"I want to go now, sir, at once."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good. They will give you your ticket."</p>
+
+<p>The doctor gone, the young woman quickly jumped out of bed and began to
+dress herself.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't suppose I'm going to stay here a minute longer than I have
+to," she grumbled with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> a laugh to her neighbour, who was watching her
+preparations with an envious eye.</p>
+
+<p>"Some one waiting for you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure there is. Loupart won't be pleased that I'm not back yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going from here to his place?"</p>
+
+<p>"You bet I am."</p>
+
+<p>This she said in a tone that showed plainly she found the thing quite
+natural. The other was not of her mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, I should be scared only at the thought of seeing that man.
+You were jolly lucky not to have been killed by him. And when he has got
+hold of you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But Josephine laughed merrily.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," she said, "you don't know what you're saying. Depend on it,
+if Loupart didn't kill me it's because he didn't want to. He's a
+splendid shot. I suppose he had his reasons for not wanting me to stay
+here; I don't know his affairs, and besides, I came here without
+consulting him."</p>
+
+<p>A vigorous "hush" from the nurse on duty stopped the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine meanwhile completed her toilet. A nurse had brought her back
+the clothes she wore when she entered the hospital. She slipped on a
+poor muslin skirt, laced her bodice, buttoned her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> boots and set her
+curls straight; she was ready.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm off," she cried gaily to the porter as she held out her pass to
+him. "Thank the Lord, I'm going, and I have no fancy to come back to
+your hotel!"</p>
+
+<p>Once in the street, Josephine walked quickly. She cast a glance at the
+clock at a cabstand, and found she was behind time.</p>
+
+<p>She went along the Rue Ambroise Paré, then turned on to the outer
+boulevards.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner-hour being at hand, the populous streets of the Chapelle
+quarter were at their lowest ebb of animation. The bookshops had long
+since released their employees, the cafés were giving up their
+customers. Fandor, having recognised Josephine, followed her closely as
+she passed the outer boulevards, then by Boulevard Barbès.</p>
+
+<p>"Beyond a doubt she is bound for the Goutte d'Or," he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>Some minutes later, sure enough, she reached her home.</p>
+
+<p>"Very good! The bird is back in the nest: My job is now to watch the
+visitors who come to call on her."</p>
+
+<p>Opposite Josephine's door there was a wine-shop. This Fandor entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Writing materials, please," he ordered. "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> must drop a line to Juve,"
+he thought. "We must begin to set the trap."</p>
+
+<p>He was busy drawing up a detailed plan of the neighbourhood when, on
+raising his head, he gave a violent start, and, throwing a coin on the
+table, rushed out of the shop.</p>
+
+<p>"She is well disguised, but there's no mistaking her!"</p>
+
+<p>Without losing sight of the woman he was watching, Fandor reached the
+Metropolitan Station.</p>
+
+<p>"Good Lord! What does this mean?" he muttered. "Where is she off to?
+She's taking a first-class ticket. Can she have an appointment with
+Chaleck?" He also took a ticket behind the young woman and reached the
+platform.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going where she goes," he thought. "But where the devil are we
+bound for?"</p>
+
+<p>Loupart's mistress was the embodiment of a charming Parisian.</p>
+
+<p>Her gown was tailor-made, of navy blue, plain but perfectly cut; she
+wore little shoes with high heels, and no one would have recognised in
+the well-dressed woman, who got out of the Metropolitan at the Lyons
+Station, the burnisher, who, a little while ago, had left Lâriboisière.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine had scarcely taken a few steps on the great Square which
+divides Boulevard Dide<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>rot from the Lyons Station, when a young man,
+quietly dressed, came toward her. He ogled her, then in a voice of
+marked cordiality, said:</p>
+
+<p>"Can I say a few words to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"But, sir&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Two words, mademoiselle, I beg of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Speak," she said at last, after seeming to hesitate, halting on the
+edge of the pavement.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, not here; surely you will accept a glass?"</p>
+
+<p>The young woman made up her mind:</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, if you like."</p>
+
+<p>The couple directed their steps toward a neighbouring "brasserie," and
+neither the young man nor Josephine dreamed of noticing that a passer-by
+entered the place in their wake.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor did not take a seat at one of the little tables outside, but made
+for the interior, cleverly finding means to watch the two in a glass.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this the person Josephine was to meet?" he wondered. "Can he be a
+messenger of Loupart's? Yet she did not seem to know him. Hullo!"</p>
+
+<p>Just as the waiter was bringing two glasses of wine to the table where
+Josephine and her partner had seated themselves, the young woman
+suddenly arose, and, without taking leave, made for the door.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fandor managed to pass close to the deserted man. He heard the waiter
+jokingly say:</p>
+
+<p>"Not very kind, the little lady, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should think not! Didn't take her long to give me the slip."</p>
+
+<p>Then in a tone of regret the young man added: "Pity, she was a nice
+little thing."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right," thought Fandor. "Now I know that Josephine accepted
+the drink because she thought he was sent by Loupart or one of the gang.
+Once enlightened as to his real object, she left him abruptly."</p>
+
+<p>Tracking the young woman, Fandor now felt sure he was going to witness
+an interesting meeting. Josephine, however, seemed in no hurry. She
+inspected the illustrated papers in the kiosks, and presently reached
+the box where platform tickets are distributed; having taken one, she
+sat down near the foot of the staircase which leads to the refreshment
+rooms. Behind her Fandor also took a ticket, and, going up the stairs,
+leaned against the balustrade.</p>
+
+<p>"I am waiting for some one," he said to the waiter who appeared. "You
+may bring me a cup of coffee."</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely five minutes had passed, when Fandor saw a shabby looking man
+approach Josephine and begin an earnest conversation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The man drew from his pocket a greasy note-book. From it he took a paper
+which he handed to the young woman, who promptly put it away in her
+handbag.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>"Where was she going? Why did this person hand her a ticket?"</p>
+
+<p>The man pointed to a train where passengers were already taking their
+seats.</p>
+
+<p>"The Marseilles train! So Loupart has left Paris!"</p>
+
+<p>Then he called a messenger.</p>
+
+<p>"Go and get me a first-class ticket to Marseilles. Here is money. Is
+there a telegraph office near at hand?"</p>
+
+<p>"On the arrival platform, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Right. I will give you a message to take; go and hurry back."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor took out his note-book and scrawled a message:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Juve, Prefecture of Police, Room 44.</p>
+
+<p>"Have met Josephine and followed her. She is off first class, by
+Marseilles train. Don't know her destination. Will wire you as soon
+as there's anything fresh.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p style="margin-left: 75%;">"Fandor."<br /></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>ROBBERY; AMERICAN FASHION</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Tickets, please."</p>
+
+<p>The guard took the one offered by Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me, sir, there's a mistake here," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"This train doesn't go to Marseilles?"</p>
+
+<p>"The train, yes, but not the last carriage in which you are, for it is
+bound for Pontarlier, and will be slipped at Lyons from this express."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was nonplussed. The essential was to follow Josephine, ensconced
+in the compartment next to his.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll get into another carriage when we are off; it's so easy with
+the corridors."</p>
+
+<p>"You can't do that, sir," insisted the guard. "While all the carriages
+for Marseilles in the front of the train communicate, this one is
+separated from them by a baggage car."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Then I'll change later, during the night. I have till Dijon, haven't
+I?"</p>
+
+<p>"You have."</p>
+
+<p>The guard went away. Fandor suddenly asked himself:</p>
+
+<p>"Has Josephine made a mistake, too? Or has she a definite purpose in
+being in a carriage which is to be slipped from the Southern Express at
+Dijon to go on toward the Swiss frontier?"</p>
+
+<p>The guard was looking at tickets in Josephine's compartment. Fandor went
+near to listen; he heard the tail of a conversation between the fair
+traveller, her companion and the guard. The latter declared as he
+withdrew:</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly so, you shall not be disturbed."</p>
+
+<p>When Josephine had boarded the train, Fandor had not ventured to watch
+her too closely, nor the companion she had met on the platform at the
+last moment. He now decided to take advantage of the corridor to take a
+look at the man.</p>
+
+<p>He was quite stout, rather common in appearance, although with a
+prosperous air. A man of middle age, whose jolly face was framed in a
+beard, giving him the look of an old mariner. Moreover, he was one-eyed.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine was playful, full of smiles and amiability, but also somewhat
+absent-minded.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The pair had decidedly the appearance of being lovers.</p>
+
+<p>Although it was quite early, passengers were arranging to pass the night
+as comfortably as possible. The lamps had been shaded with their little
+blue curtains, and the portières, facing the corridors, had been drawn.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor returned to his compartment. Two corners of it were already
+occupied&mdash;the two furthest away from the corridor. One was in possession
+of a man about forty, with a waxed moustache, having the air of an
+officer in mufti, the other was taken by a young collegian with a waxen
+complexion.</p>
+
+<p>The journalist determined to keep awake, but scarcely had he settled
+himself when drowsiness crept over him. Rocked by the regular motion of
+the train he sank into a slumber troubled by nightmares. Then suddenly
+he sprang up. He had the clear impression of some one brushing by him
+and opening the door to the corridor.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is there?" he murmured in a voice thick with sleep and drowned by
+the rush of the train. No one answered him. He staggered out into the
+corridor. At the far end of the carriage a passenger, with a long black
+beard, was standing smoking a cigar, and apparently studying the murky
+country. Not a sound came from Jo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>sephine's apartment. With a shrug of
+his shoulders and cursing his fears, Fandor returned to his own seat.</p>
+
+<p>Why should he fancy, because he was following Josephine, that all the
+passengers in the train were cut-throats and accomplices of Loupart's
+mistress? Yet, five minutes after these sage reflections, Fandor started
+again; he had distinctly seen, passing along the corridor, two fellows
+with villainous faces and suspicious demeanour. One of them cast into
+Fandor's compartment such a murderous glance that it made the
+journalist's heart palpitate.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor glanced at his companions. The officer was sleeping soundly, but
+the young fellow, although keeping perfectly still, opened his eyes from
+time to time and cast uneasy glances about him, then pretended to sleep
+as soon as he caught Fandor watching him.</p>
+
+<p>The train slackened speed; they were entering Laroche Station; there was
+a stop to change engines. The officer suddenly awoke and got out. The
+compartment holding Josephine and her companion was thrown open, and,
+strange to say, his neighbour, the collegian, had moved into it, sitting
+just opposite the stout gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, with a view to keeping awake, abandoned his comfortable seat and
+settled himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> in one of the hammocks in the corridor. He chose the
+one just opposite Josephine's door. But so great was his weariness that
+he quickly fell into a deep sleep. Suddenly a violent shock sent him
+rolling to the cross-seat in Josephine's compartment. As he picked
+himself up in a dazed condition, a cry of terror broke from his lips.
+Three inches from his head was the muzzle of a revolver held by a big
+ruffian wearing a mask, who cried:</p>
+
+<p>"Hands up, all!"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor and his companions were too amazed to immediately obey, and the
+command came again, more forcible.</p>
+
+<p>"Hands up, and don't stir or I'll blow out your brains."</p>
+
+<p>And now a gnome-like individual appeared, also masked.</p>
+
+<p>The first one turned to Josephine: "You, woman, out of here!"</p>
+
+<p>Without betraying by her expression whether or no she was his
+accomplice, Josephine hurriedly left her place and, slipping between the
+gnome and the colossus, went and cowered down at the end of the
+carriage.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on!" suddenly commanded the big ruffian, who seemed to be the
+leader. "Go on! rifle 'em!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The gnome, with wonderful adroitness, ransacked the coat and waistcoat
+pockets of the traveller. The stout man, shaking with alarm, made no
+resistance. After relieving him of his watch and pocketbook, they forced
+him to undo his shirt. Around his waist he wore a broad leather belt.</p>
+
+<p>"Go it, Beaumôme, relieve him of his burden, the fat jackass!"</p>
+
+<p>From the body of the traveller, the stolen belt passed to the big masked
+robber, who weighed the prize complacently. The belt contained pockets
+stuffed with gold and bank notes. The two robbers then moved away toward
+the further end of the carriage.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, furious at being tricked like the simplest of greenhorns,
+determined to seize the occasion to give the alarm.</p>
+
+<p>The emergency bell was immediately above the pale-faced collegian. With
+a bound the journalist sprang for it, but fell back with a loud cry as
+he felt a sharp pain in his hand. The collegian had leaped up and
+cruelly bitten his finger. So great was the pain that Fandor swooned for
+a few seconds, and that gave his assailant time to cross the compartment
+and reach the corridor. At this moment the express slackened its speed
+and slowly came to a standstill.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it too high to jump?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fandor knew the voice: it was Josephine's.</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered some one. "Let yourself go. I'll catch you."</p>
+
+<p>The sound of heavy shoes on the footboard told him that the robbers were
+making off. Josephine went with them, so she was their accomplice. The
+journalist sprang into the corridor to rush in pursuit. But he recoiled.
+A shot rang out, the glass fell broken before him, and a bullet
+flattened above his head in the woodwork.</p>
+
+<p>It now seemed to him that the train was gradually gathering way again.
+Fandor put his head through the broken glass and searched the darkness
+outside.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" he cried in amazement. There was no longer a train on the track,
+or rather, the main body of the train was vanishing in the distance,
+while the carriage in which he was and the rear baggage car had pulled
+up. Apparently the robbers had broken the couplings.</p>
+
+<p>At the moment, the stout man, having quite recovered, drew near Fandor
+and observed the situation.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, we're backing! We're backing!" he bellowed with alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"Naturally, we're going down a slope," calmly replied Fandor. The other
+groaned and wrung his hands.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It's appalling! The Simplon express is only twelve minutes behind us!"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor now realized the frightful danger. Without delay he made for the
+carriage door, ready to jump and risk breaking his bones rather than
+face the terrible crash which seemed inevitable. But before he could
+make up his mind to the leap, a grinding noise became audible. The guard
+in the baggage car had applied the Westinghouse brakes and in a few
+minutes they came to a stop.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor and the stout gentleman sprang frantically out of the carriage,
+and two brakemen jumped from the baggage car, crying: "Get away! Save
+yourselves!"</p>
+
+<p>Clambering over the ties, they jumped a hedge, floundered in a hole full
+of water, scratching their hands and tearing their clothes; they rolled
+down a grassy slope, stuck in a ploughed field, then dropped to the
+ground, motionless, as a fearful din burst like thunder on the hush of
+the night. The Simplon express, racing at full speed, had crashed into
+the two carriages left on the rails and smashed them to bits, while the
+engine and forward carriages of the train were telescoped.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV</h2>
+
+<h3>FLIGHT THROUGH THE NIGHT</h3>
+
+
+<p>Scarcely had Loupart received Josephine in his arms, as she jumped from
+the carriage, than he strenuously urged his companions to make haste.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, boys, off we go, and quickly, too! Josephine, pick up your
+skirts and get a move on!"</p>
+
+<p>It was a dark night, without moon, favourable to the robber's plans. For
+a good fifteen minutes the ill-omened crew continued their retreat by
+forced march. From time to time Loupart questioned the "Beard":</p>
+
+<p>"This the way?"</p>
+
+<p>The other nodded assent: "Keep on, we'll get there."</p>
+
+<p>At length they descried the white ribbon of a road winding up the side
+of the low hill and vanishing in the distance into a small wood.</p>
+
+<p>"There's the track," declared the Beard.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"To Dijon?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, to Verrez."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a good thing; now, stop and listen to me."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart sat down on the grass and addressed them.</p>
+
+<p>"It's been a good stroke, friends, but unfortunately it's not finished
+yet. They took precautions we couldn't foresee. We have only part of the
+fat. We share up to-morrow evening."</p>
+
+<p>He was answered by growls of disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>"I said to-morrow evening," he repeated. "Those who aren't satisfied
+with that can stay away. There'll be all the more for the others. Now,
+we must separate. Josephine, you, the Beard and I will get back
+together. There's work for us in Paris. The others scatter and take care
+not to get pinched; be back in the nest by ten."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart motioned to the Beard and Josephine to follow him.</p>
+
+<p>"Show us the way, Beard."</p>
+
+<p>"Where to?"</p>
+
+<p>"The telegraph office."</p>
+
+<p>"What's up?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you idiot," replied Loupart, "we've been robbed! The wine-dealer's
+notes are only halves! The swine insured himself for nothing."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Beard broke out into recriminations.</p>
+
+<p>"To have a hundred and fifty notes in your pocket, and they good for
+nothing! There was no such thing as Providence! It was sickening."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, don't get angry, two halves will make a whole."</p>
+
+<p>"You know where to lay hands on the rest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, old man."</p>
+
+<p>"That's our job to-morrow evening? That's why you're chasing to the
+telegraph office?"</p>
+
+<p>Loupart clenched his fists.</p>
+
+<p>"That and something else; there's bigger game afoot."</p>
+
+<p>"What?"</p>
+
+<p>"Juve."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the devil!" murmured the Beard, divided between pleasure and fear.
+"You've got the beggar?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure."</p>
+
+<p>The little group moved forward in silence. At length Josephine began to
+tire.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, have we much further to go?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied the Beard. "Verrez village is behind that hill. The main
+road runs by the row of poplars."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"All right. Go and wait there with Josephine. I'll catch you up in a
+quarter of an hour," ordered Loupart. "I've a wire to send off."</p>
+
+<p>His acolytes gone, Loupart resumed his way. As a measure of precaution,
+he took off his jacket, turned it inside out and put it on again. The
+jacket was a trick one: the lining was a different colour and the
+pockets differently placed.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching Verrez, Loupart turned round. From the top of the little
+hill he could see, in the distance, the reddening flames.</p>
+
+<p>"That's going all right," thought the wretch; "the Simplon express has
+run into the cars. There must be a fine mix-up there."</p>
+
+<p>Reaching the post-office at last, he seized a blank and wrote on it
+hastily:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Juve, Inspector of Safety, 142 Rue Bonaparte, Paris. All is well;
+found gang complete, including Loupart. Robbery committed but
+failed. Cannot give details. Be at Bercy Stores alone, but armed,
+to-morrow at eleven at night, near the Kessler House cellars.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 75%;">"Fandor."<br /></p>
+
+<p>The clerk held out her hand to take the message. The bandit was
+extremely polite.</p>
+
+<p>"Be so good as to pay special attention to this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> message. Read it over,
+madam. You grasp the importance of it? You see it must be kept
+absolutely secret. I rely on you."</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes' quick walking brought Loupart once more to Josephine and
+the Beard.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo!" he cried. "Anything new?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"Josephine, go down the hill and the first motor that passes, set to and
+howl; call 'help' and 'murder'; got to stop it. Be off! Look sharp!"</p>
+
+<p>Some minutes passed. The two men watched Josephine go down the road and
+hide in one of the ditches.</p>
+
+<p>"Your barker is ready, Beard?"</p>
+
+<p>"Six plugs, Loupart."</p>
+
+<p>"Good! You go to the right, I to the left."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart had scarcely given these orders, when, on the horizon, a bright
+gleam became visible, growing larger every minute, while the noise of a
+motor broke the silence of the open country.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, Beard. Acetylene lamps, eh? That car will do our job splendidly."</p>
+
+<p>An automobile was fast nearing them. As it passed by Josephine, she
+rushed into the road, uttering piercing cries.</p>
+
+<p>"Help! Murder! Have pity! Stop!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With a hasty movement the chauffeur, taken aback by the sight of a woman
+rising unexpectedly on the lonely road, made a dash at his brakes.
+Meanwhile from the inside of the car a traveller leaned out.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it? What's the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>As the car was about to stop, Loupart and the Beard rushed out.</p>
+
+<p>"You take the passenger!" cried the former; "I'll attend to the
+chauffeur."</p>
+
+<p>The two brigands sprang on the footboards.</p>
+
+<p>"No tricks, or I'll shoot! Josephine, truss these fowls for me!" cried
+Loupart.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine took a roll of cord from her lover's pocket and tied the two
+victims firmly while Loupart gagged them.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Beard, take them into the field and give them a rap on the head to
+keep them quiet."</p>
+
+<p>Then he got into the car and skilfully turned it round. When Josephine
+and the Beard were on board, he got under way at full speed with a grim
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>"And, now, Juve, it's between us two!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SIMPLON EXPRESS DISASTER</h3>
+
+
+<p>While Loupart and his mates were making off across country the disaster
+occurred. At a curve in the track the Simplon Express coming at full
+speed charged the cars and crushed them, then, lifted by the shock, the
+engine reared backwards on its wheels and fell heavily, dragging down in
+its fall a baggage car and the first two carriages coupled behind it.
+Then rose in the night cries of terror and the frantic rush of the
+passengers who fled from the luxurious train.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor picked himself up and went forward. From the tender of the engine
+a cloud of steam escaped with hoarse whistlings.</p>
+
+<p>The driver held out his two broken arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me a hand, for God's sake! Open the tap! There, that hoisted bar.
+Lift it up. Quick, the boiler is going to burst."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fandor was still engaged in carrying out this man[oe]uvre when succour
+began to arrive.</p>
+
+<p>The stoker, less seriously hurt than the driver, had managed to drag
+himself clear of the wreckage, which was beginning to catch fire. The
+head guard, and those passengers whose seats had been at the rear of the
+train, hurried up and the combined effort at rescue began. They searched
+for the injured and put out the incipient blazes.</p>
+
+<p>Instinctively those who had fled from the train followed in a frantic
+stampede the road at the foot of the embankment, reached Verrez village
+out of breath and gave the alarm.</p>
+
+<p>The countryside was soon in an uproar. Lights flashed, torches and lamps
+of vehicles harnessed in haste: a quarter of an hour after the disaster
+half the neighbourhood was afoot from all quarters.</p>
+
+<p>"A bit of luck, sir," remarked the conductor, still pallid with horror,
+to Fandor, "that the collision happened at the curve where our speed was
+slackened. Ten minutes sooner and all the carriages would have been
+telescoped."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it was luck," replied the journalist, as he wiped his face,
+covered with soot and coal dust. "The two carriages telescoped were
+almost empty."</p>
+
+<p>From a neighbouring way-station the railway<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> officials had telephoned
+news of the accident. The section of line was kept clear by telegraph.
+Word came that a relief train was being made up, and would arrive in an
+hour.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor had quickly regained his coolness, and was one of the first to
+lend a hand in the rescue, turning over the wreckage and setting free
+the injured.</p>
+
+<p>As he passed along the track, he was attracted by the appeals of a stout
+man, who hurried toward him, wailing:</p>
+
+<p>"Sir! Sir! What a terrible calamity!"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor recognised his fellow-passenger, Josephine's lover.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and we had a lucky escape. But what has become of your wife?"</p>
+
+<p>In using the word "wife" Fandor was under no illusion; he merely wanted
+to interview the other.</p>
+
+<p>"My wife? Ah, sir, that's the terrible part of it. She's not my
+wife&mdash;she's a little friend, and now it's all bound to come out. My
+lawful wife will hear everything. As for the girl, I don't know what has
+become of her."</p>
+
+<p>"She knew that you were carrying money?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. I am an agent for wines at Bercy, and I was going to pay over
+dividends to stock-holders, one hundred and fifty thousand francs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> I
+recognised one of my men among the robbers, a cooper. He knew that every
+month I travel, carrying large sums of money. I am quite sure this
+robbery was planned beforehand."</p>
+
+<p>"And who are you, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"M. Martialle, of Kessler &amp; Barriès. Fortunately the money is not lost."</p>
+
+<p>"Not lost! You know where to find the robbers?"</p>
+
+<p>"That I do not, but they have only the halves of the notes. These are
+worth nothing to them unless they can lay their hands on the
+corresponding halves. It's a way of cheap insurance."</p>
+
+<p>"And where are the other halves of the notes?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, in a safe place, in the office of the firm at Bercy."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor abruptly left M. Martialle and approached an official.</p>
+
+<p>"When will the line be cleared?"</p>
+
+<p>"In an hour's time, sire."</p>
+
+<p>"There'll be no train for Paris till then?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor moved off along the track.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right, I can make it. I'll have time to send a wire to <i>The
+Capital</i>."</p>
+
+<p>The journalist sat down on the grass, took out his writing-pad and began
+his article. But he had overrated his strength. He was worn out,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> body
+and soul. He had not been writing ten minutes when he dropped into a
+doze, the pencil slipped from his fingers and he was fast asleep.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>When Fandor opened his eyes, the twilight was beginning to come down. It
+was between five and six o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>"What a fool I've been! I've made a mess of the whole business now," he
+cried as he ran frantically to the nearest station.</p>
+
+<p>"How soon the first train to Paris?"</p>
+
+<p>"In two minutes, sir: it is signalled."</p>
+
+<p>"When does it arrive?"</p>
+
+<p>"At ten o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor threw up his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be too late. I haven't time to wire Juve and warn him. Oh! what
+an idiot I was to sleep like that!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI</h2>
+
+<h3>A DRAMA AT THE BERCY WAREHOUSE</h3>
+
+
+<p>Juve passed the whole day at the Cité Frochot. Despite the precautions
+taken to keep the failure two days back a secret, the papers had got
+wind of the drama: <i>The Capital</i> itself had spoken of it, though without
+naming his fellow-worker. The staff of that paper was unaware that
+Fandor was the other man who had so marvellously escaped from the sewer.
+Blood-curdling tales were told about Doctor Chaleck, Juve, Loupart, the
+house of the crime, the affair at the hospital; but to anyone familiar
+with the actual happenings, the newspaper accounts were very far from
+giving the truth.</p>
+
+<p>And Juve, far from contradicting these misstatements, took a delight in
+spreading them broadcast.</p>
+
+<p>It is sometimes useful to set astray the powerful voice of the Press so
+as to give a false security to the real culprits.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>However, when masons, electricians and zinc-workers were seen to take
+possession of Doctor Chaleck's house and begin to turn it upside down, a
+crowd quickly assembled to witness the performance.</p>
+
+<p>It was with great difficulty that Juve, who did not want too many
+witnesses round the place, organised arrangements of a vigorous
+character.</p>
+
+<p>Installed in the drawing-room on the ground floor, he first had a long
+interview with the owner of the house, M. Nathan, the well-known diamond
+broker of the Rue de Provence. The poor man was in despair to think his
+property had been the scene of the extraordinary events which were on
+everybody's tongue. All he knew of Doctor Chaleck was that that
+gentleman had been his tenant just four years, and had always paid his
+rent regularly.</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't suspect," asked Juve in conclusion, "the ingenious
+contrivance of that electric lift in which the doctor placed a study
+identically similar to the real one?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not, sir," replied the worthy man. "Eighteen months ago my
+tenant asked permission to repair the house at his own expense; as you
+may suppose, I granted his request at once. It must have been at that
+time that the queer contrivance was built. Have I your permission<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> to go
+down to the cellars and ascertain their condition?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not before to-morrow, sir, when I shall have finished my inspection,"
+replied Juve, as he saw M. Nathan out.</p>
+
+<p>The inspector was assisted in his investigation by detectives Michel and
+Dupation. They interviewed the old couple in charge of the Cité and
+various neighbours of Doctor Chaleck, but without lighting upon a clue.
+Nobody had seen or heard anything whatever.</p>
+
+<p>Toward noon he and Michel, who did not wish to leave the house, decided
+to have a modest repast brought to them. M. Dupation, a fidgety
+official, took this chance of getting away.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, gentlemen," he declared, "you are much more up to this business
+than I, and besides my wife expects me to luncheon. You don't need any
+further help from me?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve reassured the worthy superintendent and gave him permission to go.
+He was only too glad to find himself alone with his lieutenant. The
+workmen who were repairing the caved-in basement of the little house
+were already gone, and there was no chance of their being back before
+two o'clock. Thus Juve found himself alone with Michel.</p>
+
+<p>"What I can't understand, sir," said Michel,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> "is the telephone call we
+got toward morning from here asking for help at the office in the Rue
+Rochefoucauld. Either the victim herself 'phoned, and in that case she
+did not die, as we think, in the early part of the night, or it was not
+she, and then&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Juve smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right in putting the problem that way, but to my mind it is
+easy to solve. The call was not given by the murdered woman for,
+remember, when we raised the body at half-past six it was already cold.
+Now the call was not given till six, when the woman had been dead some
+little time. That I am sure of, and you will see the report of the
+medical expert will uphold me."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it was a third person who gave it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and one who sought to have the crime discovered as soon as
+possible, and who reckoned on the officers coming from the Central
+Station, but did not expect Fandor or me to come back."</p>
+
+<p>"Then according to you, sir, the murderer knew of your presence behind
+the curtain in the study while the crime was being committed."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't tell about the murderer, but Doctor Chaleck certainly knew we
+were there. That man must have watched us all night, known the exact
+instant we left the house, and immediately after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>wards got some one to
+telephone or must have done so himself."</p>
+
+<p>Michel, becoming more and more convinced by Juve's reasoning, went on:</p>
+
+<p>"At any rate, the existence of two studies, in all respects similar,
+goes to show a carefully premeditated plan, but there is something I
+can't account for. When you came back to the study where we found the
+dead woman, you found traces of mud by the window brought in by your
+shoes. You must therefore have been watching through the night the room
+where the crime was committed."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was about to put in a word, but Michel, launched on his train of
+argument, continued:</p>
+
+<p>"Allow me, sir; you are going, no doubt, to tell me that they might
+during your short absence have carried the body of the victim into the
+study in question, but I would point out to you, that on the loosened
+hair of the poor creature blood had caked, that some was on the carpet
+and had even gone through it to the flooring beneath. Now if they
+carried in the body just a little while before we discovered it, that
+would not have been the case."</p>
+
+<p>Michel was delighted with his own argument. Juve smiled indulgently.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor Michel," he cried, "you would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> quite right if I put forward
+such an explanation. It is certain that the room in which we found the
+body was that in which the crime took place. It is therefore that in
+which we were not! As for the marks of mud near the window, they are
+ours, but transferred from the room in which we were into the room in
+which we were not! Which again proves that our presence was known to the
+culprits.</p>
+
+<p>"Furthermore, the candle with which Doctor Chaleck melted the wax to
+seal his letters was scarcely used, it only burned in fact a few
+minutes. Now we found another candle in the same state. So you see that
+the precautions were well taken and everything possible done to lead us
+astray.</p>
+
+<p>"We see the puppets moving&mdash;Loupart, Chaleck, Josephine, others maybe,
+but we do not see the strings."</p>
+
+<p>"The strings which move them perhaps may be no other than&mdash;Fantômas,"
+ventured Michel.</p>
+
+<p>Juve frowned and suddenly fell silent. Then abruptly changing the
+conversation, he asked his lieutenant:</p>
+
+<p>"You told me, did you not, that you could no longer appear in the
+character of the Sapper?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite true, Inspector, I was spotted just the day before the crime by
+Loupart, and so was my colleague, Nonet."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Talking of that," answered Juve, "Nonet mentioned vaguely something
+about an affair at the docks, supposed to have been planned by the Beard
+and an individual known as the Cooper. Are you fully informed?"</p>
+
+<p>"Unfortunately no, Inspector. I know no more about the matter than you
+do."</p>
+
+<p>"And what is Nonet about now?"</p>
+
+<p>"He has left for Chartres."</p>
+
+<p>Juve shrugged his shoulders. He was annoyed. Perhaps if Léon, nicknamed
+Nonet, had not been transferred he would by now have obtained pertinent
+clues to the dock's affair.</p>
+
+<p>After having enjoined Michel to devise a new disguise which allowed him
+to mix once more with the Band of Cyphers and going back to "The Good
+Comrades," Juve went down to the basement to supervise the workmen, who
+were now back; while Michel busied himself with the inventory of the
+papers found in Doctor Chaleck's study.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>On leaving the house toward half-past seven in the evening Juve went
+slowly down to the Rue des Martyrs, pondering over the occurrences which
+for several days had succeeded each other with such startling rapidity.</p>
+
+<p>As he reached the boulevards the bawling of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> newsboys attracted his
+attention. An ominous headline was displayed in the papers the crowd was
+struggling for.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 35%;">
+"ANOTHER RAILROAD ACCIDENT.<br />
+THE SIMPLON EXPRESS TELESCOPES<br />
+THE MARSEILLES LIMITED. MANY<br />
+VICTIMS."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Juve anxiously bought a paper and scanned the list of the injured,
+fearful that Fandor would be found among the number. But as he read the
+details and learned that those in the detached carriage had escaped, he
+felt somewhat relieved. Hailing a taxi he drove off rapidly to the
+Prefecture in search of more precise information.</p>
+
+<p>"A message for you, M. Juve."</p>
+
+<p>The detective, hurrying home, was passing the porter's lodge. He pulled
+up short.</p>
+
+<p>"For me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;it's certainly your name on the telegram."</p>
+
+<p>Juve took the blue envelope with distrust and uneasiness. He had given
+his home address to no one. He glanced over the message, and gave a sigh
+of relief.</p>
+
+<p>"The dear fellow," he muttered as he went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> upstairs. "He's had a narrow
+escape; however, all's well than ends well."</p>
+
+<p>After a hurried toilet and a bite of dinner, Juve set off again, jumped
+into a train for the Boulevard St. Germain and got down at the Jardin
+des Plantes. Then, sauntering casually along, he made for Bercy by the
+docks, which were covered as far as the eye could see with rows and rows
+of barrels.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>About two hours later, Juve, who had been wandering about the vast
+labyrinth of wine-docks, began to grow impatient.</p>
+
+<p>It was already fifty minutes past the appointed hour, and the detective
+began to feel uneasy. Why was Fandor so late? Something must surely have
+happened to him! And then what a queer idea to choose such a meeting
+place!</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, Juve started. He recalled his talk that afternoon with Michel;
+the reference made to the affair of the docks in which the Beard and the
+Cooper were implicated. What if he had been drawn into a trap!</p>
+
+<p>The detective's reflections were suddenly cut short by unusual and
+alarming sounds.</p>
+
+<p>He fancied he heard the shrill blast of a whistle, followed by the rush
+of footsteps and a collision of empty barrels.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Juve held his breath and crouched down under the shed in which he stood;
+he thought he saw the outline of a shadow passing slowly in the
+distance. Juve was stealthily following in its tracks when he caught a
+significant click.</p>
+
+<p>"Two can play at that," he growled between his teeth, as he cocked his
+revolver. The shadow disappeared, but the footsteps went on.</p>
+
+<p>Disguising his voice he called out: "Who goes there?"</p>
+
+<p>A sharp summons answered him, "Halt!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve was about to call upon his mysterious neighbour to do likewise,
+when a report rang out, at once followed by another. Juve saw where the
+shots came from. His assailant was scarcely fifteen paces from him, but
+luckily the shots had gone wide.</p>
+
+<p>"Use up your cartridges, my friend," muttered Juve; "when your get to
+number six, it will be my turn."</p>
+
+<p>The sixth shot rang out. This was the signal for Juve to spring forward.
+Leaping over the barrels, he made for the shadow which he espied at
+intervals. All at once he gave a cry of triumph. He was face to face
+with a man.</p>
+
+<p>His cry, however, changed into amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"You, Fandor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Juve!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You've begun shooting at me, now, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>For answer, the journalist held out his revolver, which was fully
+loaded.</p>
+
+<p>"But what are you doing here, Juve?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"You wired to me to come."</p>
+
+<p>"That I never did."</p>
+
+<p>Juve drew the telegram from his pocket and held it out to Fandor, but as
+the two men drew close together, they were startled by a lightning
+flash, and a report. A bullet whistled past their ears. Instinctively
+they lay flat between two barrels, holding their breaths.</p>
+
+<p>Juve whispered instructions: "When I give the signal, fire at anything
+you see or toward the direction of the next report."</p>
+
+<p>The two men slowly and noiselessly raised their heads.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," cried Juve.</p>
+
+<p>And he fired at the rapidly fleeing figure.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you see?" whispered Fandor, clutching Juve's arm. "It's Chaleck."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was about to leap up and start in pursuit when a series of dull
+thuds, the overturning of barrels, stifled oaths and cracking planks
+smote his ear. These noises were followed by the measured footfall of a
+body of men drawing near, words of command and shrill whistles.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What's all that now?" questioned Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"The best thing that could happen for us," replied Juve. "The police are
+coming. These quays are a refuge for all kinds of tramps and crooks who
+from time to time are rounded up. We are probably going to see a
+'drive.'"</p>
+
+<p>Juve had scarcely finished speaking when several shots rang out; these
+were followed by a general uproar and then a great blue flame suddenly
+rose, died away and flared up again. A thick smoke permeated the
+atmosphere.</p>
+
+<p>"Fire," exclaimed Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"The kegs of alcohol are alight," added Juve.</p>
+
+<p>The two had now to think of their own safety. Evidently bandits had been
+tracking them for more than an hour, guided by Doctor Chaleck.</p>
+
+<p>But they soon found that their retreat was cut off by a ring of flames.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us head for the Seine," suggested Fandor, who had discovered a
+break in the ring of fire at that point. A fresh explosion now took
+place. From a burst cask a spurt of liquid fire shot up, closing the
+circle. It had become impossible to pass through in any direction.</p>
+
+<p>They heard the cries of the rabble, the whistles of the officers. In the
+distance the horns of the fire engines moaned dolefully. The heat was
+growing unbearable, and the ring enclosing Fan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>dor and Juve narrowed
+more and more. Suddenly Juve pointed to an enormous empty puncheon that
+had just rolled beside them.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you ever looped the loop?" he asked. "Hurry up now; in you go;
+we'll let it roll down the slope of the quay into the river."</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments the cask was rolling at top speed. Juve and Fandor
+guessed by the crackling of the outer planks and by a sudden rise in the
+temperature that they were passing through the fire. All at once the
+great vat reached the level of the river. It plunged into the waves with
+a dull thud.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII</h2>
+
+<h3>ON THE SLABS OF THE MORGUE</h3>
+
+
+<p>As he turned at the far side of the Pont St. Louis, Doctor Ardel, the
+celebrated medical jurist, caught sight of M. Fuselier, the magistrate,
+chatting with Inspector Juve in front of the Morgue.</p>
+
+<p>"I am behind-hand, gentlemen. So sorry to have made you wait."</p>
+
+<p>M. Fuselier and Juve crossed the tiny court and entered the
+semi-circular lecture-room, where daily lessons in medical jurisprudence
+are given to the students and the head men of the detective police
+force.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Ardel, piloting his guests, did the honours.</p>
+
+<p>"The place is not exactly gay; in fact, it has an ill reputation; but
+anyhow, gentlemen, it is at your disposition. M. Fuselier, you will be
+able to investigate in peace: M. Juve, you will be at liberty to put any
+questions you choose to your client."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The doctor spoke in a loud voice, emphasising each word with a jolly
+laugh, good natured, devoid of malice, yet making an unpleasant
+impression on his two visitors less at home than he in the gruesome
+abode they had just entered.</p>
+
+<p>"You will excuse me," he went on, "if I leave you for a couple of
+minutes to put on an overall and my rubber gloves?"</p>
+
+<p>The doctor gone, the two instinctively felt a vague need to talk to
+counteract the doleful atmosphere the Morgue seemed to exhale, where so
+many unclaimed corpses, so much human flotsam, had come to sleep under
+the inquiring eyes of the crowd, before being given to the common ditch,
+being no more than an entry in a register and a date: "Body found so and
+so, buried so and so."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, my dear Juve," asked M. Fuselier. "This morning directly I got
+your message I at once acceded to your wish and asked Ardel to have us
+both here this afternoon, but I hardly understand your object. What have
+you come here for?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve, with both hands in his pockets, was walking up and down before the
+dissecting table. At the Magistrate's question he stopped short, and,
+turning to M. Fuselier, replied:</p>
+
+<p>"Why have I come here? I scarcely know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> myself. It's everything or
+nothing. The key to the puzzle. I tell you, M. Fuselier, things are
+becoming increasingly tragic and baffling."</p>
+
+<p>"How's that?"</p>
+
+<p>"The part played by Josephine is less and less clear. She is Loupart's
+mistress; she informs against him, is fired at by him, then, according
+to Fandor, becomes in some manner his accomplice in a robbery so daring
+that you must search the annals of American criminality to find its
+like."</p>
+
+<p>"You refer to the train affair?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Now, leaving Josephine on one side, we are confronted with two
+enigmas. Doctor Chaleck, a man of the world, a scholar, crops up as
+leader of a band of criminals. What we know for certain about him is
+that he fired at Josephine, that he was concerned in the affair of the
+docks&mdash;no more. There remains Loupart; and about him being the real
+culprit we know nothing. There is no proof that he killed the woman. In
+order to prove that we should have to know who that woman is and why she
+was killed, and also how. The how and why of the crime alone might
+chance to give us the answer."</p>
+
+<p>"What trail are you following?"</p>
+
+<p>"That of the dead woman. The body we are about to examine will determine
+me in which quarter to direct my search."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>M. Fuselier, looking at the detective with a penetrating eye, asked:</p>
+
+<p>"You surely haven't the notion of suspecting Fantômas?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, M. Fuselier," he replied. "Behind Loupart, behind
+Chaleck, everywhere and always it is Fantômas I am looking for."</p>
+
+<p>Whatever information the detective was about to impart to the magistrate
+was cut short by the return of Doctor Ardel. That gentleman, in donning
+the uniform of the expert, had resumed an appearance of professional
+gravity.</p>
+
+<p>"We are going to work now, gentlemen," he announced. "I need not remind
+you, of course, that the body you are about to see, that of the woman
+found in the Cité Frochot, has already undergone certain changes due to
+decomposition, which have modified its aspect."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, Dr. Ardel pressed a button and gave an attendant the
+necessary order. "Be so good as to bring the body from room No. 6."</p>
+
+<p>Some minutes later a folding door in the wall opened and two men pushed
+a truck into the middle of the hall upon which lay the corpse of the
+unknown.</p>
+
+<p>"I now give over the dead woman to you to identify," declared Doctor
+Ardel. "My examination has been carried out and my part as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> expert is
+over&mdash;I am ready to hand in my report."</p>
+
+<p>Fuselier and Juve bent long over the slab upon which the body had been
+placed.</p>
+
+<p>"Alas!" cried Juve, "how recognise anything in this countenance
+destroyed by pitch? What discover in these crushed limbs, this human
+form, which is now a shapeless mass?" And, turning to Dr. Ardel, he
+questioned:</p>
+
+<p>"Professor, what did you learn from your autopsy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing, or very little," replied the doctor. "Death was not due to one
+blow more than another. A general effusion of blood took place
+everywhere at once."</p>
+
+<p>"Everywhere at once? What do you mean by that?" questioned Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, that is the exact truth. In dissecting this body I was
+surprised to find all the blood vessels burst, the heart, the veins, the
+arteries, even the lung cells. More than this, the very bones are
+broken, splintered into a vast number of little pieces. Lastly, both on
+the limbs and over the whole body I find a general ecchymosis, reaching
+from the top of the neck to the lower extremities."</p>
+
+<p>"But," objected Juve, who feared the professor might linger over
+technical details too com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>plex for him, "what general notion does this
+suggest to you as to the cause of death?"</p>
+
+<p>"A strange idea, M. Juve, and one it is not easy for me to define. You
+might say that the body of this woman had passed under the grinders of a
+roller! The body is 'rolled,' that is just the word, crushed all over,
+and there is no point where the pressure might be conjectured to have
+been greatest."</p>
+
+<p>M. Fuselier looked at Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"What can we deduce from that?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Professor Ardel demonstrates scientifically the same doubts to which a
+rough inspection led me. How did the murderer go to work? It becomes
+more and more of a mystery."</p>
+
+<p>"It is so much so," declared Professor Ardel, "that even by postulating
+the worst complications I really cannot conceive of any machine capable
+of thus crushing a human being."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not believe," declared the magistrate, "that we have any more to
+see here. It is plain, Juve, that this corpse cannot furnish any clues
+to you and me for the inquest."</p>
+
+<p>"The corpse, no," cried Juve, "but there is something else."</p>
+
+<p>Then, turning to the professor, he asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Could you have brought to us the clothes this woman wore?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Quite easily."</p>
+
+<p>From a bag that an attendant handed him Juve drew out the garments of
+the dead woman. The shoes were by a good maker, the silk stockings with
+open-work embroidery, the chemise and the drawers were of fine linen and
+the corset was well cut.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing," he cried, "not a mark on this linen nor even the name of the
+shop where it was bought."</p>
+
+<p>He examined her petticoat, her bodice, a sort of elegant blouse, trimmed
+with lace, and the velvet collar which had several spots of blood upon
+it. He then drew a small penknife from his pocket and, kneeling on the
+floor, proceeded to probe the seams. Suddenly he uttered a muffled
+exclamation:</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! What's this?" From the lining of the bodice he drew out a thin roll
+of paper, crumpled, stained with blood, torn unfortunately.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Goodness of God in whom I trust&mdash;I do not wish to die with this
+remorse&mdash;I do not wish to risk his killing me to destroy this
+secret&mdash;I write this confession, I will tell him it is deposited in
+a safe place&mdash;yes, I was the cause of the death of that hapless
+actor! Yes, Valgrand paid for the crime which Gurn committed....
+Yes, I sent Valgrand to the scaffold by making him pass for
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>Gurn&mdash;Gurn who killed Lord Beltham, Gurn, who I sometimes think
+must be Fantômas!"</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Juve read these lines in an agitated voice, and as he came to the
+signature he turned pale and was obliged to stop.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is signed&mdash;'Lady Beltham.'"</p>
+
+<p>In order that Doctor Ardel, understanding nothing of Juve's agitation,
+might grasp that import of the paper just discovered he would have had
+to call to mind the appalling tragedy which three years before had
+stirred the whole world with its bloody vicissitude and mystery, one not
+solved to that hour.</p>
+
+<p>"Lady Beltham!"</p>
+
+<p>At that name Juve called up the whole blood-curdling past! He saw in
+fancy the English lady<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> whose husband was murdered by the Canadian
+Gurn, who perhaps was her lover.</p>
+
+<p>And Juve, following his train of thought, pondered that he had accused
+this same lady of having, to save her lover, the very day the guillotine
+was erected on the boulevard, found means to send in his stead the
+innocent actor, Valgrand.</p>
+
+<p>And here in connection with this affair of the Cité Frochot he found
+Lady Beltham involved in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> the puzzle of which he was so keenly seeking
+the key.</p>
+
+<p>Juve again read the momentous paper he had just unearthed.</p>
+
+<p>"By Jove, it was plain," ran his thought, "the lady, criminal though she
+might be, was first and foremost Fantômas' passionate inamorata. And
+this paper he held in his hands was the tail end of her confession&mdash;the
+remains of a document in which in a fit of moral distress she had avowed
+her remorse and made known the truth."</p>
+
+<p>And taking line by line the cryptic statement, Juve asked himself
+further:</p>
+
+<p>"What do these phrases signify? How extract the whole truth from these
+few words? 'I do not want him to kill me in order to destroy that
+secret'! When Lady Beltham wrote that she was angry with Gurn. Then
+again what did this other doubtful expression mean?&mdash;'Gurn who I
+sometimes fancy may be Fantômas.' She did not know then the precise
+identity of her lover! Oh, the wretch! To what depths had she sunk?"</p>
+
+<p>Then as he put this query to himself, Juve shook from head to foot. Like
+a thunderclap he thought he grasped the truth he had followed so
+eagerly. What had become of Lady Beltham? Must he not come to the
+conclusion that this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> woman whose face had been crushed out of all
+recognition by the murderer was none other than the lady? How else
+explain the discovery in her bodice of the betraying document? Who but
+she could have had it in her possession? Who else could have so
+sedulously concealed it?</p>
+
+<p>Juve read over another clause: "I will tell him it is deposited in a
+safe place."</p>
+
+<p>Feverishly Juve took up the garments trailing on the ground, carefully
+explored the fabric, made a minute search.</p>
+
+<p>"It is impossible," he thought, "that I should not find another
+document. The beginning of this confession&mdash;I must have it!"</p>
+
+<p>All at once he stopped short in his search. "Curse it all!" And he
+pointed out to M. Fuselier, disguised in the lining of a loose pocket in
+the petticoat&mdash;a fresh hiding place, but torn and alas! empty.</p>
+
+<p>This woman had split up her confession into several portions. And if she
+was killed it was certainly to strip her of these compromising papers.
+Well, the murderer had attained his object.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, Fuselier, this empty 'cache' is the proof of what I put forward,
+and chance alone allowed the page concealed in the collar of this bodice
+to fall into my hands."</p>
+
+<p>Long did the detective still grope and ponder,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> heedless of the
+questions the professor and the magistrate kept asking him. He rose at
+last, and with a distracted gesture took the arm of M. Fuselier, and
+dragged him before the stone slab on which the corpse, but recently
+unknown, smiled a ghastly smile.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Fuselier, the dead woman has spoken. She is Lady Beltham. This is
+the body of Lady Beltham!"</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate recoiled in horror. He murmured:</p>
+
+<p>"But who then can Doctor Chaleck be? Who can Loupart be?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve replied without hesitation.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask Fantômas the names of his accomplices!"</p>
+
+<p>And leaving him and Doctor Ardel without any farewell Juve rushed from
+the Morgue, his features so distorted that as they passed him people
+drew aside, amazed and murmuring:</p>
+
+<p>"A madman or a murderer!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>FANTÔMAS' VICTIM</h3>
+
+
+<p>"You understand my object, Fandor? Hitherto I have worked unaided. I
+wanted to unearth Fantômas and bring him to Headquarters, saying to my
+superiors, 'For three years you have maintained this man was dead; well,
+here he is! I have put the darbies on the most terrible ruffian of
+modern times.' Well, I must forego my little triumph. We must now work
+in the open. Public opinion must come to our aid."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you want me to write my article?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and tell all the details; wind up by putting the question
+squarely. 'Is not Fantômas still alive?' Then sum up in the affirmative.
+Now, be off. I want to read your article this evening in the <i>Capital</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor had just left his detective friend when old Jean, the only
+servant that Juve tolerated in his private quarters, entered the room.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Don't forget the person who is waiting in the parlour, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes, to be sure. A person who comes to see me at home, when nobody
+knows my address should be interesting. Show him in, Jean."</p>
+
+<p>Juve placed his revolver in reach of his hand as Jean announced: "Maître
+Gérin, notary."</p>
+
+<p>Juve rose, motioned his visitor to a chair and inquired the object of
+his visit.</p>
+
+<p>Maître Gérin bowed respectfully to Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"I must apologise," he said, "for coming to disturb you at home, sir,
+but it concerns a matter of such importance and it involves names so
+terrible that I could not utter them within the walls of the Sûreté.
+What brings me here is a crime which must be laid to Fantômas or his
+heirs in crime."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was strangely moved.</p>
+
+<p>"Speak, sir, I am all attention."</p>
+
+<p>"M. Juve, I believe that one of my clients, a woman, has been killed. I
+have had for some time a certain sympathy, and, I don't disguise it, an
+immense curiosity concerning her because she was actually involved in
+the mysterious affairs of Fantômas."</p>
+
+<p>"The name of the woman, counsel, her name, I beg of you?"</p>
+
+<p>"The name of the woman who, I fear, has been murdered is&mdash;Lady
+Beltham!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Juve gave a sigh of relief. It was the name he wished to hear.</p>
+
+<p>Maître Gérin continued: "I have been Lady Beltham's lawyer for a long
+period of time, but since the Fantômas case came to an end in the
+sentencing to death of Gurn and the subsequent scandal attached to the
+name of Lady Beltham, I have ceased to have any further tidings of that
+unhappy woman.</p>
+
+<p>"Indirectly, through the medium of the papers which at times gave out
+some echo of her, I knew that she had been travelling, then, that she
+was back in Paris, and had gone to live at Neuilly, Boulevard Inkermann.
+But I did not see her again. It is true her family matters were settled,
+her husband's estate entirely wound up. In short, she had no reason to
+appeal to me professionally."</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, some days ago, I was greatly surprised by her visiting my office.
+Naturally I refrained from asking her any awkward questions."</p>
+
+<p>Juve interrupted: "In Heaven's name, sir, how long ago is it since Lady
+Beltham called on you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nineteen days, sir."</p>
+
+<p>A sigh of relief escaped Juve. He had feared all his theories regarding
+the body at the Morgue<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> the day before were going to collapse. "Go on,
+sir," he cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Lady Beltham, on being shown into my private office, appeared to me
+much the same physically as I had known her previously, but she was no
+longer the great lady, cold, haughty, a trifle disdainful. She seemed
+crushed under a terrible load, a prey to awful mental torture. She made
+appeal to my discretion, both professionally and as a man of honour.</p>
+
+<p>"She then spoke as follows: 'I am going to write a letter which, if it
+fell into the hands of a third person, would bring about a great
+calamity. This letter I shall intrust to you together with my Will which
+will instruct you what to do with it at my death. I will send you a
+visiting card with a line in my own handwriting every fortnight. If ever
+this card fails to come, conclude that I am dead, that they have
+murdered me, and carry that letter where I tell you&mdash;Avenge me!'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what then?" cried Juve, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"That is all, M. Juve. I have not seen Lady Beltham again, nor had any
+news of her. When I called at her residence I was told she was away. I
+have come to ask you whether you think she has been murdered."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was pacing his room with great strides.</p>
+
+<p>"Maître," he said at last, "your story confirms<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> all I have suspected.
+Yes, Lady Beltham is dead. She has been murdered. That letter contained
+her confession and revealed not only her own crimes, but those of her
+accomplices, of her master&mdash;of&mdash;Fantômas. Fantômas killed her to free
+himself of a witness to his evil life."</p>
+
+<p>"Fantômas! But Fantômas is dead."</p>
+
+<p>"So they say."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you proofs of his existence?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am looking for them."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of doing?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to make an investigation. I am going to learn where and how
+Lady Beltham was killed. I shall see you again, Maître. Read <i>The
+Capital</i> this evening. You will find in it many interesting surprises."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a>XIX</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ENGLISHWOMAN OF BOULEVARD INKERMANN</h3>
+
+
+<p>"To sum up what I have just learned."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was seated at his desk, and those who knew the private life of the
+great detective would assuredly have guessed that he was gravely
+preoccupied. He was trying to extract some useful information from the
+notary's visit, some hints essential to the investigation he had taken
+in hand, and that at all hazards he meant to pursue to a successful
+termination. The task was fraught with difficulties and even peril. But
+the triumph would be great if he should succeed in putting the
+"bracelets" on the "genius of crime," as he had called him to his friend
+Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Lady Beltham had gone to visit Gérin. She was an astute woman after
+all, and knew how to get her own way. There must have been power<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>ful
+motives which urged her to write that confession. What were those
+motives?</p>
+
+<p>"Remorse? No. A woman who loves has no remorse. Fear? Probably, but fear
+of what?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve, without being aware of it, had just written on the paper of his
+note-book the ill-omened name which haunted him.</p>
+
+<p>"Fantômas!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, of course, Fantômas killed Lady Beltham, and killed her in the
+house of Doctor Chaleck, an accomplice. And Loupart, a third accomplice,
+got his mistress to write to me, and I believed the denunciation.
+Loupart got us to dog him, led me unawares behind the curtains in the
+study, and made me witness that Chaleck was innocent. Oh, the ruse was a
+clever one. Josephine herself, by the two shots she received some days
+later at Lâriboisière, became a victim. In short, the scent was crossed
+and broken."</p>
+
+<p>The detective snatched up his hat, saw carefully to the charges of his
+pocket revolver, then gravely and solemnly cried:</p>
+
+<p>"It is you and I now, Fantômas!" with which he left his rooms.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Juve and Fandor were entering a taxi-cab.</p>
+
+<p>"To Neuilly Church," cried Juve to the driver. "And, now, my dear
+Fandor, you must be think<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>ing me crazy, as less than two hours ago I
+sent you off to write an article, and here I come taking you from your
+paper and carrying you away in this headlong fashion. But just listen to
+the tale of this morning's doings."</p>
+
+<p>Juve then gave a full account of Maître Gérin's visit and wound up by
+saying: "It is through Lady Beltham that we must unearth that monster,
+Fantômas."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all very well," replied Fandor, "but as the lady is dead, how
+are we going to set about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"By reconstructing the last hours of her life. We are now on our way to
+Lady Beltham's residence, Boulevard Inkermann."</p>
+
+<p>"And what are we to do when we arrive there?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall examine the house, which is probably empty, and you are to
+'pump' the neighbours, to ask questions of the tradespeople. I should
+attract too much attention if I were to do this myself, and that is why
+I dragged you away from your work."</p>
+
+<p>Some moments later the taxi pulled up at the corner of Boulevard
+Inkermann.</p>
+
+<p>"The house is number&mdash;" said Juve as he took Fandor by the arm. "Bless
+me, you remember the house! It is the one in which I arrested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> Gurn
+three years ago; that famous day he came to see Lady Beltham, disguised
+as a beggar."</p>
+
+<p>The two friends soon found themselves at their destination. Through the
+garden railing, which was wholly covered with a dense growth of ivy, the
+two saw the house, which now looked very dilapidated.</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't look as if it had been inhabited for a long while," said
+Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what we want to make sure of. Go and make your inquiries."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor left his companion and made his way back to the commercial
+section of Neuilly. He stopped opposite a sign which read:</p>
+
+<p>"Gardening done."</p>
+
+<p>"Anyone there?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>An old woman, standing in the doorway, came forward. "What can I do for
+you, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"If I am not mistaken, it was you who attended to Lady Beltham's
+garden?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, we kept her garden in order. But my husband hasn't worked
+there for several months, as Lady Beltham has been away."</p>
+
+<p>"I heard she was coming back to Paris, and called to-day, but found the
+house closed up."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I am sorry. Lady Beltham's an excellent customer and Mme. Raymond
+also bought flowers of us."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Mme. Raymond. She is a friend of Lady Beltham?"</p>
+
+<p>"Her companion. It is now close to a year that Mme. Raymond has been
+living with her. Oh! a very pleasant lady; a pretty brunette, very
+elegant and not at all proud."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor thought it well not to seem astonished.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, of course," he cried, "Mme. Raymond. I remember now. Lady
+Beltham's life is so sad and lonely."</p>
+
+<p>"True enough," the woman replied, and, lowering her voice: "And then,
+what with all these tales of noises and ghosts, the house can't be too
+pleasant to live in, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor pretended to be well posted. "People still talk of these
+incidents?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor did not venture to press the subject, and, taking leave of the
+worthy woman, he made his way back to the Boulevard. As soon as Juve
+caught sight of him in the distance he ran up eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Juve, what have you found out during my absence?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the first place that it is exactly sixty-four days since Lady
+Beltham left Neuilly. I discovered this by the dates on a lot of
+circulars in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> letter box. I also had a talk with a butcher's man and
+learned that Lady Beltham had a companion."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I was bringing you that same news!"</p>
+
+<p>"This Mme. Raymond is young, dark, very pretty. Can't you guess who she
+is?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor stared at Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"You mean&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Josephine. It's perfectly clear. We know Lady Beltham wrote a
+confession, that Fantômas suspected this and murdered her to get hold of
+it, and further that in this murder Loupart was involved. Josephine was
+introduced to Lady Beltham by Fantômas. A spy going there to betray the
+great lady and possibly entice her later to the Cité Frochot. Let us
+make haste, lad. We thought we had to follow the trail of Loupart and
+Chaleck, but we mustn't lose sight of Josephine. She may be the means of
+helping us to the truth."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XX" id="XX"></a>XX</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ARREST OF JOSEPHINE</h3>
+
+
+<p>The somewhat grim faces of Mme. Guinon, Julie and the Flirt lit up
+suddenly. Bonzille, the tramp set free by the police the day after the
+"drive" in the Rue Charbonnière, had opened the bottle of vermouth, and
+Josephine bustled around to find glasses to put on the table.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine had visitors in her little lodging. There was to be a quiet
+lunch. On the sideboard attractive dishes were ready, a fine savour of
+cooking onions came from the dark corner in which Loupart's pretty
+mistress was doing hasty cookery over the gas.</p>
+
+<p>"Neat or with water?" asked Bonzille, performing his office of cup
+bearer with comical dignity.</p>
+
+<p>Mme. Guinon asked for plenty of water. Julie shrugged her shoulders
+indifferently; she didn't care so long as there was drink, while the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>
+Flirt, in her cracked voice, breathed in the loafer's ear: "How about a
+sip of brandy to put with it?"</p>
+
+<p>The appetiser loosened tongues: they began to cackle. From a drawer
+Josephine got out a pack of cards, which the Flirt promptly seized,
+while Julie, leaning familiarly on her shoulder, counselled her:</p>
+
+<p>"Cut with the left and watch what you are doing; we shall see if there's
+any luck for us in the pack."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Josephine had now been back three days from her painful journey and had
+not seen Loupart. The latter, after having abandoned the motor in some
+waste ground among the fortifications, had vanished with the Beard, only
+bidding his mistress go home as if nothing had happened and wait for
+news of him.</p>
+
+<p>The Simplon Express affair had made a great stir in the fashionable
+world, and had produced considerable uneasiness among the criminal
+class.</p>
+
+<p>To be sure no name had been mentioned, and apparently the police were
+not following any definite clue. Still, in the Chapelle quarter, and
+especially in the den of the "Goutte d'Or" and the Rue de Chartres, it
+was noticed that the absence of the chief members of the Band of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+Cyphers coincided with the date of the tragedy.</p>
+
+<p>At first there had been some slight stand-offishness shown to Josephine
+on her return. She was greeted with doubtful allusions, equivocal
+compliments, with a touch of coldness, and folks were also amazed at not
+seeing Loupart reappear with her.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine told herself that she must at all costs disabuse her
+neighbours of this bad impression, and that is why she had decided to
+give a luncheon party to her most intimate friends. These might also be
+her most formidable opponents, for such damsels as the Flirt and Julie,
+even big Ernestine, could not fail to be jealous of the mistress of a
+distinguished leader; besides, she was the prettiest woman in the
+quarter.</p>
+
+<p>Joining the conversation from time to time, Josephine smiled and
+regained confidence. Her man[oe]uvre bade fair to be crowned with
+success.</p>
+
+<p>As they sat down to table the door opened and Mother Toulouche came in,
+carrying a capacious basket.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," cried the old fence, "I got wind that something was going on
+here, and I said to myself, 'Why shouldn't Mother Toulouche be in it as
+well?' One more or less don't matter, eh, Josephine?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine assented and made room for her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> Before sitting down the old
+woman put her basket on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"If I invite myself, Fifine, I bring something to the feast. Here are
+some portugals and two dozen snails which will help out."</p>
+
+<p>All at once, Josephine, who, despite the general gaiety, was
+absent-minded and preoccupied, rose and ran to the door, answering a
+knock. She was at bottom horribly uneasy at hearing nothing of her
+lover. She began to fear that the police for once might have got the
+upper hand. It was little Paulot, the porter's son, who rushed in quite
+out of breath.</p>
+
+<p>"Mme. Josephine, mother told me to come up and warn you that two
+gentlemen were asking for you in the lodge just now. Two gentlemen in
+special 'rig.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know them, Paulot?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't, Mme. Josephine."</p>
+
+<p>"What did they want of me?"</p>
+
+<p>"They didn't say."</p>
+
+<p>"What did your mother answer?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't know. Believe she told 'em you were in your den."</p>
+
+<p>The occurrence cast a chill over the company. Little Paulot was given a
+big glass of claret, and when he had left the Flirt observed gravely:</p>
+
+<p>"It's the cops."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why should they come and inquire for me?"</p>
+
+<p>Julie tried to console her.</p>
+
+<p>"Anyhow they'll not come up to your place."</p>
+
+<p>Josephine was greatly upset. Were they after her or Loupart? Why had
+they withdrawn? Would they come back?</p>
+
+<p>In a flash she burst out, beating her fist on the table:</p>
+
+<p>"Bah! I've had enough of this, not knowing what is going to happen from
+one moment to the next. Sooner than stay here, I'll go and find out."</p>
+
+<p>The Flirt suggested, with a spiteful smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Go ahead, my girl, they won't be far away; go and ask them what they
+want."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," cried Josephine, "I will."</p>
+
+<p>And the young girl emptied her glass to give her courage.</p>
+
+<p>"And if you don't come back, we'll set your room to rights," cried the
+Flirt after her. "Good luck, try and not sleep in the jug."</p>
+
+<p>Josephine rushed downstairs, and then, after a moment's hesitation,
+turned and went down the Rue de Chartres.</p>
+
+<p>At first she noticed nothing unusual or suspicious. The faces of those
+she met were mostly familiar to her. But suddenly her heart stopped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>
+beating. Two men accosted her simultaneously, one on her right, the
+other on her left.</p>
+
+<p>Her neighbour on the right asked very softly:</p>
+
+<p>"Are you Josephine Ramot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"You must come with us."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Josephine, resigned.</p>
+
+<p>A few moments later, Josephine, seated in a cab between the two men, was
+crossing Paris. The detectives had given the address: "Boulevard du
+Palais."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart's mistress, taken on her arrival to the ante-room adjoining the
+private rooms of the examining magistrates, had not much time for
+reflection.</p>
+
+<p>To be sure, she was not guilty. Not guilty? Well, at bottom the affair
+of the Marseilles train made Josephine uneasy. And the story of the
+motor, too, the motor taken by force from unknown travellers. What
+knowledge had the police of these events? When questioned, was she to
+confess or deny?</p>
+
+<p>A little old man, bald and fussy, appeared at the end of the passage and
+called her.</p>
+
+<p>"Josephine Ramot, the private room of Justice Fuselier."</p>
+
+<p>Mechanically she went forward between her two captors, who pushed her
+into a well-lit apart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>ment, in the corner of which stood a big desk. A
+well-dressed gentleman was sitting there, writing; opposite him, in the
+shadow, some one stood motionless. The magistrate raised his head; his
+face was cold and contained, but not spiteful.</p>
+
+<p>"What is your name?"</p>
+
+<p>"Josephine Ramot."</p>
+
+<p>"Where were you born?"</p>
+
+<p>"Rue de Belleville."</p>
+
+<p>"What is your age?"</p>
+
+<p>"Twenty-two."</p>
+
+<p>"You live by prostitution?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine coloured and, with an angry voice, cried:</p>
+
+<p>"No, your honour, I have a calling. I am a polisher."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you working now?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine felt awkward.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, to say the truth, at the moment I have no work, but they know me
+at M. Monthier's, Rue de Malte; it was there I was apprenticed, and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And since you became the mistress of the ruffian Loupart, known as 'The
+Square,' you have ceased to practise an honest calling?"</p>
+
+<p>"I won't deny being Loupart's mistress, but as for prostitution&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The man Josephine had noticed standing in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> the shadow came forward and
+murmured a few words in the magistrate's ear.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Juve," cried Josephine, moving toward the inspector with her hand
+out. She stopped short as the detective motioned to her that such a
+familiarity was not allowable, and the examination was resumed.</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate, after having by some curt questions brought to light the
+salient points of Josephine's life, and clearly mapped out the speedy
+development of the honest little work girl into a ruffian's mistress,
+and in all probability, accomplice, began the interrogation on the main
+point.</p>
+
+<p>At some length he narrated without losing a single change of her
+countenance, the various incidents of the evening begun in the railway
+which ended with the disaster to the Simplon Express.</p>
+
+<p>Fuselier made Josephine pass again through her headlong exit from
+Lâriboisière, her quick passage through Paris when she was barely
+convalescent, and still suffering from the effects of the fever, her
+departure in the Marseilles Express, where she picked up half a score of
+footpads headed by her redoubtable lover; then the waiting in the
+silence of the night, the affray, the threats, and lastly, after
+breaking the couplings to the train, the dangerous flight of the band,
+the headlong rush through the country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The magistrate wound up:</p>
+
+<p>"You came to town afterwards, Josephine Ramot, in company with Loupart,
+called 'The Square,' and his factotum, the ruffian 'Beard.'"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine, embarrassed by the steady glance of the magistrate,
+endeavoured to keep her face devoid of expression, but as in his recital
+the points of the adventure she had shared grew more definite, she felt
+she was constantly changing colour and at certain moments her eyelids
+quivered over her downcast eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently he was well posted. That young man who got into the same
+compartment as M. Martialle must certainly have belonged to the police.
+But for that the judge would never have known precisely what took place.
+Decidedly this was a bad beginning.</p>
+
+<p>Josephine now dreaded to see the door open and Loupart appear, the
+bracelets on his wrists, followed by the Beard, similarly fettered, for
+beyond a doubt the two men had been nabbed.</p>
+
+<p>Hunched up, her nerves tense, Josephine kept her mind fixed on one
+point. She was waiting anxiously for the first chance to protest. At a
+certain juncture the magistrate declared:</p>
+
+<p>"You three, Loupart, 'The Beard' and yourself, shared between you the
+proceeds of the robberies committed."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As soon as she could get a word in, Josephine shouted her innocence.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, as to that, no! She had not touched a cent from the business. She
+did not even know what was involved.</p>
+
+<p>The exact truth was this. She was ill in the hospital when all of a
+sudden she remembered that Loupart had some days before bidden her be at
+all costs at the Lyons Station, on a certain Saturday evening at exactly
+seven o'clock. Now that particular Saturday was the day after the
+attempt on her life. As she was much better she set off in obedience to
+her lover. She knew no more; she had done no more; she would not have
+them accuse her of any more.</p>
+
+<p>The young woman had gradually grown warm, her voice rose and vibrated.
+The judge let her have her say, and when she had finished there was a
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>M. Fuselier slowly dipped a pen in the ink, and in his level voice
+declared, casting a glance in Juve's direction:</p>
+
+<p>"After all, what seems clearly established is complicity."</p>
+
+<p>Josephine gave a start&mdash;she knew the terrible significance of the term.
+Complicity meant joint guilt.</p>
+
+<p>But Juve intervened:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me, in place of 'complicity' perhaps we had better say
+'compulsion.'"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't follow you, Juve."</p>
+
+<p>"We must bear in mind, your honour, that this girl is to be pardoned to
+a certain extent for having obeyed her lover's order, more particularly
+at a time when the latter had gained quite a victory over the police.
+For in spite of the protection of our people, his attempt against her
+partially succeeded."</p>
+
+<p>Taken aback, M. Fuselier looked from the detective to the young woman
+whom he regarded as guilty. Juve's outburst seemed to him out of place.</p>
+
+<p>"Your pardon, Juve, but your reasoning seems to me somewhat specious;
+however, I will not press this charge against the girl; we have
+something better."</p>
+
+<p>Turning to Loupart's mistress, the judge asked abruptly:</p>
+
+<p>"What has become of Lady Beltham?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine was amazed by the question. She turned inquiring eyes toward
+Juve, who quickly said:</p>
+
+<p>"M. Fuselier, this is not the moment&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate, dropping this line, again tackled Josephine on her
+relations with Loupart.</p>
+
+<p>In a flash Josephine made up her mind. She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> would simulate innocence at
+all costs. With the craft of a consummate actress, she began in a low
+voice, which gradually rose and became impressive, insinuating:</p>
+
+<p>"How pitiful it is to think that everyone bears a grudge against a poor
+girl who, some day in springtime, has given herself the pleasure of a
+lover! Is there any harm in giving oneself to the man who loves you? Who
+forbids it? No one but the priests, and they have been kicked out of
+doors!"</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate could not help smiling, and Juve showed signs of
+amusement.</p>
+
+<p>"But I am honest, and when I understand something of what was going on,
+I wrote to M. Juve. And what thanks did I get? Two bullet holes in my
+skin!"</p>
+
+<p>M. Fuselier hesitated about turning his summons into a committal.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a>XXI</h2>
+
+<h3>AT THE MONTMARTRE FÊTE</h3>
+
+
+<p>The fête of Montmartre was at its height. In the Place Blanche a joyous
+crowd was pressing round a booth of huge dimensions, splendidly lighted.
+On the stage a cheap Jack, decked out in many-coloured frippery, was
+delivering his patter:</p>
+
+<p>"Walk in, ladies and gentlemen; it's only ten cents, and you won't
+regret your money! The management of the theatre will present to you,
+without delay, the prettiest woman in the world and also the fattest,
+who weighs a trifle over 600 pounds and possibly more; as no scale has
+yet been found strong enough to weigh her without breaking into a
+thousand pieces.</p>
+
+<p>"You will also have the rare and weird sight of a black from Abyssinia
+whose splendid ebony hide has been tattooed in white. Furthermore, a
+young girl of scarcely fourteen summers will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> astound you by entering
+the cage of the ferocious beasts, whose terrible roarings reach you
+here! The programme is most interesting, and after these incomparable
+attractions, you will applaud the cinema in colours&mdash;the last exploit of
+modern science&mdash;showing the recent tour of the President of the
+Republic, and himself in person delivering his speech to an audience as
+numerous as it is select. You will also see, reproduced in the most
+stirring and life-like manner, all the details of the mysterious murder
+which at this moment engages public interest and keeps the police on
+tenter-hooks. The crime at the Cité Frochot, with the murdered woman,
+the Empire clock, and the extinguished candle: all the accessories in
+full, including the collapse of the elevator into the sewer. The show is
+beginning! It has begun!"</p>
+
+<p>Among the throng surrounding the mountebank three persons seemed
+especially amused by the peroration. They were two gentlemen, very
+elegant and distinguished, in evening clothes, and with them a pretty
+woman wearing a loose silk mantle over her low dress.</p>
+
+<p>She put her lips to the ear of the older of her companions, who, with
+his turned-up moustache and grey hair, looked like a cavalry officer.</p>
+
+<p>She murmured to him these strange words:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Squint at the guy on the left, the one passing before the
+clock-seller's booth. That's one of the gang. He was in the Simplon
+affair."</p>
+
+<p>The pretty Parisian, so smartly dressed, was no other than Josephine.
+The young man with the fair beard was Fandor and the cavalry officer was
+Juve. The three now "worked" together. The partnership dated from the
+afternoon that Josephine escaped arrest, thanks to the lucky
+intervention of Juve.</p>
+
+<p>The latter had little belief in the young woman's innocence, but by
+getting her on his side, he hoped to secure information as to Loupart's
+doings.</p>
+
+<p>Juve was talking to a ragged Arab selling nougat to the passers-by.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, sir," explained the Arab. "I have been dogging little Mimile since
+two this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"Bravo, my dear Michel, your disguise is a perfect success."</p>
+
+<p>Josephine came suddenly close and pulled Juve by the sleeve, and then
+pointed to a group of persons who were crossing the Place Blanche.
+Without troubling further about the Arab, Juve at once began to follow
+this group, motioning to Josephine and Fandor to follow him closely. The
+three threaded their way through the crowd with a thousand precautions,
+seeking to avoid atten<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>tion, yet not losing sight of their quarry. All
+three had recognised Loupart!</p>
+
+<p>The outlaw, dressed in a long blouse, with a tall cap, and armed with a
+stout cudgel, was walking among half a dozen individuals similarly
+attired. By their garb they would be taken for cattle-herders from La
+Villette.</p>
+
+<p>This group proceeded slowly in the direction of Place Pigalle, and Juve,
+who was pressing hard on his quarry, slackened his pace in order to let
+them forge ahead a little. The square, which was surrounded by
+brilliantly illuminated restaurants, was a flood of light, and the
+detective did not want people to notice him. Moreover, the
+pseudo-cattle-drivers had stopped, too: gathering round Loupart they
+listened attentively to his remarks, made in a low tone. Clearly they
+were accomplices of the robber, who, perhaps, realised that they were
+being followed.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, who had put his arm through Josephine's, felt the young woman's
+heart beating as though it would burst. They were all playing for high
+stakes. Josephine, especially, was in a compromising and dangerous
+plight. Not only had she to fear the wrath of her lover, but she ran the
+risk of being "spotted" by one of the many satellites of the gang of
+Cyphers, in which case her condemnation would be certain.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fandor encouraged her with a few kind words:</p>
+
+<p>"You know, mademoiselle, you mustn't be frightened. If I am not greatly
+mistaken, Loupart is about to be nabbed, and once in Juve's hands he
+won't get out of them in a hurry."</p>
+
+<p>Josephine's perturbation was scarcely quieter, and Fandor, a trifle
+skeptical, asked himself whether in reality the girl was on their side
+or if she were not playing the game of false information. Suddenly
+something fresh happened.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart, separating himself from his companions, entered a restaurant
+upon which the words</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 45%;">"The Crocodile"<br /></p>
+
+<p>were inscribed in dazzling letters on its front. The Crocodile
+comprised, like most night resorts, a large saloon on the ground floor
+and a dining-room on the first floor which was reached by a little
+stairway and guarded by a giant clad in magnificent livery. Above this
+were apartments and private rooms.</p>
+
+<p>Just then, as it was near midnight, a number of carriages were bringing
+couples in evening dress, who mounted the staircase. To their great
+surprise, Fandor and Josephine saw Loupart make for this staircase. The
+long smock of the seeming cattle-driver would certainly make a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> queer
+showing. What was the formidable robber's game? Juve gave hasty
+directions:</p>
+
+<p>"It's all right. I know the house. It has only one exit. You, Ramot," he
+went on, addressing the young woman, "go up to the first floor and take
+your place at a table; here are ten dollars, order champagne and don't
+be too stiff with the company."</p>
+
+<p>Josephine nodded and went upstairs.</p>
+
+<p>Juve and Fandor followed a few minutes later and took up a strategic
+position at a table near the doorway. Fandor had a view of the room and
+Juve commanded the hall and stairway. From the room came a confused hum
+of laughter, cries and doubtful jokes. A negro, clad in red and armed
+with a gong, capered among the tables, dancing and singing.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor caught sight of Josephine, who appeared to be carrying out Juve's
+instructions. Beside her was a fair giant of red complexion and
+clean-shaven face, whose Anglo-Saxon origin was beyond doubt. Fandor
+knew the face; he had seen the man somewhere; he remembered his square
+shoulders and bull-like neck, and the enormous biceps which stood out
+under the cloth of his sleeves.</p>
+
+<p>"By Jove!" he cried suddenly. "Why it's Dixon, the American heavyweight
+champion!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Juve signalled to the waiter to bring him the bill as he fitted a
+monocle into his right eye.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor stared at him, surprised.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Juve, when you get yourself up as a man of the world, you omit no
+detail."</p>
+
+<p>Juve made no reply for some moments, then turned to his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Who else do you see in the room?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor looked carefully, and then made a gesture of amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"Chaleck! Chaleck is over there eating his supper!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Juve simply, "and you are stupid not to have seen him
+before."</p>
+
+<p>The profile of the mysterious doctor was in fact outlined very sharply
+at a table, amply served and covered with bottles and flowers, around
+which half a score of persons, men and women, had taken their places.</p>
+
+<p>Without turning his head, Juve remarked:</p>
+
+<p>"Judging by the action of the person who is at this moment lighting a
+cigar the supper is not far from coming to an end."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, now, Juve, have you eyes in your back? How can you know what is
+going on at Doctor Chaleck's table, while you are looking in the
+opposite direction?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve handed his eye-glass to the journalist.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Ah! Now I see! A trick eye-glass, with a mirror in it&mdash;not a bad idea."</p>
+
+<p>"It is quite simple," murmured Juve. "The main thing is to have thought
+of it. Come, let us go down."</p>
+
+<p>"What? And desert the doctor?"</p>
+
+<p>"An arrest should never be made in a public place when it can be
+avoided. Here, give me your card that I may send it up with mine."</p>
+
+<p>Juve called M. Dominique, the manager, and, pointing out Chaleck to him,
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"M. Dominique, please give our cards to that gentleman and say that we
+are waiting outside to speak to him."</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments Chaleck came out of the saloon to the Place Pigalle.</p>
+
+<p>His face was calm and his glance unmoved. Juve laid his hand upon the
+doctor's shoulder, and, signalling to a subordinate in uniform, cried:</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor Chaleck, I arrest you in the name of the law."</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck quietly flicked off his cigar ash and smiled:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know, M. Juve, I am not pleased with you. I read in the papers,
+during a recent holiday abroad, that you had pulled my house absolutely
+to pieces! That was not nice of you, when we had been on such good
+terms."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This speech was so startling, so unlooked for, that Juve, though not
+easily surprised, had nothing to answer for the moment.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, Chaleck tamely let himself be dragged toward the station in
+the Rue Rochefoucauld.</p>
+
+<p>"The fine fellow," thought Juve, "must have got his whole case
+prepared&mdash;he will give us a run for our money; still it must&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The detective gave vent to a loud yell. They had just got to the point
+where the Rue Rochefoucauld is intersected by the Rue Notre Dame de
+Lorette: a cab drawn by a big horse was moving in one direction and a
+motor-bus coming from another. It had already cleared the Rue Pigalle,
+and in a second would cut across the Rue Rochefoucauld, when Chaleck,
+literally coming out of the Inverness coat he wore, leaped ahead of
+Juve, dodged under the cab horse and boarded the bus, which rapidly went
+on its way. All this had been accomplished in an instant.</p>
+
+<p>Left dumbfounded, face to face, Juve and Fandor, together with the
+officer, contemplated the only token left them by Chaleck. An elegant
+Inverness cloak with capes, which, oddly enough, had shoulders and
+arms&mdash;arms of India-rubber, so well imitated that through the cloth they
+distinctly gave the impression of human arms.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Juve let fly a tremendous oath, then turned to Fandor and cried:</p>
+
+<p>"How about Loupart?"</p>
+
+<p>The two men hastily reascended the Rue Pigalle. They counted on standing
+sentry again before the "Crocodile." But as they reached the square Juve
+and Fandor were faced by fresh surprises. A powerful motor-car was
+slowly getting under way. In it was the American Dixon, with Josephine
+beside him.</p>
+
+<p>Was the girl playing them false? That was the most important thing to
+ascertain.</p>
+
+<p>The car made off at a good pace toward the Place Clichy. Half a moment
+later Juve was bowling after them in a taxi, calling to Fandor as he
+left:</p>
+
+<p>"Look after the other."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor understood "The other" referred to Loupart, and carefully pumped
+M. Dominique, but could get no further news from him, so, after waiting
+an hour for Juve to return, he went home to bed far from easy in his
+mind.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Juve followed the American through Billancourt, past Sèvres Bridge, and
+finally into the Bellevue District, when, opposite Brimboison Park,
+Dixon, with the air of a proprietor, took his motor into a fine looking
+estate. Then, hav<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>ing housed the car, the pugilist, with Loupart's
+mistress, went into the house, which was lit up for half an hour, after
+which all was plunged again into darkness.</p>
+
+<p>Juve had left his taxi at the bottom of the hill, and, having cleared
+the low wall of the grounds, hid himself in view of the house. He waited
+until daybreak, but nothing occurred to trouble the peace and hush of
+the night. And then, unwilling to be seen in his evening clothes by
+chance passers-by, he regretfully returned to the Rue Bonaparte.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXII" id="XXII"></a>XXII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE PUGILIST'S WHIM</h3>
+
+
+<p>An old servant had brought out the early coffee to the arbour in the
+garden. It was about eight o'clock, and in the shady retreat the
+freshness of springtime reigned. Soon down the gravel walk appeared the
+well-built figure of Dixon, dressed in white flannels. He bent under the
+arch of greenery that led to the arbour, and seemed vexed to find that
+it was empty.</p>
+
+<p>Clearly the pugilist was not going to breakfast alone and, to while away
+the time until his companion should appear, he lighted a cigarette.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the door of the house opened to give passage to a gracious
+apparition&mdash;Josephine. Wrapped in a kimona of bright silk and smiling at
+the fine morning, the young woman came slowly down the steps and then
+stopped short, blushing. Some one came to meet her&mdash;it was Dixon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The giant, too, seemed moved. Lowering his eyes he asked:</p>
+
+<p>"How are you this morning, fair lady?"</p>
+
+<p>"And you, M. Dixon?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mlle. Finette, the coffee is served, won't you join me?"</p>
+
+<p>The two young people broke their fast in silence, exchanging only
+monosyllables, to ask for a napkin, a plate, the sugar. At last,
+overcoming his bashfulness Dixon asked in a voice full of entreaty:</p>
+
+<p>"Will you always be so hard-hearted?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine, embarrassed, evaded the question, and with a show of gaiety
+to hide her confusion, remarked:</p>
+
+<p>"This is an awfully nice place of yours."</p>
+
+<p>The pugilist answered her by describing the calm and simple delights of
+a country life in the springtime, and, slipping his arm round her supple
+waist, asked her softly:</p>
+
+<p>"As you consented to come this far with me, why did you repel me
+afterwards? Why resist me so stubbornly?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was a trifle tipsy yesterday," she replied. "I don't know what I did
+or why I came here with you." And then, with a touch of sadness:
+"Naturally, finding me in such a place you took me for a&mdash;&mdash;"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Sure enough," replied the American, "but I can see you are not like the
+others."</p>
+
+<p>"And what attracts me to you," continued Josephine, "is that you are not
+a brute. Why, yesterday evening, if you had wanted, when we were alone
+together, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>And she gave Dixon such a queer look that he asked himself whether she
+did not regard him as absurd for having respected her.</p>
+
+<p>"I like you very much," he said, "more than any other woman. In a month
+from now I shall be off to America. I have already a good deal of money
+and I shall earn much more out there. If you will come with me, we won't
+part any more. Do you agree?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine was at first amused by this downright declaration, but
+gradually she took it more seriously. She would see the world, be
+elegant, rich, well dressed. She would have her future secured and no
+more bother with the police. But, on the other hand, it might become
+terribly boring after the exciting life she had led. And there was
+Loupart. Certainly he was often repellant to her, but he had only to
+come back and speak to her to be again submissive, loving and tractable.
+And, strange to say, there was also&mdash;just of late&mdash;at the bottom of
+Josephine's heart, a feeling of friendship, almost affection, for the
+stern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> and thorough-going detective, for Juve, to whom she owed her
+escape from a very bad fix. Fandor, too, she liked pretty well. She
+valued the daring journalist, quick, full of courage, and yet a good
+sort, free from prejudice. The more she thought about it, the more
+Josephine felt herself to be strikingly complex: she felt that she could
+not analyse her feelings, she was incomprehensible even to herself.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me think it over a little longer," she asked. Dixon rose
+ceremoniously.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear friend," he declared, "you are at home here, as long as you care
+to stay, and I hope you will consent to lunch with me at one o'clock.
+From now till then I shall leave you alone to think at your leisure."</p>
+
+<p>The old servant, too, having gone off shopping, Josephine remained alone
+in the place, and after visiting the charming villa from top to bottom
+strolled delightedly amid the lovely scenery of the park. As she was
+about to turn into a narrow path, she uttered a loud cry. Loupart was
+before her. The leader of the Gang of Cyphers had his evil look and
+savage smile.</p>
+
+<p>"How goes it?" he cried, then queried, sardonically: "Which would madame
+prefer, the pig-sticker or the barker?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Josephine, in terror, stepped backwards till she rested against the
+trunk of a great tree.</p>
+
+<p>Loupart carelessly got out his revolver and his knife: he seemed to
+hesitate which weapon to use.</p>
+
+<p>"Loupart," stammered Josephine, in a choking voice, "don't kill me&mdash;what
+have I done?"</p>
+
+<p>The ruffian snarled.</p>
+
+<p>"Not only do you peach to M. Juve, but you let yourself be carried off
+by the first toff that comes along; you don't stick at making me a
+cuckold! That's very well!"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine fell on her knees in the thick grass. Sure enough she had
+played Loupart false, and suddenly a wave of remorse rose in her heart.
+She was overcome at the thought that she could have endangered her lover
+even for a moment, that she could have informed the police. She was
+honestly maddened by the thought that Loupart had all but been arrested
+through her fault. Yes, he was right in reproaching her, she deserved to
+be punished. As for having wronged him, that was not true. She protested
+with all her might against his accusation of unfaithfulness.</p>
+
+<p>"I was wrong in listening to the pugilist, in coming here, but in spite
+of appearances&mdash;Loupart, believe me, I am still worthy of you."</p>
+
+<p>Loupart shrugged his shoulders.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll leave that for the moment. Just now you are going to obey
+me without a word or protest."</p>
+
+<p>Josephine's heart stopped; she knew these preambles. She tried to turn
+the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"And how did you get here?"</p>
+
+<p>"How did you get here yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"M. Dixon's motor-car."</p>
+
+<p>"And who tracked you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;no one."</p>
+
+<p>"No one?" jeered the ruffian. "Then what was Juve doing in the taxi
+which was rolling after you?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine uttered an exclamation of surprise. Loupart went on, greatly
+satisfied with himself:</p>
+
+<p>"And what was Loupart up to? That crafty gentleman was cosily ensconced
+on the springs behind the taxi in which the worthy inspector was
+riding."</p>
+
+<p>The ruffian was teasing, and that showed he was in good humour again.
+Josephine put her arms round his neck and hugged him.</p>
+
+<p>"It's you that I love and you alone&mdash;let's go, take me away, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Loupart freed himself from the embrace.</p>
+
+<p>"Since you are at home here&mdash;the American said as much&mdash;I must see to
+profiting by it. You will stay here till this evening: at five you will
+be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> at the markets, and so shall I. You won't recognise me, but I shall
+speak to you, and then you will tell me exactly where this pugilist
+locks up his swag. I want a full plan of the house, the print of the
+keys, all the usual truck. This evening I shall have something new for
+Juve and his crew, an affair in which you will serve me."</p>
+
+<p>Josephine, panting, did not pay heed to this last sentence. She flushed
+crimson, perspiration broke out on her forehead, a great agony tightened
+her heart. She, so docile till then, so devoted, suddenly felt an
+immense scruple, an awful shame at the thought of being guilty of what
+her lover demanded. Against any other man, she would have obeyed, but to
+act in that way toward Dixon, who had treated her so considerately, she
+felt was beyond her powers. Here Josephine showed herself truly a woman.
+While determined not to be false to Loupart, she would not leave the
+pugilist with an evil memory of her. She hesitated to betray him and
+unwittingly proved the truth of the philosopher's dictum: "The most
+honest of women, though unwilling to give hope, is never sorry to leave
+behind her a regret!"</p>
+
+<p>But Loupart was not going to stay discussing such subtleties with his
+mistress. He never gave his orders twice. To seal the reconciliation he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+imprinted a hasty kiss on Josephine's cheek and vanished. A sound of
+crackling marked his passage through the thickets. Josephine was once
+more alone in the great park around the villa.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Fandor and Dixon were taking tea in the drawing-room. The journalist
+came, he alleged, to interview Dixon about his fight with Joe Sans, the
+negro champion of the Soudan, which was to come off next day. After
+getting various details as to weight, diet and other trifles, Fandor
+inquired with a smile:</p>
+
+<p>"But to keep in good form, Dixon, you must be as sober as a camel, as
+chaste as a monk, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>The American smiled. Fandor had told him a few moments before that he
+had seen him supping at the "Crocodile" with a pretty woman.</p>
+
+<p>At Juve's instigation Fandor had alleged a sporting interview, in order
+to get into the American's house and discover if Josephine was still
+there. He meant to ascertain what the relations were between the
+pugilist and the girl.</p>
+
+<p>The allusion to that evening loosened the American's tongue. Absorbed by
+the pleasing impression which his pretty partner had made on him, Dixon
+began talking on the subject. He belonged to that class of men who, when
+they are in love, want the whole world to know it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The American set the young woman on such a pedestal of innocence and
+purity&mdash;that Fandor wondered if the pugilist were not laughing at him.
+But Dixon, quite unconscious, did not conceal his intention to elope
+with Josephine and shortly take her to America. Suddenly he rose.</p>
+
+<p>"Come," he said, "I will introduce you to her."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was about to protest, but the American was already scouring the
+house and searching the park, calling:</p>
+
+<p>"Finette, Mlle. Finette, Josephine!"</p>
+
+<p>Presently he returned, his face distorted, unnerved, dejected, and in a
+toneless voice he ejaculated painfully:</p>
+
+<p>"The pretty little woman has made off without a word to me. I am very
+much grieved!"</p>
+
+<p>Five minutes later, Fandor jumped into a train which took him back to
+Paris.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"></a>XXIII</h2>
+
+<h3>"STATES EVIDENCE"</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Juve, I've been fooled." The journalist was resting on the great couch
+in his friend's study, Rue Bonaparte, and wound up with this assertion
+the long account of the fruitless inquiry he had made at Dixon's.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm played out! For two days I haven't stopped a minute. After the
+night at the "Crocodile," which I spent for the most part, as I told
+you, in search of Loupart, yesterday my day went in fruitless trips; my
+mind is made up; to-night I shall do no more!"</p>
+
+<p>"A cigarette, Fandor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks."</p>
+
+<p>From the crystal vase where Juve, an inveterate smoker, always kept an
+ample stock of tobacco, he chose an Egyptian cigarette.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Juve, it is absolutely necessary to go again to Sèvres and draw
+a close net round<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> Dixon. He needs watching. Isn't that your opinion?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not sure."</p>
+
+<p>Juve thought for a few moments, then:</p>
+
+<p>"After all, what grounds have you for thinking that Dixon should be
+watched?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, any number of reasons."</p>
+
+<p>"What are they?"</p>
+
+<p>It was Fandor's turn to be surprised. He had given Juve the account of
+his visit, supposing that would bring him to his way of thinking, and
+now Juve doubted Dixon being a suspect.</p>
+
+<p>"You ask me for particulars. I am going to reply with generalisations.
+Taking it all in all, what do we know of Dixon? That he was in a certain
+place and carried off Josephine under our very eyes. Hence he is a
+friend of Josephine's, which in itself looks compromising."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" protested Juve. "You arrive at your conclusions very quickly,
+Fandor. Josephine is not an honest woman. She may know the type of
+people that haunt the night resorts, yet who, for all that, need not be
+murderers."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, Juve, how do you account for it that during my visit Dixon
+tricked me and kept me from meeting Josephine while making believe to
+look for her? Is not that again a sign of complicity? Does not that show
+clearly that Jo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>sephine, realising that she is suspected in our eyes,
+has decided to evade us?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Fandor, my lad, you are endowed with a prodigious imagination. You
+impute to Dixon the worst intentions without any proof. He got Josephine
+away, you say? What makes you think so? If you did not see her it was
+due to collusion between them both. Why? As far as I can see, Josephine
+simply picked up an old lover of hers at the 'Crocodile' and went off
+with him as naturally as possible, preferring not to see the arrest of
+Loupart or of Chaleck. I admit that next day she simply took French
+leave of the worthy American, and you may be sure he knew nothing about
+her going."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was silent and Juve resumed:</p>
+
+<p>"That being so, what can we bring against Dixon? Merely that he knows
+Josephine."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, Juve; perhaps I went too far with my deductions, but to
+speak frankly, I don't see clearly what we are to do now. All our trails
+are crossed. Loupart is in flight, Chaleck vanished, and as for
+Josephine, I doubt our finding her again for ever so long."</p>
+
+<p>All the while the journalist was speaking, Juve had remained leaning
+against the window, watching the passers-by.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Fandor, come and see! By the omnibus, there. The person who is going to
+cross."</p>
+
+<p>The journalist burst out:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'm damned!"</p>
+
+<p>"You see, Fandor, you must never swear to anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, ain't we going to catch and arrest her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why? Do you think her being in this street is due to chance? Look, she
+is crossing; she is coming straight here. She is entering the house. I
+tell you in a few moments Josephine will have climbed my stairs and will
+be seated cosily in this armchair, which I get ready and set full in the
+light."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor could not get over his astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you make an appointment with her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all."</p>
+
+<p>Jean, the detective's servant, came into the room and announced:</p>
+
+<p>"There is a lady waiting in the sitting-room. She would not give her
+name."</p>
+
+<p>"Show her in, Jean."</p>
+
+<p>A few moments later Josephine entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Good day, Mademoiselle," cried Juve in a cordial tone. "What fresh news
+have you to tell us?"</p>
+
+<p>Loupart's mistress stood in the middle of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> room, somewhat taken
+aback. But Juve set her at ease.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down, Josephine. You mustn't mind my friend Fandor. He has just
+been telling me about your friend Dixon."</p>
+
+<p>"You know him, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"A little," said Fandor. "And you, Mademoiselle, have been seeing
+something of him lately?"</p>
+
+<p>"I happened to meet him at the 'Crocodile.'"</p>
+
+<p>"And took a liking to him?"</p>
+
+<p>"We took a liking to each other." She turned to Juve. "I suppose you
+distrust me for giving you the slip with another man?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve smiled. "You found a good companion and forgot us. There is really
+nothing to be angry about. Now, won't you tell us what brings you here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but M. Juve, you must swear to me that you will never repeat what
+I am going to tell you."</p>
+
+<p>"It is very serious then?"</p>
+
+<p>"M. Juve, I am going to put you in the way of arresting Loupart."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very kind, my dear Josephine, but if the attempt is to succeed
+no better than that we made at the 'Crocodile'&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, this time you'll be sure to nab him. Day after to-morrow at 2
+o'clock, Loupart is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> going with some of his gang to Nogent, 7 Rue des
+Charmilles. He has a job there under way."</p>
+
+<p>Juve laughed. "They've been fooling you, Josephine. Isn't that your
+view, Fandor? Do you think that Loupart would try a stroke in broad
+daylight?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine gave more details, eager to persuade him.</p>
+
+<p>"There will be fifteen of them outside a little house whose tenants are
+away. Some of them will make a crowd to help their mates in case of
+danger. The Beard is to be in it, too."</p>
+
+<p>"And Loupart?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Loupart, I tell you. He will wear a black mask by which you can
+identify him."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, if we have nothing better to do we will take a trip to
+Nogent day after to-morrow; eh, Fandor?"</p>
+
+<p>"As you like, Juve."</p>
+
+<p>"Only, remember this, my dear Josephine, if you are putting up a game on
+us you'll be sorry for it. There is a way, to be sure, in which you can
+prove your good faith. Be at Nogent Station at half-past one. If we find
+Loupart where you say he will be, we shall arrest him; if we don't find
+him&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The detective paused, significantly.</p>
+
+<p>"You will nab him. Only we mustn't look as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> if we met by appointment. No
+one must suspect that I gave you the tip."</p>
+
+<p>Hereupon, Josephine started to go. Her man[oe]uvre had succeeded, and
+Loupart's business would go ahead safely. She turned at the door and
+nodded, looking at Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Another thing; Loupart doesn't love you; you had better be on your
+guard."</p>
+
+<p>Juve turned thoughtfully to Fandor:</p>
+
+<p>"Strange! Is this woman playing with us, or is she in earnest, and how
+she looked at you when telling us to be on our guard!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXIV" id="XXIV"></a>XXIV</h2>
+
+<h3>A MYSTERIOUS CLASP</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Hullo! Hullo!"</p>
+
+<p>Waking with a start, Juve rushed to the telephone. It was already broad
+daylight, but the detective had gone to bed very late and had been
+sleeping profoundly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it's I, Juve. The Sûreté? It's you, M. Havard? Yes, I am free. Oh!
+That's strange. No signs? I understand. Count on me. I'll go there and
+keep you informed."</p>
+
+<p>Juve dressed in haste, went down to the street and hailed a taxi.</p>
+
+<p>"To Sèvres, the foot of the hill at Bellevue, and look sharp about it!"</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Juve left his taxi-cab, and mounted the slope on foot to the elegant
+villa inhabited by Dixon. All was quiet, and if he had not had word, the
+detective would have doubted that he was close<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> to the scene of a crime,
+or at least of an attempted one.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had he entered the grounds when a sergeant came toward him and
+saluted. Juve inquired:</p>
+
+<p>"What has happened?"</p>
+
+<p>"M. Dixon is resting just now, and the doctor has forbidden the least
+noise."</p>
+
+<p>"Is his condition serious?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think not from what Doctor Plassin says."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Sergeant, tell me everything from the beginning."</p>
+
+<p>The sergeant drew Juve to the arbour, where a policeman was seated
+making out a report. Juve took the paper and read:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"We, the undersigned, Dubois, Sergeant in the second squad of
+foot-police, quartered at Sèvres, together with Constable Verdier,
+received this morning, June 28th, at 6.35 from M. Olivetti, a
+business man, living in Bellevue, the following declaration:</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote><p style="margin-left:5%;">"'Having left my home at 6.15 and being on the way to the
+State Railway to take the 6.42 train, by which I go every day
+to my work, I was passing the slopes of Bellevue, when, being
+level with Brimborion Park, a little short of the villa number
+16, which I hear belongs to M. Dixon, an American pugilist, I
+heard a revolver shot <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>followed by the noise of breaking
+glass, the pieces falling on to a hard ground, most likely
+stone.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left:5%;">"'Having halted for a moment through caution, I looked to see
+if anyone was hiding near by. I saw nothing but heard three
+more revolver shots in quick succession, seeming to come from
+Dixon's house. After some minutes I went near the house and
+ascertained that the panes of the window on the right side of
+the front were broken, and the pieces strewed the asphalt
+terrace in front of the house.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left:5%;">"'I made up my mind to ring, but no one opened the door. I
+then thought that some prowlers had amused themselves by
+making a shindy, and I was about to continue to the train when
+I thought I heard faint cries coming from the inside of the
+house. Then, fearing there was a mishap or a crime, I ran to
+the police station and made the above statement in presence of
+the sergeant.'"</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Juve turned to the sergeant, who gave further details.</p>
+
+<p>"Constable Verdier and I immediately hastened here. We reached the
+terrace of the house, but there we came to a closed door we could not
+break in. Having shouted loudly we were answered by groans and cries for
+help which came from the room on the first floor of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> which the windows
+were broken. We then got a ladder and climbed up. I passed my hand
+inside and worked the hasp of the window. We went in and found ourselves
+in a bedroom in apple-pie order and in which nothing appeared to have
+been disarranged."</p>
+
+<p>"And on a second inspection?" queried Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"I went to the far end of the room and found stretched on the bed a man
+in undress, who seemed a prey to violent pains. I learned afterwards
+that this was M. Dixon, the tenant of the house. He could scarcely utter
+a word or move. His shoulders and arms were out of the clothes, and I
+could discern that the skin of his chest and shoulders bore traces of
+blood effusion. On a bracket to the right of the bed lay a revolver, the
+six cartridges of which had been recently fired."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" cried Juve. "And then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I thought the first thing to do was to call in a doctor. M. Olivetti
+consented to go and call Doctor Plassin, who lives near by. Five minutes
+later the doctor came, and I took advantage of his presence to send my
+man to the Station."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you been over the house?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet, Inspector, but nothing will be easier, for in turning out the
+pockets of the victim's clothes we found his bunch of keys."</p>
+
+<p>"To bring the doctor into the house, you must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> have opened the door to
+him, and therefore had a glimpse of the other rooms in the house, the
+lobby, the staircase?"</p>
+
+<p>The sergeant shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Inspector. We went up the ladder. I tried to get out of the door of
+M. Dixon's room, but found it was locked. This seemed strange, for the
+assailant presumably entered by the door."</p>
+
+<p>"By the by, Sergeant, are there no servants here? The place seems
+deserted."</p>
+
+<p>Constable Verdier put in his word:</p>
+
+<p>"The American lives here alone except for an old charwoman who comes in
+before nine. She will probably be here in half an hour, for she can have
+no idea of what has happened."</p>
+
+<p>"Good," said Juve. "You will let me know as soon as she comes; wait for
+her in the garden. As for us," and he turned to the sergeant, "let us
+make our way inside."</p>
+
+<p>The two, armed with Dixon's keys, opened without difficulty the main
+entrance door to the ground floor. There they found nothing out of the
+way, but on reaching the first floor, the marks of some one's passage
+was clearly visible.</p>
+
+<p>The door of a lumber room stood wide open, and on its floor sheets of
+paper, letters and documents lay scattered about. Juve took a candle
+and, after a brief investigation, exclaimed:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"They were after the strong box."</p>
+
+<p>A large steel safe, built into the wall, had been burst open, and the
+workman-like manner in which it had been done showed clearly the hand of
+an expert. Juve carefully examined the floor, picked up two or three
+papers that had evidently been trodden on, took some measurements which
+he jotted down in his note-book, and, without telling the sergeant his
+conclusions, went downstairs again, paying no heed to the next room in
+which Dixon lay, watched over by Doctor Plassin.</p>
+
+<p>Verdier, who was mounting guard before the house, came forward and said:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Inspector, the doctor says M. Dixon is awake. Do you care to see
+him?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve at once had the ladder put to the first story window and made his
+way into the pugilist's room. The men's description was correct. No
+disorder reigned in the chamber, at the far end of which, on a great
+brass bed, a sturdy individual, his face worn with suffering, lay
+stretched.</p>
+
+<p>In two words Juve introduced himself to the doctor; then expressed his
+sorrow for Dixon's plight.</p>
+
+<p>"These are only contusions, M. Juve. Serious enough, but nothing more.
+By the by, M. Dixon may congratulate himself upon owning muscles of
+exceptional vigour. Otherwise, from the grip<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> he must have undergone,
+his body would be no more than a shapeless pulp."</p>
+
+<p>Juve pricked up his ears. He had heard before of bones snapped and
+broken under a strain that neither flesh nor muscle could resist. The
+mysterious death of Lady Beltham at once occurred to his memory.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Dixon, you will tell me all the details of the tragic night you
+have passed through. You probably dined in Paris last evening?"</p>
+
+<p>The sick man replied in a fairly firm voice:</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, I dined at home alone."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that your usual habit?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, but between five and seven I had been training hard for my
+match which was to have come off to-morrow with Joe Sans."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think your opponent would have been capable of trying to injure
+you to keep you out of the ring?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, Joe Sans is a good sportsman; besides, he lives at Brussels, and
+isn't due in Paris till to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"And after dinner, what did you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I fastened the shutters and doors, came up here and undressed."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you in the habit of bolting yourself into your room?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I lock my door every evening."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What time was it when you went to bed?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ten at latest."</p>
+
+<p>"And then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then I went fast asleep, but in the middle of the night I was waked by
+a strange noise. It sounded like a scratching at my door. I gave a shout
+and banged my fist on the partition."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" asked Juve, surprised.</p>
+
+<p>The American explained:</p>
+
+<p>"I thought the scratching came from rats, and I simply made a noise to
+frighten them away. Then, the sound having ceased, I fell asleep again."</p>
+
+<p>"And afterwards?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was waked again by the sound of stealthy footsteps on the landing of
+the first floor."</p>
+
+<p>"This time you went to see?"</p>
+
+<p>"I meant to do so, I was about to get up. I had put out my arm to get my
+matches and revolver, when suddenly I felt a weight on my bed and then I
+was corded, bound like a sausage, my arms tight to my body! For ten
+minutes I struggled with all the power of my muscles against a frightful
+and mysterious grip which continually grew tighter."</p>
+
+<p>"A lasso!" suggested Doctor Plassin in a low voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Were you able to determine the nature of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> the thing that was gripping
+you?" asked Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. I remember feeling at the touch of the thing a marked
+sensation of dampness and cold."</p>
+
+<p>"A wetted lasso, exactly. A rope dipped in water tautens of itself,"
+remarked the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"You had to make a great effort to prevent being crushed or broken?"</p>
+
+<p>"A more than human effort, Mr. Inspector, as the doctor has witnessed;
+if I had not muscles of steel and exceptional strength I should have
+been flattened."</p>
+
+<p>"Good&mdash;good," applauded Juve. "That's exactly it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Really! You think so?" queried the American with a touch of sarcasm.</p>
+
+<p>Juve smilingly apologised. His approval meant no more than that the
+statements of the victim coincided with the theories he had formed. And
+indeed he saw clearly in the unsuccessful attempt on the American and
+the achieved killing of Lady Beltham a common way of going to work, the
+same process. Undoubtedly the American owed it to his robust physique
+that he got off but slightly scathed, whereas the hapless woman had been
+totally crushed.</p>
+
+<p>The similarity of the two crimes allowed Juve to make further
+inductions. He reckoned that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> was not by chance that Dixon had met
+Josephine at the "Crocodile" two nights before, while the presence of
+both Chaleck and Loupart in that establishment was still less
+accidental. And already he felt pleased at the thought that he knew
+almost to a certainty the villains to whom this fresh crime must be
+ascribed. They had wanted to get rid of Dixon, that was sure, and by a
+process still unknown to Juve, but which he would soon discover. They
+had rendered the pugilist helpless while they were robbing him.</p>
+
+<p>"Had you a large sum of money in your safe?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>The American gave a violent start.</p>
+
+<p>"They've burgled me! Tell me, sir, tell me quickly!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve nodded in the affirmative. Dixon stammered feebly:</p>
+
+<p>"Four thousand pounds! They've taken four thousand pounds from me! I
+received the sum a few days ago!"</p>
+
+<p>"Gently, gently!" observed the doctor. "You will make yourself feverish
+and I shall have to stop the interview."</p>
+
+<p>Juve put in:</p>
+
+<p>"I only want a few moments more, doctor. It is important." Then, turning
+to Dixon, he re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>sumed: "How did your struggle with the mysterious
+pressure end?"</p>
+
+<p>"After about ten minutes I felt my bands relaxing. In a short while I
+was free; I heard no more, but suffered such great pain that I fell back
+in bed and either slept or fainted."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you did not get up at all?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"And the door of your room to the landing remained locked all night?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, all night."</p>
+
+<p>"How about this broken glass in your window? Those revolver shots at six
+in the morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was I, firing from my bed to make a noise and bring some one here."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought as much," said Juve, as he went down on all fours and
+proceeded to examine the carpeting of the room between the bed and the
+door, a distance of some seven feet. The carpet, of very close fabric,
+afforded no trace, but on a white bearskin rug the detective noted in
+places tufts of hair glued together as if something moist and sticky had
+passed over it. He cut off one of these tufts and shut it carefully in
+his pocketbook. He then went to the door which was hidden by a velvet
+curtain. He could not suppress a cry of amazement. In the lower panel of
+the door a round hole had been made about six or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> eight inches in
+diameter. It was four inches above the floor, and might have been made
+for a cat.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you have that hole made in the door?" asked Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"No. I don't know what it is," replied the American.</p>
+
+<p>"Neither do I," rejoined Juve, "but I have an idea." Doctor Plassin was
+jubilant.</p>
+
+<p>"There you are!" he cried. "A lasso! And it was thrust in by that hole."</p>
+
+<p>Through the window, Verdier called:</p>
+
+<p>"M. Inspector, the charwoman is coming."</p>
+
+<p>Juve looked at his watch.</p>
+
+<p>"Half-past nine. I will see her in a minute."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXV" id="XXV"></a>XXV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE TRAP</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Twelve o'clock! Hang it! I've just time to get there to keep my
+engagement with Josephine."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was going down Belleville hill as fast as his legs could take him
+by a short cut past the Sèvres school. He cast a mocking glance toward
+the little police station which stands smart and trim at one side of the
+high road.</p>
+
+<p>"Pity," he murmured, "that I can't escort my friends to that delightful
+country house."</p>
+
+<p>Then he hastened his pace still more. He was growing angry.</p>
+
+<p>"I told Fandor to be at Nogent Station exactly at 1.30. It is now five
+past twelve and I am still at Sèvres. Matters are getting complicated.
+Oh, I'll take the tramway to Versailles' gate. From there I'll drive to
+Nogent Station in a taxi."</p>
+
+<p>He put this plan into execution, and was lucky<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> enough to find a place
+in the Louvre-Versailles' tram.</p>
+
+<p>"All things considered, I have not wasted my morning. Poor Dixon! He was
+lucky to get off so cheaply. It would seem now that Josephine told the
+truth in saying he is not an accomplice of the Gang."</p>
+
+<p>Juve reflected a while, then added:</p>
+
+<p>"Only it looks as if that accursed Josephine had put her friends up to
+the job."</p>
+
+<p>At the St. Cloud gate the tram came to a stop and Juve got down, hailed
+a taxi, and told the driver:</p>
+
+<p>"To Nogent Station and look sharp. I'm in a terrible hurry."</p>
+
+<p>The driver nodded assent, Juve got in, and the vehicle started. The taxi
+had hardly been going five minutes when Juve became impatient.</p>
+
+<p>"Go quicker, my man! Don't you know how to drive?"</p>
+
+<p>The man replied, nettled:</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to get run in for breaking the regulations."</p>
+
+<p>Juve laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind the regulations, I'm from Police Headquarters."</p>
+
+<p>The magical word took effect. From that moment, heedless of the frantic
+signals of policemen,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> the driver tore along at full speed and reached
+the square in front of Nogent Station.</p>
+
+<p>"It is only 1.45&mdash;Fandor should just have got here."</p>
+
+<p>Juve, indeed, had only just settled with his driver when Fandor popped
+up from the waiting-room.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Juve! Anything fresh this morning?"</p>
+
+<p>The detective smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Any number of things. But I'll tell you later. Where is Josephine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not here yet."</p>
+
+<p>"The deuce!"</p>
+
+<p>"That confirms my suspicions; eh, Juve?"</p>
+
+<p>"Somewhat. I should be astonished if we did see her."</p>
+
+<p>The detective led the journalist away, and the two went for a turn
+beside the railway-line on the deserted boulevard.</p>
+
+<p>"Fandor, this is the time to draw up a plan of action. Do you remember
+the directions Josephine gave us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Vaguely."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we are now going to the neighbourhood of the Rue des Charmilles.
+It is number 7 that Loupart and his gang are to loot, according to
+Josephine. Yesterday afternoon I sent my men to look at the street; this
+is how they de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>scribed it to me. It is a sort of lane with no issue; the
+house which we are concerned with is the last, standing on the right. It
+is a lodge of humble aspect, the tenants of which are really away. There
+are not many people living in this Charmilles Lane, and the place is
+well chosen for such a job, at least that is Michel's opinion.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I forgot one thing, round the house is a fairly large garden of
+which the walls are luckily high. So it is likely that even if the
+burglars should discover our presence they could not get off the back
+way."</p>
+
+<p>"And what is your plan of action, Juve?"</p>
+
+<p>"A very simple one. We are going to the entry of the Rue Charmilles and
+wait there. When our men come up with us I shall try to pick out Loupart
+and fly at his throat. There will be a struggle, no doubt, but in the
+meantime you must bellow with all your might: 'Murder' and 'Help.' I
+trust that succour will reach us."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you haven't any plain-clothes men here?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I don't want to let my superiors know about this expedition."</p>
+
+<p>The two men went forward some paces in silence along an empty side
+street, till Juve halted in a shady corner and drew out his Browning,
+carefully seeing to the magazine.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Do as I do, Fandor"; he prepared for a tussle. "I smell powder in the
+air."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was about to start forward again when suddenly a tremendous uproar
+broke out: "Help! Help!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve seized Fandor by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Take the left-hand pavement!"</p>
+
+<p>The two had just reached the corner of the street where the house spoken
+of by Josephine should stand, when a jostling crowd of people came in
+sight, rushing toward them, uttering shouts and yells. Juve and Fandor
+recognised a man fleeing at full speed in front of them, whose face was
+hidden by a black mask! Behind him two other men were running, also
+masked, but with grey velvet. In the crowd following were grocers'
+assistants, workmen of all kinds, even a Nogent policeman.</p>
+
+<p>"Help! Murder! Arrest him!"</p>
+
+<p>The fleeing man was threatening his pursuers with an enormous revolver.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out!" shouted Juve. "Loupart is mine! You tackle the others!"</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly catching sight of the detective Loupart slackened his pace.</p>
+
+<p>"Get out of the way!" he cried, flourishing his revolver.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop, or I fire!" returned Juve.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Fire then! I, too, shall fire!" And, leaping toward the detective, the
+outlaw pointed his revolver at him and fired twice.</p>
+
+<p>With a quick movement Juve leaped aside. The bullets must have brushed
+him, but luckily he was not touched. The plucky detective again flung
+himself on Loupart, seized him by the collar and tried to throw him
+down.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me go! I'll do for you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Juve felt the cold muzzle of the weapon on his neck. Then,
+with a supreme effort, he forced the outlaw's hands down and, aiming his
+revolver, fired.</p>
+
+<p>"Help! I&mdash;I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>A gush of blood welled up from the ruffian's collar. He turned twice,
+and then fell heavily on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Fandor was struggling with the two men in the grey
+masks. Juve was about to go to his assistance, when the crowd now made a
+rush and the detective became the central point of a furious encounter:
+blows and kicks rained on him. He succumbed to numbers.</p>
+
+<p>It was now Fandor's turn to help his friend, and he was about to join
+the fight when he stood rooted to the spot in utter amazement. A little
+beyond the groups of struggling men he caught sight of an individual
+standing beside a tripod<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> on which was placed a contrivance he did not
+at once identify. The man seemed greatly amused, and was watching the
+scene laughing and showing no desire to intervene.</p>
+
+<p>"Very good! Very good! That will make a splendid film!"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor understood&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>His head bandaged and his arm in a sling, Juve was replying in a shaky
+voice to the Superintendent of Police of Nogent.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Superintendent, I realised nothing. It is monstrous! I asked in the
+most perfect good faith. I did not fire till I had been fired at three
+times."</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't notice the strange get-up of the burglars? And of the
+policemen? Of that poor actor, Bonardin, you half killed?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I hadn't time to notice details. I want you to understand,
+Superintendent, how things came about, to realise how the trap was laid
+for me.... I came to Nogent, assured that I was about to face dangerous
+ruffians. I was to encounter them at such an hour, in such a street. I
+was given their description: they would have their faces masked and come
+out of a certain house. And it all happened as described. I hadn't gone
+ten paces in the said street when sure enough I saw people rushing
+toward me bawling 'Help.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> I recognised men in masks: had I time to look
+at the details of their costumes? Certainly not! I spring at the throat
+of the fugitive. He has a revolver and fires. How could I know the
+weapon was only loaded blank? He, an actor in a cinematograph scene,
+takes me for another, acting the part of a policeman. He fires at me and
+I retaliate."</p>
+
+<p>"And you half kill him."</p>
+
+<p>"For which I am exceedingly sorry. But nothing could lead me to suspect
+a trap."</p>
+
+<p>"It's lucky you didn't wound anyone else. How did matters end?"</p>
+
+<p>"The actors, naturally enough, were furious with me, and I was being
+roughly handled when the real policemen arrived and rescued me. All was
+explained when I brought out my card of identity. While they were taking
+me to the station, the actor Bonardin was being carried to the nearest
+house, a convent, I believe."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the Convent of the Ladies of St. Clotilde."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The trap had been well devised, and Juve was not wrong in saying that
+anyone in his place would have been taken in by it. And so while the
+detective was detained at the station, Fandor, after a long and minute
+interrogation, returned to Paris in a state of deep dejection.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXVI" id="XXVI"></a>XXVI</h2>
+
+<h3>AT THE HOUSE OF BONARDIN, THE ACTOR</h3>
+
+
+<p>In the Place d'Anvers, Fandor was passing Rokin College. He heard some
+one calling him. "Monsieur Fandor! Monsieur Fandor!"</p>
+
+<p>It was Josephine, breathless and panting, her bright eyes glowing with
+joy.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor turned, astonished.</p>
+
+<p>"What is up?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine paused a second, then taking Fandor's hand familiarly drew him
+into the square, which at this time of day was almost deserted.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's something out of the common, I can assure you. I am going to
+astonish you!"</p>
+
+<p>"You've done that already. The mere sight of you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You thought I was arrested, didn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's your Juve who is jugged!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Contrary to Josephine's expectation, Fandor did not appear very
+astonished.</p>
+
+<p>"Come now, Miss Josephine, that's a likely tale! Juve arrested? On what
+grounds?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine began an incoherent story.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you they squabbled like rag-pickers! 'You make justice
+ridiculous,' shouted Fuselier. 'No one has the right to commit such
+blunders!' Well, they kept going on like that for a quarter of an hour.
+And then Fuselier rang and two Municipal guards came and he said:
+'Arrest that man there!' pointing to Juve. And your friend the detective
+was obliged to let them do it. Only as he left the room he gave Fuselier
+such a look! Believe me, between those two it is war to the death from
+now."</p>
+
+<p>When she had ended Fandor asked in a calm voice:</p>
+
+<p>"And how did you get away, Josephine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, M. Fuselier was very nice. 'It's you again?' said he when he saw
+me. 'To be sure it is,' answered I, 'and I'm glad to meet you again, M.
+Magistrate.' Then he began to hold forth about the cinema business. I
+told him what I knew about it, what I told you. Loupart stuffed me up
+with his tale of a trap. As sure as my name's Josephine I believed what
+my lover told me."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fandor gave her a penetrating glance.</p>
+
+<p>"And how about the Dixon business?"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine coloured, and said in a low tone:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the Dixon business, as to that&mdash;we are very good pals, Dixon and I.
+Just fancy, I went to see him yesterday afternoon. He has taken a fancy
+to me. He promised to keep me in luxury. Ah, if I dared," sighed the
+girl.</p>
+
+<p>"You would do well to leave Loupart."</p>
+
+<p>"Leave Loupart? Especially now that Juve is in quod, Loupart will be the
+King of Paris!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think your lover will attach much weight to the arrest of Juve?
+Won't he fancy it's a put-up job?"</p>
+
+<p>"A put-up job! How could it be? Why, I saw with my two eyes Juve led
+away with the bracelets on his wrists."</p>
+
+<p>The growing hubbub of the newsboys crying the evening papers drew near
+the Place d'Anvers. Instinctively Fandor, followed by Josephine, went
+toward them. On the boulevard he bought a paper.</p>
+
+<p>"There you see!" cried Josephine triumphantly. "Here it is in print, so
+it is true!"</p>
+
+<p>In scare headlines appeared this notice&mdash;"Amazing development in the
+affair of the Outlaws of La Chapelle. Detective Juve under lock and
+key."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fandor, when he met Josephine in the Place d'Anvers, was on his way to
+the Rue des Abesses where Bonardin occupied a nice little suite of three
+rooms, tastefully decorated and comfortably furnished.</p>
+
+<p>The actor had his shoulder in plaster&mdash;Juve's bullet had broken his
+clavicle, but the doctor declared that with a few days' rest he would be
+quite well again.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Fandor, I am very sorry for what is happening to M. Juve. Do you
+think if I were to declare my intention not to proceed against him&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor cut his companion short.</p>
+
+<p>"Let justice take its course, M. Bonardin. There will always be time
+later on."</p>
+
+<p>Although M. Bonardin was only twenty-five, he was beginning to have some
+reputation. By hard work he had come rapidly to the front, and was fast
+gaining a position among the best interpreters of modern comedy.</p>
+
+<p>"My dream," he exclaimed to Fandor, "is one day to attain to the fame of
+my masters, of such men as Tazzide, Gémier, Valgrand and Dumény."</p>
+
+<p>"You knew Valgrand?" asked Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>Bonardin smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, we were great friends. When I first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> made my appearance at the
+theatre, after the Conservatoire, Valgrand was my model, my master. You
+certainly don't recollect it, M. Fandor, but I played the lover in the
+famous play 'La Toche Sanglante,' for which Valgrand had made himself up
+exactly like Gurn, the murderer of Lord Beltham. You must have heard of
+the case?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor pretended to tax his memory.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, to be sure I do recall certain incidents, but won't you refresh my
+memory?"</p>
+
+<p>Bonardin asked no better than to chatter.</p>
+
+<p>"Valgrand, on the first night of his presentation of Gurn,<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> was quite
+worn out and left the theatre very late. He did not come again! For the
+second performance, his understudy took his part. The following day they
+sent to Valgrand's rooms; he had not been there for two days. The third
+day from the 'first night' Valgrand came among us again."</p>
+
+<p>"Pray go on, you interest me immensely!"</p>
+
+<p>"Valgrand came back, but he had gone mad. He managed to get to his
+dressing-room after taking the wrong door. 'I don't know a single word
+of my part,' he confessed to me. I comforted him as best I could, but he
+flung himself down on his couch and shook his head helplessly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> at me. 'I
+have been very ill, Bonardin,' then suddenly he demanded: 'Where is
+Charlot?'</p>
+
+<p>"Charlot was his dresser. I remembered now that Charlot had not returned
+to the theatre since his master's disappearance. His body was found
+later in the Rue Messier. He had been murdered. I did not want to
+mention this to him for fear it might upset him still more, so I advised
+my old friend to wait for me till the end of the play and let me keep
+him company. I intended to take him home and fetch a doctor. Valgrand
+assented readily. I was then obliged to leave him hurriedly: they were
+calling me&mdash;it was my cue. When I returned Valgrand had vanished: he had
+left the theatre. We were not to see him again!"</p>
+
+<p>"A sad affair," commented Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>Bonardin continued his narrative:</p>
+
+<p>"Shortly afterwards in a deserted house in the Rue Messier, near
+Boulevard Arago, the police found the body of a murdered man. The corpse
+was easily identified; it was that of Charlot, Valgrand's dresser."</p>
+
+<p>"How did he come there? The house had no porter: the owner, an old
+peasant, knew nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what do you conclude from this?" asked Fandor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"My theory is that Valgrand murdered his dresser, for some reason
+unknown to us. Then, overcome by his crime, he went mad and committed
+suicide. Of that there is no doubt."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" muttered Fandor, a little taken aback by this unexpected
+assertion.</p>
+
+<p>The journalist, though he had closely followed the actor's account, was
+far from drawing the same conclusions. For in fact, Gurn, Lord Beltham's
+murderer, whom Fandor believed to be Fantômas, had certainly got
+Valgrand executed in his stead. The Valgrand who came back to the
+theatre, three days after the execution, was not the real one, but the
+man who had taken his place&mdash;Gurn, the criminal, Gurn&mdash;Fantômas. Ah!
+that was a stroke of the true Fantômas sort! It was certain that if
+Valgrand's disappearance had been simultaneous with Gurn's execution,
+there might have been suspicions. Gurn&mdash;Fantômas then found it necessary
+to show Valgrand living to witnesses, so that these could swear that the
+real Valgrand had not died instead of Gurn.</p>
+
+<p>But Valgrand was an actor, Gurn&mdash;Fantômas was not! Not enough of one at
+least to venture to take the place on the boards of such a consummate
+player, such a famous tragedian.</p>
+
+<p>"And that was the end?" asked Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"The end, no!" declared the actor. "Val<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>grand was married and had a son.
+As is often the case with artists, the Valgrand marriage was not a
+success, and madame, a singer of talent, was separated from her husband,
+and travelled much abroad.</p>
+
+<p>"About a year after these sad occurrences I had a visit from her. On her
+way through Paris, she had come to draw the allowance made her by her
+husband, to supply not only her own wants, but also those of her son, of
+whom she had the custody. Mme. Valgrand chatted with me for hours
+together. I recounted to her at length what I have had the honour of
+telling you, and it seemed to me that she gave no great credence to my
+words.</p>
+
+<p>"Not that she threw doubts on my statements, but she kept reiterating,
+'That is not like him; I know Valgrand would never have behaved in such
+a way!'</p>
+
+<p>"But I never could get her to say exactly what she thought. Some weeks
+after this first visit I saw her again. Matters were getting
+complicated. There was no certificate of her husband's death. Her men of
+business made his 'absence' a pretext: she no longer drew a cent of her
+allowance, and yet people knew that Valgrand had left a pretty large
+amount, and it was in the bank or with a lawyer, I forget which. You are
+aware,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> M. Fandor, that when the settling of accounts, or questions of
+inheritance or wills, come to the fore there is no end to them."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a fact," replied Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"We must believe," went on Bonardin, "that the matter was important in
+Mme. Valgrand's eyes, for she refused fine offers from abroad, and
+planted herself in Paris, living on her savings. The good woman
+evidently had a double object, to recover the inheritance for her son,
+little René, and also to get at the truth touching her husband's fate.</p>
+
+<p>"She evidently cherished the hope that her husband was not guilty of the
+dresser's murder, that perhaps he was not even dead, that he would get
+over his madness if ever they managed to find him. In short, M. Fandor,
+some six or seven months ago, when I had quite ceased to think of these
+events, I found myself face to face with Mme. Valgrand on the Boulevard.
+I had some difficulty in recognising her, for my friend's widow was no
+longer dressed like the Parisian smart woman. Her hair was plastered
+down and drawn tightly back, her garments were plain and humble, her
+dress almost neglected. No doubt the poor woman had experienced cruel
+disappointments.</p>
+
+<p>"'Good day, Mme. Valgrand,' I cried, mov<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>ing toward her with
+outstretched hands. She stopped me with a gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"'Hush,' she breathed, 'there is no Mme. Valgrand now. I am a
+companion.' And the unhappy woman explained that to earn her living she
+had to accept an inferior position as reader and housekeeper to a rich
+lady."</p>
+
+<p>"And to whom did Mme. Valgrand go as companion?"</p>
+
+<p>"To an Englishwoman, I believe, but the name escapes me."</p>
+
+<p>"Mme. Valgrand wished, you say, that her identity should remain unknown?
+Do you know what name she took?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;Mme. Raymond."</p>
+
+<p>Some moments later Fandor left the actor and was hastening down the Rue
+Lepic as fast as his legs would take him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXVII" id="XXVII"></a>XXVII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE MOTHER SUPERIOR</h3>
+
+
+<p>"The Mother Superior, if you please?"</p>
+
+<p>The door shut automatically upon Fandor. He was in the little inner
+court of the small convent, face to face with a Sister, who gazed in
+alarm at the unexpected guest. The journalist persisted:</p>
+
+<p>"Can I see the Mother Superior?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir, yes&mdash;no, I think not."</p>
+
+<p>The worthy nun evidently did not know what to say. Finally making up her
+mind she pointed to a passage, and, drawing aside to let the journalist
+pass, said:</p>
+
+<p>"Be good enough to go in there and wait a few moments."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was ushered into a large, plain and austere room&mdash;doubtless the
+parlour of the community. At the windows hung long, white curtains,
+while before the half-dozen armchairs lay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> tiny rugs of matting; the
+floor, very waxed, was slippery to the tread. The journalist regarded
+curiously the walls upon which were hung here and there religious
+figures or chromos of an edifying kind. Above the chimney hung a great
+crucifix of ebony. But for the noise from without, the passing of the
+trains and motors, and were it not also for the fine savour of cooking
+and roast onions, one might have thought oneself a hundred leagues from
+the world in the peaceful calm of this little convent.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, on leaving Bonardin, had decided to fulfill without delay a
+pious mission given him by Juve's victim.</p>
+
+<p>Taken in at the time of his accident by the Sisters of the Rue
+Charmille, Bonardin had received from them the first aid his condition
+required, and as he had left them without a word of thanks, he had
+begged Fandor to return and hand them on his behalf a fifty-franc bill
+for their poor.</p>
+
+<p>After some minutes the door opened and a nun appeared. She greeted
+Fandor with a slight movement of the head; while the journalist bowed
+deferentially before her.</p>
+
+<p>"Have I the honour of speaking to the Mother Superior?"</p>
+
+<p>"Our Mother sends her excuses," murmured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> the nun, "for not being able
+to receive you at this moment. However, I can take her place, sir. I am
+in charge of the finances of the house."</p>
+
+<p>"I bring you news, Sister."</p>
+
+<p>The nun clasped her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Good news, I hope! How is the poor young man doing?"</p>
+
+<p>"As well as can be expected; the ball was extracted without trouble by
+the doctors."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall thank St. Comus, the patron saint of surgeons. And his
+assailant? Surely he will be well punished?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"His assailant was the victim of a terrible misconception. He is a most
+upright man."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will pray to St. Yves, the patron saint of advocates, to get him
+out of his difficulty."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," cried Fandor, "since you have so many saints at command, Sister,
+you would do well to point out to me one who might favour the efforts of
+the police in their struggle with the ruffians."</p>
+
+<p>The nun was a woman of sense who understood a joke. She rejoined: "You
+might try St. George, sir, the patron saint of warriors." Then becoming
+serious again, the Sister made an end of the interview. "Our Mother
+Superior will be much touched, sir, when I report the kind step you have
+taken in coming here to us."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Allow me, Sister," broke in Fandor, "my mission is not over yet."</p>
+
+<p>Here the journalist discreetly proffered the note.</p>
+
+<p>"This is from M. Bonardin, for your poor."</p>
+
+<p>The nun was profuse in her thanks, and looking at Fandor with a touch of
+malice:</p>
+
+<p>"You may perhaps smile, sir, if I say I shall thank St. Martin, the
+patron saint of the charitable. In any case I shall do it with my whole
+heart."</p>
+
+<p>The soft sound of a bell came from the distance; the Sister
+instinctively turned her head and looked through the windows at the
+inner cloister of the convent.</p>
+
+<p>"The bell calls you, no doubt, Sister?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"It is, indeed, the hour of Vespers."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, followed by the Sister, left the parlour and reached the outer
+gate. Already the porter was about to open it for him when he pulled up
+short. Moving at a measured pace, one behind the other, the ladies of
+the community crossed the courtyard, going toward the chapel at the far
+end of the garden.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister," Fandor inquired anxiously, "who is that nun who walks at the
+head?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is our holy Mother Superior."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fandor was lucky enough to find a taxi as he left the little convent,
+into which he jumped: he was immersed in such deep reflections that when
+the taxi stopped he was quite surprised to find himself in Rue
+Bonaparte, when he had meant to go up to Bonardin's and expected to
+reach Montmarte.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did I tell you to go?" he asked the driver.</p>
+
+<p>The man looked at his fare in amazement:</p>
+
+<p>"To the address you gave me, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor did not reply, but paid his fare.</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven inspires me," he thought. "To be sure I wanted to see Bonardin
+to tell him I had done his commission, but it was to prove I should have
+gone after what I found out at the convent."</p>
+
+<p>The journalist remained motionless on the pavement without seeming to
+feel the jostling of the passers-by. He stood there with his eyes fixed
+on the ground, his mind lost in a dream. He had unconsciously gone back
+several years, to his mysterious childhood, stormy and restless. He went
+over again in thought, this last affair, which had once more brought him
+so intimately into Juve's life: the abominable crime in the Cité
+Frochot, in which Chaleck and Loupart were involved, and behind them
+Fantômas&mdash;the crime of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> which the victim&mdash;as Juve had clearly
+established&mdash;was no other than Lady&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>He quickly entered the house and rushed up the stairs, but halted on the
+landing.</p>
+
+<p>"What have I come here for? If I am to believe the papers, Juve is under
+lock and key: It must be instinct that guides me. I feel that I am going
+to see Juve: besides, I must."</p>
+
+<p>He did not ring, for he enjoyed the unique favour of a key which allowed
+him to enter Juve's place at will. He entered and went straight to the
+study: it was empty. He then cried out:</p>
+
+<p>"Juve! Many things have happened since I had the pleasure of seeing you!
+Be good enough to let me into your office. I have two words to say to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>But Fandor's words fell dead in the silence of the apartment. After this
+summons he made his way into the office, and ensconced himself in an
+armchair: clearly Fandor was assured his friend had heard him. And he
+was not wrong! Two seconds later, lifting a curtain that hid a secret
+entrance to the study, Juve appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"You speak as if you knew I was here!"</p>
+
+<p>The two men looked at each other and burst into shouts of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"So you understood it was all a put-up affair<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> intended to make our
+opponents believe that for a time I was powerless to hurt them. What do
+you think of my notion?"</p>
+
+<p>"First rate," replied Fandor. "The more so that the fair Josephine 'saw
+with her own eyes' some of the force taking you off to prison."</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody believe it, don't they?"</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody."</p>
+
+<p>"Look here. You spoke just now as though you knew I was here?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"The odour of hot smoke is easily distinguished from the dankness of
+cold tobacco."</p>
+
+<p>Juve approved.</p>
+
+<p>"Well done, Fandor. Here, for your pains, roll a cigarette and let's
+talk. Have you anything fresh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;and a lot, too!"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor related the talk he had had with Bonardin touching Valgrand, the
+actor, and Mme. Valgrand, alias&mdash;Mme. Raymond.</p>
+
+<p>Juve uttered his reflections aloud.</p>
+
+<p>"This is one riddle the more to solve. I still adhere to the theory that
+Josephine, some months ago, was brought into intimate relations with
+Lady Beltham, whose body I discovered at Cité Frochot and later
+identified."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fandor sprang up and placed both of his hands upon Juve's shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"Lady Beltham is not dead: She is alive! As surely as my name's Fandor,
+the Superior of the Convent at Nogent is&mdash;Lady Beltham."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXVIII" id="XXVIII"></a>XXVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>AN OLD PARALYTIC</h3>
+
+
+<p>At the far end of the Rue de Rome Fandor halted. "After all," he
+thought, "maybe I am going straight into a trap. Who sent me the letter?
+Who is this M. Mahon? I never heard of him. Why this menacing phrase,
+'Come, if you take any interest in the affairs of Lady B&mdash;&mdash; and F&mdash;&mdash;.'
+Oh, if only I could take counsel of Juve!"</p>
+
+<p>But for the last fortnight, since the ill-starred affair of Nogent and
+the almost incredible discovery he had made that Lady Beltham was still
+alive, Fandor had not seen Juve. He had been to the Sûreté a number of
+times, but Juve had vanished.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor stopped before a private house on the Boulevard Pereire North. He
+passed in through the outer hall and reached the porter's lodge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Madame, have you a tenant here named Mahon?"</p>
+
+<p>The porteress came forward.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Mahon? To be sure&mdash;fifth floor on the right."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. I should like to ask a few questions about him. I have
+come&mdash;to negotiate an insurance policy for him and I should like to know
+about the value of the furniture in his rooms. What sort of a man is
+this M. Mahon? About how old is he?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor had, by pure professional instinct, found the best device in the
+world. There is not a porteress who has not many times enlightened
+insurance agents.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, sir, M. Mahon has lived here only a month or six weeks. He can
+scarcely be very well off, for when he moved in I did not see any fine
+furniture go up. I believe for that matter he is an old cavalry officer,
+and, in the army nowadays, folks scarcely make fortunes."</p>
+
+<p>"That's true enough," assented Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Anyhow he is a very charming man, an ideal lodger. To begin with, he is
+infirm, almost paralysed in both legs. I believe he never goes out of an
+evening. And then he never has any visitors except two young fellows who
+are serving their time in the army."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Are they with him now?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, they never come till three or four in the afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor slipped a coin into the woman's hand and went upstairs. He rang
+at the door and was surprised at a strange, soft rolling sound.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know," he thought; "the poor man must move about his rooms in a
+rubber-tired wheel chair."</p>
+
+<p>He was not mistaken. Scarcely was the door opened when he caught sight
+of an old man of much distinction seated in a wheel chair. This invalid
+greeted the journalist pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Fandor?"</p>
+
+<p>"The same, sir."</p>
+
+<p>M. Mahon pushed forward his chair and motioned to his visitor to come
+in.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor entered a room in which the curtains were closely drawn and which
+was brilliantly illuminated with electric lights, although it was the
+middle of the afternoon. Was it a trap? The journalist instinctively
+hesitated in the doorway. But behind him a cordial voice called:</p>
+
+<p>"Come in, you all kinds of an idiot!"</p>
+
+<p>The door clicked behind him and the invalid, getting out of his chair,
+burst into a fit of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Juve! Juve!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"As you see!"</p>
+
+<p>"Bah, what farce are you playing here? Why this lit-up room?"</p>
+
+<p>"All for very good reasons. If you will be kind enough to take a seat, I
+will explain."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor dropped into a chair staring at Juve, who continued:</p>
+
+<p>"When you came back the other day and told me that unlikely yarn about
+Lady Beltham being alive, I decided to try new methods. First of all, I
+became a cavalry officer, then I got this wheel chair and moved into
+this apartment."</p>
+
+<p>As Juve paused, Fandor, more and more amazed, inquired:</p>
+
+<p>"But your reason for all this!"</p>
+
+<p>"Just wait! The day after the Dixon business, I put three of my best men
+on the track of the American. I had a notion he would want to see
+Josephine again, and I was not mistaken. She came back to justify
+herself in his eyes. The story ended as might have been foreseen.
+Michel, who brought me the news, said that Josephine had agreed to
+become Dixon's mistress."</p>
+
+<p>"The deuce!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, there is nothing to be surprised at that. Michel made arrangements
+to learn all the details. Josephine is to live at 33 C in Boulevard
+Pereire South; that is, to the right of the railway<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> line, fourth floor.
+Here we are at 24 B Boulevard Pereire North, to left of the railway,
+fifth floor, and just opposite."</p>
+
+<p>"And what does this old M. Mahon do, Juve?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"You are going to see, my lad."</p>
+
+<p>He settled himself again in the wheel chair, drew a heavy rug over his
+knees and became once more the old invalid.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear friend, will you open the door for me?"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor laughingly complied, and Juve wheeled himself into another room.</p>
+
+<p>"You see I have plenty of air here thanks to this balcony upon which I
+can wheel my chair. Would you be good enough to pass me that spy-glass?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve pointed the glass toward the far end of Boulevard Pereire, in the
+direction of Poste Maillot.</p>
+
+<p>"Mlle. Josephine has lately had a craze for keeping her nails polished."</p>
+
+<p>"But you are not looking toward the house opposite, you are looking in a
+contrary direction!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve laid his spy-glass on his knees and laughed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I expected you to make that remark. See, those glasses at the end are
+only for show, inside is a whole system of prisms. With this perspective
+you see not in front of you, but on one side. In other words, when I
+point it at the far end of the boulevard, what I am really looking at is
+the house opposite."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was about to congratulate his friend on this new specimen of his
+ingenuity, but Juve did not give him time. He startled the journalist by
+suddenly asking him:</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, do you love the army?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I think those two soldiers you see over there are coming."</p>
+
+<p>"To see you," added Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"From your porteress."</p>
+
+<p>"You pumped her?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did. I got her to talk a bit about that excellent M. Mahon."</p>
+
+<p>Juve laughed:</p>
+
+<p>"Confound you!"</p>
+
+<p>With a quick movement Fandor, at the detective's request, drew back the
+wheel chair and shut the window.</p>
+
+<p>"You understand," explained Juve, "there is nothing to surprise my
+neighbours in my having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> two soldiers to visit me. But I don't care for
+third persons to hear what they say to me." There was a ring at the
+apartment door. "Go and open, Fandor. I don't leave my cripple's chair
+for them; people can see through the curtains."</p>
+
+<p>Shown in by Fandor, the soldiers shook hands with Juve and took seats
+opposite him.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you recognise Michel and Léon?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, perfectly!" cried Fandor, "but why this disguise?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because no heed is paid to uniforms, there are soldiers everywhere, and
+also it is not easy to recognise a civilian suddenly appearing in
+uniform. What is fresh, Michel?"</p>
+
+<p>"Something pretty serious, sir. According to your instructions we have
+been shadowing the Superior of the Nogent Convent."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what have you discovered?"</p>
+
+<p>"Every Tuesday evening the Superior leaves Nogent and goes to Paris."</p>
+
+<p>"Where?"</p>
+
+<p>"To one of the branches of her religious house in the Boulevard
+Jourdan."</p>
+
+<p>"No. 180?"</p>
+
+<p>Michel was dumbfounded.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, you knew?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Juve, coldly. "What does she do at this branch?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"There are four or five old nuns there. The Superior spends Tuesday
+night there and on Wednesday goes back to Nogent about one in the
+afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"And you know no more than that?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. Must we go on with the shadowing?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, it is not worth while. Return to the Prefecture and report to M.
+Havard."</p>
+
+<p>When the two men had left, Fandor turned to Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you make of it?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"Michel is an idiot. That house has two exits; one to the Boulevard, the
+other to waste ground that leads to the fortifications. The Superior, or
+Lady Beltham, goes there to change her dress, and then hastens to some
+prearranged meeting elsewhere. The house at Neuilly will bear
+watching.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXIX" id="XXIX"></a>XXIX</h2>
+
+<h3>THROUGH THE WINDOW</h3>
+
+
+<p>"What a splendid fellow! One can count on him at any time. A friendship
+like his is rare and precious."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor had just left Juve, and the detective could not help being
+strangely moved as he thought of the devotion shown him by the
+journalist.</p>
+
+<p>The detective was still in his wheel chair; with a skilful turn he went
+back to the balcony and his post of observation.</p>
+
+<p>Evening was coming on. After a fine day the sky had become leaden and
+overcast with great clouds: a storm was threatening. Juve swore.</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't see much this evening; this confounded Josephine is so
+sentimental that she loves dreaming in the gloaming at her window
+without lighting up. Devil take her!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve had armed himself with his spy-glass;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> he apparently levelled it at
+Porte Maillot, and in that way he could see something of the movements
+of Josephine in the rooms opposite him.</p>
+
+<p>"Flowers on the chimney and on the piano! Expecting her lover probably!"</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he started up in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! some one has rung her bell. She is going toward the entrance door."</p>
+
+<p>A minute passed; in the front rooms Juve no longer saw anyone. Josephine
+must be receiving a visitor.</p>
+
+<p>Some minutes more went by; a heavy shower of rain came down and Juve was
+forced to leave his balcony.</p>
+
+<p>When he resumed his watching he could not suppress an exclamation of
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, if he would only turn! This cursed rain prevents me from seeing
+clearly what is afoot. The brute! Why won't he turn! There, he has laid
+his bag on a chair, his initials must be on it, but I can't read them.
+Yet the height of the man! His gestures! It's he, sure enough, it's
+Chaleck!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve suddenly abandoned his post of observation, propelled his chair to
+the back room of the suite and seized the telephone apparatus.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello! Give me the Prefecture. It is Juve speaking. Send at once
+detectives Léon and Mi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>chel to No. 33 C Boulevard Pereire South. They
+are to wait at the door of the house and arrest as they come out the
+persons I marked as numbers 14 and 15. Let them make haste."</p>
+
+<p>"Assuredly Chaleck won't leave at once if he has come to see Josephine;
+no doubt he has important things to say. Léon and Michel will arrive in
+time to nab him first and Josephine after. And to-morrow, when I have
+them handcuffed before me, it's the deuce if I don't manage to get the
+truth out of them."</p>
+
+<p>Juve went back to his look-out.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, they seem very lively, both of them; the talk must be serious.
+Josephine doesn't look pleased. She seems to disagree with what Chaleck
+is saying. One would think he was giving her orders. No! she is down on
+her knees. A declaration of love! After Loupart and Dixon it's that
+infernal doctor's turn!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve watched for a moment longer the young woman and the mysterious and
+elusive Chaleck.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! that's what I feared! Chaleck is going and Léon and Michel haven't
+come!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve hesitated. Should he go down, rush to the Boulevard and try to
+collar the ruffian? That wasn't possible. Juve lived on the fifth floor,
+so that he had one more story to get down than Chaleck, then there was
+the railway line between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> him and Josephine's house. Chaleck would have
+ample time to disappear. But Juve reassured himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Luckily he has left his hold-all, and if I mistake not, that is his
+stick on the chair. Therefore he expects to come back."</p>
+
+<p>Powerless to act, Juve witnessed the exit of Chaleck, who soon appeared
+at the door of Josephine's house and went striding off. Juve followed
+him with his eyes, intensely chagrined. Would he ever again find such a
+good opportunity of laying hands on the ruffian?</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck vanished round the corner of the street, and Juve again took to
+watching Josephine! The young woman did not appear to be upset by her
+late visitor. She sat, her elbows on the table, turning with a listless
+finger the pages of a volume.</p>
+
+<p>"Clearly he is coming back," thought Juve, "or he would not have left
+his things there. I shall nab him in a few days at latest."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was about to leave his post of observation when he saw Josephine
+raise her head in an attitude of listening to an indefinable and
+mysterious noise.</p>
+
+<p>"What is going on?" Juve asked himself. "She cannot be already watching
+for Chaleck's return."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then Juve started.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! oh!"</p>
+
+<p>He had just seen Josephine at a single bound spring toward the window.
+The young woman gazed steadily in front of her, her arms outstretched in
+a posture of horror. She seemed in a state of abject terror. There was
+no mistaking her motions. She was panic-stricken, panting, trembling in
+all her limbs. Juve, who lost no movement of the hapless woman, felt a
+cold sweat break out on his forehead.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter with her? There is nobody in the room, I see nothing!
+What can frighten her to that extent? Oh, my God!"</p>
+
+<p>Forgetting all precautions, all the comedy he was preparing so carefully
+for the neighbour's benefit, he sprang to his feet, deserting his wheel
+chair. His hands clenched on the rail of the balcony while spellbound by
+the sight he beheld, he leaned over the rail as if in a frantic desire
+to fling himself to the young woman's help. Josephine had bestridden the
+sash of her window. She was now standing on the ledge, holding with one
+hand to the rail of her balcony and her body flung backwards as if mad
+with terror.</p>
+
+<p>"What is happening? Oh, the poor soul!"</p>
+
+<p>Josephine, uttering a desperate cry, had let go of the supporting rail
+and had flung herself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> into space. Juve saw the young woman's body spin
+in the air, heard the dull thud that it made as it crashed against the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>"It is monstrous!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve beside himself tore down the stairs full tilt, passed breathlessly
+the porteress, who seemed likely to faint at the sight of the headlong
+pace of the supposed paralytic.</p>
+
+<p>He went round Boulevard Pereire, darted along the railway line, and,
+panting, got to the side of the ill-starred Josephine. At the sound of
+her fall and the cries she uttered people had flown to the windows,
+passers-by had turned round: when Juve got there a ring of people had
+already formed round the unfortunate woman. The detective roughly pushed
+some of them aside, knelt down beside the body and put his ear to the
+chest.</p>
+
+<p>"Dead? No!"</p>
+
+<p>A faint groan came from the lips of the poor sufferer. Juve realised
+that by unheard-of luck, Josephine, in the course of her fall, had
+struck the outer branches of one of the trees that fringed the
+Boulevard. This had somewhat broken the shock, but her legs were
+frightfully broken and one of her arms hung lifeless.</p>
+
+<p>"Quick!" commanded Juve. "A cab; take her to the hospital."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As soon as help was forthcoming, Juve, recalled to the duties of his
+profession, asked himself:</p>
+
+<p>"What can have occurred? What was it she tried to escape by throwing
+herself into space? I saw the whole room, there was no one with her. She
+must have been the victim of a delusion."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXX" id="XXX"></a>XXX</h2>
+
+<h3>UNCLE AND NEPHEW</h3>
+
+
+<p>"So, uncle, you have decided to live at Neuilly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's quite settled. Your aunt finds the place charming, and
+besides, it would be so pleasant to have a garden. Also, the land is
+sure to grow more valuable in this neighbourhood and the purchase of a
+house here would be a good speculation!"</p>
+
+<p>The stout man, as he uttered the word "speculation," beamed. The mere
+sight of him suggested the small tradesman grown rich by dint of long
+and arduous years of toil, retired from business and prone to fancy he
+was a man of genius.</p>
+
+<p>Compared with him the young man he styled nephew, slim, elaborately
+elegant, his little moustache carefully curled, gave the impression of
+coming out of a draper's shop and wanting to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> taken for a swell.
+Evidently the nephew courted the uncle and flattered him.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, land speculations are very sure and very profitable. So
+you wrote to the caretaker of the house to let you view it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did, and he answered, 'Come to-day or to-morrow. I shall be at your
+orders.' That is why I sent you word to go with me, for since you are
+the sole heir of my fortune&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, uncle, you may be sure&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Madeleine tramway where the two men were talking aloud, heeding
+little the amused notice of the other passengers, pulled up a moment in
+the Place de l'Eglise at Neuilly.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us get down. Boulevard Inkermann begins here."</p>
+
+<p>With the pantings and gaspings of a man whose stoutness made all
+physical exercise irksome, the uncle lowered himself off the footboard
+of the tram. The young man sprang to his side. After five minutes' walk
+the two men were in front of Lady Beltham's house, the identical house
+to which Juve and Fandor had previously come before to make exhaustive
+inquiries.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, my boy," declared the stout party, "it is not at all a bad
+looking house. Evidently it has not been lived in for a long time, its
+state of outside dilapidation shows how neglected it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> has been, but it
+is possible that inside there may not be many repairs to be made."</p>
+
+<p>"In any case, the garden is very fine."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the grounds are large enough. And then what I like is its
+wonderful seclusion: the wall surrounding it on all sides is very high,
+and the entrance gate would be hard for robbers to tackle."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I ring?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ring."</p>
+
+<p>The young man pressed the button, a peal rang out in the distance:
+presently the porter appeared. He was a big fellow with long whiskers
+and a distinguished air, the perfect type of the high-class servant.</p>
+
+<p>"You gentlemen have come to see the house?"</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly. I am M. Durant. It is I who wrote to you."</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure, sir, I remember."</p>
+
+<p>The porter showed the two visitors into the garden, and forthwith the
+stout man drew his nephew along the paths. The sense of proprietorship
+came over him at once; he spared his relative none of the points of the
+property.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, Emile, it isn't big, but still it is amply sufficient. No
+trees before the house, which allows a view of the Boulevard from all
+the windows. The servants' quarters being in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> far part of the garden
+can in no way annoy the people in the house: Notice, too, that the trees
+are quite young and their foliage thin. I don't care for too luxuriant
+gardens which are apt to block the view."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, Uncle."</p>
+
+<p>The porter, who was following the two, broke in upon the ecstasy of the
+prospective owner.</p>
+
+<p>"Would you gentlemen like to see the house?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, certainly, certainly."</p>
+
+<p>The stout man, however, before entering, was bent on going round it. He
+noticed the smallest details, growing more and more enthusiastic.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, Emile, it is very well built. The ground floor is sufficiently
+raised so as not to be too damp. This big terrace, on which the three
+French windows open, must be very cheerful in summer. Oh, there are
+drain pipes at the four corners! And we mustn't fail to see the cellars.
+I'm sure they are very fine. Bend down over the air-holes; what do you
+think of the gratings that close them? And, now, shall we go in?"</p>
+
+<p>The porter led them to the main entrance door.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is the vestibule, gentlemen, to the left, the servants' hall and
+kitchen; to the right, the dining-room; facing you a small drawing-room,
+then the large drawing-room, and, lastly, the double staircase leading
+to the first floor."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The stout man dropped into a chair.</p>
+
+<p>"And to whom does this place belong?"</p>
+
+<p>"Lady Beltham, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"She does not live here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not now. At this moment she is travelling."</p>
+
+<p>In the wake of the porter, uncle and nephew went through the rooms on
+the ground floor. As happens in all untenanted houses, the damp had
+wrought terrible havoc. The flooring, worm-eaten, creaked under their
+feet, the carpets had large damp spots on them, the paper hung loose on
+the walls, while the furniture was covered with a thick coat of dust.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't pay any attention to the furniture, Emile, it matters little;
+what we must first look at is the arrangement of the rooms. Why, there
+are iron shutters&mdash;I like that."</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure, Uncle, they are very practical."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes; to begin with, when those shutters are closed it would be
+impossible from the outside to see anything in the rooms. Not even the
+least light."</p>
+
+<p>The porter proceeded to show them the first floor of the house.</p>
+
+<p>"There is only one staircase?" asked the stout man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, only one."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And what is the cause of the unusual dampness? We are far from the
+Seine; the garden is not very leafy."</p>
+
+<p>"There is a leaky cistern in the cellars, sir. Here is the largest
+bedroom. It was my Lady's."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, one sees it has been the last room to be lived in."</p>
+
+<p>At this harmless remark the porter seemed very upset.</p>
+
+<p>"What makes you think that, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, the chairs are pushed about as though recently used. There is much
+less dust on the furniture. And&mdash;there's a print&mdash;look at the desk,
+there is a trace of dust on the diary. The blotting paper has been moved
+lately, some one has been writing there&mdash;why, what's wrong with you?"</p>
+
+<p>As he listened to the stout man's remarks the porter grew strangely
+pale.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," he stammered, "it's nothing, nothing at all."</p>
+
+<p>"One would say you were afraid."</p>
+
+<p>"Afraid? No, sir. I am not afraid&mdash;only&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Only what?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, gentlemen, it is best not to stay here&mdash;Lady Beltham is selling
+the house because it is&mdash;haunted!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Neither of the visitors seemed impressed by the statement of their
+guide. The elder laughed a jolly laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Are there ghosts?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, sir, 'spirits' come here."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you seen them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! certainly not, sir. When they are there, I shut myself up in the
+lodge, I can assure you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"When do they appear?"</p>
+
+<p>"They come almost always on Tuesday nights."</p>
+
+<p>And warming to his subject the porter gave details. He got the
+impression first on one occasion when her Ladyship was absent. She had
+left some days before for Italy. It was Sunday, and then during Tuesday
+night while walking in the garden he heard movements inside the house.</p>
+
+<p>"I went to fetch my keys and when I came back I found nobody! I thought
+at first it was burglars, but I saw nothing had been taken away. Yet, I
+was not mistaken, furniture had been moved. There were bread crumbs on
+the floor."</p>
+
+<p>The young man roared with laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Bread crumbs! Then your spirits come and sup here?"</p>
+
+<p>The uncle, equally amused, asked:</p>
+
+<p>"And what did Lady Beltham think when you told her that?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Lady Beltham laughed at me. But, sir, I had my own ideas. I watched in
+the garden daily and I heard the same sounds and always on Tuesday
+nights. At last I laid a trap; I put a chalk mark round the chairs in
+Lady Beltham's room, she being still away. Well, sir, when I came to the
+house again on Thursday the chairs had been moved. I told Lady Beltham,
+and this time she seemed very much frightened. It is since then she made
+up her mind to sell the house."</p>
+
+<p>"For all that, what makes you say they are spirits?"</p>
+
+<p>"What else could it be, sir. I also heard the sounds of chains jangling.
+One night I even heard a strange and terrible hiss."</p>
+
+<p>"Well!" cried the stout man, beginning to go down the staircase, "since
+the house is haunted I shall have to pay less for it; eh, Emile?"</p>
+
+<p>"You will buy, sir, in spite of that?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure. Your phantoms alarm me less than the damp."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the damp? That can be easily remedied. You will see that we have a
+central heating stove installed."</p>
+
+<p>The porter led his visitors down a narrow stair to the cellars.</p>
+
+<p>"Take care, gentlemen, the stairs are slippery."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then he observed: "You don't need a candle, the gratings are big enough
+to give plenty of light."</p>
+
+<p>"What is that?" asked the young man, pointing to a huge iron cylinder
+embedded in the earth and rising some four-and-a-half feet above the
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>"The cistern of which I spoke, as you can see for yourselves, it is all
+but full."</p>
+
+<p>The porter hurried them on.</p>
+
+<p>"That is the heating stove. There are conductors throughout the house.
+When it is in full blast the house is even too warm."</p>
+
+<p>"But your grate stove is in pieces!" objected the stout man, pointing
+with his stick to iron plates torn out of one side of the central
+furnace.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir, that happened at the time of the floods. But it won't cost
+much to put it right. If you gentlemen will examine the inside of the
+apparatus you will see that the pipes are in perfect order."</p>
+
+<p>The uncle followed the porter's suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>"Your pipes are as big as chimneys; a man could pass through them."</p>
+
+<p>The inspection ended, uncle and nephew bestowed a liberal tip on their
+guide. They would think it over and write or come again soon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The two relatives retraced their steps to Boulevard Inkermann.</p>
+
+<p>"Fandor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Juve?"</p>
+
+<p>"We have got them!"</p>
+
+<p>Uncle and nephew&mdash;that is to say, Juve and Fandor&mdash;could talk quite
+freely now.</p>
+
+<p>"Juve, are you certain that we have got them?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve pushed his friend into a wine-shop and ordered drinks. He then drew
+from his pocket a piece of paper, quite blank.</p>
+
+<p>"What is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"A bit of paper I picked up on Lady Beltham's desk while the porter's
+back was turned. It will serve for a little experiment. If it is not
+long since a hand rested on it, we shall find the print."</p>
+
+<p>"On this blank paper?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Fandor. Look!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve drew a pencil from his pocket and scratched off a fine dust of
+graphite which he shook over the paper. Gradually the outline of a hand
+appeared, faint, but quite visible.</p>
+
+<p>"That is how," resumed Juve, "with this very simple process, you can
+decipher the finger prints of persons who have written or rested their
+hands on anything&mdash;paper, glass, even wood. According to the clearness
+of this outline which is thrown up by the coagulation of the
+plumbago&mdash;thanks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> to the ordinary moisture of the hand&mdash;which was laid
+on the paper, I can assure you that some one wrote on Lady Beltham's
+desk about ten days ago."</p>
+
+<p>"It is wonderful," said Fandor. "Here, then, is proof positive that her
+Ladyship visits her house from time to time."</p>
+
+<p>"Correct&mdash;or at least that some one goes there, for that is a man's
+hand."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what are you going to do now, Juve?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now? I'm off to the Prefecture to get rid of my false embonpoint, which
+bothers me no end. I have never been so glad that I am not naturally
+stout."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"And I own to you that I shan't be sorry to get rid of my false
+moustache. All the while I was inspecting that cursed house, this
+moustache kept tickling my nose and making me want to sneeze."</p>
+
+<p>"You should have done so."</p>
+
+<p>"But suppose my moustache had come off?"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXXI" id="XXXI"></a>XXXI</h2>
+
+<h3>LOVERS AND ACCOMPLICES</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Oh! who is that?"</p>
+
+<p>From the shadow issued some one who calmly replied:</p>
+
+<p>"It is I."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!&mdash;I know you now, but why this disguise?"</p>
+
+<p>"Madame the Superior&mdash;I present myself&mdash;Doctor Chaleck. Isn't my
+disguise as good as yours?"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want of me? Speak quickly, I am frightened."</p>
+
+<p>"To begin with, I thank you for coming to the tryst at your house&mdash;at
+ours. For five Tuesdays I have waited in vain. But first, madame,
+explain your sudden conversion, the reason of your sudden entry into
+Orders. That is a strange device for the mistress of Gurn."</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Chaleck held under the lash of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> irony the unhappy woman who
+seemed overcome by anxiety. The two were facing each other in the large
+room that formed the middle of the first floor of the house in Boulevard
+Inkermann at Neuilly. It was, in fact, the only room fit to use: they
+had left to neglect and inclement weather the other rooms in the elegant
+mansion which some years before was considered in the Parisian world as
+one of the most comfortable and luxurious in the foreign colony.</p>
+
+<p>It was in truth here that in days gone by the tragic drama had been
+played: death had laid its cold hand upon the gilded trappings of the
+great apartment and laughter and joy had taken flight. However, time
+passes so quickly and evil memories so soon grow dim that many had
+forgotten the grim happenings which three years before had beset the
+mansion on the Boulevard.</p>
+
+<p>It was at first the deep mourning of Lady Beltham whose husband had been
+mysteriously done to death at Belleville. Then, some weeks later,
+occurred the awful scene of the arrest of Lord Beltham's murderer, just
+as he was leaving the house, an arrest due to Juve, who, though he
+succeeded in laying hands on the assassin, the infamous Gurn, was not
+able to prove&mdash;sure though he might be of it&mdash;that the slayer of the
+husband was the lover of the wife.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>After these shocking events Lady Beltham left France, dismissing the
+many attendants with whom she loved to surround herself like a true
+queen of beauty, luxury and wealth.</p>
+
+<p>At rare intervals the Lady, whose existence grew more and more
+mysterious, went back for a few days to her house at Neuilly. She would
+vanish, would reappear, living like a recluse, almost in entire
+solitude, receiving none of her old acquaintances.</p>
+
+<p>About a year ago she seemed to want to settle finally at Boulevard
+Inkermann. Workmen began to put the house in order again, the lodge was
+opened and a family of caretakers came; then suddenly the work had been
+broken off; some weeks went by while Lady Beltham lived alone with her
+companion; then both disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham shivered, and, gathering about her shoulders the cloak
+which covered her religious habit, muttered: "I'm cold."</p>
+
+<p>"Beastly weather, and to think this is July."</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck crossed to a register in the corner of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"No good to leave that open! An icy wind comes through the passage to
+the cellar."</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham turned in alarm toward her enigmatic companion.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why did you let it be supposed I was dead?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you yourself leave here two days before the crime at the Cité
+Frochot?"</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham hung her head and with a sob in her voice:</p>
+
+<p>"I was deserted and jealous. Besides, I was enduring frightful remorse.
+The idea had come to me to write down the terrible secret which haunted
+my spirit, to give the story to some one I could trust, an attorney, and
+then&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Go on, pray!"</p>
+
+<p>"And, then, what I had written suddenly vanished. It was after that I
+lost my head and fled. I had long been meaning to withdraw from the
+world. The Sisters of St. Clotilde offered to receive me in their house
+at Nogent."</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck added brutally:</p>
+
+<p>"That isn't all. You forgot to say you were afraid. Come, be frank,
+afraid of Gurn, of me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes, I was afraid, not so much of you, but of our crimes. I am
+also afraid of dying."</p>
+
+<p>"That confession you wrote became known to some one who confided it to
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Heavens," murmured the unhappy woman. "Who mentioned it?"</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck had again crossed to the register, which, although closed by him
+some moments be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>fore, was open again, letting into the room a blast of
+icy air from the basement.</p>
+
+<p>"This can't stay shut, it must be seen to," he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham, shaken by a nervous tremour, insisted:</p>
+
+<p>"Who betrayed me? Who told?"</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck seated himself by her side.</p>
+
+<p>"You remember Valgrand, the actor? Well, Valgrand was married. His wife
+sought to clear up the mystery of his disappearance and went&mdash;where, I
+ask you? Why, to you, Lady Beltham! You took her as companion! It would
+have been impossible to introduce a more redoubtable spy into the house
+than the widow Valgrand, known by you under the false name of Mme.
+Raymond."</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham remained panic-stricken.</p>
+
+<p>"We are lost!"</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck squeezed her two hands in a genuine burst of affection.</p>
+
+<p>"We are saved!" he shouted. "Mme. Raymond will talk no more!"</p>
+
+<p>"The body at the Cité Frochot!"</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck nodded. "Yes."</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him in alarm, mingled with repulsion and horror.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, understand that that death saved you,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> and if I saved you it is
+because I loved you, love you still, will always love you!"</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham, overcome, let herself fall into Chaleck's arms, her head
+resting on her lover's shoulder as she wept hot tears.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham was once more enslaved, a captive! More than two years ago
+she had broken with the mysterious and terrible being whom she had once
+egged on to kill her husband, and with whom she then committed the most
+appalling of crimes. During this separation the unhappy woman had tried
+to pull herself together, to acquire a fresh honesty of mind and body, a
+new soul; dreamed of finding again in religion some help, some
+forgetfulness. She had later experienced the frightful tortures of
+jealousy, knowing her late lover had mistresses! But she resisted the
+craving to see him again, and pictured him to herself in such terrible
+guise that she felt an overwhelming fear of finding herself face to face
+with him. Now the season of calm and quiet she had evoked was suddenly
+dispelled. First came the mysterious disappearance of her confession and
+the weird crime of the Cité Frochot following on its loss. To be sure
+she did not then know that Doctor Chaleck, of whom the papers spoke, was
+none other than Gurn, but had they not in <i>La Capitale</i> spoken of
+Fantômas in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> that connection? And at this disquieting comparison Lady
+Beltham had felt sinister forebodings. Other mysteries had then
+supervened, unaccountable to the guilty lady who by that time was
+already seeking her new birth in the bosom of Religion. Alas! her
+miseries were to grow definite enough.</p>
+
+<p>At the very gate of the convent an innocent man, Bonardin, the actor,
+fell victim to the attack of Juve, also innocent, and in that affair she
+felt the complicity of her late lover grow more and more certain. She
+then received a letter from him, followed by a second. Gurn called her
+to his place&mdash;their place&mdash;the mansion at Neuilly, every Tuesday night.
+She held out several times despite threatened reprisals. At last she
+yielded and went: she expected Gurn&mdash;it was Chaleck she found. The two
+were one!</p>
+
+<p>From henceforth she was faced with this accomplice, guilty of new
+crimes, clothed in a new personality, already under suspicion, which
+doubtless he would cast off only to assume another which would enable
+him still further to extend the list of his crimes! But despite all the
+horror her lover inspired her with she felt herself tamed again,
+powerless to resist him, ready to do anything the moment he bade her!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She inquired feebly:</p>
+
+<p>"Who was it killed Mme. Raymond? Was it that ruffian&mdash;whom they speak of
+in the papers&mdash;Loupart?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, not exactly!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then was it you? Speak, I would rather know."</p>
+
+<p>"It was neither he nor I, and yet it was to some extent both."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not understand."</p>
+
+<p>"It is rather difficult to understand. Our 'executioner' does not lack
+originality. I may say it is something which lives yet does not think."</p>
+
+<p>"Who is it! Who is it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not ask Detective Juve. Oh! Juve, too, would like to know who the
+deuce all these people are. Gurn, Chaleck, Loupart, and, above
+all&mdash;Fantômas!"</p>
+
+<p>"Fantômas! Ah, I scarcely dare utter that name. And yet a doubt
+oppresses my heart! Tell me, are you not, yourself&mdash;Fantômas?"</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck freed himself gently, for Lady Beltham had wound her arms round
+his neck.</p>
+
+<p>"I know nothing, I am merely the lover who loves you."</p>
+
+<p>"Then let us go far away. Let us begin a new existence together. Will
+you? Come!" She stopped all at once&mdash;"I heard a noise." Cha<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>leck, too,
+listened. Some slight creakings had, indeed, disturbed the hush of the
+room. But outside the wind and the rain whirled around the dilapidated,
+lonely abode, and it was not surprising that unaccountable sounds should
+be audible in the stillness. Once more Lady Beltham built up her plans,
+catching a glimpse of a future all peace and happiness.</p>
+
+<p>With a brief, harsh remark, Chaleck brought her back to reality.</p>
+
+<p>"All that cannot be, at least for the moment, we must first&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham laid her hand on his lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not speak!" she begged. "A fresh crime&mdash;that's what you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"A vengeance, an execution! A man has set himself to run me down, has
+determined my ruin: between us it is a struggle without quarter; my life
+is not safe but at the cost of his, so he must perish. In four days they
+will find Detective Juve dead in his own bed. And with him will finally
+vanish the fiction he has evoked of Fantômas! Fantômas! Ah, if society
+knew&mdash;if humanity, instead of being what it is&mdash;but it matters little!"</p>
+
+<p>"And Fantômas? What will become of him&mdash;of you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have I told you that I was Fantômas?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No," stammered she, "but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The dim light of a pale dawn filtered through the closed shutters of the
+big drawing-room in which lover and mistress had met again, after long
+weeks of separation, to call up sinister memories. For all their hopes
+the limit of the tribulations to which they were a prey seemed still far
+off.</p>
+
+<p>Chaleck blew out the lamp. He drew aside the curtains. Sharply he put an
+end to the interview:</p>
+
+<p>"I am off, Lady Beltham. Soon we shall meet again. Never let anyone
+suspect what we have said to each other&mdash;Farewell."</p>
+
+<p>The hapless woman, crushed and broken by emotion, remained nearly an
+hour alone in the great room. Then the requirements of her official life
+came to her mind. It was necessary to return to the convent at Nogent.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Extricating themselves painfully from the pipes of the great stove, Juve
+and Fandor, covered with plaster, wreathed with cobwebs, and freely
+sprinkled with dust, fell back suddenly into the middle of the cellar.
+The two men, heedless of the disarray of their dress and their painful
+cramped limbs, spoke both at once, dumbfounded but joyful:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Well, Juve?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Fandor, we got something for our money."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a lovely night, Juve; I wouldn't have given up my place for a
+fortune."</p>
+
+<p>"We had front seats, though to be sure the velvet armchairs were
+lacking."</p>
+
+<p>They were silent for a moment, their minds fully occupied with a crowd
+of ideas. So Chaleck and Loupart were one and the same? And Lady Beltham
+was indeed the accomplice of Gurn. An unhappy accomplice, repentant,
+wretched, a criminal through love.</p>
+
+<p>"Fandor, they are ours now. Let us act!"</p>
+
+<p>The pair, not sorry to breathe a little more easily than they had done
+for the past few hours, went upstairs, reached the ground floor and made
+their way into the drawing-room, where during the night Doctor Chaleck
+and Lady Beltham had had their memorable interview.</p>
+
+<p>Juve, without a word, paced up and down the room, poking in all the
+corners, then gave a cry:</p>
+
+<p>"Here is the famous mouth of the heater which that brute Chaleck tried
+to shut, and I persisted in opening so as not to lose a word of his
+instructive conversation. No matter, if he felt cold, what did I feel
+like?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The fact is," added Fandor, whose hoarse voice bore witness to the
+difficulties he had just passed through, "these stove pipes have very
+little comfort about them."</p>
+
+<p>"What can you expect?" cried Juve. "The architect did not think of us
+when he built the house. And now, Fandor, we have a hard task before us
+and we need all the luck we can get. For certainly it is Fantômas we
+have unearthed: Fantômas, the lover of Lady Beltham, the slayer of her
+husband, the murderer of Valgrand, the master that got rid of Mme.
+Raymond! Gurn, Chaleck, Loupart. The one being who can be all those and
+himself too&mdash;Fantômas."</p>
+
+<p>As the two friends left Lady Beltham's house without attracting notice,
+the detective drew from his pocket a species of little scale which he
+showed Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you make of that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't the least idea."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I have, and it may put us in the way of a great discovery. Did
+you notice that Chaleck did not say definitely who the 'executioner' of
+Mme. Raymond was?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I believe that I have a morsel of this 'executioner' in my
+pocket.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXXII" id="XXXII"></a>XXXII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SILENT EXECUTIONER</h3>
+
+
+<p>Juve was in his study smoking a cigarette. It was nine in the evening.
+The door leading to the lobby opened and Fandor walked in.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, this evening?"</p>
+
+<p>"All right. What brings you here, Fandor?"</p>
+
+<p>The journalist smiled and pointed to a calendar on the wall: "The fact
+that&mdash;it's this evening, Juve."</p>
+
+<p>"The date fixed by Chaleck or Fantômas for my demise. To-morrow morning
+I am to be found in my bed, strangled, crushed, or something of the
+sort. I suppose you've come to get a farewell interview for <i>La
+Capitale</i>. To gather the minutest details of the frightful crime so that
+you can publish a special edition. '<i>The tragedy in Rue Bonaparte! Juve
+overcome by Fantômas!</i>'"</p>
+
+<p>Fandor listened, amused at the detective's outburst.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You'd be angry with me, Juve," he declared, in the same jocular strain,
+"for passing by such a sensational piece of news, wouldn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is so. And then I own I expected my last evening to be a lonely
+one, there was a feeling of sadness at the bottom of my heart. I thought
+that before dying I should have liked to say farewell to young Fandor,
+whose life I am continually putting in peril by my crazy ventures, but
+whom I love as the surest of companions, the sagest of advisers, the
+most discreet of confidants."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor was touched. With a spontaneous movement he sprang to the
+armchair in which Juve sat, seized and wrung the detective's hands.</p>
+
+<p>"What?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall stay here. You don't suppose I'm going to leave you to pass
+this night alone?"</p>
+
+<p>Juve, touched beyond measure by Fandor's words, seemed uncertain what he
+ought to decide.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't pretend, Fandor, that your presence is not agreeable, and I'm
+grateful to you for your sympathy; I knew I could count on you: but
+after all, lad, we must look ahead and consider all contingencies.
+Fantômas may succeed! Now you know what I have set out to do; if I
+should fail, I should like to think that you would carry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> on the work as
+my successor and put an end to Fantômas."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Juve, you are threatened by Fantômas; that is why I am here to
+help you."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I have no bed to put you in."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, taken aback, stared at the detective. The latter rose and began
+walking about the room, then turned sharply and gazed at the young man:</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite determined to stay with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"And if I bade you go?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should disobey you."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, then," concluded Juve, shrugging his shoulders, "come along
+and light me."</p>
+
+<p>The detective passed out of the apartment and made for the stairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are we bound for?" asked Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"The garret," Juve replied.</p>
+
+<p>A quarter of an hour later Juve and Fandor dragged into the bedroom a
+huge open-work wicker-basket.</p>
+
+<p>"Whew!" cried Juve, mopping his forehead, "no one would believe it was
+so heavy."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"It's full of rubbish. Really, Juve, you are not a tidy man!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve, without reply, proceeded to empty the basket, pulling out books,
+linen, pieces of wood,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> carpet, rolls of paper; in fact, the accumulated
+refuse of fifteen years.</p>
+
+<p>"What is your height?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"If I remember right, five feet ten."</p>
+
+<p>Juve got out his pocket measure and took the length of the crate.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right," he murmured. "You'll be quite snug and comfortable
+in it."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor burst out:</p>
+
+<p>"You're a cheerful host, Juve. You bottle up your guests in cages now!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve placed a mattress at the bottom of the basket and laid two blankets
+over that, then he put a pillow on top. Patting the bedding to make it
+smooth, he declared with a laugh:</p>
+
+<p>"I fear nothing, but I have taken precautions. I have posted two men in
+the porter's lodge. I have loaded my revolver, and dined comfortably.
+About half-past eleven I shall go to bed as usual. However, instead of
+going to sleep I shall endeavour to keep awake. At dinner I took three
+cups of coffee, and when you go I shall drink a fourth."</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me," said Fandor, "but I am not going away."</p>
+
+<p>"There! You'll sleep splendid inside that, Fandor."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The journalist, used to the devices of his friend, nodded his head. Juve
+had already taken off his coat and waistcoat and now drew from a box
+three belts half a yard in breadth and studded outside with sharp
+points. "Look, Fandor! I shall be completely protected when I am swathed
+in them. Oh," he added, "I was going to forget my leg guards!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve went back to the box and took out two other rolls, also studded
+with spikes. Fandor looked in amazement at this gear and Juve observed
+laughingly:</p>
+
+<p>"It will cost me a pair of sheets and maybe a mattress."</p>
+
+<p>"What does it mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"These defensive works have a double object. To protect me against
+Fantômas, or the 'executioner' he will send, and also I shall be able to
+determine the civil status of the 'executioner' in question."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor, more and more puzzled, inspected the iron spikes, which were two
+or more inches in length.</p>
+
+<p>"This contrivance is not new," said Juve; "Liabeuf wore arm guards like
+these under his jacket, and when the officers wanted to seize him they
+tore their hands."</p>
+
+<p>"I know, I know," replied Fandor, "but&mdash;&mdash;"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The detective all at once laid a finger on his lips.</p>
+
+<p>"It's now twenty past eleven, and I am in the habit of being in bed at
+half past. Fantômas is bound to know it: when he comes or sends, he must
+not notice anything out of the way. Get into your wicker case and shut
+the lid down carefully. By the by, I shall leave the window slightly
+open."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't that a bit risky?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is one of my habits, and not to make Fantômas suspicious I alter my
+ways in nothing."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor settled himself in his case and Juve also got into bed. As he put
+out the light he gave a warning.</p>
+
+<p>"We mustn't close an eye or utter a word. Whatever happens, don't move.
+But when I call, strike a light at once and come to me."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," replied Fandor.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"Fandor!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve's cry rent the stillness of the night, loud and compelling. The
+journalist leaped from his wicker-basket so abruptly that he knocked
+against the lamp stand and the lamp fell to the floor. Fandor searched
+for his matches in vain.</p>
+
+<p>"Light up, Fandor!" shouted Juve.</p>
+
+<p>The noise of a struggle, the dull thud of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> fall on the floor, maddened
+the journalist. In the darkness he heard Juve groaning, scraping the
+floor with his boots, making violent efforts to resist some mysterious
+assailant.</p>
+
+<p>"Be quick, in God's name," implored the pain-wrung voice of the
+detective. Fandor trod on the glass of the lamp, which broke. He
+tripped, knocked his head against a press, rebounded, then suddenly
+uttered a terrible cry. His hands, outstretched apart, in the gloom, had
+brushed a cold, shiny body which slid under his palms.</p>
+
+<p>"Fandor! Help, Fandor!"</p>
+
+<p>Desperate, Fandor plunged haphazard about the disordered chamber,
+wrapped in darkness. Suddenly, he rushed into the study hard by, found
+there another lamp which he lit in haste, and hurried back with it.</p>
+
+<p>A fearful sight wrung a cry of terror from him. Juve, on his knees on
+the floor, was covered with blood.</p>
+
+<p>"Juve!"</p>
+
+<p>"It's all right, Fandor. Some one has bled, but not I."</p>
+
+<p>The detective rushed to the open window and leaned out into the dark
+night.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen!" he cried. "Do you hear that low hissing, that dull rustling?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I heard it just now."</p>
+
+<p>"It was the 'executioner.'"</p>
+
+<p>The detective drew back into the room, shut the window, pulled down the
+blinds, and then took off his armour. Curiously he examined the stains
+of blood, the tiny shreds of flesh that had remained on the points.</p>
+
+<p>"We have no more to fear now," he said, "the stroke has been tried&mdash;and
+has failed."</p>
+
+<p>"Juve! tell me what has just happened? I may be an idiot, but I don't
+understand at all!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are no fool, Fandor; far from it, but if in many circumstances you
+reason and argue with considerable aptness, I grant you far less
+deductive faculty. That does not seem to be your forte."</p>
+
+<p>Fandor seated himself before the detective, and the latter held forth.</p>
+
+<p>"When we found ourselves faced with the first crime, that of the Cité
+Frochot, and our notice was drawn to the elusive Fantômas, we were
+unable to decide in what manner that hapless Mme. Raymond, whom we then
+took for Lady Beltham, had been done to death. Now, remember, Fandor,
+that during that night of mystery, hidden behind the curtains in
+Chaleck's study we heard weird rustlings and faint sort of hissings,
+didn't we?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"We did," admitted Fandor, at a loss, "but go on, Juve."</p>
+
+<p>"When we were called to investigate the attack on the American, Dixon,
+it was easy for us to conclude that the attempt of which the pugilist
+had been the object was the outcome of the same plan of battle as that
+which cost the widow Valgrand her life. The mysterious 'executioner,'
+which Chaleck did not disguise from Lady Beltham, was thus a being
+endowed with vigour enough to completely crush a woman's body, and
+likely do as much to that of an ordinary man. But the 'executioner' in
+question was not strong enough to get the better of the grand physique
+of the champion pugilist, since it failed in its attempt.</p>
+
+<p>"This instrument 'of limited power,' if I may so describe it, must then
+be, not a mechanism which nothing can resist, but a living being! It
+must also be a creature striking panic, terrifying, formidable: you ask
+why, Fandor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, to be sure."</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to tell you. If our poor friend Josephine were not still in
+a high fever she would certainly uphold me. You remember the business on
+the Boulevard Pereire? Chaleck or Fantômas wants to be rid of the woman
+he loved under the guise of Loupart, since he has gone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> back to Lady
+Beltham. Moreover, Josephine chatters too much with Dixon, with the
+police.</p>
+
+<p>"Chaleck, Fantômas, therefore, goes up to Josephine's. After having told
+the poor creature I know not what yarn, he departs, leaving behind in
+his hold-all, the instrument. Now this last, when it shows itself, so
+terrifies the poor girl that she throws herself out of the window."</p>
+
+<p>"I begin to see what you mean," said the journalist.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen," replied Juve. "The mysterious, nameless and terrible
+accomplice of Fantômas, is no other than a snake! A snake trained to
+crush bodies in its coils. After having long suspected its existence, I
+began to be sure of it when I found that strange scale at Neuilly. This
+accounts for the incomprehensible state of Mme. Valgrand's body, the
+extraordinary attempt on Dixon, the murderous thing that terrified
+Josephine! That is why, expecting to-night's visit, I barbed myself with
+iron like a knight of old, feeling pretty sure that if the hands of the
+officers were torn by the armlets of Liabeuf, the coils of Fantômas'
+serpent would be flayed on touching my sharp spikes."</p>
+
+<p>"Juve!" cried Fandor, "if I hadn't had the bad luck to upset the lamp,
+we should have caught this frightful beast."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Probably, but what should we have done with it? After all, it's better
+that it should go back to Fantômas."</p>
+
+<p>"But you haven't yet told me what happened!"</p>
+
+<p>The young man's face displayed such curiosity that Juve burst out
+laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"Journalist! Incorrigible newsmonger! All right, take notes for your
+article describing this appalling adventure. So, then, Fandor, the lamp
+once out, the hours go by, a trifle more slowly in the darkness than in
+the light. You are silent and still like a little Moses in your wicker
+cradle. As for me, armoured as I was, I tried not to stir in my bed&mdash;to
+spare the sheets&mdash;Juve is not wealthy. Midnight, one o'clock, two, the
+quarter past. How long it is!&mdash;Then, an alarm! A cat that mews
+strangely. Then comes that little hissing sound I begin to know.
+Hiss&mdash;hiss! Oh, what a horrid feeling! I guess that the window is
+opening wider. You heard, as I did, Fandor, the revolting scales grit on
+the boards. But you didn't know what it was, whereas I did know it was
+the snake! I swear to you it needed all my pluck not to flinch, for I
+wanted at any cost to see it through to the end, and know whether,
+behind this reptile, Fantômas was not going to show his vile snout.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Ah, the brute, how quickly he went to work. As I was listening, my
+muscles tense, my nerves on edge, I suddenly felt my sheet stir&mdash;the
+foul beast is trained to attack beds, remember the attack on Dixon&mdash;and
+suddenly it was the grip, furious, quick as a whip stroke, twining about
+me. I was thrown down, tossed, shaken, torn like a feather, tied up like
+a sausage!</p>
+
+<p>"My arms glued to my body, my loins hampered. I intended not to say a
+word, I had faith in my iron-work; but to be frank, I was scared,
+awfully scared. And I yelled: 'Fandor! Help!'</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, those accursed moments. He began to squeeze horribly when all at
+once I felt a cold liquid flow over my skin&mdash;blood. The brute was
+wounded. We still wrestled, and you tripped in the darkness and smashed
+the glass of the lamp, and I was choking gradually. All my life I shall
+remember it. And then, what relief, what joy when the grip slackened,
+when he gives up and makes off. The beast glided over the floor, reached
+the window, hissed frantically and vanished. There, M. Reporter, you
+have impressions from life, and rough ones, too! Well, the luck is
+turning, and I think it is veering to our quarter. Things are going from
+bad to worse for Fantômas. I tell you, Fandor, we shall nab him before
+long!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXXIII" id="XXXIII"></a>XXXIII</h2>
+
+<h3>A SCANDAL IN THE CLOISTER</h3>
+
+
+<p>Slight sounds, scarcely audible, disturbed the peace of the cloister. In
+the absolute silence of the night, vague noises could be distinguished.
+Furtive steps, whisperings, doors opened or shut cautiously. Then the
+blinking light of a candle shone at a casement, two or three other
+windows were illuminated and the hubbub grew general. Voices were heard,
+frightened interjections, the stir increased in the long corridor on
+which cells opened. Generally the curtains of these cells were
+discreetly drawn; now they were being pulled aside. Drowsy faces looked
+out of the gloom; the excitement increased.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister Marguerite! Sister Vincent! Sister Clotilde! What is it? What is
+happening? Listen!"</p>
+
+<p>The alarmed nuns gathered at the far end of the passage. The worthy
+women, roused from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> their rest, had hastily arranged their coifs, and
+chastely wrapped themselves in their flowing robes. They turned their
+frightened faces toward the chapel.</p>
+
+<p>"Burglars!" murmured the Sister who was treasurer of the convent,
+thinking of the cup of gold that the humble little sisterhood preserved
+as a relic with jealous care.</p>
+
+<p>Another Sister, recently come from the creuse, from which she had been
+driven by the laws, did not conceal her fears.</p>
+
+<p>"More emissaries of the government! They are going to turn us out!"</p>
+
+<p>The Senior, Sister Vincent, quivering with alarm, stammered:</p>
+
+<p>"It is a revolution&mdash;I saw that in '70."</p>
+
+<p>A heap of chairs under the vaulting suddenly toppled down. Panic
+stricken, the sisters crowded closed together, not daring to go to the
+chapel, which was joined to the passage by a little staircase.</p>
+
+<p>"And the Mother Superior, what did she think of it all&mdash;what would she
+say?"</p>
+
+<p>They drew near the cell, a little apart from the others, occupied by the
+lady, who, on taking the headship of the "House," had brought with her
+precious personal assistance and a good deal of money as well. Sister
+Vincent, who had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> gone forward and was about to enter the little
+chamber, drew back.</p>
+
+<p>"Our Holy Mother," she informed the others, "is at her prayers."</p>
+
+<p>At this very moment broken cries rang down the passage. Sister Frances,
+the janitress, who everyone believed was calmly slumbering in her lodge,
+suddenly appeared, her eyes wild, her garments in disarray.</p>
+
+<p>The sisters gathered round her, but the helpless woman shrieked, quite
+beside herself.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me go! Let us flee! I have seen the devil! He is there! In the
+church! It is frightful!"</p>
+
+<p>Mad with terror, the Sister explained in disjointed phrases what had
+alarmed her. She had heard a noise and fancied it might be the
+gardener's dog shut by mistake in the chapel. Then behold! At the moment
+she entered the choir the stained-glass window above the shrine of St.
+Clotilde, their patroness, suddenly gave way, and through the opening
+appeared a supernatural being who came toward her ejaculating words she
+could not understand. Armed with a great cudgel, he struck right and
+left, making a terrible uproar.</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon the janitress made an effort to escape, but the demon barred
+her path, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> a sepulchral voice commanded her to go for the Mother
+Superior and bid her come at once, if she did not want the worst of
+evils to fall upon the sisterhood.</p>
+
+<p>She had scarcely finished when an echoing crash was heard. The sisters
+suppressed a cry, and as they turned, pale with dread, before them stood
+their Mother Superior. With a sweeping gesture, she vaguely gave a
+blessing as if to endow them with courage, then turned to the janitress.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Sister Françoise, calm yourself! Be brave! God will not forsake
+us! I intend to comply with the desire of the stranger. I will go
+alone&mdash;with God alone!" Lady Beltham made a mighty effort to disguise
+the emotion she felt. Slowly she went down the steps and entered the
+sanctuary, where she halted in a state of terror.</p>
+
+<p>The choir was lit up. The tapers were flaring on the high altar, and in
+the middle of the chapel, wrapped in a large black cloak, his face
+hidden by a black mask, stood a man, mysterious and alarming.</p>
+
+<p>"Lady Beltham!"</p>
+
+<p>At the sound of this voice, Lady Beltham fancied she recognised her
+lover.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want? What are you doing? It is madness!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Nothing is madness in Fantômas!"</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham pressed her hands to her heart, unable to speak.</p>
+
+<p>The voice resumed: "Fantômas bids you leave here, Lady Beltham. In two
+hours you will go from this convent; a closed motor will be waiting for
+you at the back of the garden, at the little gate. The vehicle will take
+you to a seaport, where you will board a vessel which the driver will
+indicate; when the voyage is over you will be in England: there you will
+receive fresh orders to make for Canada."</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham wrung her hands in despair.</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you wish to force me to leave my dear companions?"</p>
+
+<p>"Were you not ready to leave everything, Lady Beltham, to make a new
+life for yourself with&mdash;him you love?"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas!"</p>
+
+<p>"Remember last Tuesday night at the Neuilly mansion!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! You should have carried me off then, not left me time to think it
+over. Now I am no longer willing."</p>
+
+<p>"You will go! Yes or no. Will you obey?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will&mdash;for, after all, I love you!"</p>
+
+<p>The two tragic beings were silent for a moment, listening; outside the
+church the uproar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> grew in violence, brief orders were being shouted, a
+blowing of whistles. Suddenly, uttering a hoarse cry, the ruffian
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"The police! The police are on the track of Fantômas! Juve's police.
+Well, this time Fantômas will be too much for them. Lady Beltham&mdash;till
+we meet again."</p>
+
+<p>Beating a rapid retreat behind a pillar of the chapel he vanished. Lady
+Beltham found herself alone in the chapel. Five minutes later the heavy
+steps of the police sounded in the passages. They went through the
+house, searching for clues, then disappeared in the darkness of the
+night.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham addressed the nuns:</p>
+
+<p>"A great peril threatens our sisters of the Boulevard Jourdan. They must
+be warned at all costs and at once. And it is necessary that I, and I
+only, should go to warn them. Have no fear. No harm will happen to me. I
+know what I am doing."</p>
+
+<p>Under the appalled eyes of the sisterhood the Mother Superior slowly
+passed from the assembled community with a sweeping gesture of farewell.
+The moment she was alone, she ran to the far end of the garden and
+passed through the little gate in the wall behind the chapel. She was
+gone!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>While these strange occurrences were in progress at the peaceful convent
+of Nogent, and the flight of Lady Beltham at the bidding of Fantômas was
+effected under the eyes of the sisters, no little stir was manifest in
+the environs of La Chapelle, in the dreaded region where the hooligans,
+forming the celebrated gang of Cyphers, have their haunts.</p>
+
+<p>A certain misrule reigned in the confederation, due to the fact that
+Loupart had not been seen for some time. None of its members believed
+for an instant the newspaper story that Loupart had turned out to be
+Fantômas&mdash;the elusive, the superhuman, the improbable, the weird
+Fantômas. This was beyond them. Good enough to stuff the numskull of the
+law with such a tale, but there was no use for it among the gang of
+Cyphers.</p>
+
+<p>That same evening there was considerable excitement at the station in
+the Rue Stephenson. Detectives, inspectors, real or sham hooligans, were
+assembled there.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is that gentleman?" asked M. Rouquelet, the Commissary of the
+district, pointing to a young man seated in a corner of the room, taking
+notes on a pad.</p>
+
+<p>Juve, to whom the query was addressed, turned his head.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why, it's Fandor, Jerome Fandor, my friend."</p>
+
+<p>Juve was seated at the magistrate's table, comparing papers, documents,
+and material evidence; he had, standing round him men in uniform or
+mufti. One might have thought it the office of a general staff during a
+battle. The door opened to a man dressed like a market gardener.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Léon?" asked Juve.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Inspector, it is done. We have nabbed the 'Cooper.'"</p>
+
+<p>A sergeant of the 19th Arrondissement appeared and saluted.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Inspector, my men are bringing in 'The Flirt.' Her throat is cut."</p>
+
+<p>"Is her murderer taken?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet&mdash;there are several of them&mdash;but we know them. The wounded woman
+was able to tell us their names. They 'bled' her because they suspected
+her of giving us information."</p>
+
+<p>M. Rouquelet telephoned to Lâriboisière for an ambulance, and the
+officers went to see the victim, who was lying on a stretcher in the
+hall. At that moment, the sound of a struggle hurried Juve to the
+entrance of the station. Some officers were hauling in a youth with a
+pallid complexion and wicked eyes. Fandor recognised the captive.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It's that little collegian who bit my finger the night of the
+Marseilles Express!"</p>
+
+<p>Léon, who had drawn near, likewise identified the youth.</p>
+
+<p>"I know him, that's Mimile. His account is settled, he is jugged!"</p>
+
+<p>The hall of the station filled once more: an old woman, dragged in
+forcibly, was groaning and bawling at the top of her voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Pack of swine! Isn't it shameful to treat a poor woman so!"</p>
+
+<p>"M. Superintendent," explained one of the men, "we caught this woman,
+Mother Toulouche&mdash;in the act of stowing away in her bodice a bundle of
+bank notes just passed to her by a man. Here they are."</p>
+
+<p>The constable handed the packet to the magistrate, and Fandor, who was
+watching, could not repress an exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!&mdash;Notes in halves! Suppose they belong to M. Martialle! Allow me, M.
+Rouquelet, to look at the numbers."</p>
+
+<p>"In with Mother Toulouche!" cried the Superintendent, then rubbing his
+hands he turned to Juve and cried:</p>
+
+<p>"A fine haul, M. Inspector. What do you think?"</p>
+
+<p>But Juve did not hear him; he had drawn Fan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>dor into a corner of the
+office and was explaining:</p>
+
+<p>"I have done no more at present than have Lady Beltham shadowed, but I
+do not mean to arrest her. You see, if I asked Fuselier for a warrant
+against Lady Beltham, a person legally dead and buried more than two
+months ago, that excellent functionary would swallow his clerk, stool
+and all, in sheer amazement."</p>
+
+<p>At that moment a cyclist constable, dripping with sweat and quite out of
+breath, came in and hastening straight to Juve, cried:</p>
+
+<p>"I come from Nogent!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, M. Inspector, they saw a masked man come out of the convent,
+wrapped in a big cloak. They gave chase&mdash;he fired a revolver twice and
+killed two officers."</p>
+
+<p>"Good God! It was certainly&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"We thought, too&mdash;that perhaps&mdash;after all&mdash;it was&mdash;it was Fantômas!"</p>
+
+<p>"Juve!" called the Commissary. "You are wanted on the telephone. Neuilly
+is asking for you."</p>
+
+<p>The detective picked up the receiver.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello! hello! Is that you, Michel? Yes. What is it? In a motor? Oh, you
+have taken the driver. But he&mdash;curse it! Who the devil is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> this man who
+always escapes us? What? He is in Lady Beltham's house! You have
+surrounded the house? Good, keep your eyes open! Do nothing till I
+come."</p>
+
+<p>Juve hung up the receiver and turned to Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Fantômas is at Lady Beltham's; shut up in the house. I am going there."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go with you."</p>
+
+<p>As the two men left the station, they were met by Inspector Grolle.</p>
+
+<p>"We have taken 'The Beard' at Daddy Korn's," he cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Confound that!" shouted Juve, as he jumped into a taxi with Fandor.
+"Neuilly! Boulevard Inkermann, and top speed!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXXIV" id="XXXIV"></a>XXXIV</h2>
+
+<h3>FANTÔMAS' REVENGE</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Phew! Here I am!"</p>
+
+<p>Checking his headlong course at the top of the terrace steps, Fantômas
+rapidly entered the house, then double-locked himself in. The ruffian at
+once inspected the fastenings of the windows and doors on the ground
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>The monster cocked his ear. Three calls of the horn sounded dolefully in
+the silence of the night. Fantômas counted them anxiously and then
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"There! That's my signal! My driver is taken."</p>
+
+<p>A slight shudder shook the sturdy frame of the man. He went up to the
+first floor and peered through the shutters. He caught the sound of
+footsteps. In the light of a street lamp he suddenly descried the
+outline of his driver. The latter, among half a score of policemen, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>
+walking, head bent, with his hands fettered.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor fellow!" he murmured. "Another who has to pay! Ah! they have left
+my 'sixty horse' for my use presently. But there is no time to lose,
+I'll bet that Juve, flanked by his everlasting journalist, will not be
+long in coming here. Very well! Juve, it is not as master that you will
+enter this house, but as a doomed man!"</p>
+
+<p>Fantômas now became absorbed in a strange task which claimed all his
+attention. On the floor of the dark closet where all the electric gear
+of the house terminated, the bandit laid a sort of oblong fusee that he
+drew from his capacious cloak.</p>
+
+<p>He fitted to the end of this fusee two electric wires previously freed
+of their insulator; then having verified the tie of the pulls of the
+distribution board, he hid the cartridge under a little lid of wood.
+Then he left the closet, taking care to double-lock the door.</p>
+
+<p>"These detectives," he growled, "are about to witness the finest
+firework display imaginable and, I dare say, take part in it, too.
+Dynamite can transform a respectable middle-class house into a sparkling
+bouquet of loose stone!"</p>
+
+<p>Such was, indeed, the fearful reception Fantômas held in reserve for his
+opponents. He had made everything ready to blow up the house and escape
+unhurt himself.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>If Juve and Fandor had paid more attention to the piping of the wires,
+they would have seen that some of them ran outside the house and
+disappeared below ground, reappearing at the far end of the property in
+an old deserted woodshed.</p>
+
+<p>Fantômas was about to leave the house. He was already stepping onto the
+terrace when, suppressing an oath, he wheeled about suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>As Juve and Fandor were about to enter the grounds, Detective Michel
+rose up out of the dusk.</p>
+
+<p>"That you, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," replied Juve, "is the bird in the nest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, and the cage is well guarded, I assure you. Fifteen of my men
+kept a strict guard round the house."</p>
+
+<p>"Good. Here is the plan of action. You, Sergeant, will enter the house
+with Inspector Michel, at my back. The men will continue to watch the
+exit."</p>
+
+<p>Juve broke off sharply. He saw the door of the house open a little way
+and Fantômas appear, then vanish again inside the house.</p>
+
+<p>"At last!" cried Juve, who sprang forward, followed by Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>"Slowly, gentlemen! We have now victory in sight, we mustn't imperil it
+by rashness. You remain on the ground floor. Each one in a room,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> and
+don't stir without good reason. I am going up."</p>
+
+<p>"I am going with you," exclaimed Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>The two went cautiously up the stairs to the first floor.</p>
+
+<p>"Fantômas!" challenged Juve, halting on the landing, "you are caught;
+surrender!"</p>
+
+<p>But the detective's voice only roused distant echoes; the big house was
+silent.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, this is what we must do," he cautioned Fandor. "Above us is a
+loft&mdash;we will search it first; if it is empty, we will close it again.
+Then we will come down again, taking each room in turn and locking it
+after us. At the slightest sound fling yourself on the ground and let
+Fantômas fire first; the flash of the shot will tell us where it comes
+from."</p>
+
+<p>The two man-hunters searched the loft without success. At the first
+floor Juve repressed a slight tremor, for the handle of the door leading
+into Lady Beltham's room creaked ominously. He opened it, springing
+aside quickly, expecting to be fired at. The room was empty, no trace of
+Fantômas. The two passed into another room, then as soon as their
+visitation was completed locked up the apartment.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, as they reached the foot of the stairs, Juve gave a violent
+start. From the door of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> drawing-room a shadow, black from head to
+foot, came bounding out. Quick as lightning the form crossed the
+ante-room, then plunged by a low entrance into the cellarage.</p>
+
+<p>Two shots rang out!</p>
+
+<p>Fantômas drew behind him a big bar and prided himself on the barrier he
+thus put between his pursuers and himself. But despite his consummate
+confidence, he was beginning to feel a certain uneasiness, an undeniable
+anxiety. His black mask clung to his temples, dripping with sweat.</p>
+
+<p>He crossed the basement to the little air-hole overlooking the garden.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a way of escape," he thought, "unless&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But, baffled, he ceased his inspection.</p>
+
+<p>"Curse it! There are three policemen before that exit."</p>
+
+<p>He scraped a match and reviewed the place in which he found
+himself&mdash;which for that matter he knew better than any one.</p>
+
+<p>Facing him stood the dilapidated stove and at his feet shimmered the
+cistern.</p>
+
+<p>All at once Fantômas clenched his fists. Under the increasing blows of
+the detective and his men the door of the basement yielded. Above the
+crash of the boards and iron-work Juve's voice rang out:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Fantômas! Surrender!"</p>
+
+<p>Fantômas groped in the darkness. His hand came on a bottle. A crackle of
+shattered glass was heard, Fantômas had taken the bottle by the neck and
+broken it against the wall.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Juve, revolver in hand, followed by Fandor, moved cautiously down the
+stairs to the cellar: both men were brave, yet they felt their hearts
+beating as though they would burst.</p>
+
+<p>Juve reached the last step. He pressed the knob of his electric torch; a
+rush of light lit up the little room. It was empty!</p>
+
+<p>Juve went the round of the cellar, carefully inspecting the walls and
+sounding them with the butt of his revolver. He went round the cistern.
+Its surface was black and still. A broken bottle, floating head
+downward, remained half immersed, absolutely motionless.</p>
+
+<p>Fandor laid his hand on the detective's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you hear; some one breathed!"</p>
+
+<p>Beyond doubt some one had breathed!</p>
+
+<p>"Idiots that we are! He is in there," cried Juve, pointing to the pipe
+of the great stove.</p>
+
+<p>The detective caught sight in a corner of a number of bundles of straw.</p>
+
+<p>"That is what we want, Fandor! We are going to make a bonfire."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When the opening of the furnace was fitted, Juve set a light to it and
+the flames rose, crackling, while up the pipe of the heater rose a
+pungent smoke, thick and black.</p>
+
+<p>"And now to the openings of the stove! Sergeant! Michel! This way!"</p>
+
+<p>Through the apertures in the ground-floor rooms the great stove was
+beginning to smoke.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>A broken bottle with the bottom gone was floating head downward on the
+black water of the tank. Scarcely had Juve and Fandor gone than the
+water was stirred, and slowly the mysterious bottle rose again to the
+top. Behind it rose the head of Fantômas, still wrapped in the black
+hood which now clung to his face like a mask moulded on the features.</p>
+
+<p>Dripping, he issued from the tank and breathed hard for some moments.
+Despite his ingenious contrivance for feeding his lungs he was not far
+from suffocating.</p>
+
+<p>"All the same," he growled, "if I hadn't remembered the plan of the
+Tonkingese who lie stretched at the bottom of a river for hours at a
+time, breathing through hollow reeds, I think that time we should have
+exchanged shots to some purpose!"</p>
+
+<p>Fantômas was wringing out his garments in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> haste when loud cries sounded
+above his head, and two or three shots rang out. At the same time a
+sudden stirring took place in and around the house. He turned it to
+account by going at once to the air-hole. Now there was no one on guard,
+so Fantômas put his head through, then his shoulders.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"That's all right; the brute is dead!"</p>
+
+<p>Juve was examining curiously the creature which lay helpless on the
+floor. Two trembling sergeants stood at the door of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"We were expecting Fantômas to appear and a snake unrolls itself and
+springs in our faces!" cried Fandor.</p>
+
+<p>Half emerging from the mouth of the heater the monstrous body of a boa
+constrictor lay on the floor. The men Juve had brought into the house
+were resolute, ripe for anything, but never did they imagine that
+Fantômas could assume such an unexpected shape. And terrified,
+overwhelmed with dread, they recoiled in a frenzy of fear and fled,
+calling on their mates outside, who at once ran to their assistance.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir!" A terrified voice called from outside.</p>
+
+<p>Juve rushed to the window. A dripping creature, clad in black from head
+to foot, crossed the garden, running toward the servants' quarters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> It
+was Fantômas. Juve swore a great oath: "There he is! Getting away!"</p>
+
+<p>The detective left his cry unfinished.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>As he issued by the air-holes, Fantômas leaped forward. He was free!</p>
+
+<p>"Juve scored the first game, the second is mine," he cried.</p>
+
+<p>He reached the woodshed. With a practised hand he turned the electric
+tap which ignited a spark in the dark closet behind the pantry.</p>
+
+<p>"I win!" shouted Fantômas, as a terrible explosion made itself heard.</p>
+
+<p>The earth shook, a huge column of black smoke rose skywards, explosion
+followed explosion. The roar of falling walls was mingled with fearful
+cries and dying groans.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Beltham's villa had been blown up, burying under its ruins the
+hapless men who in their pursuit of Fantômas had ventured too near.
+Assuredly this arch-criminal had got away once more. But were Juve and
+Fandor among the dead?</p>
+
+
+<p>THE END<br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> See "Fantômas."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> See "Fantômas."</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<div class="tnote">
+
+<h3>Transcriber's Note</h3>
+
+<p>The following printer's errors have been corrected.</p>
+
+Page  48     'turnd' to 'turned'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">'Loupart turned and tramped'</span><br /><br />
+
+Page  83     'reasurred' to 'reassured'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">'Juve quickly reassured him'</span><br /><br />
+
+Page  96     'than' to 'then'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">'then in a voice'</span><br /><br />
+
+Page 158     'Mechancially' to 'mechanically'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">'mechanically she went forward'</span><br /><br />
+
+Page 176     'grenery' to greenery'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">'under the arch of greenery'</span><br /><br />
+
+Page 221     'unkown' to 'unknown'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">'identity should remain unknown'</span><br /><br />
+
+Page 252     'vistors' to 'visitors'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">'The porter led his visitors'</span><br /><br />
+
+Page 266     'acccomplice' to 'accomplice'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">'was indeed the accomplice of'</span><br /><br />
+
+Page 270     'later' to 'latter'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">'the latter rose and began'</span><br /><br />
+
+Page 295     'drpping' to 'dripping'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">'dripping with sweat'</span><br />
+
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPLOITS OF JUVE***</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Exploits of Juve, by Pierre Souvestre and
+Marcel Allain
+
+
+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 Exploits of Juve
+       Being the Second of the Series of the "Fantômas" Detective Tales
+
+
+Author: Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 2, 2009  [eBook #30586]
+Most recently updated: May 11, 2011
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPLOITS OF JUVE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Woodie4, Suzanne Shell, and the Project Gutenberg
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from digital
+material generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
+(http://www.archive.org/details/americana)
+
+
+
+Note: Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      http://www.archive.org/details/exploitsofjuvebe00souviala
+
+
+      There has been some confusion about the authors of
+      this book. The cover credits Pierre Souvestre and
+      Marcel Allain, but the title page lists Emile
+      Souvestre and Marcel Allain. Pierre Souvestre
+      (1874-1914) and Marcel Allain (1885-1969) were
+      contemporaries, while Emile Souvestre (1806-1854)
+      was the great-uncle of Pierre and died before
+      Marcel Allain was born.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE EXPLOITS OF JUVE
+
+Being the Second of the Series of the "Fantomas" Detective Tales
+
+by
+
+EMILE SOUVESTRE and MARCEL ALLAIN
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York
+Brentano's
+1917
+
+Copyright, 1917, by Brentano's
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                  PAGE
+
+       I. THE COMRADES' TRYST                                  1
+
+      II. ON THE TRACK                                        14
+
+     III. BEHIND THE CURTAIN                                  22
+
+      IV. A WOMAN'S CORPSE                                    33
+
+       V. LOUPART'S ANGER                                     42
+
+      VI. THE LARIBOISIERE HOSPITAL                           50
+
+     VII. A REVOLVER SHOT                                     58
+
+    VIII. THE SEARCH FOR THE CRIMINAL                         64
+
+      IX. IN THE REFRIGERATORY                                70
+
+       X. THE BLOODY SIGNATURE                                75
+
+      XI. THE SHOWER OF SAND                                  81
+
+     XII. FOLLOWING JOSEPHINE                                 90
+
+    XIII. ROBBERY; AMERICAN FASHION                           99
+
+     XIV. FLIGHT THROUGH THE NIGHT                           107
+
+      XV. THE SIMPLON EXPRESS DISASTER                       113
+
+     XVI. A DRAMA AT THE BERCY WAREHOUSE                     118
+
+    XVII. ON THE SLABS OF THE MORGUE                         131
+
+   XVIII. FANTOMAS' VICTIM                                   142
+
+     XIX. THE ENGLISHWOMAN OF BOULEVARD INKERMANN            147
+
+      XX. THE ARREST OF JOSEPHINE                            153
+
+     XXI. AT THE MONTMARTRE FETE                             165
+
+    XXII. THE PUGILIST'S WHIM                                176
+
+   XXIII. "STATE'S EVIDENCE"                                 185
+
+    XXIV. A MYSTERIOUS CLASP                                 192
+
+     XXV. THE TRAP                                           204
+
+    XXVI. AT THE HOUSE OF BONARDIN, THE ACTOR                212
+
+   XXVII. THE MOTHER SUPERIOR                                222
+
+  XXVIII. AN OLD PARALYTIC                                   230
+
+    XXIX. THROUGH THE WINDOW                                 238
+
+     XXX. UNCLE AND NEPHEW                                   245
+
+    XXXI. LOVERS AND ACCOMPLICES                             256
+
+   XXXII. THE SILENT EXECUTIONER                             268
+
+  XXXIII. A SCANDAL IN THE CLOISTER                          280
+
+   XXXIV. FANTOMAS' REVENGE                                  291
+
+
+
+
+EXPLOITS OF JUVE
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE COMRADES' TRYST
+
+
+"A bowl of claret, Father Korn."
+
+The raucous voice of big Ernestine rose above the hubbub in the
+smoke-begrimed tavern.
+
+"Some claret, and let it be good," repeated the drab, a big, fair damsel
+with puckered eyes and features worn by dissipation.
+
+Father Korn had heard the first time, but he was in no hurry to comply
+with the order.
+
+He was a bald, whiskered giant, and at the moment was busily engaged in
+swilling dirty glasses in a sink filled with tepid water.
+
+This tavern, "The Comrades' Tryst," had two rooms, each with its
+separate exit. Mme. Korn presided over the first in which food and drink
+were served. By passing through the door at the far end, and crossing
+the inner courtyard of the large seven-story building, the second "den"
+was reached--a low and ill-lit room facing the Rue de la Charbonniere,
+a street famed in the district for its bad reputation.
+
+At a third summons, Father Korn, who had sized up the girl and the crowd
+she was with, growled:
+
+"It'll be two moons; hand over the stuff first."
+
+Big Ernestine rose, and pushing her way to him, began a long argument.
+When she stopped to draw a breath, Korn interposed:
+
+"It's no use trying that game. I said two francs and two francs it is."
+
+"All right, I won't argue with a brute like you," replied the girl.
+"Everyone knows that you and Mother Korn are Germans, dirty Prussians."
+
+The innkeeper smiled quietly and went on washing his glasses.
+
+Big Ernestine glanced around the room. She knew the crowd and quickly
+decided that the cash would not be forthcoming.
+
+For a moment she thought of tackling old Mother Toulouche, ensconced in
+the doorway with her display of portugals and snails, but dame
+Toulouche, snuggled in her old shawl, was fast asleep.
+
+Suddenly from a corner of the tavern, a weary voice cried with
+authority:
+
+"Go ahead, Korn, I'll stand treat."
+
+It was the Sapper who had spoken.
+
+A man of fifty who owed his nickname to the current report that he had
+spent twenty years in Africa, both as a soldier and a convict.
+
+While Ernestine and her friends hastened to his table, the Sapper's
+companion, a heavily built man, rose carelessly and slouched off to join
+another group, muttering:
+
+"I'm too near the window here."
+
+"It's Nonet," explained the Sapper to Ernestine. "He's home from New
+Caledonia, and he doesn't care to show himself much just now."
+
+The girl nodded, and pointing to one of her companions, became
+confidential. "Look at poor Mimile, here. He's just out of quod and has
+to start right off to do his service. Pretty tough."
+
+The Sapper became very interested in the conversation. Meanwhile Nonet,
+as he crossed the tap-room, had stopped a few moments before a pretty
+girl who was evidently expecting some one.
+
+"Waiting again for the Square, eh, Josephine?" Nonet inquired.
+
+The girl, whose big blue eyes contrasted strikingly with her jet black
+hair, replied:
+
+"Why not? Loupart doesn't think of quitting me that I know of."
+
+"Well, when he does let me know," Nonet suggested smilingly.
+
+Josephine shrugged her shoulders contemptuously, and, glancing at the
+clock above the bar, rose suddenly and left the tap-room.
+
+She went rapidly down the Rue Charbonniere and along the boulevard, in
+the direction of the Barbes Metropolitan Station. On reaching the level
+of the Boulevard Magenta, she slackened and walked along the right-hand
+pavement toward the centre of Paris.
+
+"My little Jojo!"
+
+The girl who, after leaving the tavern, had assumed a quiet and modest
+air, now came face to face with a stout gentleman with a jovial face and
+one gleaming eye, the other eye being permanently closed. He wore a
+beard turning grey and his derby hat and light cane placed him as
+belonging to the middle class.
+
+"How late you are, my adored Jojo," he murmured tenderly. "That accursed
+workshop been keeping you again after hours?"
+
+The mistress of Loupart checked a smile.
+
+"That's it!" she replied, "the workshop, M. Martialle."
+
+The man addressed made a warning gesture.
+
+"Don't mention my name here; I'm almost home." He pulled out his watch.
+"Too bad; I'll have to go in or my wife will kick up a row. Let's see,
+this is Tuesday; well, Saturday I'm off to Burgundy on my usual
+half-monthly trip. Meet me at the Lyons station, platform No. 2,
+Marseilles express. We won't be back till Monday. A delightful week-end
+of love-making with my darling who at last consents.... What's that!"
+
+The stout man broke off his impassioned harangue. A beggar, emerging
+from the darkness, importuned him:
+
+"Have pity on me, kind sir."
+
+"Give him something," urged Josephine.
+
+The middle-aged lover complied and tenderly drew away the pretty girl,
+repeating carefully the details of the assignation:
+
+"Lyons Station; a quarter past eight. The train leaves at twenty to
+nine."
+
+Then suddenly dropping Josephine's arm:
+
+"Now, sweetheart, you'd better hurry home to your good mother, and
+remember Saturday."
+
+The outline of the portly personage faded into the night. Loupart's
+mistress shrugged her shoulders, turned, and made her way back to the
+"Tryst," where her place had been kept for her.
+
+At the back of the tavern, the group which Nonet had joined were
+discussing strange doings. "The Bear," head of the band of the Cyphers,
+had just returned from the courthouse. He brought the latest news.
+Riboneau had been given ten years, but was going to try for a reduced
+sentence.
+
+The talk suddenly dropped. A hubbub arose outside, a dull roar which
+waxed louder and louder. The sound of hurrying footsteps mingled with
+shrill cries and oaths. Doors in the street slammed. A few shots were
+fired, followed by a pause, and then the stampede began again.
+
+Father Korn, deserting his bar, warily planted himself at the entry to
+his establishment, his hand on the latch of the door. He stood ready to
+bar entrance to any who might try to press in.
+
+"The raid," he warned in a low tone.
+
+His customers, glad to feel themselves in safety, followed the
+vicissitudes of what to them was almost a daily occurrence.
+
+First came the frenzied rush of the "street walkers," deserted by their
+sinister protectors and fleeing madly in search of shelter in terror of
+the lock-up. Behind the shrieking herd the constables, in close ranks,
+swept and cleared the street, leaving no corner, no court, no door that
+remained ajar unsearched. Then the whirl swept away, the noise died
+down, and the street resumed its normal aspect: drab, weird and
+alarming.
+
+Father Korn laughed. "All they've bagged is Bonzville!" he cried, and
+the customers responded to his merriment. The police had been fooled
+again. Bonzville was a harmless old tramp, who got himself "jugged"
+every winter on purpose to lay up for repairs.
+
+The passage of the "driver" had caused enough stir in the tap-room to
+distract attention from the entry at the back of a stoutly built man
+with a bestial face, known by the title of "The Cooper."
+
+Swiftly he passed to the Beard's table, and, taking the latter aside,
+began:
+
+"The big job is fixed for the end of the week. On my way back from the
+station I saw Josephine palavering with the swell customer...."
+
+Suddenly the Beard stopped him short.
+
+The general attention had become fixed on the street entrance to the
+tap-room. The door had opened with a bang and Loupart, alias "The
+Square," the popular lover of the pretty Josephine, came on the scene,
+his eyes gleaming, his lips smiling under his upturned moustache.
+
+Then there broke out cries of stupefaction. Loupart was between two
+policemen, who had stopped short in the doorway.
+
+The Square turned to them: "Thank you, gentlemen," he said in his most
+urbane tone. "I am very grateful to you for having seen me this far. I
+am quite safe now. Let me offer you a drink to the health of authority!"
+
+However, the two policemen did not dare to enter the tavern, so they
+briefly declined and made off. Josephine had risen, and Loupart, after
+pressing a tender kiss upon her lips, turned to the company.
+
+"That feazes you, eh! I was just heading this way when I ran into the
+drive. As I'm a peaceful citizen, I got hold of two cops and begged them
+to see me safely home. They thought I was really scared."
+
+There was a burst of general laughter. No one could bluff the police
+like the Square.
+
+Loupart turned to Josephine: "How are things going, ducky?"
+
+The girl repeated in a low tone to her lover her recent talk with M.
+Martialle.
+
+Loupart nodded approvingly, but grumbled when he found the meeting was
+fixed for Saturday.
+
+"Hang the fellow! Must hustle with all the jobs on hand this week.
+Anyway, we won't let this one slip by. Plenty of shiners, eh,
+Josephine?"
+
+"You bet. He carries the stuff to his partners every fortnight."
+
+"That's first rate, but in the meantime there's something doing
+to-night. Here, kiddy, take a pen and scratch off a letter for me."
+
+The Square dictated in a low voice:
+
+"Sir, I am only a poor girl, but I've some feeling and honesty and I
+hate to see wrong done around me. Believe me, you'd better keep an eye
+open on some one pretty close to me. Maybe the police have already told
+you I am the mistress of Loupart, alias the Square. I'm not denying it;
+in fact, I'm proud of it. Well, I swear to you that this Loupart is
+going to try a dirty game."
+
+Josephine stopped writing.
+
+"Look here, what are you at?"
+
+"Scribble, and don't bother yourself. This doesn't concern you," replied
+Loupart drily.
+
+Josephine waited, docile and ready, but the Square's attention was now
+focussed upon Ernestine, her young man and the generous Sapper.
+
+"Yes," Ernestine was explaining to Mimile while the Sapper nodded
+approvingly, "the Beard is, as you might say, the head of the band of
+Cyphers, next to Loupart, of course. To belong to the Beard's gang
+you've got to have done up at least one guy. Then you get your Number 1.
+Your figure increases according to the number of deaders you have to
+your credit."
+
+"So then," inquired Mimile, with eager curiosity, "Riboneau, who has
+just been sentenced, is called number 'seven' because ..."
+
+"Because," added the Sapper in his serious voice, "because he has killed
+off seven."
+
+In a few curt questions the Square posted himself as to young Mimile,
+who had impressed him favourably.
+
+Josephine turned to Loupart: "What else am I to put in the letter? Why
+are you stopping?"
+
+For answer, the Square suddenly sprang to his feet, seized a half-empty
+bottle and flung it on the floor, where it broke. This act of violence
+sent the company scattering, and Loupart roared out:
+
+"It's on account of spies that I'm stopping! By God! When are we going
+to see their finish? And besides," he added, staring hard at Ernestine,
+"I've had enough of all this nonsense; better clear out of here or
+there'll be trouble."
+
+Cunningly, with bloodshot eyes, her fists clenched in fury, but humbly
+submissive, the girl made ready to comply. She knew the Square was
+master, and there was no use standing out against his will.
+
+The Sapper himself, growling, picked up his change, little disposed to
+have a row, and beckoning to his comrade, Nonet, effected a humble exit
+under cover of the girl Ernestine.
+
+Loupart's arm fell upon the shoulder of Mimile, who alone seemed to defy
+Josephine's formidable lover.
+
+"Hold on, young 'un," ordered Loupart. "You seem to have some nerve;
+better join us."
+
+Mimile's eyes lighted up with joy.
+
+"Oh!" he stammered, "Loupart, you'll take me in the Cypher gang?"
+
+"Maybe," was the enigmatic reply. Then with a shove he sent the young
+man to the back of the den. "Must go and talk it over with the Beard."
+Without paying heed to the thanks of his new recruit, Loupart continued
+his dictation to Josephine.
+
+As the Sapper and Nonet went quickly down the Rue Charbonniere, Nonet
+inquired:
+
+"Well, chief, what do you think of our evening?"
+
+The individual that the hooligans of La Chapelle knew by the nickname of
+the Sapper, and who was no other than Inspector Michel, slowly stroked
+his long beard:
+
+"Not much," he declared, "except that we've been bluffed by the Square."
+
+"Why not round up the bunch?" suggested Nonet, who was known as
+Inspector Leon.
+
+"It's easy enough to talk, but what can two do against twenty? Who wants
+to take such risks for sixty dollars a month?"
+
+In the meantime Josephine was writing at the Square's dictation:
+
+     "I know, sir, that to-morrow Loupart will be at Garnet's wine-shop
+     at seven o'clock, which you know is to the right as you go up the
+     Faubourg Montmartre, before you reach the Rue Lamartine. From there
+     he will go to Doctor Chaleck's to tackle the safe, which is placed,
+     as I told you, at the far side of the study, facing the window,
+     with its balcony overlooking the garden. I wouldn't have meddled in
+     the matter except that there'll be something worse regarding a
+     woman. I can't tell you any more, for this is all I know. Make the
+     best of it, and for God's sake never let Loupart know the letter
+     was sent to you by the undersigned.
+
+                                              "Very respectfully,"
+
+
+About to sign her name, Josephine looked up, trembling and anxious.
+
+"What does it mean, Loupart? You've been drinking, I'm sure you have!"
+
+"Sign, I tell you," calmly replied the Square, and the girl, hypnotised,
+proceeded to trace in her large clumsy hand, her name, "Josephine
+Ramot."
+
+"Now put it in an envelope."
+
+From the end of the saloon the Beard was signalling Loupart.
+
+"What is it?" the latter cried, annoyed at the interruption.
+
+The Beard came near and whispered:
+
+"Important business. The dock man's scheme is going well--it'll be for
+the end of the week, Saturday at latest."
+
+"In four days, then?"
+
+"In four days."
+
+"All right," declared Josephine's lover, "we'll be on hand. It'll be a
+big haul, I hear."
+
+"Fifty thousand at least, the Cooper told me."
+
+Loupart nodded, waved the Beard aside and resumed:
+
+"Address it to
+
+                                  "Monsieur Juve,
+
+                                      "Commissioner of Safety,
+
+                                           "At the Prefecture, Paris."
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+ON THE TRACK
+
+
+The daily paper, _The Capital_, was about to go to press. The editors
+had handed over the last slips of copy with the latest news.
+
+"Well, Fandor," asked the Secretary, "nothing more for me?"
+
+"No, nothing."
+
+"You won't spring a 'latest' on me?"
+
+"Not unless the President of the Republic should be assassinated."
+
+"Right enough. But don't joke. Lord, there's something else to be done
+just now."
+
+The "setter up" appeared in the editor's rooms:
+
+"I want sharp type for 'one,' and eight lines for 'two.'"
+
+Discreetly, as a man accustomed to the business, Fandor withdrew on
+hearing the request of the "setter up," avoiding the searching glance of
+the sub-editor, who forthwith to meet the demands of the paging, called
+at random one of the reporters and passed on the order to him.
+
+"Some lines of special type; eight lines. Take up the Cretan question on
+the Havas telegrams. Be quick!"
+
+Fandor picked up his hat and stick and left the office. His berth as
+police-reporter meant a constantly active and unsettled existence. He
+was never his own master, never knew ten minutes beforehand what he was
+going to do, whether he might go home, start on a journey, interview a
+minister or risk his life by an investigation in the world of thugs and
+cut-throats.
+
+"Deuce take it!" he cried as he passed the office door and saw what the
+time was. "I simply must go to the courts, and it's already very
+late...." He ran forward a few paces, then stopped short. "And that
+porter murdered at Belleville!... If I don't cover that affair I shall
+have nothing interesting to turn in...."
+
+He retraced his steps, looking for a cab and swearing at the narrowness
+of the Rue Montmartre, where the inadequate pavements forced the foot
+passengers to overflow on to the roadway, which was choked with
+costermongers' carts, heavy motor-buses, and all that swarm of vehicles
+which gives a Paris street an air of bustle unequalled in any other
+capital in the world. As he was about to pass the corner of the Rue
+Bergere, a porter laden down with sample boxes, strung on a hook, ran
+into him, almost knocking him down.
+
+"Look where you're going!" cried the journalist.
+
+"Look out yourself," replied the man insolently.
+
+Fandor, with an angry shrug of his shoulders, was about to pursue his
+way, when the man stopped him.
+
+"Sir, can you direct me to the Rue du Croissant?"
+
+"Follow the Rue Montmartre and take the second turning to the right."
+
+"Thank you, sir; could you give me a light?"
+
+Fandor could not repress a smile. He held out his cigarette. "Here; is
+that all you want to-day?"
+
+"Well, you might offer me a drink."
+
+Fandor was about to answer sharply when something in the man's face
+seemed vaguely familiar. He was about sixty. His clothes were threadbare
+and green with age, his shoes down at the heels, his moustache and
+shaggy beard a dirty yellow.
+
+"Why the devil should I stand you a drink?"
+
+"A good impulse, M. Fandor."
+
+In a moment the man's features seemed to change. He appeared quite a
+different person and Fandor recognised who was speaking to him.
+Accustomed by long habit to conceal his impressions, the journalist
+spoke nonchalantly:
+
+"All right; let's go to the 'Grand Charlemagne.'"
+
+They started off together, reached the Faubourg Montmartre and entered a
+small wine-shop. Having taken their seats and ordered drinks, Fandor
+turned to the porter.
+
+"What's up?" he asked.
+
+"It takes you a long time to recognise your friends."
+
+Fandor scrutinised his companion.
+
+"You are wonderfully made up, Juve."
+
+On hearing his name mentioned, the man gave a start. "Don't utter my
+name! They know me here as old Paul."
+
+"But why the disguise? Who are you after? Is it anything to do with
+Fantomas?"
+
+Juve shrugged his shoulders. "Let's leave Fantomas out of it," he said.
+"At least for the moment. No, my lad, it's a very commonplace affair
+to-day, and I wouldn't have bumped into you except that I have an hour
+to while away and wanted your company."
+
+"This disguise for a commonplace affair?" cried Fandor. "Come, Juve,
+don't keep me in the dark."
+
+Juve laughed at his friend's eagerness.
+
+"You'll always be the same. When it's a matter of detective work,
+there's no keeping you out of it. Well, here's the information you're
+after. Read that."
+
+He passed Fandor a greasy, ill-written letter. Fandor took it in at a
+glance.
+
+"This refers to Loupart, alias the Square?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you call it a commonplace affair? But, look here, can you trust
+information given by a loose woman?"
+
+"My dear Fandor, the police largely depend upon such tips, given through
+revenge by women of that class."
+
+"Well, I'm going with you."
+
+"No, I won't have you mixed up in this business; it's too dangerous."
+
+"All the more reason for my being in it! What is really known about this
+Loupart?"
+
+"Very little, unfortunately," rejoined Juve. "And it's the mystery
+surrounding him which makes us uneasy. Although he has been involved in
+some of the worst crimes, he has always managed to escape arrest. He is
+supposed to be one of an organised gang. In any case, he's a resolute
+scoundrel who wouldn't hesitate to draw his gun in case of need."
+
+Fandor nodded.
+
+"His arrest will make bully copy."
+
+"And for the pleasure of writing a sensational story you want to put
+your life in peril again!" Juve smiled sympathetically as he spoke. He
+had known the young journalist, when, scarcely grown up, he had been
+involved in the weird affairs of "Fantomas."
+
+Fandor was an assumed name. Juve recalled the young Charles Rambert,
+victim of the mysterious Fantomas, the most redoubtable ruffian of
+modern times, whom Juve declared to be Gurn and still alive, although
+Gurn had supposedly died on the scaffold. He recalled the sensational
+trial and the terrible revelations that had appalled society. Gurn he
+had then affirmed to be the lover of the Englishwoman, Lady Beltham.
+Gurn it was who had killed her husband, and Gurn was no other than
+Fantomas.
+
+He recalled the tragical morning when Gurn, in the very shadow of the
+scaffold, had found means to send in his stead an innocent victim,
+Valgrand, the actor.
+
+"When will you begin to draw in your net?" inquired Fandor.
+
+Juve motioned to his companion to be silent and listen.
+
+"Fandor, you hear what that man's singing; the one drinking at the
+bar?"
+
+"Yes, 'The Blue Danube.'"
+
+"Well, that gives me the answer. We shall soon be on Loupart's tracks.
+By the way, are you armed?"
+
+"If you won't run me in for carrying concealed weapons I'll confess that
+Baby Browning is in my pocket."
+
+"Good. Now, then, listen to my directions. Loupart was seen at the
+markets this morning by two of my watchers, and you may be sure he
+hasn't been lost sight of since. Reports I have received indicate that
+he will presumably go to the Chateaudun cross-roads and from there to
+the Place Pigalle, in the direction of Doctor Chaleck's house. We shall
+nab him at the cross-roads. Needless to say we are not going to keep
+together. As soon as our man comes in sight you will pass on ahead,
+walking at his pace on the same pavement and without turning round."
+
+"And if Loupart doesn't appear?"
+
+"Why then--" began Juve. "The deuce! There's another customer whistling
+'The Blue Danube.' It's time to be off."
+
+"Are those your agents whistling?" asked Fandor, as they left the shop.
+
+"No."
+
+"What! Isn't it a signal?"
+
+"It is, and you'll be able to find your trail by the passers-by who
+whistle that air."
+
+While talking, the journalist and the detective arrived at the
+Chateaudun cross-roads. Juve cast an eye over the ground.
+
+"It's six o'clock. Be off and prowl around Notre Dame de Lorette.
+Loupart will probably come out of that wine-shop you see to the right.
+You can easily recognise him by his height and a scar on his left
+cheek."
+
+"Look here, Juve, why should these people whistle 'The Blue Danube' if
+they are not detectives?"
+
+Juve smiled. "It's quite simple. If you whistle a popular tune in a
+crowd, some one is bound to take it up. Well, the two men I put to
+watching Loupart this morning were whistling this same tune, and now we
+are meeting persons who caught the air."
+
+Fandor crossed the road and proceeded toward Notre Dame de Lorette to
+the post the detective had allotted to him. The man hunt was about to
+begin.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+BEHIND THE CURTAIN
+
+
+The Cite Frochot is shut in by low stone walls, topped by grating round
+which creepers intertwine.
+
+The entry to its main thoroughfare, shaded by trees and lined with small
+private houses, is not supposed to be public, and a porter's lodge to
+the right of the entrance is intended to enforce its private character.
+
+It was about seven in the evening. As the fine spring day drew to a
+close, Fandor reached the square of the Cite. For an hour past the
+journalist had been wholly engaged in keeping track of the famous
+Loupart, who, after leaving the saloon, had sauntered up the Rue des
+Martyrs, his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth.
+
+Fandor allowed him to pass at the corner of the Rue Claude, and from
+there on kept him in view.
+
+Juve had completely disappeared.
+
+As Loupart, followed by Fandor, was about to enter the Cite Frochot, an
+exclamation made them both turn.
+
+Fandor perceived a poorly dressed man anxiously searching for something
+in the gutter. A curious crowd had instantly collected, and word was
+passed round that the lost object was a twenty-five-franc gold piece.
+
+Fandor, joining the crowd, was pushed close to the man, who quickly
+whispered:
+
+"Idiot! Keep out of the Cite."
+
+The owner of the gold piece was no other than the detective. Then, under
+cover of loud complaint, Juve muttered to Fandor, "Let him go! Watch the
+entrance to the Cite!"
+
+"But," objected Fandor in the same key, "what if I lose sight of him?"
+
+"No fear of that. The doctor's house is the second on the right." The
+hooligan, who had for a moment drawn near the crowd, was now heading
+straight for the Cite.
+
+Juve went on: "In a quarter of an hour at the latest join me again, 27
+Rue Victor Masse."
+
+"And if Loupart should enter the Cite in the meantime?"
+
+"Come straight back to me."
+
+Fandor was moving off when Juve addressed him out loud: "Thank you, kind
+gentlemen! But as you are so charitable, give me something more for
+God's sake."
+
+The other drew near the pretended beggar and Juve added:
+
+"If anyone questions you as you pass through, say you are going to
+Omareille, the decorator's; you'll find me on the stairs."
+
+Some moments later the little crowd had melted away and a policeman,
+arriving as usual too late, wondered what had been going on.
+
+Fandor carried out Juve's instructions to the letter. Hiding behind a
+sentry box he kept an eye on the doctor's house, but nothing out of the
+way happened. Loupart had vanished, although he was probably not far
+away. When the fifteen minutes were up Fandor left his post and entered
+No. 27 Rue Victor Masse. As he reached the third floor he heard Juve's
+voice:
+
+"Is that you, lad?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"The porter didn't question you?"
+
+"I've seen no one."
+
+"All right, come up here."
+
+Juve was seated at a hall window examining Doctor Chaleck's house
+through a field glass.
+
+"You've not seen Loupart go in?" he inquired as Fandor joined him.
+
+"Not while I was on watch."
+
+"It's well to know one's Paris and have friends everywhere, isn't it?"
+continued Juve. "It occurred to me quite suddenly that this might be an
+excellent place from where to follow citizen Loupart's doings. You would
+have spoiled everything if you had followed him into the Cite. That's
+why I devised my little scheme to hold you back."
+
+"You are right," admitted Fandor, who, the next moment, gave a jump as
+Juve's hand gripped him hard.
+
+"Look, Fandor! The bird is going into the cage!"
+
+The journalist, excited, saw a figure already familiar to him in the act
+of slipping into the little garden which separated Dr. Chaleck's house
+from the main thoroughfare.
+
+The detective went on: "There he goes, skirting the house until he
+reaches the little door hidden in the wall. What's he up to now? Ah!
+He's fumbling in his pocket. False keys, of course."
+
+They saw Loupart open the door and make his way into the house.
+
+"What comes next?" inquired Fandor.
+
+"We are going to tighten the net which the silly bird has hopped into,"
+rejoined Juve, as he bolted down the stairs, and added as a
+precautionary measure: "While I question the porter, you slip by me
+into the main street. I have every reason to believe that M. Chaleck has
+been absent for two days, and as soon as I get this information, I shall
+pretend to go away, and then--the rest is my concern."
+
+Juve's program was carried out in all points.
+
+To his questions, the porter replied:
+
+"Why, sir, I can't really say. I saw Doctor Chaleck go off with his bag
+and I haven't seen him come back. However, if you care to see for
+yourself----"
+
+"No, thanks," replied Juve, "I'll return in a few days. But look out,
+your lamp's flaring!"
+
+As the porter turned to remedy the trouble, Juve, instead of going off
+to the right, quickly followed the direction Fandor had taken and caught
+up with the latter just outside Doctor Chaleck's house.
+
+"Now for our plan of campaign," he said. "It's darker now than it will
+be later when the street lamps are lit and the moon rises. That
+excellent Josephine sent me a rough plan of the house. You see there are
+two windows on the ground floor on either side of the hall. Naturally
+they belong to the dining-room and drawing-room. The window to the right
+on the first floor is evidently that of the bedroom. On the left, this
+window with a balcony belongs to the study of our dealer in death!
+That's where we must plant ourselves. Understand, Fandor?"
+
+The journalist nodded. "I understand."
+
+The two men advanced carefully, holding their breath and halting at
+every step. To catch the ruffian in the act they must reach the study
+without giving the alarm.
+
+The first story of Doctor Chaleck's house was only slightly raised above
+the ground: by the aid of a drain-pipe, Juve and Fandor managed without
+difficulty to hoist themselves on to the balcony.
+
+"Here's luck," cried Juve. "The study window is wide open!"
+
+After putting on a pair of rubbers and making Fandor remove his boots,
+the two men entered the room. Juve's first precaution was to test the
+two halves of the window. Finding that their hinges did not creak, he
+fastened the latch and drew the curtains.
+
+"We'll risk a light," he whispered, taking out a pocket-lamp, which lit
+up the room sufficiently to allow him to take his bearings.
+
+The study was elegantly furnished. In the middle was a huge desk piled
+with papers, reports, and files. To the right of the desk in the corner
+opposite the window and half hidden by a heavy velvet curtain was the
+door leading to the landing. A large corner sofa occupied the space of
+two wall panels. A set of book-shelves covered a whole wall. Here and
+there cosy armchairs invited meditation.
+
+"I don't see the famous safe," Murmured Fandor.
+
+"That's because your eyes aren't trained," replied the detective. "Look
+at that corner sofa, topped by that richly carved bracket. Observe the
+thick appearance of the delicate mahogany panel. You may be quite sure
+that it hides a solid steel casket which the best tools would have no
+easy job to cut through. That little moulding you see to the right can
+be easily pushed aside."
+
+Here Juve, with the precision of an expert, set the woodwork in motion
+and showed the astonished Fandor a scarcely visible key-hole.
+
+"Now, let's put out the light and hide ourselves behind the curtains.
+Luckily they are far enough from the window for our presence not to be
+noticed."
+
+For about an hour the men remained motionless, then, weary of standing,
+they squatted on the floor. Each had his revolver ready to hand.
+
+Ten had just struck from a distant clock when suddenly a slight sound
+reached their attentive ears.
+
+The two had whiled away the time of waiting by drilling the curtains
+with a small penknife. These holes were invisible at a distance, but
+enabled them to see what was going on in the room.
+
+The noise continued, slow and measured; some one was walking about in
+the adjacent rooms without any attempt to disguise the sound. Evidently
+Loupart believed himself quite alone in the house of the absent doctor.
+
+The steps drew nearer, and Fandor, in spite of his courage, felt the
+rapid beating of his heart. The handle of the door leading from the hall
+to the study was turned, and some person entered the room.
+
+There was an instant of silence, and then the desk was suddenly lit up.
+The new-comer had found the switch. But he was not Loupart.
+
+He seemed a man of forty and wore a brown beard, brushed fan-shape; a
+noticeable baldness heightened his forehead. On his strongly arched nose
+a double eye-glass was balanced. Suddenly, having looked at the clock
+which marked half-past eleven, he began to loosen his tie and unbutton
+his waistcoat and then went out, leaving the study lit as if intending
+to come back.
+
+"It's Chaleck!" exclaimed Fandor.
+
+"Just so," replied the detective. "And this complicates matters; we may
+have to protect him as well as his safe."
+
+Indeed, Juve's first impulse was to go straight to Doctor Chaleck,
+apprise him of the situation, and, under his guidance, search the house
+thoroughly. But that would have put Loupart on the alert. It would be
+taking too great a chance. If Juve should lay hands on him outside of
+Chaleck's house he would have no right to hold him. For the subtle power
+of Loupart, that well-loved hooligan of the purlieus of Paris, lay in
+his remaining constantly a source of fear, always a suspect without ever
+being caught with the goods.
+
+Coming back to his first idea of insuring Chaleck's safety, Juve said to
+himself: "The doctor is coming back here, that's sure, and we must
+protect him without his knowing it. That is the best plan for the
+present."
+
+Sure enough after an absence of ten minutes Chaleck returned to the
+study and seated himself at his desk. He had now changed into his
+pajamas.
+
+Time passed.
+
+When the little Empire time piece which decorated the mantel struck
+three, Fandor, for all his anxiety, could not repress a yawn: the night
+was long and thus far had been devoid of incidents. From their
+hiding-place, he and Juve kept an eye on Doctor Chaleck. When did the
+man sleep?
+
+Nothing in the physician's countenance betrayed the slightest weariness.
+He examined numerous documents spread out on the desk, and also wrote a
+letter which he sealed by lighting a candle and melting some wax. He
+lingered a good twenty minutes afterwards, then finally put out the
+lights and left the room.
+
+The room was now in total darkness. The journalist and the detective
+listened a few moments longer as a precaution, but nothing happened to
+break the hush of the waning night.
+
+Half an hour more and the outlines of the two would be visible on the
+thin curtains. It was high time to be off.
+
+Fandor and Juve rose with difficulty to their feet, so cramped were
+their legs from the enforced rigidity.
+
+"What now?" asked Fandor.
+
+"Listen!" Juve abruptly gripped the other's arm as a fresh noise came to
+their ears. This time it was not the footsteps of a man walking
+carelessly, but weird creakings, sly gropings. The noise stopped, began
+again and again stopped. Where did it come from?
+
+"This room is a mass of hangings," muttered Juve.
+
+"It's impossible to locate those sounds or determine their origin."
+
+"You would suppose," began Fandor----
+
+But he stopped short. The door had opened, the light was switched on
+and Doctor Chaleck appeared once more, probably disturbed in his sleep
+by the mysterious noises.
+
+Chaleck gave a quick glance round the room, and then, to the
+consternation of the two men, he took a few steps toward the window,
+revolver in hand. At this moment dull creakings were heard, apparently
+coming from the landing. Chaleck turned quickly, and, leaving the door
+open, went out. An increase of light indicated that the other rooms in
+the house were being searched, and as the lights were gradually switched
+off again, it was apparent that Chaleck was concluding his domiciliary
+visit without having noticed anything abnormal.
+
+The two remained still for an hour longer, although they had heard
+Chaleck go back to his room and lock himself into it.
+
+Meantime the daylight was growing brighter, and in a little while the
+neighbourhood would be awake.
+
+"We must slip out," decreed Juve, as he turned the hasp of the window
+with infinite care and set it ajar to reach the balcony.
+
+A few moments later Juve had shed his disguise and the two men drew
+breath in the middle of the Place Pigalle, having fled ignominiously
+like common criminals.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+A WOMAN'S CORPSE
+
+
+"Well, Juve, I suppose you'll agree with me that Josephine's information
+was a piece of pure fiction," said Fandor as they turned into the Rue
+Pigalle.
+
+"You are talking nonsense," replied Juve.
+
+"But," protested the other, "we arrived punctually at the place
+appointed, and most assuredly nothing happened there."
+
+"We were punctual, it is true, but so was Loupart. Josephine's letter
+gave us two items of information: That her lover would be at Doctor
+Chaleck's house and that he would rob the safe. Events have proved her
+correct in one case. As to the second, while he did not break open the
+safe, nothing proves that he had not that intention. He may have been
+frustrated by the unexpected appearance of Doctor Chaleck, or he may
+have discovered that we were following him."
+
+At this moment Fandor pointed out to Juve three men who were running
+toward them, violently gesticulating.
+
+"What does that mean?" he asked.
+
+Before Juve could reply one of the men, much out of breath, inquired:
+"Well, chief!"
+
+"Why, it's Michel and Henri and Leon!" Then, turning to Fandor, he
+explained: "Three inspectors."
+
+Michel repeated the question: "Well, chief, what's up?"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"You've just come from the Cite Frochot, chief?"
+
+Juve was amazed. "Look here," he said, "where do you come from, Michel?
+The Prefecture?"
+
+"No, chief, from the head office of No. IX."
+
+"Then how do you know we were at the Cite Frochot?"
+
+Taken aback, Michel replied: "Why, from seeing you here, after the
+affair."
+
+"What affair?" insisted Juve.
+
+"Well, chief, it's this way. The three of us were on duty this morning
+at the Rue Rochefoucauld Station. About twenty minutes ago the telephone
+rang and I heard a woman asking in a broken and choked voice if it was
+the police station. On my answering it was, she begged me to come to
+the rescue, crying, 'Murder! I'm dying!'"
+
+"What then?" questioned Juve.
+
+"Then I asked who was speaking, but unfortunately Central had cut me
+off."
+
+"You made inquiries?"
+
+"Yes, chief, and after a quarter of an hour Central told me that only
+one subscriber had called up the police station, the number being
+928-12, name of Doctor Chaleck in the Cite Frochot."
+
+"I suppose you asked for the number again?"
+
+"I did, but I could get no reply."
+
+After a pause, during which Juve was lost in thought, the officer added
+timidly: "We'd better hurry if a crime has been committed."
+
+Juve beckoned Michel to him.
+
+"There are too many of us," he said. "You come along, Michel; the other
+two must go back to the station and be ready to join us in case of
+need."
+
+The two officers and Fandor went hurriedly up the Rue Pigalle and came
+to a halt by Doctor Chaleck's door.
+
+A loud ringing brought no reply. It was repeated, and finally a voice
+cried: "Who is there; what's the matter?"
+
+"Open," ordered Juve.
+
+"To whom do you wish to speak?"
+
+"To Doctor Chaleck." And Juve added: "Open, it's the police."
+
+"The police! What the deuce do they want with me?"
+
+"You'll soon find out," answered Michel. "Do you suppose we'd be making
+this row if we were criminals?"
+
+Doubtless convinced by this reasoning, Doctor Chaleck decided at length
+to open his door.
+
+"What do you want with me?" he repeated.
+
+Juve quickly explained matters.
+
+"We've just had a telephone message to say that some ruffians, possibly
+murderers, are in your house."
+
+"Murderers!" cried Chaleck in amazement. "But whom could they murder?
+I'm living here alone."
+
+At this assertion, Juve, Fandor and Michel looked at each other,
+mystified.
+
+"Well, in any case we must search your house from top to bottom," said
+Juve, and added as an afterthought: "I suppose you are thoroughly
+satisfied that we come with honest intentions?"
+
+Doctor Chaleck smiled:
+
+"Oh! Inspector Juve's features are very well known to me, and I place
+myself entirely at his disposition."
+
+The three men, led by Chaleck, ransacked all the rooms on the ground
+floor; finding nothing suspicious, they then went up to the floor above.
+
+"I have only three more rooms to show you, gentlemen," said the doctor.
+"My bathroom, my bedroom and my study."
+
+The bathroom disclosed nothing of interest, and Chaleck, throwing open
+the door of another room, announced, "My study."
+
+Scarcely had Fandor set foot in the study, from which he and Juve had so
+recently made their escape, when a cry burst from his lips:
+
+"Good God! How horrible!"
+
+The apartment was in the greatest disorder. Overturned chairs bore
+witness to a violent struggle. One of the mahogany panels of the desk
+had been partly smashed in. A window curtain was torn and hanging, and
+the small gas stove was broken.
+
+Fandor, at the first glance, saw what appeared to be a long trail of
+blood, extending from the window to the desk. Stepping forward quickly,
+he discovered the body of a woman frightfully crushed and covered with
+blood.
+
+"Dead some time," cried Fandor. "The body is cold and the blood already
+congealed."
+
+Juve tranquilly examined the room, and took in its tragic horror. "The
+telephone apparatus is overturned," he muttered to himself. "There has
+been a struggle between the victim and the murderer. Ah!--theft was the
+object of the crime."
+
+"Theft!" cried Doctor Chaleck, coming forward.
+
+"Look, doctor, your safe has been overturned, broken in and ransacked,"
+answered Juve, as he and Fandor cautiously lifted the woman. The body
+was a mass of contusions and appeared to be one large wound.
+
+Juve turned to the doctor, who, livid with consternation, was holding up
+a small grey linen bag which had contained his bonds.
+
+"Come, doctor, calm yourself and give us some information. Can you make
+anything of it?"
+
+"Nothing! nothing! I heard nothing. Who is this woman? I don't know
+her!"
+
+Fandor pointed to a small shoe lying in a corner.
+
+"A fashionable woman," he said.
+
+"Quite so," was Juve's reply, and putting his hands on Chaleck's
+shoulders he inquired: "A friend of yours, a mistress, eh? Come now,
+don't deny it."
+
+"Deny!" protested the doctor, "deny what? You are not accusing me, are
+you? I know nothing of what has taken place here, and, as you see, have
+been robbed into the bargain."
+
+"Is she a patient of yours?"
+
+"I don't practise."
+
+"A visitor, perhaps?"
+
+"No one has been to see me to-day."
+
+"It is not your maid?"
+
+"No; I tell you. I am living here all by myself."
+
+"Have you noticed this, sir?" put in Michel, as he gave Juve a
+handkerchief on which some vicious, greyish substance was spread in
+thick layers.
+
+"Shoemakers' wax," Juve explained, after a brief glance at it. "That
+explains the burns we noticed. The murderer covered his victim's face
+with the handkerchief to prevent identification." Then, turning to
+Fandor, he went on in a low tone:
+
+"But it doesn't explain how and when the crime was committed. Less than
+an hour ago we were in this very room, and the burgling of the safe
+alone would take fully an hour."
+
+Michel, ignorant of this fact, was for arresting the doctor.
+
+"Look here," he said sharply to Chaleck, "we've had enough yarns from
+you; now tell us the truth."
+
+"But, good God! I have told you the truth!" cried Chaleck.
+
+"And you heard nothing, although you were only a few yards away?"
+
+"Nothing at all. I sat up working very late last night. When I went to
+bed, nothing had happened in the least suspicious. Oh, by the way,
+toward morning I did hear a slight noise. I rose and went over the
+house, even coming into this room. I found everything in order."
+
+"That's a likely tale!"
+
+"Here's a proof of what I say! When I returned to this study I used that
+candle and sealing wax to seal my letter, which, as you can see, is
+still here. Your ring at the bell awoke me not more than twenty minutes
+later, just as I was getting to sleep again."
+
+"Lies!" cried Michel, turning to Juve. "Shall I arrest him?"
+
+"The doctor is telling the truth," replied Juve, half regretfully.
+
+Chaleck seemed very much relieved.
+
+"Oh, you'll help me, won't you? Get me out of this abominable affair!"
+
+As a matter of fact, Chaleck had accounted for his time with exact
+truthfulness.
+
+Juve crossed the room and drew aside the curtains; upon the floor he
+pointed out to Fandor traces of mud. It was there that he and the
+journalist had stood.
+
+"Doctor," said Juve at length, "I must ask you not to go out this
+morning. I am going to headquarters to ask them to send experts in
+anthropometry. We must photograph in detail the appearance of your
+study; then I will come back and make an extended inquiry and I shall
+want you. Michel, remain here with the doctor."
+
+Without further words, Juve, followed by Fandor, left the house of
+mystery, jumped into the first cab that passed and, mopping his
+forehead, cried:
+
+"It's astounding! This murder presents mysteries worthy of Fantomas
+himself!"
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+LOUPART'S ANGER
+
+
+Loupart was taking a fruit cure. It was about ten in the morning, and
+along the Rues Charbonniere, Chartres and Goutte d'Or the women hawkers,
+driven from central Paris by the police, were making for the high ground
+of the populous quarters.
+
+Loupart strolled along the pavement, making grabs at the barrows,
+picking a handful of strawberries or cherries as he went by. If by
+chance the dealer complained, she was quickly silenced by a chaffing
+speech or a stern glance.
+
+The hooligan stopped at the "Comrades' Tryst," in front of which Mother
+Toulouche had set out a table with a large basket of winkles.
+
+"Want to try them?" suggested the old woman on catching sight of
+Josephine's lover.
+
+"Hand me a pin," he answered harshly, and in a few moments had emptied
+half a dozen shells.
+
+"Friend Square, I've something to say to you."
+
+"Out with it, then."
+
+But before the old woman could reply, a noise of roller skates coming
+down the pavement made her turn.
+
+Loupart looked round with a smile.
+
+"Why here comes the auto-bus," he cried.
+
+A cripple moving at a great pace came plump into the basket of
+shell-fish. The speed with which he travelled had earned him the
+nickname of the Motor. He was said to be an old railway mechanic, who
+had lost both legs in an accident.
+
+"Motor," cried Mother Toulouche, "I have to be away for ten minutes or
+so; look after my basket, will you?"
+
+Following the old dame to her den Loupart entered with difficulty, on
+account of the great quantity of heterogeneous objects with which it was
+crowded. The product of innumerable thefts lay heaped up pell-mell in
+this illicit bazaar.
+
+Dame Toulouche, having shut the door, plunged into her subject.
+
+"Big Ernestine is furious with you, Loupart."
+
+"If she's threatening me," the hooligan replied, "I'll soon fix her."
+
+"No, big Ernestine didn't want to fight, but she was annoyed at the
+public affront put upon her by Josephine's lover when he drove her from
+'The Good Comrades' the evening before last without any reason."
+
+"Without any reason!" growled Loupart. "Then what was her business with
+those spies, the Sapper and Nonet?"
+
+"That can't be! Not the Sapper!"
+
+"Spies, I tell you; they belong to headquarters."
+
+The old receiver of stolen goods cast up her eyes. "And they looked such
+decent people, too! Who can one trust?"
+
+Loupart, for reply, suddenly picked up a scarf pin set with a diamond,
+and, tossing the old Woman a five-dollar piece, said as he left the
+room: "You can tell Ernestine that I bear her no malice."
+
+Loupart had hardly gone a few steps along the Rue Charbonniere, when, at
+the corner of the Rue de Chartres, he bumped into a passer-by who was
+coming down the street.
+
+Loupart burst out laughing: "What! Can this be you, Beard? What's
+happened to you?"
+
+It certainly needed a practised eye to recognise the famous leader of
+the Cypher gang. For the Beard, who owed his name to an abnormal hairy
+development, was clean shaved; in addition, he wore a soft, greenish
+hat and was clad in a suit with huge checks.
+
+"You told me to make up as an American."
+
+"I did, and you've made yourself look like a hayseed juggins. For
+Heaven's sake, take it off. By the way, what about young Mimile?"
+
+"He's with us."
+
+"Well, get him the togs of a collegian for the job at the docks. What
+night do we bring it off?"
+
+"Saturday night, unless the Cooper changes the time."
+
+Loupart bent close to the ear of his lieutenant.
+
+"Is he--easy to recognise?"
+
+"No chance of making an error. Lean, togged in dark clothes and with one
+goggle eye."
+
+Loupart touched the "Beard's" arm.
+
+"First-class tickets for everybody."
+
+"How many will there be?"
+
+"Five or six."
+
+"Women, too?"
+
+"No, only my girl. But you can bet we shan't be bored!" With these
+words, Loupart walked away. He stopped a little later at the second
+house in the Rue Goutte d'Or, a decent-looking house with carpet on the
+stairs.
+
+On reaching the fifth floor, he knocked several times on the door facing
+him, but without reply. This annoyed him; he didn't like Josephine to
+sleep late, and he expected her to be always ready when he condescended
+to come and fetch her.
+
+Josephine was a pretty burnisher from Belleville, and Loupart, who had
+met her at a ball in that quarter six months ago had made her his
+favourite mistress.
+
+Among the bullies and drabs that frequented the place, Josephine had
+appeared to him seductive, charming, almost virginal, and the popular
+hooligan had promptly chosen her from her sisters of the underworld.
+
+Certainly Josephine had no reason to complain of her lover's conduct,
+and if at times he demanded of her a blind submission, he never treated
+her with that fierce brutality which characterised most of his fellows.
+But if Josephine had felt any leaning toward a good life, or any
+scruples of conscience, she must necessarily have thrown them overboard
+as soon as her connection with Loupart began. With a different start in
+life she might have become an honest little woman, but circumstances
+made her the mistress of a hooligan ring-leader, and, everything
+considered, she had a certain pride in being so, without imitating the
+vulgar and brutal behaviour of her companions.
+
+At the third summons, Loupart, none too patient, drove the door in with
+a vigorous shove of his shoulders.
+
+Josephine's apartment, a comfortable and spacious room, with a fine
+bird's-eye view of Paris, was empty.
+
+Fancying his mistress was at some neighbour's gossiping, he bawled:
+"Josephine! Come here!"
+
+Heads appeared, looking anxiously out of rooms on the same floor.
+
+"Where is Josephine?" Loupart cried.
+
+Mme. Guinon came forward.
+
+"I don't know," she replied, stammering. "She complained of pains in her
+stomach last evening, and I was told she's gone."
+
+"Gone? Gone where?" stormed Loupart.
+
+"Why, I don't know; it was Julie who told me."
+
+A freckled face, half hidden by a matted shock of hair, appeared. Julie
+was not reticent like her mother. She explained in a hoarse, alcoholic
+voice:
+
+"It's quite simple. When I came in last night about four I heard groans
+in Josephine's room. I went to see and found Josephine writhing in pain
+as if she had been--poisoned."
+
+"What did you do then?"
+
+"Oh, nothing," declared Julie. "I just trotted away again; it wasn't my
+business, but the Flirt came and meddled in it."
+
+"The Flirt! Where is she?"
+
+The Flirt, a faded, wrinkled woman of fifty, appeared from a doorway
+where she had been listening.
+
+"Where is Josephine?" demanded Loupart.
+
+"At Lariboisiere hospital, ward 22, since you want to know."
+
+After a moment's amazement, Loupart broke out furiously:
+
+"You sent off Josephine in the middle of the night! You took her to a
+hospital for a little indigestion! Without asking my consent! Why she's
+no more ill than I am!"
+
+"Have to believe she is," replied the Flirt, "since the 'probes' have
+kept her."
+
+Loupart turned and tramped downstairs swearing.
+
+"She'll come out of that a damned sight quicker than she went in!"
+
+A few moments later Loupart entered Father Korn's saloon. Having set
+forth his plans to that worthy, the latter proceeded to demolish them.
+
+"You can't do anything to-day, so there's no use trying. You'll have to
+wait till to-morrow at midday, the proper visiting hour."
+
+Loupart recognised the truth of the publican's assertion and, calling
+for writing paper, sat down and scrawled a letter to his mistress.
+
+"Motor," he cried to the cripple who was still at Mother Toulouche's
+basket, "tumble along with this note to Lariboisiere; look sharp, and
+when you get back I'll stand you a glass."
+
+As the cripple hurried away he was all but knocked down by a newsboy,
+running and shouting:
+
+"Extra! Extra! Get _The Capital_. Extraordinary and mysterious crime of
+the Cite Frochot. Murder of a woman."
+
+"Shall I get a copy?" asked the publican.
+
+Loupart stalked out of the saloon without turning.
+
+"Oh, I know all about that," he cried.
+
+Father Korn stood rooted to the spot at Loupart's answer.
+
+"What! He knows already!"
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+THE LARIBOISIERE HOSPITAL
+
+
+The clerk, who had admitted Juve, withdrew, and M. de Maufil, the
+amiable director, gave the police officer his most gracious smile.
+
+"When I applied this morning at headquarters for an officer to be sent
+here, I scarcely expected to receive so celebrated a detective, upon a
+matter which is really very commonplace."
+
+"Your letter to M. Havard mentioned a person I have been looking for
+with the greatest interest for the past two days. Loupart, alias 'The
+Square,'" replied Juve, "that is why I came myself. What is it about,
+sir?"
+
+"Well, the day before yesterday, we took in at the instance of Doctor
+Patel, a patient suffering from acute gastric trouble. The woman gave us
+for identification the name of Josephine, no calling, residing in Paris,
+Rue de Goutte d'Or, in furnished rooms. Some hours after her admission
+to the hospital, she received a letter, brought by a messenger, which
+threw her into a violent state of terror. The nurse on duty sent for me,
+and I succeeded, after great difficulty, in quieting her; but she
+insisted most emphatically on leaving the hospital at once. The poor
+creature was in a high fever, and to grant her request would have been
+sending her to her death. At length she intrusted me with the letter
+which had excited her so. Here it is, kindly look it over."
+
+Juve took the letter and read:
+
+     "Am just back from the doss. You ain't there, and I don't want any
+     more of these dodges. You are no more ill than I am. See here,
+     you'll either leave the hospital and slope back to the house right
+     off or to-morrow, Friday, at visiting time, as sure as my name's
+     what it is, you'll get two bullets in your hide to teach you to
+     hold your tongue."
+
+Juve gave a grunt of satisfaction.
+
+"You understand what is going on?" asked the director.
+
+"Yes, but please go on with your story."
+
+"Well, sir, you can guess that having read this letter, I easily got
+from the girl some information as to the writer. According to what she
+told me this Loupart is her lover, and he seems to have in a high degree
+that inconceivable pride which causes folks of his class, when they
+have sworn to kill some one, to carry out their threat, no matter what
+risk they may run themselves. The girl, Josephine, is convinced that
+to-morrow Loupart will come and kill her."
+
+"You have told her that all precautions will be taken?"
+
+"Of course. I pointed out to her that people do not come in here as they
+do into a bar; that being warned, I should have all the visitors watched
+who come here and asked to see her. I repeated to her that her lover
+probably wanted to frighten her, but that he could not do anything to
+injure her. I insisted that in the state she was in it was physically
+impossible for her to obey that wretch's bidding."
+
+"And what was her answer to that?"
+
+"Nothing. Her attack of alarm having subsided she seemed to fall into a
+condition of extreme prostration. I realised quite well that she
+regarded herself as condemned, that she had a far higher opinion of
+Loupart's daring than of my watchfulness, and, lastly, if she stayed it
+was because she realised that it was out of the question for her, in her
+weak state, to go back to her home."
+
+While the director was speaking, Juve had retained a smiling and
+satisfied expression, seeming but little affected by Josephine's
+terrible plight.
+
+"I should very much like to know," continued the director, "why you said
+you knew the reasons for the threat being sent by this man to his
+mistress?"
+
+Juve hesitated some moments; then, without going into details, said: "It
+would take too long to recount the motives which prompted Loupart to
+write that letter. This Josephine whom you see to-day trembling at her
+lover's threat not so long ago supplied the police with valuable hints
+concerning him. Has he learned that? Does he know the woman has rounded
+on him? Did he fear, above all, that she would tell tales again here at
+the hospital? It is quite possible. You see he must have had very strong
+reasons for giving her the order to come home----"
+
+Juve here broke off, fingering Loupart's letter; then at length he
+placed it in his pocketbook.
+
+"I will keep this document, director; it is a tangible proof of
+Loupart's criminal intentions. If he should put his threats into
+practice it would be difficult after that to deny premeditation."
+
+"You think that such a thing is possible?"
+
+"Don't you?"
+
+"Loupart declares he will come to the hospital before three and kill his
+mistress, but surely it must be easy to render that impossible."
+
+"You think the police are all-powerful, that we can arrest would-be
+murderers and render them incapable of harm? That is an error. We are
+prevented from taking effective action by a swarm of regulations. If I
+met Loupart on the street I would not be able to arrest him. I have no
+warrant. When a man holds his life cheap and is determined to risk
+everything, he has a pretty good chance of succeeding. Of course I shall
+take every measure to prevent Loupart killing his mistress, but I'm not
+at all sure of success."
+
+"But M. Juve, we must have this girl Josephine transferred to another
+hospital if necessary."
+
+Juve shook his head.
+
+"And show Loupart we are aware of his purpose? Flatter the ruffian's
+vanity? No, we must let Loupart come, and catch him as he is about to
+commit the crime."
+
+"What do you propose to do?"
+
+"Study the hospital; arrange where to place my men," replied Juve.
+
+"In that case, I will do everything I can to help you." M. de Maufil
+rang for an attendant and bade him take Juve to Doctor Patel's
+department.
+
+Juve thanked the obliging director and took leave. The attendant
+pointed to a row of windows under the roof.
+
+"Doctor Patel's division begins at the corner window and runs to the
+window near the cornice."
+
+"What are the means of access to the female ward?"
+
+"Oh, that's quite simple, sir; you get into the woman's ward either by
+the door on the staircase or by the door at the back, which leads into
+the laboratory of the head physician, the room of the house surgeon on
+duty, and the departmental offices."
+
+"And how do visitors pass in?"
+
+"Visitors always go up the main staircase."
+
+"Now," said Juve, "show me over Doctor Patel's division."
+
+"Very good, sir. It will be all the more interesting to you, as it is
+just the visiting hour."
+
+When Juve made his way into the woman's ward, Doctor Patel was actually
+in process of seeing his patients. He was passing from bed to bed,
+questioning each of the women under treatment and listening to the
+comments of the house staff who followed him.
+
+"Gentlemen," the doctor was saying as Juve joined the group, "the
+patient we have just seen affords a very excellent and typical instance
+of intermittent fever. The serum tests have not given any appreciable
+result; it is therefore impossible to arrive at----"
+
+A hand was laid on Juve's shoulder.
+
+"Why, the tests are always absolutely indicative! Palpable typhoid, eh?
+What do you think?"
+
+Juve turned his head and could not suppress a cry of surprise.
+
+"Doctor Chaleck!"
+
+"What! M. Juve!--You here! Were you looking for me?"
+
+Juve was dumbfounded. He drew Chaleck aside.
+
+"Then you're attached to this hospital?"
+
+"Oh, I have only leave to attend the courses."
+
+"And I came here out of curiosity."
+
+"In any case, allow me to thank you for the service you rendered me the
+other day. The officer who was with you seemed to take me for the guilty
+man."
+
+"Well, you see, appearances...."
+
+"But if anyone was a victim it was I. Apart from the finding of the
+murdered woman in my house, I have been robbed!"
+
+Here the doctor broke off. A house surgeon was beckoning to him.
+
+"Forgive me," he said to Juve. "I cannot keep my colleague waiting."
+
+Leaving Chaleck, Juve went back to the attendant who had patiently
+waited for him.
+
+"Stranger than ever!" he murmured. "There is no making it all out.
+Josephine writes that Loupart means to rob Chaleck. I track Loupart and
+he gives me the slip. I spend a night in a room where I see nothing, and
+where nevertheless a horrible amazing crime is committed. The murder
+takes place scarce a yard from me, and the doctor, the tenant of the
+house, sees nothing either, and does not even know the victim who is
+found next morning on his premises! Thereupon our informant, Josephine,
+goes into hospital; pain in the stomach, they say--hem! Poison, maybe?
+Then she gets a threatening letter from Loupart. And when I come to the
+hospital to protect her, whom do I meet but Doctor Chaleck!"
+
+Juve, turning to the attendant who was escorting him, asked:
+
+"You know the person I was speaking to just now?"
+
+"Doctor Chaleck? Yes, sir."
+
+"What is his business here?"
+
+"He is a foreign doctor, I believe. I should fancy a Belgian. Anyhow, he
+is allowed by the authorities to follow the clinical courses and make
+researches in the laboratory."
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+A REVOLVER SHOT
+
+
+Doctor Patel's division presented an unusually animated appearance that
+afternoon. Not only were the patients allowed to receive visitors, but
+quite a number of strange doctors had spent the day going from bed to
+bed, note-books in hand, studying the patients and their temperature
+charts. The nurses hesitated to call these individuals doctors, and the
+patients, too, seemed aware of their true status. Whispers were hushed,
+and all eyes turned toward the far end of the ward.
+
+There, in a bed set slightly apart and near the house staff's quarters,
+lay Josephine, a prey to a racking fever and breathing with difficulty.
+
+Exactly opposite her was the bed of an old woman who had been admitted
+that morning. Her face had almost entirely disappeared under voluminous
+bandages.
+
+As the ward clock struck a quarter to three, an attendant appeared and
+announced:
+
+"In ten minutes visitors will be requested to leave."
+
+Two of the staff who had paced the ward since early in the day exchanged
+a smile.
+
+"Here's the end of the farce," remarked one; "Loupart isn't coming."
+
+"He said three; there are still thirteen minutes left," replied the
+other.
+
+"Well, every precaution is taken."
+
+"Precautions are of no use with men like Loupart."
+
+"Eleven minutes left."
+
+"What the devil could happen? There is no longer admission to the
+hospital; the visitors are leaving."
+
+"Three minutes!"
+
+"Look here, you'll end by making me think..."
+
+"Two minutes."
+
+"Well, own yourself beaten!"
+
+"One minute."
+
+Bang! Bang! Two shots from a revolver suddenly startled the silent ward.
+
+There was a moment's consternation and uproar. The patients leaped from
+their beds and sought refuge in the corners of the ward, while the two
+house surgeons and the policemen, passing as doctors, rushed in a body
+toward Josephine's bed. Doors slammed. People came hurrying from all
+quarters.
+
+Above the hubbub rose a calm voice.
+
+"What the devil! Here I am drenched! What does that mean?"
+
+The house surgeon reached the bed where the hopeless Josephine lay,
+white as a corpse, motionless. A large red blood stain was spreading on
+her sheet. Quickly the doctor uncovered the wounded woman and examined
+her.
+
+"Fainted, she has only fainted!" And, silencing all comments, he called:
+
+"Monsieur Juve! Monsieur Juve!"
+
+The old woman who, a few moments before, had been dozing, now quickly
+sprang out of bed, and, tearing off her bandages, revealed the placid
+features of detective Juve.
+
+"I understand everything except that I'm drenched to the bones,"
+declared Juve, as he crossed to Josephine's bed, oblivious to the
+amazement his appearance caused.
+
+"That's easily explained," said the house surgeon. "The girl was lying
+on a rubber mattress filled with water. One of the bullets punctured
+it."
+
+"What damage did she receive?"
+
+"A contusion on the shoulder. The murderer aimed badly owing to her
+recumbent position."
+
+Juve beckoned to the officers.
+
+"Your report? You've seen nothing?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"That's strange," declared the detective. "I kept an eye on Josephine
+myself, thinking that a movement on her part would betray the entrance
+of Loupart. She made no sign; but, however Loupart may have got in, he
+can't get out without falling into a trap. I have fifty men posted round
+the building. Now, the first point to clear up is the exact place from
+where the shot was fired."
+
+"How can we get at that?"
+
+"Very simply. By drawing an imaginary line between the spot where the
+bullet struck the mattress and where it went into the floor--extend this
+line and we find the quarter from where the shot was fired." A doctor
+came forward.
+
+"M. Juve," he said, "that would bring us to the door of the staff's
+room."
+
+"Ah, it's you, Doctor Chaleck! I'm glad to see you! You are quite right
+in your surmise. Do you see any objection to my reasoning?"
+
+"I do. I came into the ward barely two seconds before the firing. No one
+was behind me and no one was walking before me."
+
+Juve crossed to the door.
+
+"It is from here that the shots were fired!"
+
+And the detective added triumphantly as he stooped and picked up an
+object from the floor:
+
+"And this backs up my assertion!"
+
+He held out a revolver, still loaded in four chambers. "A precious bit
+of evidence!" He turned to the doctor:
+
+"Can a stranger get into the wards by this door?"
+
+"Utterly impossible, M. Juve! Only those thoroughly familiar with
+Lariboisiere can get into the ward through the laboratory. You must pass
+through the surgical divisions."
+
+The detective seated himself at the foot of the sick woman's bed and
+mechanically laid the revolver beside him. But scarcely had he done so
+when he sprang up. Upon the sheet was a tiny red speck left by the
+muzzle of the weapon.
+
+"Ah!--that's very instructive!" he cried. And as the others crowded
+round, puzzled, Juve added: "Don't you see? The murderer ran his finger
+along the barrel to steady his aim, and as the barrel is very short, the
+bullet grazed the tip of his finger which extended slightly beyond it.
+If I find anyone in the hospital with a wounded finger, I've got the
+murderer! Gentlemen, I am going to ask the director to issue orders for
+everyone within the hospital gates to pass before me. I reckon that in
+two hours at most the culprit will no longer be at large."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The attempted murder happened at three o'clock; about six o'clock, those
+who had first been examined by Juve had received permission to leave the
+hospital and were beginning to depart.
+
+With a careless step Doctor Chaleck made for the exit by which he issued
+every evening from Lariboisiere. As he was about to pass out, a police
+inspector barred his way.
+
+"Excuse me, sir. Have you a pass?"
+
+"A pass?"
+
+"Yes, sir; no one is allowed to leave to-day without a pass from M.
+Juve."
+
+The doctor looked at his watch.
+
+"The deuce," he said. "I'm late as it is. Where am I to get this pass?"
+
+"You must ask M. Juve himself for it. He is in the director's private
+room."
+
+"All right, I'll go there." And Doctor Chaleck retraced his steps.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+THE SEARCH FOR THE CRIMINAL
+
+
+"It's astounding!" declared M. de Maufil. "We have already examined
+nearly two hundred persons and found nothing."
+
+"That may be," replied Juve, "but we may discover the culprit by the two
+hundred and first hand held out to us."
+
+"There is one thing you forget, M. Juve."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"If the culprit gets wind of our method of investigation, if he has any
+notion that you are inspecting the hands of all those who desire to
+leave the hospital, he won't be such a ninny as to come and submit to
+your inspection."
+
+Juve nodded approval of the comment.
+
+"You are right; but I have taken means to obviate that difficulty."
+
+Since he had begun his inquiry on the spot, from the very moment when
+the revolver shots had rung out, the great detective was growing more
+and more sure that the arrest of the mysterious offender would be a
+matter of considerable time. The buildings of the establishment were
+extensive, and it was easy for a man to move about them without
+attracting attention. They offered really strange facilities for hiding.
+
+"Mr. Director," said Juve, "I fancy we have inspected pretty well all
+the persons who leave Lariboisiere as a rule, at this time?"
+
+"That is so."
+
+"Then we must now change our plan. Let us leave a nurse here to detain
+those who come to ask for passes, and begin a search of the hospital
+ourselves. I shall post my officers in line, each man keeping in sight
+the one behind and the one before him. At the foot of every staircase I
+shall leave a sentry. Then, beginning at the outer wall of the building
+we will drive everyone on the ground floor toward the other end. If we
+don't round up our man there, we will proceed to the floor above."
+
+"A good idea," replied M. de Maufil. "We shall catch him in a trap."
+
+When Doctor Chaleck found that the inspector watching the exit leading
+to the main door in the Rue Ambroise Pare refused him leave to pass out
+of the hospital without the sanction of the great detective, he had
+perforce to retrace his steps. Skirting the bushes in the courtyard he
+took his way toward the medical wards, turning his back on the
+directoral offices, where he might have encountered our friend Juve. He
+had taken off his white uniform and was dressed in his street clothes.
+He halted at the entrance to the long glazed gallery which extends to
+the operating rooms of the surgical department. Turning suddenly, he saw
+in the distance and coming his way Inspector Juve, accompanied by the
+director. He noticed at the same time the cordon of officers preparing
+to sweep the hospital from end to end. Mechanically, and as if bent on
+putting a certain distance between him and the new-comers, he turned
+into the glazed gallery, and reached the far end of it. He was about to
+go into the surgical ward when a nurse stopped him.
+
+"Doctor, you can't go in just now; Professor Hugard is operating and has
+given express orders that no one is to be admitted."
+
+Chaleck turned up the gallery again, but abruptly swung round again as
+he caught sight of Juve and the director just entering the gallery,
+driving before them half a dozen patients and orderlies. Chaleck joined
+this little group, which had pulled up at the end of the gallery and was
+making laughing comments on the rigid inspection to which Juve was just
+about to subject them.
+
+"Now's the time to show clean hands," joked a non-resident, "eh, Miss
+Victorine?" he added, smiling at a buxom nurse whom the chances of duty
+had blockaded in the corridor.
+
+"Depend upon it," growled one of the accountants of the administrative
+department, shrugging his shoulders, "they are making a great fuss over
+nothing. After all, no one is hurt. Just one more pistol shot; in this
+neighbourhood we have ceased to count them."
+
+An old man, who had his hand bandaged, suggested: "Perhaps they'll be
+wanting to arrest me since the culprit is wounded in the fingers, they
+say."
+
+Dignified and calm, Juve did his best to restore liberty to each of the
+persons brought together. They had only to show their two hands held up
+in front of the face, the fingers apart. M. de Maufil, at a sign from
+Juve, immediately bade the attendant hand the person in question a card
+bearing his name and description. Armed with this "Sesame" he could come
+and go unimpeded all over the hospital.
+
+Pointing to a large door at the extreme end of the corridor, Juve asked:
+
+"What exit is that?"
+
+The other smiled. "You want to see everything, don't you?"
+
+The director, opening the heavy door, made room for Juve, who entered a
+very narrow passage, damp and quite dark. The passage, a short one,
+opened on a vast apartment, much like a cellar, lighted by air-holes in
+the ceiling and intensely cold. A noise of running water from open taps
+broke with its monotonous splash the silence of this place, solely
+furnished with a huge slab of wood running from one end to the other.
+Upon the slab dim and lengthy white shapes were outstretched, and when
+his eyes grew accustomed to the twilight, Juve recognised the vague
+outline of these weird bundles. They were corpses swathed in shrouds.
+The heads and shoulders alone were visible, and on the brows of the dead
+trickled icy water, dispensed sparingly but regularly by duck-billed
+taps that overhung the inclined plane.
+
+The director explained: "This is the amphitheatre where we keep the
+bodies for post-mortems. Do you want to stay any longer?"
+
+"There is no access to the room except by the door we came in at?"
+
+"None."
+
+"In that case," rejoined Juve, "and as there is no furniture here for a
+person to hide in, let us look elsewhere. It's a rather gruesome
+place."
+
+"You're not used to the sight, that's all," replied the director, as he
+led the way back to his office.
+
+Juve looked at his watch. "Well, I must leave you now and make a report
+to M. Havard. I'm afraid the murderer has slipped through our fingers."
+
+"But you'll come back?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"What am I to do meanwhile?"
+
+"Nothing, unless you care to go over the hospital again."
+
+"And the passes? Are they to be in force still? We have no one in the
+place but the staff."
+
+"That is essential," replied Juve. "I must know with certainty who comes
+in and goes out. However, anyone known to your doorkeeper who wishes to
+leave need only sign in a register."
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+IN THE REFRIGERATORY
+
+
+It was light in the evening. One by one the rooms in Lariboisiere were
+being lit up.
+
+The one exception was the grim amphitheatre, whose occupants would never
+need to see again.
+
+Suddenly--and if anyone had been present, he would have experienced the
+most frightful impression it is possible to conceive--a corpse stirred.
+
+Having assured himself that the door between the amphitheatre and the
+gallery was shut, the corpse, shivering with cold, threw off the shroud
+which enveloped him, and set to work to move his legs and arms about to
+start up his circulation. Then at the far end of the apartment this
+living corpse discovered, under a zinc basin attached to the wall, a
+bundle of linen and garments, which he seized upon.
+
+His body shaking with cold, the man dressed himself in haste, and then
+waited until he considered his clothes sufficiently dry not to attract
+attention.
+
+Carefully ascertaining that the gallery was deserted, he then entered it
+and walked rapidly to the courtyard. To the right of the main gateway,
+the smaller gate leading into the Rue Ambroise Pare was open.
+
+The man passed under the archway, and in a moment would have been clear
+of Lariboisiere, when the doorkeeper barred his way.
+
+"Excuse me, who goes there?"
+
+Then, having looked more closely:
+
+"Why it's Doctor Chaleck! You're late in leaving us this evening,
+doctor. I suppose you've been kept pretty busy in ward 22?"
+
+"That's so," replied Chaleck, for it was he. "That's why I'm in a hurry,
+Charles."
+
+And Chaleck, with an impatient gesture, was about to slip out, but the
+porter stopped him again.
+
+"One moment, doctor; you must register first."
+
+"Is this a new hospital regulation?"
+
+"No, doctor, it's the police who have ordered everyone entering or
+leaving the hospital to sign his name in this book."
+
+The porter, having taken Doctor Chaleck into his lodge, opened a new
+register, and pointing to half a dozen names already written on the
+first page, he added:
+
+"You'll not be in bad company; you're to sign just below Professor
+Hugard."
+
+Chaleck smiled. "Tell me the latest news, Charles. Do they suspect
+anyone?"
+
+"All I know is that fifty of them came here with dirty shoes, made a
+hubbub round the patients, put the service out of gear, and in the end
+caught nobody at all. But if the culprit is still here, he won't get out
+without the bracelets on his wrists!"
+
+An equivocal smile touched the pale lips of Chaleck. It might be the
+weird inhabitant of the little house in Cite Frochot was not so sure as
+the porter was of the astuteness of the police. Perhaps he was thinking
+that a few hours before a certain Doctor Chaleck, hemmed in a passage
+with no exits and about to be compelled to show, like everyone else, the
+tips of his fingers, had, under the nose of the officers, and even of
+the artful and astute Juve, suddenly vanished, gone out of the world of
+the living and thought it necessary, for reasons he alone knew, to
+assume the rigidity of a corpse, the stillness of death. But the smile
+in a moment became frozen.
+
+The doctor who had kept both hands in his pockets while talking to the
+porter, suddenly felt a sharp twinge in the fingers of his right hand,
+and it became moist and lukewarm. This happened as the porter held out
+the register for him to sign.
+
+"Charles," he cried, "I'm in a great hurry; while I'm signing, please go
+out and stop the first taxi that passes."
+
+"Certainly, sir," replied the man.
+
+Scarcely had the doorkeeper turned his back when the doctor, with
+infinite precautions drew out his right hand and with evident difficulty
+began to write, holding the pen between the third and fourth fingers, as
+though unable to use the fore and middle ones.
+
+As he was finishing his entry, he made what was doubtless an unintended
+movement, something unexpected happened, for he suddenly turned pale and
+repressed a heavy oath. Charles was just coming back to the lodge.
+
+"Your taxi is here, Doctor."
+
+"Right. Thank you."
+
+Chaleck closed the register abruptly, jumped into the motor, threw an
+address to the driver, who got under way. On seeing the doctor shut the
+register, Charles cried: "The devil--there's no blotting paper in it, it
+will be sure to blot!"
+
+And, though it was too late, the careful man rushed to the book and
+opened it. His eyes became fixed on the page where the signatures were.
+He stared, wide-eyed.
+
+"Oh!--Oh!--" he murmured.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE BLOODY SIGNATURE
+
+
+M. de Maufil was exceedingly nervous.
+
+"As soon as you went back to headquarters," he declared to Juve, some
+moments after that officer had been shown into his private room, "I
+continued the search with redoubled efforts. Neither the ward-nurses, in
+whom I place complete confidence, nor the heads of my staff, whom I have
+known for ever so long, passed the doors of the hospital. In fact, I
+took every precaution and obeyed your instructions to the letter--yet
+all in vain."
+
+"You found nothing?"
+
+"Nothing. Not only did we not discover the criminal, but we did not come
+upon any trace of him."
+
+"That's strange.".
+
+"It is maddening. It would seem that from the instant the man fired
+those two shots in the woman's ward in Patel's department he vanished,
+unaccountably. Your notion of examining the hands of all those in the
+hospital was an excellent one, but nothing came of it.
+
+"He must have known the snare we were preparing for him and did not turn
+up at the hospital exit, so we must naturally conclude he is still
+inside the gates, hidden in some remote corner, or underground. However,
+the first thing to do is to protect the girl, Josephine. By the by, she
+saw nothing, I suppose?"
+
+"She declares she did not see Loupart come in, but she asserts with a
+sort of perverse pride that it was certainly Loupart who fired at her
+because he had threatened to do so."
+
+A knock at the door was followed by the timid entrance of the
+doorkeeper.
+
+"Is that you, Charles? Come in," cried the director. "What do you want?"
+
+"It's about the signature, sir. There is blood on my book."
+
+In a moment Juve leaped from his chair and tore the register out of the
+porter's hands.
+
+"Blood!"
+
+Feverishly he turned the pages until he came to the writing. Without
+waiting for de Maufil's permission, he dismissed the porter.
+
+"Very good, I'll see you presently."
+
+Scarcely had the door shut, when Juve pointed to the page. "Look! Doctor
+Chaleck's signature! And just below it this mark of blood! What do you
+say to that, sir?"
+
+"But it's sheer madness. Chaleck cannot be guilty!"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because he is known to me. He was recommended to me seven months ago by
+an old comrade of mine. Chaleck is a man of brains, a foreign physician,
+a Belgian. He comes here specially to study intermittent fevers. M.
+Juve, I tell you he has nothing whatever to do with this affair." Juve
+picked up his hat and stick. He was restless and uneasy; the directors'
+outburst had not greatly impressed him.
+
+"Doctor Chaleck could not explain how his finger came to be hurt and he
+did not inform us of the fact."
+
+"A mere coincidence."
+
+"Possibly, but it is a terrible coincidence for that man," replied Juve.
+
+On leaving the director's room, the distinguished detective could not
+refrain from rubbing his hands. "This time I have him!" he muttered. He
+went rapidly down the stairs, crossed the great courtyard of the
+hospital, and proceeded to knock at the porter's lodge.
+
+"Tell me, my friend, precisely how Doctor Chaleck's leaving the hospital
+came about?"
+
+The worthy man with much detail, for he now felt very proud of having
+played a part in the affair, related how Doctor Chaleck came to the
+gate, sent him after a cab while signing his name, then made off, after
+having, no doubt by an oversight, closed the register.
+
+"Very good! Thank you," was Juve's comment, bestowing a liberal tip on
+the man.
+
+This time he was leaving Lariboisiere for good.
+
+"Very characteristic, that piece of impudence," he reflected; "very like
+Doctor Chaleck that device of shutting the register he had just stained
+with blood in order to give himself time to make off!" On reaching the
+Boulevard Magenta he hailed a cab.
+
+"Rue Montmartre. Stop at the _Capital_ office. You know it?"
+
+A few minutes later Juve was shown into Fandor's office. But the
+detective no longer wore a smiling face, and his air of abstraction did
+not escape his friend.
+
+"Anything fresh?" inquired Fandor.
+
+"Much that is fresh! That's why I came here to see you."
+
+The journalist smiled. "Thanks, Juve. It is, indeed, owing to you that
+the _Capital_ is the best posted sheet in town."
+
+Then the detective proceeded to tell the reporter the startling
+discovery he had just made at Lariboisiere. He concluded:
+
+"There, I suppose you can turn that into a thrilling story, eh?"
+
+"I certainly can."
+
+"The arrest is now scarcely more than a matter of time."
+
+"And how are you going to set about it?"
+
+"I don't quite know. Well, good-bye."
+
+Fandor let the officer reach the door of the office, then called him
+back.
+
+"Juve!"
+
+"Fandor!"
+
+"You are hiding something from me."
+
+"I? Nonsense."
+
+"Yes," persisted Fandor. "You are concealing something. Don't deny it. I
+know you too well, my friend, to be content with your reticences."
+
+"My reticences?"
+
+"You didn't come here merely to give me copy."
+
+"Why----"
+
+"No. You had some idea in coming to look me up and then you changed your
+mind. Why?"
+
+"I assure you you are mistaken."
+
+Fandor rose.
+
+"All right, if you won't tell me, I shall follow you." At the
+journalist's announcement Juve shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"That's what I feared. But it's absurd to be always dragging you into
+risky affairs."
+
+"Where are we going?" asked Fandor briefly, as he lit a cigarette.
+
+"We are going to-night to Doctor Chaleck's. If he's there we will force
+a confession from him; if he's not there, we will ransack his house for
+clues," and Juve added, smiling, "like good burglars. I have a whole
+bunch of false keys. We shall be able to get into Doctor Chaleck's
+without ringing his bell. Here's a snapshot I took of Josephine at the
+hospital." And throwing the proof on Fandor's desk, he said smilingly:
+
+"The young woman's not bad looking, is she?"
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE SHOWER OF SAND
+
+
+"I'm afraid it's not quite the thing to enter people's houses in this
+fashion," whispered Juve, as the two men found themselves in the hall of
+Doctor Chaleck's little house in the Frochot district.
+
+It was about midnight, and through the fan-light of the outer door a dim
+twilight enabled the detective and the journalist to get an idea of the
+place in which they stood.
+
+It was a fairly large hall with double doors on either hand, leading
+into the drawing-and dining-rooms. At the far end rose a winding
+staircase, and under it a door to the cellar. A hanging lamp, unlit, was
+suspended from the ceiling and the walls were covered with dark
+tapestries.
+
+Juve and Fandor remained silent and motionless for some moments. They
+might well be perturbed, for they had just entered the house in the
+most unwarrantable manner, and they knew the doctor to be at home. The
+lodge-keeper of the Cite had seen him return about two hours ago. For
+one moment Juve had asked himself whether he should not ring in the most
+natural manner in the world, and afterwards contrive some explanation;
+but the silence, the peace which prevailed and the conviction that
+Doctor Chaleck, quite off his guard, must be enjoying deep slumber,
+prompted him to try and get into the house unannounced. If the door was
+only bolted, if it was not secured from within by a latch, the officer
+might reckon on finding among his pass keys one that would allow him to
+open it. Juve was, indeed, equipped like the prince of burglars.
+
+Well, the attempt had succeeded. Without trouble or noise, journalist
+and officer had made their way into the place.
+
+Before imparting to Fandor his plan of operations, Juve handed him a
+pair of rubbers, and then at a signal they both ascended to the first
+floor.
+
+The detective's plan was to make a sudden incursion into Chaleck's
+bedroom, and in the surprise of a sudden awakening, question him and
+inspect the fingers of his right hand, which, presumably, had left on
+the register a tell-tale trace of blood.
+
+Juve had scarcely entered the room when Fandor switched on the lights;
+the two men started back in disgust; the room was empty!
+
+Without pause, Juve cried: "To the study!"
+
+A moment later they found themselves in the room they knew so well from
+having spent a whole night there, behind the window curtains.
+
+Chaleck was not there either. Fandor searched the bathroom near by,
+careless of the noise he made, then hurried after Juve to the floor
+below in the fear that the doctor might already have made his escape.
+
+Juve quickly reassured him the windows and shutters of the rooms were
+hermetically closed; the hall door had not been touched.
+
+Suddenly slight sounds became audible from the floor above. A crackling
+of the boards, the muffled sounds of hasty footsteps, faint rustlings.
+
+"Chaleck knows we are here," whispered Juve. "We must play with our
+cards on the table."
+
+The two men cocked their pistols and made a rush upstairs. They had left
+the electric light burning on the floor above, and at first their eyes
+were dazzled by the sudden brightness, multiplied by the reflection from
+the glass which lined the octagonal-shaped landing.
+
+Again the noises were heard. Chaleck or some one else was in the study.
+
+Juve disappeared. In half a minute he returned and bumped into Fandor.
+
+"Where are you coming from?" he cried. "I thought you were behind me."
+
+"So I was," replied Fandor, "but I left you to take a look in the
+study."
+
+"But it was I who was in the study!"
+
+Fandor stared in amazement. "Are you losing your senses?"
+
+"I've just come from there myself!"
+
+"Well, we weren't there together, that's certain. Let's try again."
+
+The two proceeded in the dark to the head of the staircase. With their
+heels they verified the last step; then Juve said in a low voice:
+
+"I will go forward four paces. I am now in the middle of the landing; I
+lift the curtain, turn and go in."
+
+The steady tick of the little Empire clock on the mantelpiece assured
+Juve that he was indeed in the study.
+
+"Well, here I am," and mechanically he flung his hat on the sofa. But
+scarcely had he uttered these words when Fandor's voice, very clear, but
+some way off answered
+
+"I am in the study, too."
+
+Juve now switched on the light. Fandor was not there. Rushing back to
+the landing he ran full tilt into his friend and the two gripped each
+other in amazement.
+
+"Look here," exclaimed Fandor, "if I'm not mistaken, you turned to the
+right past the curtain while I went to the left; there may be two
+separate entrances to the study."
+
+"Let us keep together this time," replied Juve; "I propose to get to the
+bottom of this mystery."
+
+As they came out of the darkness of the passage and plunged into the
+full light of the room, Juve stopped short. His hat was no longer on the
+sofa.
+
+Fandor went to the mantelpiece, turned and confronted the detective.
+
+"I stopped the clock some moments ago, and here it is going and keeping
+exact time! How do you account for it?"
+
+Juve was about to reply, when suddenly with a dry click the light went
+out.
+
+Fandor, at the same moment, gave a startled cry: "Juve! the door is
+fastened; we are shut in!"
+
+With one bound Juve leaped for the window; but after opening the
+casement he perceived that thick iron shutters, padlocked, banished all
+hope of escape in that quarter. Fandor was ashy pale; Juve staggered as
+he moved toward him.
+
+"Walled in!" he cried. "We are walled in!"
+
+But a new terror suddenly confronted the two men. The floor appeared to
+be giving way, and as the descent proceeded regularly, they realised
+that they were in a strange form of elevator.
+
+The study, however, did not drop very far. With a slight shock it
+reached the end of the run and stopped short.
+
+Juve cried with an air of relief, "Well, here we are, and it now remains
+to find out where we are."
+
+The existence of two studies identical in every particular, one of which
+was housed in an elevator, explained not only the events of the evening,
+but also the tragedy of two days before.
+
+"Juve! did you feel anything?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+Both had just experienced a weird sensation, impossible to define. Upon
+their hands and faces slight prickings irritated the skin. The air at
+the same time seemed heavier and more difficult to breathe. There was,
+besides, a soft, vague crackling. With some difficulty Juve lighted his
+pocket-lamp. By its faint glimmer the two men made a discovery. A fine
+rain of sand was falling from the ceiling.
+
+"It's collapsed!" cried Fandor.
+
+"We're done for!" replied Juve.
+
+They passed through some awful moments. All around the sand gathered and
+rose.
+
+Juve tried to comfort his friend:
+
+"It would need an enormous amount of sand to fill this room and bury us
+alive. It will cease to fall presently."
+
+But horrible to relate, as the level of the sand rose on the floor, they
+observed by the flickering gleam of the lamp, that the ceiling was now
+being lowered little by little.
+
+Fandor raised his arm and touched it. They were about to be crushed.
+
+"Juve, do not let me die this way. Kill me!"
+
+His comrade made no reply. At first paralysed by the shock he now felt
+an unspeakable fury rise up in him. He began beating the walls with his
+fists, shaking the furniture. He seized a chair and drove it against the
+door. The chair struck with a ring upon metal and broke.
+
+Uttering a loud sigh, the detective drew out his revolver; he would, at
+least, save his friend the torments of an awful death. Suddenly a
+fearful crash resounded. The moving mass of sand was falling away from
+them into some gaping hole below, while at the same time fresh, moist
+air reached them and refreshed their lungs. Evidently some
+communication with the outside world had been established.
+
+Juve relit his lamp and was bending over to examine what had taken place
+when the floor all at once gave way under his feet and he fell, dragging
+Fandor with him.
+
+They found themselves up to mid-leg in water, but unhurt.
+
+Juve's voice rang out: "We are saved! I see now what happened! Our trap
+had a thin flooring, and, when down, it rested on a fragile arch. That
+arch gave way, and with the sand we have tumbled into the sewer of the
+Place Pigalle, which, if I am not mistaken, connects with the main of
+the Chaussee d'Autin. Come along, friend Fandor, we'll find means to get
+out of this before long."
+
+Floundering in the mud, they made their way along the drain until Juve
+halted and uttered a cry of triumph. On the left wall of the vault his
+hand encountered iron rings one above the other. It was a ladder leading
+to one of the manholes in the pavement. He quickly climbed up and, with
+a vigorous push, raised the heavy slab. In a few moments both men
+emerged and fell exhausted in the roadway.
+
+When Fandor recovered his senses he was lying in a large, ill-lighted
+hall. The first sound he heard was Juve's voice arguing hotly and
+volubly.
+
+"Why, you're nothing but a pack of idiots! We burglars! It's utter rot.
+I tell you I'm Juve, Inspector of Public Safety!"
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+FOLLOWING JOSEPHINE
+
+
+The captives had been recognised, and had been set at liberty. They had
+scarcely got a few yards from the police station, when Juve took the
+journalist's arm.
+
+"Let's make haste!" he cried. "This foolish arrest has made us lose
+precious hours."
+
+"You have a plan, Juve? What is it?"
+
+"We must now turn our attention to Josephine; we must use her as a bait
+to catch the others. The girl won't be much longer at Lariboisiere. She
+will be extremely anxious to leave that place and----"
+
+"And go back to clear herself of treachery in Loupart's eyes? Is that
+it?" added Fandor.
+
+"Exactly. Accordingly here is our plan of action. I must go at once to
+the Prefecture and advise M. Havard of our adventure. Meanwhile you go
+to the hospital. Contrive to see Josephine, make sure she has not left,
+watch her and then--wait for me; in two hours, at the latest, I shall be
+with you."
+
+"All right, Juve, you can reckon on me. Josephine shall not escape me."
+
+Fandor was already moving off when Juve called him back.
+
+"Wait! If ever for one reason or another you want an appointment with
+me, telegraph to the Safety, room 44, in my name. I will see that the
+messages always reach me."
+
+A quarter of an hour later Fandor was turning into the Rue Ambroise
+Pare, when all at once as he passed a woman he gave a start.
+
+"Hullo!" he cried; "that's something we didn't bargain for!..."
+
+The woman walked along the Boulevard Chapelle toward the Boulevard
+Barbes. Fandor followed her.
+
+When the great clock which adorns the main front of the Lariboisiere
+buildings struck six, the nurses in the hospital were busy finishing
+their preparations for the night.
+
+The surgeon in Dr. Patel's division was just concluding his evening
+visit to the patients. With a word of encouragement and cheer he passed
+from bed to bed until he reached the one at the end of the ward. The
+young woman occupying it was sitting up.
+
+"So you want to be off," exclaimed the surgeon.
+
+"Yes, doctor."
+
+"Then you're not comfortable here?"
+
+"Yes, doctor, but----"
+
+"But, what? Are you still afraid?"
+
+"No, no."
+
+The patient spoke these last words so confidently that the surgeon could
+not help smiling.
+
+"Do you know," he observed, "that in your place I should be much less
+confident. What are you going to do? Where do you think of going when
+you leave here? Come, now, you are still very weak; you had much better
+spend the night here. You could go to-morrow morning after the round at
+eleven. It would be much more rational."
+
+The young woman shook her head and replied curtly:
+
+"I want to go now, sir, at once."
+
+"Very good. They will give you your ticket."
+
+The doctor gone, the young woman quickly jumped out of bed and began to
+dress herself.
+
+"You don't suppose I'm going to stay here a minute longer than I have
+to," she grumbled with a laugh to her neighbour, who was watching her
+preparations with an envious eye.
+
+"Some one waiting for you?"
+
+"Sure there is. Loupart won't be pleased that I'm not back yet."
+
+"Are you going from here to his place?"
+
+"You bet I am."
+
+This she said in a tone that showed plainly she found the thing quite
+natural. The other was not of her mind.
+
+"Oh, well, I should be scared only at the thought of seeing that man.
+You were jolly lucky not to have been killed by him. And when he has got
+hold of you----"
+
+But Josephine laughed merrily.
+
+"My dear," she said, "you don't know what you're saying. Depend on it,
+if Loupart didn't kill me it's because he didn't want to. He's a
+splendid shot. I suppose he had his reasons for not wanting me to stay
+here; I don't know his affairs, and besides, I came here without
+consulting him."
+
+A vigorous "hush" from the nurse on duty stopped the conversation.
+
+Josephine meanwhile completed her toilet. A nurse had brought her back
+the clothes she wore when she entered the hospital. She slipped on a
+poor muslin skirt, laced her bodice, buttoned her boots and set her
+curls straight; she was ready.
+
+"I'm off," she cried gaily to the porter as she held out her pass to
+him. "Thank the Lord, I'm going, and I have no fancy to come back to
+your hotel!"
+
+Once in the street, Josephine walked quickly. She cast a glance at the
+clock at a cabstand, and found she was behind time.
+
+She went along the Rue Ambroise Pare, then turned on to the outer
+boulevards.
+
+The dinner-hour being at hand, the populous streets of the Chapelle
+quarter were at their lowest ebb of animation. The bookshops had long
+since released their employees, the cafes were giving up their
+customers. Fandor, having recognised Josephine, followed her closely as
+she passed the outer boulevards, then by Boulevard Barbes.
+
+"Beyond a doubt she is bound for the Goutte d'Or," he muttered.
+
+Some minutes later, sure enough, she reached her home.
+
+"Very good! The bird is back in the nest: My job is now to watch the
+visitors who come to call on her."
+
+Opposite Josephine's door there was a wine-shop. This Fandor entered.
+
+"Writing materials, please," he ordered. "I must drop a line to Juve,"
+he thought. "We must begin to set the trap."
+
+He was busy drawing up a detailed plan of the neighbourhood when, on
+raising his head, he gave a violent start, and, throwing a coin on the
+table, rushed out of the shop.
+
+"She is well disguised, but there's no mistaking her!"
+
+Without losing sight of the woman he was watching, Fandor reached the
+Metropolitan Station.
+
+"Good Lord! What does this mean?" he muttered. "Where is she off to?
+She's taking a first-class ticket. Can she have an appointment with
+Chaleck?" He also took a ticket behind the young woman and reached the
+platform.
+
+"I'm going where she goes," he thought. "But where the devil are we
+bound for?"
+
+Loupart's mistress was the embodiment of a charming Parisian.
+
+Her gown was tailor-made, of navy blue, plain but perfectly cut; she
+wore little shoes with high heels, and no one would have recognised in
+the well-dressed woman, who got out of the Metropolitan at the Lyons
+Station, the burnisher, who, a little while ago, had left Lariboisiere.
+
+Josephine had scarcely taken a few steps on the great Square which
+divides Boulevard Diderot from the Lyons Station, when a young man,
+quietly dressed, came toward her. He ogled her, then in a voice of
+marked cordiality, said:
+
+"Can I say a few words to you?"
+
+"But, sir----"
+
+"Two words, mademoiselle, I beg of you."
+
+"Speak," she said at last, after seeming to hesitate, halting on the
+edge of the pavement.
+
+"Oh, not here; surely you will accept a glass?"
+
+The young woman made up her mind:
+
+"Very well, if you like."
+
+The couple directed their steps toward a neighbouring "brasserie," and
+neither the young man nor Josephine dreamed of noticing that a passer-by
+entered the place in their wake.
+
+Fandor did not take a seat at one of the little tables outside, but made
+for the interior, cleverly finding means to watch the two in a glass.
+
+"Is this the person Josephine was to meet?" he wondered. "Can he be a
+messenger of Loupart's? Yet she did not seem to know him. Hullo!"
+
+Just as the waiter was bringing two glasses of wine to the table where
+Josephine and her partner had seated themselves, the young woman
+suddenly arose, and, without taking leave, made for the door.
+
+Fandor managed to pass close to the deserted man. He heard the waiter
+jokingly say:
+
+"Not very kind, the little lady, eh?"
+
+"I should think not! Didn't take her long to give me the slip."
+
+Then in a tone of regret the young man added: "Pity, she was a nice
+little thing."
+
+"That's all right," thought Fandor. "Now I know that Josephine accepted
+the drink because she thought he was sent by Loupart or one of the gang.
+Once enlightened as to his real object, she left him abruptly."
+
+Tracking the young woman, Fandor now felt sure he was going to witness
+an interesting meeting. Josephine, however, seemed in no hurry. She
+inspected the illustrated papers in the kiosks, and presently reached
+the box where platform tickets are distributed; having taken one, she
+sat down near the foot of the staircase which leads to the refreshment
+rooms. Behind her Fandor also took a ticket, and, going up the stairs,
+leaned against the balustrade.
+
+"I am waiting for some one," he said to the waiter who appeared. "You
+may bring me a cup of coffee."
+
+Scarcely five minutes had passed, when Fandor saw a shabby looking man
+approach Josephine and begin an earnest conversation.
+
+The man drew from his pocket a greasy note-book. From it he took a paper
+which he handed to the young woman, who promptly put it away in her
+handbag.
+
+Fandor was puzzled.
+
+"Where was she going? Why did this person hand her a ticket?"
+
+The man pointed to a train where passengers were already taking their
+seats.
+
+"The Marseilles train! So Loupart has left Paris!"
+
+Then he called a messenger.
+
+"Go and get me a first-class ticket to Marseilles. Here is money. Is
+there a telegraph office near at hand?"
+
+"On the arrival platform, sir."
+
+"Right. I will give you a message to take; go and hurry back."
+
+Fandor took out his note-book and scrawled a message:
+
+     "Juve, Prefecture of Police, Room 44.
+
+     "Have met Josephine and followed her. She is off first class, by
+     Marseilles train. Don't know her destination. Will wire you as soon
+     as there's anything fresh.
+
+                                                            "Fandor."
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+ROBBERY; AMERICAN FASHION
+
+
+"Tickets, please."
+
+The guard took the one offered by Fandor.
+
+"Excuse me, sir, there's a mistake here," he said.
+
+"This train doesn't go to Marseilles?"
+
+"The train, yes, but not the last carriage in which you are, for it is
+bound for Pontarlier, and will be slipped at Lyons from this express."
+
+Fandor was nonplussed. The essential was to follow Josephine, ensconced
+in the compartment next to his.
+
+"Well, I'll get into another carriage when we are off; it's so easy with
+the corridors."
+
+"You can't do that, sir," insisted the guard. "While all the carriages
+for Marseilles in the front of the train communicate, this one is
+separated from them by a baggage car."
+
+"Then I'll change later, during the night. I have till Dijon, haven't
+I?"
+
+"You have."
+
+The guard went away. Fandor suddenly asked himself:
+
+"Has Josephine made a mistake, too? Or has she a definite purpose in
+being in a carriage which is to be slipped from the Southern Express at
+Dijon to go on toward the Swiss frontier?"
+
+The guard was looking at tickets in Josephine's compartment. Fandor went
+near to listen; he heard the tail of a conversation between the fair
+traveller, her companion and the guard. The latter declared as he
+withdrew:
+
+"Exactly so, you shall not be disturbed."
+
+When Josephine had boarded the train, Fandor had not ventured to watch
+her too closely, nor the companion she had met on the platform at the
+last moment. He now decided to take advantage of the corridor to take a
+look at the man.
+
+He was quite stout, rather common in appearance, although with a
+prosperous air. A man of middle age, whose jolly face was framed in a
+beard, giving him the look of an old mariner. Moreover, he was one-eyed.
+
+Josephine was playful, full of smiles and amiability, but also somewhat
+absent-minded.
+
+The pair had decidedly the appearance of being lovers.
+
+Although it was quite early, passengers were arranging to pass the night
+as comfortably as possible. The lamps had been shaded with their little
+blue curtains, and the portieres, facing the corridors, had been drawn.
+
+Fandor returned to his compartment. Two corners of it were already
+occupied--the two furthest away from the corridor. One was in possession
+of a man about forty, with a waxed moustache, having the air of an
+officer in mufti, the other was taken by a young collegian with a waxen
+complexion.
+
+The journalist determined to keep awake, but scarcely had he settled
+himself when drowsiness crept over him. Rocked by the regular motion of
+the train he sank into a slumber troubled by nightmares. Then suddenly
+he sprang up. He had the clear impression of some one brushing by him
+and opening the door to the corridor.
+
+"Who is there?" he murmured in a voice thick with sleep and drowned by
+the rush of the train. No one answered him. He staggered out into the
+corridor. At the far end of the carriage a passenger, with a long black
+beard, was standing smoking a cigar, and apparently studying the murky
+country. Not a sound came from Josephine's apartment. With a shrug of
+his shoulders and cursing his fears, Fandor returned to his own seat.
+
+Why should he fancy, because he was following Josephine, that all the
+passengers in the train were cut-throats and accomplices of Loupart's
+mistress? Yet, five minutes after these sage reflections, Fandor started
+again; he had distinctly seen, passing along the corridor, two fellows
+with villainous faces and suspicious demeanour. One of them cast into
+Fandor's compartment such a murderous glance that it made the
+journalist's heart palpitate.
+
+Fandor glanced at his companions. The officer was sleeping soundly, but
+the young fellow, although keeping perfectly still, opened his eyes from
+time to time and cast uneasy glances about him, then pretended to sleep
+as soon as he caught Fandor watching him.
+
+The train slackened speed; they were entering Laroche Station; there was
+a stop to change engines. The officer suddenly awoke and got out. The
+compartment holding Josephine and her companion was thrown open, and,
+strange to say, his neighbour, the collegian, had moved into it, sitting
+just opposite the stout gentleman.
+
+Fandor, with a view to keeping awake, abandoned his comfortable seat and
+settled himself in one of the hammocks in the corridor. He chose the
+one just opposite Josephine's door. But so great was his weariness that
+he quickly fell into a deep sleep. Suddenly a violent shock sent him
+rolling to the cross-seat in Josephine's compartment. As he picked
+himself up in a dazed condition, a cry of terror broke from his lips.
+Three inches from his head was the muzzle of a revolver held by a big
+ruffian wearing a mask, who cried:
+
+"Hands up, all!"
+
+Fandor and his companions were too amazed to immediately obey, and the
+command came again, more forcible.
+
+"Hands up, and don't stir or I'll blow out your brains."
+
+And now a gnome-like individual appeared, also masked.
+
+The first one turned to Josephine: "You, woman, out of here!"
+
+Without betraying by her expression whether or no she was his
+accomplice, Josephine hurriedly left her place and, slipping between the
+gnome and the colossus, went and cowered down at the end of the
+carriage.
+
+"Go on!" suddenly commanded the big ruffian, who seemed to be the
+leader. "Go on! rifle 'em!"
+
+The gnome, with wonderful adroitness, ransacked the coat and waistcoat
+pockets of the traveller. The stout man, shaking with alarm, made no
+resistance. After relieving him of his watch and pocketbook, they forced
+him to undo his shirt. Around his waist he wore a broad leather belt.
+
+"Go it, Beaumome, relieve him of his burden, the fat jackass!"
+
+From the body of the traveller, the stolen belt passed to the big masked
+robber, who weighed the prize complacently. The belt contained pockets
+stuffed with gold and bank notes. The two robbers then moved away toward
+the further end of the carriage.
+
+Fandor, furious at being tricked like the simplest of greenhorns,
+determined to seize the occasion to give the alarm.
+
+The emergency bell was immediately above the pale-faced collegian. With
+a bound the journalist sprang for it, but fell back with a loud cry as
+he felt a sharp pain in his hand. The collegian had leaped up and
+cruelly bitten his finger. So great was the pain that Fandor swooned for
+a few seconds, and that gave his assailant time to cross the compartment
+and reach the corridor. At this moment the express slackened its speed
+and slowly came to a standstill.
+
+"Is it too high to jump?"
+
+Fandor knew the voice: it was Josephine's.
+
+"No," answered some one. "Let yourself go. I'll catch you."
+
+The sound of heavy shoes on the footboard told him that the robbers were
+making off. Josephine went with them, so she was their accomplice. The
+journalist sprang into the corridor to rush in pursuit. But he recoiled.
+A shot rang out, the glass fell broken before him, and a bullet
+flattened above his head in the woodwork.
+
+It now seemed to him that the train was gradually gathering way again.
+Fandor put his head through the broken glass and searched the darkness
+outside.
+
+"Ah!" he cried in amazement. There was no longer a train on the track,
+or rather, the main body of the train was vanishing in the distance,
+while the carriage in which he was and the rear baggage car had pulled
+up. Apparently the robbers had broken the couplings.
+
+At the moment, the stout man, having quite recovered, drew near Fandor
+and observed the situation.
+
+"Why, we're backing! We're backing!" he bellowed with alarm.
+
+"Naturally, we're going down a slope," calmly replied Fandor. The other
+groaned and wrung his hands.
+
+"It's appalling! The Simplon express is only twelve minutes behind us!"
+
+Fandor now realized the frightful danger. Without delay he made for the
+carriage door, ready to jump and risk breaking his bones rather than
+face the terrible crash which seemed inevitable. But before he could
+make up his mind to the leap, a grinding noise became audible. The guard
+in the baggage car had applied the Westinghouse brakes and in a few
+minutes they came to a stop.
+
+Fandor and the stout gentleman sprang frantically out of the carriage,
+and two brakemen jumped from the baggage car, crying: "Get away! Save
+yourselves!"
+
+Clambering over the ties, they jumped a hedge, floundered in a hole full
+of water, scratching their hands and tearing their clothes; they rolled
+down a grassy slope, stuck in a ploughed field, then dropped to the
+ground, motionless, as a fearful din burst like thunder on the hush of
+the night. The Simplon express, racing at full speed, had crashed into
+the two carriages left on the rails and smashed them to bits, while the
+engine and forward carriages of the train were telescoped.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+FLIGHT THROUGH THE NIGHT
+
+
+Scarcely had Loupart received Josephine in his arms, as she jumped from
+the carriage, than he strenuously urged his companions to make haste.
+
+"Now, then, boys, off we go, and quickly, too! Josephine, pick up your
+skirts and get a move on!"
+
+It was a dark night, without moon, favourable to the robber's plans. For
+a good fifteen minutes the ill-omened crew continued their retreat by
+forced march. From time to time Loupart questioned the "Beard":
+
+"This the way?"
+
+The other nodded assent: "Keep on, we'll get there."
+
+At length they descried the white ribbon of a road winding up the side
+of the low hill and vanishing in the distance into a small wood.
+
+"There's the track," declared the Beard.
+
+"To Dijon?"
+
+"No, to Verrez."
+
+"That's a good thing; now, stop and listen to me."
+
+Loupart sat down on the grass and addressed them.
+
+"It's been a good stroke, friends, but unfortunately it's not finished
+yet. They took precautions we couldn't foresee. We have only part of the
+fat. We share up to-morrow evening."
+
+He was answered by growls of disappointment.
+
+"I said to-morrow evening," he repeated. "Those who aren't satisfied
+with that can stay away. There'll be all the more for the others. Now,
+we must separate. Josephine, you, the Beard and I will get back
+together. There's work for us in Paris. The others scatter and take care
+not to get pinched; be back in the nest by ten."
+
+Loupart motioned to the Beard and Josephine to follow him.
+
+"Show us the way, Beard."
+
+"Where to?"
+
+"The telegraph office."
+
+"What's up?"
+
+"Why, you idiot," replied Loupart, "we've been robbed! The wine-dealer's
+notes are only halves! The swine insured himself for nothing."
+
+The Beard broke out into recriminations.
+
+"To have a hundred and fifty notes in your pocket, and they good for
+nothing! There was no such thing as Providence! It was sickening."
+
+"Come, don't get angry, two halves will make a whole."
+
+"You know where to lay hands on the rest?"
+
+"Yes, old man."
+
+"That's our job to-morrow evening? That's why you're chasing to the
+telegraph office?"
+
+Loupart clenched his fists.
+
+"That and something else; there's bigger game afoot."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Juve."
+
+"Oh, the devil!" murmured the Beard, divided between pleasure and fear.
+"You've got the beggar?"
+
+"I have."
+
+"Sure?"
+
+"Sure."
+
+The little group moved forward in silence. At length Josephine began to
+tire.
+
+"Say, have we much further to go?"
+
+"No," replied the Beard. "Verrez village is behind that hill. The main
+road runs by the row of poplars."
+
+"All right. Go and wait there with Josephine. I'll catch you up in a
+quarter of an hour," ordered Loupart. "I've a wire to send off."
+
+His acolytes gone, Loupart resumed his way. As a measure of precaution,
+he took off his jacket, turned it inside out and put it on again. The
+jacket was a trick one: the lining was a different colour and the
+pockets differently placed.
+
+On reaching Verrez, Loupart turned round. From the top of the little
+hill he could see, in the distance, the reddening flames.
+
+"That's going all right," thought the wretch; "the Simplon express has
+run into the cars. There must be a fine mix-up there."
+
+Reaching the post-office at last, he seized a blank and wrote on it
+hastily:
+
+     "Juve, Inspector of Safety, 142 Rue Bonaparte, Paris. All is well;
+     found gang complete, including Loupart. Robbery committed but
+     failed. Cannot give details. Be at Bercy Stores alone, but armed,
+     to-morrow at eleven at night, near the Kessler House cellars.
+
+                                                          "Fandor."
+
+
+The clerk held out her hand to take the message. The bandit was
+extremely polite.
+
+"Be so good as to pay special attention to this message. Read it over,
+madam. You grasp the importance of it? You see it must be kept
+absolutely secret. I rely on you."
+
+Ten minutes' quick walking brought Loupart once more to Josephine and
+the Beard.
+
+"Hullo!" he cried. "Anything new?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Josephine, go down the hill and the first motor that passes, set to and
+howl; call 'help' and 'murder'; got to stop it. Be off! Look sharp!"
+
+Some minutes passed. The two men watched Josephine go down the road and
+hide in one of the ditches.
+
+"Your barker is ready, Beard?"
+
+"Six plugs, Loupart."
+
+"Good! You go to the right, I to the left."
+
+Loupart had scarcely given these orders, when, on the horizon, a bright
+gleam became visible, growing larger every minute, while the noise of a
+motor broke the silence of the open country.
+
+Loupart laughed.
+
+"Look, Beard. Acetylene lamps, eh? That car will do our job splendidly."
+
+An automobile was fast nearing them. As it passed by Josephine, she
+rushed into the road, uttering piercing cries.
+
+"Help! Murder! Have pity! Stop!"
+
+With a hasty movement the chauffeur, taken aback by the sight of a woman
+rising unexpectedly on the lonely road, made a dash at his brakes.
+Meanwhile from the inside of the car a traveller leaned out.
+
+"What is it? What's the matter?"
+
+As the car was about to stop, Loupart and the Beard rushed out.
+
+"You take the passenger!" cried the former; "I'll attend to the
+chauffeur."
+
+The two brigands sprang on the footboards.
+
+"No tricks, or I'll shoot! Josephine, truss these fowls for me!" cried
+Loupart.
+
+Josephine took a roll of cord from her lover's pocket and tied the two
+victims firmly while Loupart gagged them.
+
+"Now, Beard, take them into the field and give them a rap on the head to
+keep them quiet."
+
+Then he got into the car and skilfully turned it round. When Josephine
+and the Beard were on board, he got under way at full speed with a grim
+smile.
+
+"And, now, Juve, it's between us two!"
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+THE SIMPLON EXPRESS DISASTER
+
+
+While Loupart and his mates were making off across country the disaster
+occurred. At a curve in the track the Simplon Express coming at full
+speed charged the cars and crushed them, then, lifted by the shock, the
+engine reared backwards on its wheels and fell heavily, dragging down in
+its fall a baggage car and the first two carriages coupled behind it.
+Then rose in the night cries of terror and the frantic rush of the
+passengers who fled from the luxurious train.
+
+Fandor picked himself up and went forward. From the tender of the engine
+a cloud of steam escaped with hoarse whistlings.
+
+The driver held out his two broken arms.
+
+"Give me a hand, for God's sake! Open the tap! There, that hoisted bar.
+Lift it up. Quick, the boiler is going to burst."
+
+Fandor was still engaged in carrying out this manoeuvre when succour
+began to arrive.
+
+The stoker, less seriously hurt than the driver, had managed to drag
+himself clear of the wreckage, which was beginning to catch fire. The
+head guard, and those passengers whose seats had been at the rear of the
+train, hurried up and the combined effort at rescue began. They searched
+for the injured and put out the incipient blazes.
+
+Instinctively those who had fled from the train followed in a frantic
+stampede the road at the foot of the embankment, reached Verrez village
+out of breath and gave the alarm.
+
+The countryside was soon in an uproar. Lights flashed, torches and lamps
+of vehicles harnessed in haste: a quarter of an hour after the disaster
+half the neighbourhood was afoot from all quarters.
+
+"A bit of luck, sir," remarked the conductor, still pallid with horror,
+to Fandor, "that the collision happened at the curve where our speed was
+slackened. Ten minutes sooner and all the carriages would have been
+telescoped."
+
+"Yes, it was luck," replied the journalist, as he wiped his face,
+covered with soot and coal dust. "The two carriages telescoped were
+almost empty."
+
+From a neighbouring way-station the railway officials had telephoned
+news of the accident. The section of line was kept clear by telegraph.
+Word came that a relief train was being made up, and would arrive in an
+hour.
+
+Fandor had quickly regained his coolness, and was one of the first to
+lend a hand in the rescue, turning over the wreckage and setting free
+the injured.
+
+As he passed along the track, he was attracted by the appeals of a stout
+man, who hurried toward him, wailing:
+
+"Sir! Sir! What a terrible calamity!"
+
+Fandor recognised his fellow-passenger, Josephine's lover.
+
+"Yes, and we had a lucky escape. But what has become of your wife?"
+
+In using the word "wife" Fandor was under no illusion; he merely wanted
+to interview the other.
+
+"My wife? Ah, sir, that's the terrible part of it. She's not my
+wife--she's a little friend, and now it's all bound to come out. My
+lawful wife will hear everything. As for the girl, I don't know what has
+become of her."
+
+"She knew that you were carrying money?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I am an agent for wines at Bercy, and I was going to pay over
+dividends to stock-holders, one hundred and fifty thousand francs. I
+recognised one of my men among the robbers, a cooper. He knew that every
+month I travel, carrying large sums of money. I am quite sure this
+robbery was planned beforehand."
+
+"And who are you, sir?"
+
+"M. Martialle, of Kessler & Barries. Fortunately the money is not lost."
+
+"Not lost! You know where to find the robbers?"
+
+"That I do not, but they have only the halves of the notes. These are
+worth nothing to them unless they can lay their hands on the
+corresponding halves. It's a way of cheap insurance."
+
+"And where are the other halves of the notes?"
+
+"Oh, in a safe place, in the office of the firm at Bercy."
+
+Fandor abruptly left M. Martialle and approached an official.
+
+"When will the line be cleared?"
+
+"In an hour's time, sire."
+
+"There'll be no train for Paris till then?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+Fandor moved off along the track.
+
+"That's all right, I can make it. I'll have time to send a wire to _The
+Capital_."
+
+The journalist sat down on the grass, took out his writing-pad and began
+his article. But he had overrated his strength. He was worn out, body
+and soul. He had not been writing ten minutes when he dropped into a
+doze, the pencil slipped from his fingers and he was fast asleep.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Fandor opened his eyes, the twilight was beginning to come down. It
+was between five and six o'clock.
+
+"What a fool I've been! I've made a mess of the whole business now," he
+cried as he ran frantically to the nearest station.
+
+"How soon the first train to Paris?"
+
+"In two minutes, sir: it is signalled."
+
+"When does it arrive?"
+
+"At ten o'clock."
+
+Fandor threw up his hands.
+
+"I shall be too late. I haven't time to wire Juve and warn him. Oh! what
+an idiot I was to sleep like that!"
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+A DRAMA AT THE BERCY WAREHOUSE
+
+
+Juve passed the whole day at the Cite Frochot. Despite the precautions
+taken to keep the failure two days back a secret, the papers had got
+wind of the drama: _The Capital_ itself had spoken of it, though without
+naming his fellow-worker. The staff of that paper was unaware that
+Fandor was the other man who had so marvellously escaped from the sewer.
+Blood-curdling tales were told about Doctor Chaleck, Juve, Loupart, the
+house of the crime, the affair at the hospital; but to anyone familiar
+with the actual happenings, the newspaper accounts were very far from
+giving the truth.
+
+And Juve, far from contradicting these misstatements, took a delight in
+spreading them broadcast.
+
+It is sometimes useful to set astray the powerful voice of the Press so
+as to give a false security to the real culprits.
+
+However, when masons, electricians and zinc-workers were seen to take
+possession of Doctor Chaleck's house and begin to turn it upside down, a
+crowd quickly assembled to witness the performance.
+
+It was with great difficulty that Juve, who did not want too many
+witnesses round the place, organised arrangements of a vigorous
+character.
+
+Installed in the drawing-room on the ground floor, he first had a long
+interview with the owner of the house, M. Nathan, the well-known diamond
+broker of the Rue de Provence. The poor man was in despair to think his
+property had been the scene of the extraordinary events which were on
+everybody's tongue. All he knew of Doctor Chaleck was that that
+gentleman had been his tenant just four years, and had always paid his
+rent regularly.
+
+"You didn't suspect," asked Juve in conclusion, "the ingenious
+contrivance of that electric lift in which the doctor placed a study
+identically similar to the real one?"
+
+"Certainly not, sir," replied the worthy man. "Eighteen months ago my
+tenant asked permission to repair the house at his own expense; as you
+may suppose, I granted his request at once. It must have been at that
+time that the queer contrivance was built. Have I your permission to go
+down to the cellars and ascertain their condition?"
+
+"Not before to-morrow, sir, when I shall have finished my inspection,"
+replied Juve, as he saw M. Nathan out.
+
+The inspector was assisted in his investigation by detectives Michel and
+Dupation. They interviewed the old couple in charge of the Cite and
+various neighbours of Doctor Chaleck, but without lighting upon a clue.
+Nobody had seen or heard anything whatever.
+
+Toward noon he and Michel, who did not wish to leave the house, decided
+to have a modest repast brought to them. M. Dupation, a fidgety
+official, took this chance of getting away.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he declared, "you are much more up to this business
+than I, and besides my wife expects me to luncheon. You don't need any
+further help from me?"
+
+Juve reassured the worthy superintendent and gave him permission to go.
+He was only too glad to find himself alone with his lieutenant. The
+workmen who were repairing the caved-in basement of the little house
+were already gone, and there was no chance of their being back before
+two o'clock. Thus Juve found himself alone with Michel.
+
+"What I can't understand, sir," said Michel, "is the telephone call we
+got toward morning from here asking for help at the office in the Rue
+Rochefoucauld. Either the victim herself 'phoned, and in that case she
+did not die, as we think, in the early part of the night, or it was not
+she, and then----"
+
+Juve smiled.
+
+"You are right in putting the problem that way, but to my mind it is
+easy to solve. The call was not given by the murdered woman for,
+remember, when we raised the body at half-past six it was already cold.
+Now the call was not given till six, when the woman had been dead some
+little time. That I am sure of, and you will see the report of the
+medical expert will uphold me."
+
+"Then it was a third person who gave it?"
+
+"Yes, and one who sought to have the crime discovered as soon as
+possible, and who reckoned on the officers coming from the Central
+Station, but did not expect Fandor or me to come back."
+
+"Then according to you, sir, the murderer knew of your presence behind
+the curtain in the study while the crime was being committed."
+
+"I can't tell about the murderer, but Doctor Chaleck certainly knew we
+were there. That man must have watched us all night, known the exact
+instant we left the house, and immediately afterwards got some one to
+telephone or must have done so himself."
+
+Michel, becoming more and more convinced by Juve's reasoning, went on:
+
+"At any rate, the existence of two studies, in all respects similar,
+goes to show a carefully premeditated plan, but there is something I
+can't account for. When you came back to the study where we found the
+dead woman, you found traces of mud by the window brought in by your
+shoes. You must therefore have been watching through the night the room
+where the crime was committed."
+
+Juve was about to put in a word, but Michel, launched on his train of
+argument, continued:
+
+"Allow me, sir; you are going, no doubt, to tell me that they might
+during your short absence have carried the body of the victim into the
+study in question, but I would point out to you, that on the loosened
+hair of the poor creature blood had caked, that some was on the carpet
+and had even gone through it to the flooring beneath. Now if they
+carried in the body just a little while before we discovered it, that
+would not have been the case."
+
+Michel was delighted with his own argument. Juve smiled indulgently.
+
+"My poor Michel," he cried, "you would be quite right if I put forward
+such an explanation. It is certain that the room in which we found the
+body was that in which the crime took place. It is therefore that in
+which we were not! As for the marks of mud near the window, they are
+ours, but transferred from the room in which we were into the room in
+which we were not! Which again proves that our presence was known to the
+culprits.
+
+"Furthermore, the candle with which Doctor Chaleck melted the wax to
+seal his letters was scarcely used, it only burned in fact a few
+minutes. Now we found another candle in the same state. So you see that
+the precautions were well taken and everything possible done to lead us
+astray.
+
+"We see the puppets moving--Loupart, Chaleck, Josephine, others maybe,
+but we do not see the strings."
+
+"The strings which move them perhaps may be no other than--Fantomas,"
+ventured Michel.
+
+Juve frowned and suddenly fell silent. Then abruptly changing the
+conversation, he asked his lieutenant:
+
+"You told me, did you not, that you could no longer appear in the
+character of the Sapper?"
+
+"Quite true, Inspector, I was spotted just the day before the crime by
+Loupart, and so was my colleague, Nonet."
+
+"Talking of that," answered Juve, "Nonet mentioned vaguely something
+about an affair at the docks, supposed to have been planned by the Beard
+and an individual known as the Cooper. Are you fully informed?"
+
+"Unfortunately no, Inspector. I know no more about the matter than you
+do."
+
+"And what is Nonet about now?"
+
+"He has left for Chartres."
+
+Juve shrugged his shoulders. He was annoyed. Perhaps if Leon, nicknamed
+Nonet, had not been transferred he would by now have obtained pertinent
+clues to the dock's affair.
+
+After having enjoined Michel to devise a new disguise which allowed him
+to mix once more with the Band of Cyphers and going back to "The Good
+Comrades," Juve went down to the basement to supervise the workmen, who
+were now back; while Michel busied himself with the inventory of the
+papers found in Doctor Chaleck's study.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On leaving the house toward half-past seven in the evening Juve went
+slowly down to the Rue des Martyrs, pondering over the occurrences which
+for several days had succeeded each other with such startling rapidity.
+
+As he reached the boulevards the bawling of newsboys attracted his
+attention. An ominous headline was displayed in the papers the crowd was
+struggling for.
+
+                     "ANOTHER RAILROAD ACCIDENT.
+                     THE SIMPLON EXPRESS TELESCOPES
+                     THE MARSEILLES LIMITED. MANY
+                     VICTIMS."
+
+Juve anxiously bought a paper and scanned the list of the injured,
+fearful that Fandor would be found among the number. But as he read the
+details and learned that those in the detached carriage had escaped, he
+felt somewhat relieved. Hailing a taxi he drove off rapidly to the
+Prefecture in search of more precise information.
+
+"A message for you, M. Juve."
+
+The detective, hurrying home, was passing the porter's lodge. He pulled
+up short.
+
+"For me?"
+
+"Yes--it's certainly your name on the telegram."
+
+Juve took the blue envelope with distrust and uneasiness. He had given
+his home address to no one. He glanced over the message, and gave a sigh
+of relief.
+
+"The dear fellow," he muttered as he went upstairs. "He's had a narrow
+escape; however, all's well than ends well."
+
+After a hurried toilet and a bite of dinner, Juve set off again, jumped
+into a train for the Boulevard St. Germain and got down at the Jardin
+des Plantes. Then, sauntering casually along, he made for Bercy by the
+docks, which were covered as far as the eye could see with rows and rows
+of barrels.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+About two hours later, Juve, who had been wandering about the vast
+labyrinth of wine-docks, began to grow impatient.
+
+It was already fifty minutes past the appointed hour, and the detective
+began to feel uneasy. Why was Fandor so late? Something must surely have
+happened to him! And then what a queer idea to choose such a meeting
+place!
+
+Suddenly, Juve started. He recalled his talk that afternoon with Michel;
+the reference made to the affair of the docks in which the Beard and the
+Cooper were implicated. What if he had been drawn into a trap!
+
+The detective's reflections were suddenly cut short by unusual and
+alarming sounds.
+
+He fancied he heard the shrill blast of a whistle, followed by the rush
+of footsteps and a collision of empty barrels.
+
+Juve held his breath and crouched down under the shed in which he stood;
+he thought he saw the outline of a shadow passing slowly in the
+distance. Juve was stealthily following in its tracks when he caught a
+significant click.
+
+"Two can play at that," he growled between his teeth, as he cocked his
+revolver. The shadow disappeared, but the footsteps went on.
+
+Disguising his voice he called out: "Who goes there?"
+
+A sharp summons answered him, "Halt!"
+
+Juve was about to call upon his mysterious neighbour to do likewise,
+when a report rang out, at once followed by another. Juve saw where the
+shots came from. His assailant was scarcely fifteen paces from him, but
+luckily the shots had gone wide.
+
+"Use up your cartridges, my friend," muttered Juve; "when your get to
+number six, it will be my turn."
+
+The sixth shot rang out. This was the signal for Juve to spring forward.
+Leaping over the barrels, he made for the shadow which he espied at
+intervals. All at once he gave a cry of triumph. He was face to face
+with a man.
+
+His cry, however, changed into amazement.
+
+"You, Fandor?"
+
+"Juve!"
+
+"You've begun shooting at me, now, have you?"
+
+For answer, the journalist held out his revolver, which was fully
+loaded.
+
+"But what are you doing here, Juve?" he asked.
+
+"You wired to me to come."
+
+"That I never did."
+
+Juve drew the telegram from his pocket and held it out to Fandor, but as
+the two men drew close together, they were startled by a lightning
+flash, and a report. A bullet whistled past their ears. Instinctively
+they lay flat between two barrels, holding their breaths.
+
+Juve whispered instructions: "When I give the signal, fire at anything
+you see or toward the direction of the next report."
+
+The two men slowly and noiselessly raised their heads.
+
+"Ah," cried Juve.
+
+And he fired at the rapidly fleeing figure.
+
+"Did you see?" whispered Fandor, clutching Juve's arm. "It's Chaleck."
+
+Juve was about to leap up and start in pursuit when a series of dull
+thuds, the overturning of barrels, stifled oaths and cracking planks
+smote his ear. These noises were followed by the measured footfall of a
+body of men drawing near, words of command and shrill whistles.
+
+"What's all that now?" questioned Fandor.
+
+"The best thing that could happen for us," replied Juve. "The police are
+coming. These quays are a refuge for all kinds of tramps and crooks who
+from time to time are rounded up. We are probably going to see a
+'drive.'"
+
+Juve had scarcely finished speaking when several shots rang out; these
+were followed by a general uproar and then a great blue flame suddenly
+rose, died away and flared up again. A thick smoke permeated the
+atmosphere.
+
+"Fire," exclaimed Fandor.
+
+"The kegs of alcohol are alight," added Juve.
+
+The two had now to think of their own safety. Evidently bandits had been
+tracking them for more than an hour, guided by Doctor Chaleck.
+
+But they soon found that their retreat was cut off by a ring of flames.
+
+"Let us head for the Seine," suggested Fandor, who had discovered a
+break in the ring of fire at that point. A fresh explosion now took
+place. From a burst cask a spurt of liquid fire shot up, closing the
+circle. It had become impossible to pass through in any direction.
+
+They heard the cries of the rabble, the whistles of the officers. In the
+distance the horns of the fire engines moaned dolefully. The heat was
+growing unbearable, and the ring enclosing Fandor and Juve narrowed
+more and more. Suddenly Juve pointed to an enormous empty puncheon that
+had just rolled beside them.
+
+"Have you ever looped the loop?" he asked. "Hurry up now; in you go;
+we'll let it roll down the slope of the quay into the river."
+
+In a few moments the cask was rolling at top speed. Juve and Fandor
+guessed by the crackling of the outer planks and by a sudden rise in the
+temperature that they were passing through the fire. All at once the
+great vat reached the level of the river. It plunged into the waves with
+a dull thud.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+ON THE SLABS OF THE MORGUE
+
+
+As he turned at the far side of the Pont St. Louis, Doctor Ardel, the
+celebrated medical jurist, caught sight of M. Fuselier, the magistrate,
+chatting with Inspector Juve in front of the Morgue.
+
+"I am behind-hand, gentlemen. So sorry to have made you wait."
+
+M. Fuselier and Juve crossed the tiny court and entered the
+semi-circular lecture-room, where daily lessons in medical jurisprudence
+are given to the students and the head men of the detective police
+force.
+
+Doctor Ardel, piloting his guests, did the honours.
+
+"The place is not exactly gay; in fact, it has an ill reputation; but
+anyhow, gentlemen, it is at your disposition. M. Fuselier, you will be
+able to investigate in peace: M. Juve, you will be at liberty to put any
+questions you choose to your client."
+
+The doctor spoke in a loud voice, emphasising each word with a jolly
+laugh, good natured, devoid of malice, yet making an unpleasant
+impression on his two visitors less at home than he in the gruesome
+abode they had just entered.
+
+"You will excuse me," he went on, "if I leave you for a couple of
+minutes to put on an overall and my rubber gloves?"
+
+The doctor gone, the two instinctively felt a vague need to talk to
+counteract the doleful atmosphere the Morgue seemed to exhale, where so
+many unclaimed corpses, so much human flotsam, had come to sleep under
+the inquiring eyes of the crowd, before being given to the common ditch,
+being no more than an entry in a register and a date: "Body found so and
+so, buried so and so."
+
+"Tell me, my dear Juve," asked M. Fuselier. "This morning directly I got
+your message I at once acceded to your wish and asked Ardel to have us
+both here this afternoon, but I hardly understand your object. What have
+you come here for?"
+
+Juve, with both hands in his pockets, was walking up and down before the
+dissecting table. At the Magistrate's question he stopped short, and,
+turning to M. Fuselier, replied:
+
+"Why have I come here? I scarcely know myself. It's everything or
+nothing. The key to the puzzle. I tell you, M. Fuselier, things are
+becoming increasingly tragic and baffling."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"The part played by Josephine is less and less clear. She is Loupart's
+mistress; she informs against him, is fired at by him, then, according
+to Fandor, becomes in some manner his accomplice in a robbery so daring
+that you must search the annals of American criminality to find its
+like."
+
+"You refer to the train affair?"
+
+"Yes. Now, leaving Josephine on one side, we are confronted with two
+enigmas. Doctor Chaleck, a man of the world, a scholar, crops up as
+leader of a band of criminals. What we know for certain about him is
+that he fired at Josephine, that he was concerned in the affair of the
+docks--no more. There remains Loupart; and about him being the real
+culprit we know nothing. There is no proof that he killed the woman. In
+order to prove that we should have to know who that woman is and why she
+was killed, and also how. The how and why of the crime alone might
+chance to give us the answer."
+
+"What trail are you following?"
+
+"That of the dead woman. The body we are about to examine will determine
+me in which quarter to direct my search."
+
+M. Fuselier, looking at the detective with a penetrating eye, asked:
+
+"You surely haven't the notion of suspecting Fantomas?"
+
+"You are right, M. Fuselier," he replied. "Behind Loupart, behind
+Chaleck, everywhere and always it is Fantomas I am looking for."
+
+Whatever information the detective was about to impart to the magistrate
+was cut short by the return of Doctor Ardel. That gentleman, in donning
+the uniform of the expert, had resumed an appearance of professional
+gravity.
+
+"We are going to work now, gentlemen," he announced. "I need not remind
+you, of course, that the body you are about to see, that of the woman
+found in the Cite Frochot, has already undergone certain changes due to
+decomposition, which have modified its aspect."
+
+So saying, Dr. Ardel pressed a button and gave an attendant the
+necessary order. "Be so good as to bring the body from room No. 6."
+
+Some minutes later a folding door in the wall opened and two men pushed
+a truck into the middle of the hall upon which lay the corpse of the
+unknown.
+
+"I now give over the dead woman to you to identify," declared Doctor
+Ardel. "My examination has been carried out and my part as expert is
+over--I am ready to hand in my report."
+
+Fuselier and Juve bent long over the slab upon which the body had been
+placed.
+
+"Alas!" cried Juve, "how recognise anything in this countenance
+destroyed by pitch? What discover in these crushed limbs, this human
+form, which is now a shapeless mass?" And, turning to Dr. Ardel, he
+questioned:
+
+"Professor, what did you learn from your autopsy?"
+
+"Nothing, or very little," replied the doctor. "Death was not due to one
+blow more than another. A general effusion of blood took place
+everywhere at once."
+
+"Everywhere at once? What do you mean by that?" questioned Juve.
+
+"Gentlemen, that is the exact truth. In dissecting this body I was
+surprised to find all the blood vessels burst, the heart, the veins, the
+arteries, even the lung cells. More than this, the very bones are
+broken, splintered into a vast number of little pieces. Lastly, both on
+the limbs and over the whole body I find a general ecchymosis, reaching
+from the top of the neck to the lower extremities."
+
+"But," objected Juve, who feared the professor might linger over
+technical details too complex for him, "what general notion does this
+suggest to you as to the cause of death?"
+
+"A strange idea, M. Juve, and one it is not easy for me to define. You
+might say that the body of this woman had passed under the grinders of a
+roller! The body is 'rolled,' that is just the word, crushed all over,
+and there is no point where the pressure might be conjectured to have
+been greatest."
+
+M. Fuselier looked at Juve.
+
+"What can we deduce from that?" he asked.
+
+"Professor Ardel demonstrates scientifically the same doubts to which a
+rough inspection led me. How did the murderer go to work? It becomes
+more and more of a mystery."
+
+"It is so much so," declared Professor Ardel, "that even by postulating
+the worst complications I really cannot conceive of any machine capable
+of thus crushing a human being."
+
+"I do not believe," declared the magistrate, "that we have any more to
+see here. It is plain, Juve, that this corpse cannot furnish any clues
+to you and me for the inquest."
+
+"The corpse, no," cried Juve, "but there is something else."
+
+Then, turning to the professor, he asked:
+
+"Could you have brought to us the clothes this woman wore?"
+
+"Quite easily."
+
+From a bag that an attendant handed him Juve drew out the garments of
+the dead woman. The shoes were by a good maker, the silk stockings with
+open-work embroidery, the chemise and the drawers were of fine linen and
+the corset was well cut.
+
+"Nothing," he cried, "not a mark on this linen nor even the name of the
+shop where it was bought."
+
+He examined her petticoat, her bodice, a sort of elegant blouse, trimmed
+with lace, and the velvet collar which had several spots of blood upon
+it. He then drew a small penknife from his pocket and, kneeling on the
+floor, proceeded to probe the seams. Suddenly he uttered a muffled
+exclamation:
+
+"Ah! What's this?" From the lining of the bodice he drew out a thin roll
+of paper, crumpled, stained with blood, torn unfortunately.
+
+     "Goodness of God in whom I trust--I do not wish to die with this
+     remorse--I do not wish to risk his killing me to destroy this
+     secret--I write this confession, I will tell him it is deposited in
+     a safe place--yes, I was the cause of the death of that hapless
+     actor! Yes, Valgrand paid for the crime which Gurn committed....
+     Yes, I sent Valgrand to the scaffold by making him pass for
+     Gurn--Gurn who killed Lord Beltham, Gurn, who I sometimes think
+     must be Fantomas!"
+
+Juve read these lines in an agitated voice, and as he came to the
+signature he turned pale and was obliged to stop.
+
+"What is the matter?"
+
+"It is signed--'Lady Beltham.'"
+
+In order that Doctor Ardel, understanding nothing of Juve's agitation,
+might grasp that import of the paper just discovered he would have had
+to call to mind the appalling tragedy which three years before had
+stirred the whole world with its bloody vicissitude and mystery, one not
+solved to that hour.
+
+"Lady Beltham!"
+
+At that name Juve called up the whole blood-curdling past! He saw in
+fancy the English lady[A] whose husband was murdered by the Canadian
+Gurn, who perhaps was her lover.
+
+And Juve, following his train of thought, pondered that he had accused
+this same lady of having, to save her lover, the very day the guillotine
+was erected on the boulevard, found means to send in his stead the
+innocent actor, Valgrand.
+
+And here in connection with this affair of the Cite Frochot he found
+Lady Beltham involved in the puzzle of which he was so keenly seeking
+the key.
+
+Juve again read the momentous paper he had just unearthed.
+
+"By Jove, it was plain," ran his thought, "the lady, criminal though she
+might be, was first and foremost Fantomas' passionate inamorata. And
+this paper he held in his hands was the tail end of her confession--the
+remains of a document in which in a fit of moral distress she had avowed
+her remorse and made known the truth."
+
+And taking line by line the cryptic statement, Juve asked himself
+further:
+
+"What do these phrases signify? How extract the whole truth from these
+few words? 'I do not want him to kill me in order to destroy that
+secret'! When Lady Beltham wrote that she was angry with Gurn. Then
+again what did this other doubtful expression mean?--'Gurn who I
+sometimes fancy may be Fantomas.' She did not know then the precise
+identity of her lover! Oh, the wretch! To what depths had she sunk?"
+
+Then as he put this query to himself, Juve shook from head to foot. Like
+a thunderclap he thought he grasped the truth he had followed so
+eagerly. What had become of Lady Beltham? Must he not come to the
+conclusion that this woman whose face had been crushed out of all
+recognition by the murderer was none other than the lady? How else
+explain the discovery in her bodice of the betraying document? Who but
+she could have had it in her possession? Who else could have so
+sedulously concealed it?
+
+Juve read over another clause: "I will tell him it is deposited in a
+safe place."
+
+Feverishly Juve took up the garments trailing on the ground, carefully
+explored the fabric, made a minute search.
+
+"It is impossible," he thought, "that I should not find another
+document. The beginning of this confession--I must have it!"
+
+All at once he stopped short in his search. "Curse it all!" And he
+pointed out to M. Fuselier, disguised in the lining of a loose pocket in
+the petticoat--a fresh hiding place, but torn and alas! empty.
+
+This woman had split up her confession into several portions. And if she
+was killed it was certainly to strip her of these compromising papers.
+Well, the murderer had attained his object.
+
+"Look, Fuselier, this empty 'cache' is the proof of what I put forward,
+and chance alone allowed the page concealed in the collar of this bodice
+to fall into my hands."
+
+Long did the detective still grope and ponder, heedless of the
+questions the professor and the magistrate kept asking him. He rose at
+last, and with a distracted gesture took the arm of M. Fuselier, and
+dragged him before the stone slab on which the corpse, but recently
+unknown, smiled a ghastly smile.
+
+"M. Fuselier, the dead woman has spoken. She is Lady Beltham. This is
+the body of Lady Beltham!"
+
+The magistrate recoiled in horror. He murmured:
+
+"But who then can Doctor Chaleck be? Who can Loupart be?"
+
+Juve replied without hesitation.
+
+"Ask Fantomas the names of his accomplices!"
+
+And leaving him and Doctor Ardel without any farewell Juve rushed from
+the Morgue, his features so distorted that as they passed him people
+drew aside, amazed and murmuring:
+
+"A madman or a murderer!"
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+FANTOMAS' VICTIM
+
+
+"You understand my object, Fandor? Hitherto I have worked unaided. I
+wanted to unearth Fantomas and bring him to Headquarters, saying to my
+superiors, 'For three years you have maintained this man was dead; well,
+here he is! I have put the darbies on the most terrible ruffian of
+modern times.' Well, I must forego my little triumph. We must now work
+in the open. Public opinion must come to our aid."
+
+"Then you want me to write my article?"
+
+"Yes, and tell all the details; wind up by putting the question
+squarely. 'Is not Fantomas still alive?' Then sum up in the affirmative.
+Now, be off. I want to read your article this evening in the _Capital_."
+
+Fandor had just left his detective friend when old Jean, the only
+servant that Juve tolerated in his private quarters, entered the room.
+
+"Don't forget the person who is waiting in the parlour, sir."
+
+"Ah, yes, to be sure. A person who comes to see me at home, when nobody
+knows my address should be interesting. Show him in, Jean."
+
+Juve placed his revolver in reach of his hand as Jean announced: "Maitre
+Gerin, notary."
+
+Juve rose, motioned his visitor to a chair and inquired the object of
+his visit.
+
+Maitre Gerin bowed respectfully to Juve.
+
+"I must apologise," he said, "for coming to disturb you at home, sir,
+but it concerns a matter of such importance and it involves names so
+terrible that I could not utter them within the walls of the Surete.
+What brings me here is a crime which must be laid to Fantomas or his
+heirs in crime."
+
+Juve was strangely moved.
+
+"Speak, sir, I am all attention."
+
+"M. Juve, I believe that one of my clients, a woman, has been killed. I
+have had for some time a certain sympathy, and, I don't disguise it, an
+immense curiosity concerning her because she was actually involved in
+the mysterious affairs of Fantomas."
+
+"The name of the woman, counsel, her name, I beg of you?"
+
+"The name of the woman who, I fear, has been murdered is--Lady
+Beltham!"
+
+Juve gave a sigh of relief. It was the name he wished to hear.
+
+Maitre Gerin continued: "I have been Lady Beltham's lawyer for a long
+period of time, but since the Fantomas case came to an end in the
+sentencing to death of Gurn and the subsequent scandal attached to the
+name of Lady Beltham, I have ceased to have any further tidings of that
+unhappy woman.
+
+"Indirectly, through the medium of the papers which at times gave out
+some echo of her, I knew that she had been travelling, then, that she
+was back in Paris, and had gone to live at Neuilly, Boulevard Inkermann.
+But I did not see her again. It is true her family matters were settled,
+her husband's estate entirely wound up. In short, she had no reason to
+appeal to me professionally."
+
+"To be sure."
+
+"Well, some days ago, I was greatly surprised by her visiting my office.
+Naturally I refrained from asking her any awkward questions."
+
+Juve interrupted: "In Heaven's name, sir, how long ago is it since Lady
+Beltham called on you?"
+
+"Nineteen days, sir."
+
+A sigh of relief escaped Juve. He had feared all his theories regarding
+the body at the Morgue the day before were going to collapse. "Go on,
+sir," he cried.
+
+"Lady Beltham, on being shown into my private office, appeared to me
+much the same physically as I had known her previously, but she was no
+longer the great lady, cold, haughty, a trifle disdainful. She seemed
+crushed under a terrible load, a prey to awful mental torture. She made
+appeal to my discretion, both professionally and as a man of honour.
+
+"She then spoke as follows: 'I am going to write a letter which, if it
+fell into the hands of a third person, would bring about a great
+calamity. This letter I shall intrust to you together with my Will which
+will instruct you what to do with it at my death. I will send you a
+visiting card with a line in my own handwriting every fortnight. If ever
+this card fails to come, conclude that I am dead, that they have
+murdered me, and carry that letter where I tell you--Avenge me!'"
+
+"Well, what then?" cried Juve, anxiously.
+
+"That is all, M. Juve. I have not seen Lady Beltham again, nor had any
+news of her. When I called at her residence I was told she was away. I
+have come to ask you whether you think she has been murdered."
+
+Juve was pacing his room with great strides.
+
+"Maitre," he said at last, "your story confirms all I have suspected.
+Yes, Lady Beltham is dead. She has been murdered. That letter contained
+her confession and revealed not only her own crimes, but those of her
+accomplices, of her master--of--Fantomas. Fantomas killed her to free
+himself of a witness to his evil life."
+
+"Fantomas! But Fantomas is dead."
+
+"So they say."
+
+"Have you proofs of his existence?"
+
+"I am looking for them."
+
+"What do you think of doing?"
+
+"I am going to make an investigation. I am going to learn where and how
+Lady Beltham was killed. I shall see you again, Maitre. Read _The
+Capital_ this evening. You will find in it many interesting surprises."
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+THE ENGLISHWOMAN OF BOULEVARD INKERMANN
+
+
+"To sum up what I have just learned."
+
+Juve was seated at his desk, and those who knew the private life of the
+great detective would assuredly have guessed that he was gravely
+preoccupied. He was trying to extract some useful information from the
+notary's visit, some hints essential to the investigation he had taken
+in hand, and that at all hazards he meant to pursue to a successful
+termination. The task was fraught with difficulties and even peril. But
+the triumph would be great if he should succeed in putting the
+"bracelets" on the "genius of crime," as he had called him to his friend
+Fandor.
+
+"Lady Beltham had gone to visit Gerin. She was an astute woman after
+all, and knew how to get her own way. There must have been powerful
+motives which urged her to write that confession. What were those
+motives?
+
+"Remorse? No. A woman who loves has no remorse. Fear? Probably, but fear
+of what?"
+
+Juve, without being aware of it, had just written on the paper of his
+note-book the ill-omened name which haunted him.
+
+"Fantomas!"
+
+"Why, of course, Fantomas killed Lady Beltham, and killed her in the
+house of Doctor Chaleck, an accomplice. And Loupart, a third accomplice,
+got his mistress to write to me, and I believed the denunciation.
+Loupart got us to dog him, led me unawares behind the curtains in the
+study, and made me witness that Chaleck was innocent. Oh, the ruse was a
+clever one. Josephine herself, by the two shots she received some days
+later at Lariboisiere, became a victim. In short, the scent was crossed
+and broken."
+
+The detective snatched up his hat, saw carefully to the charges of his
+pocket revolver, then gravely and solemnly cried:
+
+"It is you and I now, Fantomas!" with which he left his rooms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Juve and Fandor were entering a taxi-cab.
+
+"To Neuilly Church," cried Juve to the driver. "And, now, my dear
+Fandor, you must be thinking me crazy, as less than two hours ago I
+sent you off to write an article, and here I come taking you from your
+paper and carrying you away in this headlong fashion. But just listen to
+the tale of this morning's doings."
+
+Juve then gave a full account of Maitre Gerin's visit and wound up by
+saying: "It is through Lady Beltham that we must unearth that monster,
+Fantomas."
+
+"That's all very well," replied Fandor, "but as the lady is dead, how
+are we going to set about it?"
+
+"By reconstructing the last hours of her life. We are now on our way to
+Lady Beltham's residence, Boulevard Inkermann."
+
+"And what are we to do when we arrive there?"
+
+"I shall examine the house, which is probably empty, and you are to
+'pump' the neighbours, to ask questions of the tradespeople. I should
+attract too much attention if I were to do this myself, and that is why
+I dragged you away from your work."
+
+Some moments later the taxi pulled up at the corner of Boulevard
+Inkermann.
+
+"The house is number--" said Juve as he took Fandor by the arm. "Bless
+me, you remember the house! It is the one in which I arrested Gurn
+three years ago; that famous day he came to see Lady Beltham, disguised
+as a beggar."
+
+The two friends soon found themselves at their destination. Through the
+garden railing, which was wholly covered with a dense growth of ivy, the
+two saw the house, which now looked very dilapidated.
+
+"It doesn't look as if it had been inhabited for a long while," said
+Fandor.
+
+"That's what we want to make sure of. Go and make your inquiries."
+
+Fandor left his companion and made his way back to the commercial
+section of Neuilly. He stopped opposite a sign which read:
+
+"Gardening done."
+
+"Anyone there?" he inquired.
+
+An old woman, standing in the doorway, came forward. "What can I do for
+you, sir?"
+
+"If I am not mistaken, it was you who attended to Lady Beltham's
+garden?"
+
+"Yes, sir, we kept her garden in order. But my husband hasn't worked
+there for several months, as Lady Beltham has been away."
+
+"I heard she was coming back to Paris, and called to-day, but found the
+house closed up."
+
+"Oh, I am sorry. Lady Beltham's an excellent customer and Mme. Raymond
+also bought flowers of us."
+
+"Mme. Raymond. She is a friend of Lady Beltham?"
+
+"Her companion. It is now close to a year that Mme. Raymond has been
+living with her. Oh! a very pleasant lady; a pretty brunette, very
+elegant and not at all proud."
+
+Fandor thought it well not to seem astonished.
+
+"Oh, yes, of course," he cried, "Mme. Raymond. I remember now. Lady
+Beltham's life is so sad and lonely."
+
+"True enough," the woman replied, and, lowering her voice: "And then,
+what with all these tales of noises and ghosts, the house can't be too
+pleasant to live in, eh?"
+
+Fandor pretended to be well posted. "People still talk of these
+incidents?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir."
+
+Fandor did not venture to press the subject, and, taking leave of the
+worthy woman, he made his way back to the Boulevard. As soon as Juve
+caught sight of him in the distance he ran up eagerly.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, Juve, what have you found out during my absence?"
+
+"In the first place that it is exactly sixty-four days since Lady
+Beltham left Neuilly. I discovered this by the dates on a lot of
+circulars in the letter box. I also had a talk with a butcher's man and
+learned that Lady Beltham had a companion."
+
+"Oh! I was bringing you that same news!"
+
+"This Mme. Raymond is young, dark, very pretty. Can't you guess who she
+is?"
+
+Fandor stared at Juve.
+
+"You mean----"
+
+"Josephine. It's perfectly clear. We know Lady Beltham wrote a
+confession, that Fantomas suspected this and murdered her to get hold of
+it, and further that in this murder Loupart was involved. Josephine was
+introduced to Lady Beltham by Fantomas. A spy going there to betray the
+great lady and possibly entice her later to the Cite Frochot. Let us
+make haste, lad. We thought we had to follow the trail of Loupart and
+Chaleck, but we mustn't lose sight of Josephine. She may be the means of
+helping us to the truth."
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+THE ARREST OF JOSEPHINE
+
+
+The somewhat grim faces of Mme. Guinon, Julie and the Flirt lit up
+suddenly. Bonzille, the tramp set free by the police the day after the
+"drive" in the Rue Charbonniere, had opened the bottle of vermouth, and
+Josephine bustled around to find glasses to put on the table.
+
+Josephine had visitors in her little lodging. There was to be a quiet
+lunch. On the sideboard attractive dishes were ready, a fine savour of
+cooking onions came from the dark corner in which Loupart's pretty
+mistress was doing hasty cookery over the gas.
+
+"Neat or with water?" asked Bonzille, performing his office of cup
+bearer with comical dignity.
+
+Mme. Guinon asked for plenty of water. Julie shrugged her shoulders
+indifferently; she didn't care so long as there was drink, while the
+Flirt, in her cracked voice, breathed in the loafer's ear: "How about a
+sip of brandy to put with it?"
+
+The appetiser loosened tongues: they began to cackle. From a drawer
+Josephine got out a pack of cards, which the Flirt promptly seized,
+while Julie, leaning familiarly on her shoulder, counselled her:
+
+"Cut with the left and watch what you are doing; we shall see if there's
+any luck for us in the pack."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Josephine had now been back three days from her painful journey and had
+not seen Loupart. The latter, after having abandoned the motor in some
+waste ground among the fortifications, had vanished with the Beard, only
+bidding his mistress go home as if nothing had happened and wait for
+news of him.
+
+The Simplon Express affair had made a great stir in the fashionable
+world, and had produced considerable uneasiness among the criminal
+class.
+
+To be sure no name had been mentioned, and apparently the police were
+not following any definite clue. Still, in the Chapelle quarter, and
+especially in the den of the "Goutte d'Or" and the Rue de Chartres, it
+was noticed that the absence of the chief members of the Band of
+Cyphers coincided with the date of the tragedy.
+
+At first there had been some slight stand-offishness shown to Josephine
+on her return. She was greeted with doubtful allusions, equivocal
+compliments, with a touch of coldness, and folks were also amazed at not
+seeing Loupart reappear with her.
+
+Josephine told herself that she must at all costs disabuse her
+neighbours of this bad impression, and that is why she had decided to
+give a luncheon party to her most intimate friends. These might also be
+her most formidable opponents, for such damsels as the Flirt and Julie,
+even big Ernestine, could not fail to be jealous of the mistress of a
+distinguished leader; besides, she was the prettiest woman in the
+quarter.
+
+Joining the conversation from time to time, Josephine smiled and
+regained confidence. Her manoeuvre bade fair to be crowned with
+success.
+
+As they sat down to table the door opened and Mother Toulouche came in,
+carrying a capacious basket.
+
+"Well," cried the old fence, "I got wind that something was going on
+here, and I said to myself, 'Why shouldn't Mother Toulouche be in it as
+well?' One more or less don't matter, eh, Josephine?"
+
+Josephine assented and made room for her. Before sitting down the old
+woman put her basket on the floor.
+
+"If I invite myself, Fifine, I bring something to the feast. Here are
+some portugals and two dozen snails which will help out."
+
+All at once, Josephine, who, despite the general gaiety, was
+absent-minded and preoccupied, rose and ran to the door, answering a
+knock. She was at bottom horribly uneasy at hearing nothing of her
+lover. She began to fear that the police for once might have got the
+upper hand. It was little Paulot, the porter's son, who rushed in quite
+out of breath.
+
+"Mme. Josephine, mother told me to come up and warn you that two
+gentlemen were asking for you in the lodge just now. Two gentlemen in
+special 'rig.'"
+
+"Do you know them, Paulot?"
+
+"I don't, Mme. Josephine."
+
+"What did they want of me?"
+
+"They didn't say."
+
+"What did your mother answer?"
+
+"Don't know. Believe she told 'em you were in your den."
+
+The occurrence cast a chill over the company. Little Paulot was given a
+big glass of claret, and when he had left the Flirt observed gravely:
+
+"It's the cops."
+
+"Why should they come and inquire for me?"
+
+Julie tried to console her.
+
+"Anyhow they'll not come up to your place."
+
+Josephine was greatly upset. Were they after her or Loupart? Why had
+they withdrawn? Would they come back?
+
+In a flash she burst out, beating her fist on the table:
+
+"Bah! I've had enough of this, not knowing what is going to happen from
+one moment to the next. Sooner than stay here, I'll go and find out."
+
+The Flirt suggested, with a spiteful smile.
+
+"Go ahead, my girl, they won't be far away; go and ask them what they
+want."
+
+"Very well," cried Josephine, "I will."
+
+And the young girl emptied her glass to give her courage.
+
+"And if you don't come back, we'll set your room to rights," cried the
+Flirt after her. "Good luck, try and not sleep in the jug."
+
+Josephine rushed downstairs, and then, after a moment's hesitation,
+turned and went down the Rue de Chartres.
+
+At first she noticed nothing unusual or suspicious. The faces of those
+she met were mostly familiar to her. But suddenly her heart stopped
+beating. Two men accosted her simultaneously, one on her right, the
+other on her left.
+
+Her neighbour on the right asked very softly:
+
+"Are you Josephine Ramot?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You must come with us."
+
+"Yes," said Josephine, resigned.
+
+A few moments later, Josephine, seated in a cab between the two men, was
+crossing Paris. The detectives had given the address: "Boulevard du
+Palais."
+
+Loupart's mistress, taken on her arrival to the ante-room adjoining the
+private rooms of the examining magistrates, had not much time for
+reflection.
+
+To be sure, she was not guilty. Not guilty? Well, at bottom the affair
+of the Marseilles train made Josephine uneasy. And the story of the
+motor, too, the motor taken by force from unknown travellers. What
+knowledge had the police of these events? When questioned, was she to
+confess or deny?
+
+A little old man, bald and fussy, appeared at the end of the passage and
+called her.
+
+"Josephine Ramot, the private room of Justice Fuselier."
+
+Mechanically she went forward between her two captors, who pushed her
+into a well-lit apartment, in the corner of which stood a big desk. A
+well-dressed gentleman was sitting there, writing; opposite him, in the
+shadow, some one stood motionless. The magistrate raised his head; his
+face was cold and contained, but not spiteful.
+
+"What is your name?"
+
+"Josephine Ramot."
+
+"Where were you born?"
+
+"Rue de Belleville."
+
+"What is your age?"
+
+"Twenty-two."
+
+"You live by prostitution?"
+
+Josephine coloured and, with an angry voice, cried:
+
+"No, your honour, I have a calling. I am a polisher."
+
+"Are you working now?"
+
+Josephine felt awkward.
+
+"Well, to say the truth, at the moment I have no work, but they know me
+at M. Monthier's, Rue de Malte; it was there I was apprenticed, and----"
+
+"And since you became the mistress of the ruffian Loupart, known as 'The
+Square,' you have ceased to practise an honest calling?"
+
+"I won't deny being Loupart's mistress, but as for prostitution----"
+
+The man Josephine had noticed standing in the shadow came forward and
+murmured a few words in the magistrate's ear.
+
+"M. Juve," cried Josephine, moving toward the inspector with her hand
+out. She stopped short as the detective motioned to her that such a
+familiarity was not allowable, and the examination was resumed.
+
+The magistrate, after having by some curt questions brought to light the
+salient points of Josephine's life, and clearly mapped out the speedy
+development of the honest little work girl into a ruffian's mistress,
+and in all probability, accomplice, began the interrogation on the main
+point.
+
+At some length he narrated without losing a single change of her
+countenance, the various incidents of the evening begun in the railway
+which ended with the disaster to the Simplon Express.
+
+Fuselier made Josephine pass again through her headlong exit from
+Lariboisiere, her quick passage through Paris when she was barely
+convalescent, and still suffering from the effects of the fever, her
+departure in the Marseilles Express, where she picked up half a score of
+footpads headed by her redoubtable lover; then the waiting in the
+silence of the night, the affray, the threats, and lastly, after
+breaking the couplings to the train, the dangerous flight of the band,
+the headlong rush through the country.
+
+The magistrate wound up:
+
+"You came to town afterwards, Josephine Ramot, in company with Loupart,
+called 'The Square,' and his factotum, the ruffian 'Beard.'"
+
+Josephine, embarrassed by the steady glance of the magistrate,
+endeavoured to keep her face devoid of expression, but as in his recital
+the points of the adventure she had shared grew more definite, she felt
+she was constantly changing colour and at certain moments her eyelids
+quivered over her downcast eyes.
+
+Evidently he was well posted. That young man who got into the same
+compartment as M. Martialle must certainly have belonged to the police.
+But for that the judge would never have known precisely what took place.
+Decidedly this was a bad beginning.
+
+Josephine now dreaded to see the door open and Loupart appear, the
+bracelets on his wrists, followed by the Beard, similarly fettered, for
+beyond a doubt the two men had been nabbed.
+
+Hunched up, her nerves tense, Josephine kept her mind fixed on one
+point. She was waiting anxiously for the first chance to protest. At a
+certain juncture the magistrate declared:
+
+"You three, Loupart, 'The Beard' and yourself, shared between you the
+proceeds of the robberies committed."
+
+As soon as she could get a word in, Josephine shouted her innocence.
+
+Oh, as to that, no! She had not touched a cent from the business. She
+did not even know what was involved.
+
+The exact truth was this. She was ill in the hospital when all of a
+sudden she remembered that Loupart had some days before bidden her be at
+all costs at the Lyons Station, on a certain Saturday evening at exactly
+seven o'clock. Now that particular Saturday was the day after the
+attempt on her life. As she was much better she set off in obedience to
+her lover. She knew no more; she had done no more; she would not have
+them accuse her of any more.
+
+The young woman had gradually grown warm, her voice rose and vibrated.
+The judge let her have her say, and when she had finished there was a
+silence.
+
+M. Fuselier slowly dipped a pen in the ink, and in his level voice
+declared, casting a glance in Juve's direction:
+
+"After all, what seems clearly established is complicity."
+
+Josephine gave a start--she knew the terrible significance of the term.
+Complicity meant joint guilt.
+
+But Juve intervened:
+
+"Excuse me, in place of 'complicity' perhaps we had better say
+'compulsion.'"
+
+"I don't follow you, Juve."
+
+"We must bear in mind, your honour, that this girl is to be pardoned to
+a certain extent for having obeyed her lover's order, more particularly
+at a time when the latter had gained quite a victory over the police.
+For in spite of the protection of our people, his attempt against her
+partially succeeded."
+
+Taken aback, M. Fuselier looked from the detective to the young woman
+whom he regarded as guilty. Juve's outburst seemed to him out of place.
+
+"Your pardon, Juve, but your reasoning seems to me somewhat specious;
+however, I will not press this charge against the girl; we have
+something better."
+
+Turning to Loupart's mistress, the judge asked abruptly:
+
+"What has become of Lady Beltham?"
+
+Josephine was amazed by the question. She turned inquiring eyes toward
+Juve, who quickly said:
+
+"M. Fuselier, this is not the moment----"
+
+The magistrate, dropping this line, again tackled Josephine on her
+relations with Loupart.
+
+In a flash Josephine made up her mind. She would simulate innocence at
+all costs. With the craft of a consummate actress, she began in a low
+voice, which gradually rose and became impressive, insinuating:
+
+"How pitiful it is to think that everyone bears a grudge against a poor
+girl who, some day in springtime, has given herself the pleasure of a
+lover! Is there any harm in giving oneself to the man who loves you? Who
+forbids it? No one but the priests, and they have been kicked out of
+doors!"
+
+The magistrate could not help smiling, and Juve showed signs of
+amusement.
+
+"But I am honest, and when I understand something of what was going on,
+I wrote to M. Juve. And what thanks did I get? Two bullet holes in my
+skin!"
+
+M. Fuselier hesitated about turning his summons into a committal.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+AT THE MONTMARTRE FETE
+
+
+The fete of Montmartre was at its height. In the Place Blanche a joyous
+crowd was pressing round a booth of huge dimensions, splendidly lighted.
+On the stage a cheap Jack, decked out in many-coloured frippery, was
+delivering his patter:
+
+"Walk in, ladies and gentlemen; it's only ten cents, and you won't
+regret your money! The management of the theatre will present to you,
+without delay, the prettiest woman in the world and also the fattest,
+who weighs a trifle over 600 pounds and possibly more; as no scale has
+yet been found strong enough to weigh her without breaking into a
+thousand pieces.
+
+"You will also have the rare and weird sight of a black from Abyssinia
+whose splendid ebony hide has been tattooed in white. Furthermore, a
+young girl of scarcely fourteen summers will astound you by entering
+the cage of the ferocious beasts, whose terrible roarings reach you
+here! The programme is most interesting, and after these incomparable
+attractions, you will applaud the cinema in colours--the last exploit of
+modern science--showing the recent tour of the President of the
+Republic, and himself in person delivering his speech to an audience as
+numerous as it is select. You will also see, reproduced in the most
+stirring and life-like manner, all the details of the mysterious murder
+which at this moment engages public interest and keeps the police on
+tenter-hooks. The crime at the Cite Frochot, with the murdered woman,
+the Empire clock, and the extinguished candle: all the accessories in
+full, including the collapse of the elevator into the sewer. The show is
+beginning! It has begun!"
+
+Among the throng surrounding the mountebank three persons seemed
+especially amused by the peroration. They were two gentlemen, very
+elegant and distinguished, in evening clothes, and with them a pretty
+woman wearing a loose silk mantle over her low dress.
+
+She put her lips to the ear of the older of her companions, who, with
+his turned-up moustache and grey hair, looked like a cavalry officer.
+
+She murmured to him these strange words:
+
+"Squint at the guy on the left, the one passing before the
+clock-seller's booth. That's one of the gang. He was in the Simplon
+affair."
+
+The pretty Parisian, so smartly dressed, was no other than Josephine.
+The young man with the fair beard was Fandor and the cavalry officer was
+Juve. The three now "worked" together. The partnership dated from the
+afternoon that Josephine escaped arrest, thanks to the lucky
+intervention of Juve.
+
+The latter had little belief in the young woman's innocence, but by
+getting her on his side, he hoped to secure information as to Loupart's
+doings.
+
+Juve was talking to a ragged Arab selling nougat to the passers-by.
+
+"Ay, sir," explained the Arab. "I have been dogging little Mimile since
+two this afternoon."
+
+"Bravo, my dear Michel, your disguise is a perfect success."
+
+Josephine came suddenly close and pulled Juve by the sleeve, and then
+pointed to a group of persons who were crossing the Place Blanche.
+Without troubling further about the Arab, Juve at once began to follow
+this group, motioning to Josephine and Fandor to follow him closely. The
+three threaded their way through the crowd with a thousand precautions,
+seeking to avoid attention, yet not losing sight of their quarry. All
+three had recognised Loupart!
+
+The outlaw, dressed in a long blouse, with a tall cap, and armed with a
+stout cudgel, was walking among half a dozen individuals similarly
+attired. By their garb they would be taken for cattle-herders from La
+Villette.
+
+This group proceeded slowly in the direction of Place Pigalle, and Juve,
+who was pressing hard on his quarry, slackened his pace in order to let
+them forge ahead a little. The square, which was surrounded by
+brilliantly illuminated restaurants, was a flood of light, and the
+detective did not want people to notice him. Moreover, the
+pseudo-cattle-drivers had stopped, too: gathering round Loupart they
+listened attentively to his remarks, made in a low tone. Clearly they
+were accomplices of the robber, who, perhaps, realised that they were
+being followed.
+
+Fandor, who had put his arm through Josephine's, felt the young woman's
+heart beating as though it would burst. They were all playing for high
+stakes. Josephine, especially, was in a compromising and dangerous
+plight. Not only had she to fear the wrath of her lover, but she ran the
+risk of being "spotted" by one of the many satellites of the gang of
+Cyphers, in which case her condemnation would be certain.
+
+Fandor encouraged her with a few kind words:
+
+"You know, mademoiselle, you mustn't be frightened. If I am not greatly
+mistaken, Loupart is about to be nabbed, and once in Juve's hands he
+won't get out of them in a hurry."
+
+Josephine's perturbation was scarcely quieter, and Fandor, a trifle
+skeptical, asked himself whether in reality the girl was on their side
+or if she were not playing the game of false information. Suddenly
+something fresh happened.
+
+Loupart, separating himself from his companions, entered a restaurant
+upon which the words
+
+   "The Crocodile"
+
+were inscribed in dazzling letters on its front. The Crocodile
+comprised, like most night resorts, a large saloon on the ground floor
+and a dining-room on the first floor which was reached by a little
+stairway and guarded by a giant clad in magnificent livery. Above this
+were apartments and private rooms.
+
+Just then, as it was near midnight, a number of carriages were bringing
+couples in evening dress, who mounted the staircase. To their great
+surprise, Fandor and Josephine saw Loupart make for this staircase. The
+long smock of the seeming cattle-driver would certainly make a queer
+showing. What was the formidable robber's game? Juve gave hasty
+directions:
+
+"It's all right. I know the house. It has only one exit. You, Ramot," he
+went on, addressing the young woman, "go up to the first floor and take
+your place at a table; here are ten dollars, order champagne and don't
+be too stiff with the company."
+
+Josephine nodded and went upstairs.
+
+Juve and Fandor followed a few minutes later and took up a strategic
+position at a table near the doorway. Fandor had a view of the room and
+Juve commanded the hall and stairway. From the room came a confused hum
+of laughter, cries and doubtful jokes. A negro, clad in red and armed
+with a gong, capered among the tables, dancing and singing.
+
+Fandor caught sight of Josephine, who appeared to be carrying out Juve's
+instructions. Beside her was a fair giant of red complexion and
+clean-shaven face, whose Anglo-Saxon origin was beyond doubt. Fandor
+knew the face; he had seen the man somewhere; he remembered his square
+shoulders and bull-like neck, and the enormous biceps which stood out
+under the cloth of his sleeves.
+
+"By Jove!" he cried suddenly. "Why it's Dixon, the American heavyweight
+champion!"
+
+Juve signalled to the waiter to bring him the bill as he fitted a
+monocle into his right eye.
+
+Fandor stared at him, surprised.
+
+"Well, Juve, when you get yourself up as a man of the world, you omit no
+detail."
+
+Juve made no reply for some moments, then turned to his companion.
+
+"Who else do you see in the room?"
+
+Fandor looked carefully, and then made a gesture of amazement.
+
+"Chaleck! Chaleck is over there eating his supper!"
+
+"Yes," said Juve simply, "and you are stupid not to have seen him
+before."
+
+The profile of the mysterious doctor was in fact outlined very sharply
+at a table, amply served and covered with bottles and flowers, around
+which half a score of persons, men and women, had taken their places.
+
+Without turning his head, Juve remarked:
+
+"Judging by the action of the person who is at this moment lighting a
+cigar the supper is not far from coming to an end."
+
+"Come, now, Juve, have you eyes in your back? How can you know what is
+going on at Doctor Chaleck's table, while you are looking in the
+opposite direction?"
+
+Juve handed his eye-glass to the journalist.
+
+"Ah! Now I see! A trick eye-glass, with a mirror in it--not a bad idea."
+
+"It is quite simple," murmured Juve. "The main thing is to have thought
+of it. Come, let us go down."
+
+"What? And desert the doctor?"
+
+"An arrest should never be made in a public place when it can be
+avoided. Here, give me your card that I may send it up with mine."
+
+Juve called M. Dominique, the manager, and, pointing out Chaleck to him,
+said:
+
+"M. Dominique, please give our cards to that gentleman and say that we
+are waiting outside to speak to him."
+
+In a few moments Chaleck came out of the saloon to the Place Pigalle.
+
+His face was calm and his glance unmoved. Juve laid his hand upon the
+doctor's shoulder, and, signalling to a subordinate in uniform, cried:
+
+"Doctor Chaleck, I arrest you in the name of the law."
+
+Chaleck quietly flicked off his cigar ash and smiled:
+
+"Do you know, M. Juve, I am not pleased with you. I read in the papers,
+during a recent holiday abroad, that you had pulled my house absolutely
+to pieces! That was not nice of you, when we had been on such good
+terms."
+
+This speech was so startling, so unlooked for, that Juve, though not
+easily surprised, had nothing to answer for the moment.
+
+Meanwhile, Chaleck tamely let himself be dragged toward the station in
+the Rue Rochefoucauld.
+
+"The fine fellow," thought Juve, "must have got his whole case
+prepared--he will give us a run for our money; still it must----"
+
+The detective gave vent to a loud yell. They had just got to the point
+where the Rue Rochefoucauld is intersected by the Rue Notre Dame de
+Lorette: a cab drawn by a big horse was moving in one direction and a
+motor-bus coming from another. It had already cleared the Rue Pigalle,
+and in a second would cut across the Rue Rochefoucauld, when Chaleck,
+literally coming out of the Inverness coat he wore, leaped ahead of
+Juve, dodged under the cab horse and boarded the bus, which rapidly went
+on its way. All this had been accomplished in an instant.
+
+Left dumbfounded, face to face, Juve and Fandor, together with the
+officer, contemplated the only token left them by Chaleck. An elegant
+Inverness cloak with capes, which, oddly enough, had shoulders and
+arms--arms of India-rubber, so well imitated that through the cloth they
+distinctly gave the impression of human arms.
+
+Juve let fly a tremendous oath, then turned to Fandor and cried:
+
+"How about Loupart?"
+
+The two men hastily reascended the Rue Pigalle. They counted on standing
+sentry again before the "Crocodile." But as they reached the square Juve
+and Fandor were faced by fresh surprises. A powerful motor-car was
+slowly getting under way. In it was the American Dixon, with Josephine
+beside him.
+
+Was the girl playing them false? That was the most important thing to
+ascertain.
+
+The car made off at a good pace toward the Place Clichy. Half a moment
+later Juve was bowling after them in a taxi, calling to Fandor as he
+left:
+
+"Look after the other."
+
+Fandor understood "The other" referred to Loupart, and carefully pumped
+M. Dominique, but could get no further news from him, so, after waiting
+an hour for Juve to return, he went home to bed far from easy in his
+mind.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Juve followed the American through Billancourt, past Sevres Bridge, and
+finally into the Bellevue District, when, opposite Brimboison Park,
+Dixon, with the air of a proprietor, took his motor into a fine looking
+estate. Then, having housed the car, the pugilist, with Loupart's
+mistress, went into the house, which was lit up for half an hour, after
+which all was plunged again into darkness.
+
+Juve had left his taxi at the bottom of the hill, and, having cleared
+the low wall of the grounds, hid himself in view of the house. He waited
+until daybreak, but nothing occurred to trouble the peace and hush of
+the night. And then, unwilling to be seen in his evening clothes by
+chance passers-by, he regretfully returned to the Rue Bonaparte.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+THE PUGILIST'S WHIM
+
+
+An old servant had brought out the early coffee to the arbour in the
+garden. It was about eight o'clock, and in the shady retreat the
+freshness of springtime reigned. Soon down the gravel walk appeared the
+well-built figure of Dixon, dressed in white flannels. He bent under the
+arch of greenery that led to the arbour, and seemed vexed to find that
+it was empty.
+
+Clearly the pugilist was not going to breakfast alone and, to while away
+the time until his companion should appear, he lighted a cigarette.
+
+Suddenly the door of the house opened to give passage to a gracious
+apparition--Josephine. Wrapped in a kimona of bright silk and smiling at
+the fine morning, the young woman came slowly down the steps and then
+stopped short, blushing. Some one came to meet her--it was Dixon.
+
+The giant, too, seemed moved. Lowering his eyes he asked:
+
+"How are you this morning, fair lady?"
+
+"And you, M. Dixon?"
+
+"Mlle. Finette, the coffee is served, won't you join me?"
+
+The two young people broke their fast in silence, exchanging only
+monosyllables, to ask for a napkin, a plate, the sugar. At last,
+overcoming his bashfulness Dixon asked in a voice full of entreaty:
+
+"Will you always be so hard-hearted?"
+
+Josephine, embarrassed, evaded the question, and with a show of gaiety
+to hide her confusion, remarked:
+
+"This is an awfully nice place of yours."
+
+The pugilist answered her by describing the calm and simple delights of
+a country life in the springtime, and, slipping his arm round her supple
+waist, asked her softly:
+
+"As you consented to come this far with me, why did you repel me
+afterwards? Why resist me so stubbornly?"
+
+"I was a trifle tipsy yesterday," she replied. "I don't know what I did
+or why I came here with you." And then, with a touch of sadness:
+"Naturally, finding me in such a place you took me for a----"
+
+"Sure enough," replied the American, "but I can see you are not like the
+others."
+
+"And what attracts me to you," continued Josephine, "is that you are not
+a brute. Why, yesterday evening, if you had wanted, when we were alone
+together, eh?"
+
+And she gave Dixon such a queer look that he asked himself whether she
+did not regard him as absurd for having respected her.
+
+"I like you very much," he said, "more than any other woman. In a month
+from now I shall be off to America. I have already a good deal of money
+and I shall earn much more out there. If you will come with me, we won't
+part any more. Do you agree?"
+
+Josephine was at first amused by this downright declaration, but
+gradually she took it more seriously. She would see the world, be
+elegant, rich, well dressed. She would have her future secured and no
+more bother with the police. But, on the other hand, it might become
+terribly boring after the exciting life she had led. And there was
+Loupart. Certainly he was often repellant to her, but he had only to
+come back and speak to her to be again submissive, loving and tractable.
+And, strange to say, there was also--just of late--at the bottom of
+Josephine's heart, a feeling of friendship, almost affection, for the
+stern and thorough-going detective, for Juve, to whom she owed her
+escape from a very bad fix. Fandor, too, she liked pretty well. She
+valued the daring journalist, quick, full of courage, and yet a good
+sort, free from prejudice. The more she thought about it, the more
+Josephine felt herself to be strikingly complex: she felt that she could
+not analyse her feelings, she was incomprehensible even to herself.
+
+"Let me think it over a little longer," she asked. Dixon rose
+ceremoniously.
+
+"Dear friend," he declared, "you are at home here, as long as you care
+to stay, and I hope you will consent to lunch with me at one o'clock.
+From now till then I shall leave you alone to think at your leisure."
+
+The old servant, too, having gone off shopping, Josephine remained alone
+in the place, and after visiting the charming villa from top to bottom
+strolled delightedly amid the lovely scenery of the park. As she was
+about to turn into a narrow path, she uttered a loud cry. Loupart was
+before her. The leader of the Gang of Cyphers had his evil look and
+savage smile.
+
+"How goes it?" he cried, then queried, sardonically: "Which would madame
+prefer, the pig-sticker or the barker?"
+
+Josephine, in terror, stepped backwards till she rested against the
+trunk of a great tree.
+
+Loupart carelessly got out his revolver and his knife: he seemed to
+hesitate which weapon to use.
+
+"Loupart," stammered Josephine, in a choking voice, "don't kill me--what
+have I done?"
+
+The ruffian snarled.
+
+"Not only do you peach to M. Juve, but you let yourself be carried off
+by the first toff that comes along; you don't stick at making me a
+cuckold! That's very well!"
+
+Josephine fell on her knees in the thick grass. Sure enough she had
+played Loupart false, and suddenly a wave of remorse rose in her heart.
+She was overcome at the thought that she could have endangered her lover
+even for a moment, that she could have informed the police. She was
+honestly maddened by the thought that Loupart had all but been arrested
+through her fault. Yes, he was right in reproaching her, she deserved to
+be punished. As for having wronged him, that was not true. She protested
+with all her might against his accusation of unfaithfulness.
+
+"I was wrong in listening to the pugilist, in coming here, but in spite
+of appearances--Loupart, believe me, I am still worthy of you."
+
+Loupart shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Well, we'll leave that for the moment. Just now you are going to obey
+me without a word or protest."
+
+Josephine's heart stopped; she knew these preambles. She tried to turn
+the conversation.
+
+"And how did you get here?"
+
+"How did you get here yourself?"
+
+"M. Dixon's motor-car."
+
+"And who tracked you?"
+
+"Why--no one."
+
+"No one?" jeered the ruffian. "Then what was Juve doing in the taxi
+which was rolling after you?"
+
+Josephine uttered an exclamation of surprise. Loupart went on, greatly
+satisfied with himself:
+
+"And what was Loupart up to? That crafty gentleman was cosily ensconced
+on the springs behind the taxi in which the worthy inspector was
+riding."
+
+The ruffian was teasing, and that showed he was in good humour again.
+Josephine put her arms round his neck and hugged him.
+
+"It's you that I love and you alone--let's go, take me away, won't you?"
+
+Loupart freed himself from the embrace.
+
+"Since you are at home here--the American said as much--I must see to
+profiting by it. You will stay here till this evening: at five you will
+be at the markets, and so shall I. You won't recognise me, but I shall
+speak to you, and then you will tell me exactly where this pugilist
+locks up his swag. I want a full plan of the house, the print of the
+keys, all the usual truck. This evening I shall have something new for
+Juve and his crew, an affair in which you will serve me."
+
+Josephine, panting, did not pay heed to this last sentence. She flushed
+crimson, perspiration broke out on her forehead, a great agony tightened
+her heart. She, so docile till then, so devoted, suddenly felt an
+immense scruple, an awful shame at the thought of being guilty of what
+her lover demanded. Against any other man, she would have obeyed, but to
+act in that way toward Dixon, who had treated her so considerately, she
+felt was beyond her powers. Here Josephine showed herself truly a woman.
+While determined not to be false to Loupart, she would not leave the
+pugilist with an evil memory of her. She hesitated to betray him and
+unwittingly proved the truth of the philosopher's dictum: "The most
+honest of women, though unwilling to give hope, is never sorry to leave
+behind her a regret!"
+
+But Loupart was not going to stay discussing such subtleties with his
+mistress. He never gave his orders twice. To seal the reconciliation he
+imprinted a hasty kiss on Josephine's cheek and vanished. A sound of
+crackling marked his passage through the thickets. Josephine was once
+more alone in the great park around the villa.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Fandor and Dixon were taking tea in the drawing-room. The journalist
+came, he alleged, to interview Dixon about his fight with Joe Sans, the
+negro champion of the Soudan, which was to come off next day. After
+getting various details as to weight, diet and other trifles, Fandor
+inquired with a smile:
+
+"But to keep in good form, Dixon, you must be as sober as a camel, as
+chaste as a monk, eh?"
+
+The American smiled. Fandor had told him a few moments before that he
+had seen him supping at the "Crocodile" with a pretty woman.
+
+At Juve's instigation Fandor had alleged a sporting interview, in order
+to get into the American's house and discover if Josephine was still
+there. He meant to ascertain what the relations were between the
+pugilist and the girl.
+
+The allusion to that evening loosened the American's tongue. Absorbed by
+the pleasing impression which his pretty partner had made on him, Dixon
+began talking on the subject. He belonged to that class of men who, when
+they are in love, want the whole world to know it.
+
+The American set the young woman on such a pedestal of innocence and
+purity--that Fandor wondered if the pugilist were not laughing at him.
+But Dixon, quite unconscious, did not conceal his intention to elope
+with Josephine and shortly take her to America. Suddenly he rose.
+
+"Come," he said, "I will introduce you to her."
+
+Fandor was about to protest, but the American was already scouring the
+house and searching the park, calling:
+
+"Finette, Mlle. Finette, Josephine!"
+
+Presently he returned, his face distorted, unnerved, dejected, and in a
+toneless voice he ejaculated painfully:
+
+"The pretty little woman has made off without a word to me. I am very
+much grieved!"
+
+Five minutes later, Fandor jumped into a train which took him back to
+Paris.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+"STATES EVIDENCE"
+
+
+"Juve, I've been fooled." The journalist was resting on the great couch
+in his friend's study, Rue Bonaparte, and wound up with this assertion
+the long account of the fruitless inquiry he had made at Dixon's.
+
+"I'm played out! For two days I haven't stopped a minute. After the
+night at the "Crocodile," which I spent for the most part, as I told
+you, in search of Loupart, yesterday my day went in fruitless trips; my
+mind is made up; to-night I shall do no more!"
+
+"A cigarette, Fandor?"
+
+"Thanks."
+
+From the crystal vase where Juve, an inveterate smoker, always kept an
+ample stock of tobacco, he chose an Egyptian cigarette.
+
+"My dear Juve, it is absolutely necessary to go again to Sevres and draw
+a close net round Dixon. He needs watching. Isn't that your opinion?"
+
+"I'm not sure."
+
+Juve thought for a few moments, then:
+
+"After all, what grounds have you for thinking that Dixon should be
+watched?"
+
+"Why, any number of reasons."
+
+"What are they?"
+
+It was Fandor's turn to be surprised. He had given Juve the account of
+his visit, supposing that would bring him to his way of thinking, and
+now Juve doubted Dixon being a suspect.
+
+"You ask me for particulars. I am going to reply with generalisations.
+Taking it all in all, what do we know of Dixon? That he was in a certain
+place and carried off Josephine under our very eyes. Hence he is a
+friend of Josephine's, which in itself looks compromising."
+
+"Oh!" protested Juve. "You arrive at your conclusions very quickly,
+Fandor. Josephine is not an honest woman. She may know the type of
+people that haunt the night resorts, yet who, for all that, need not be
+murderers."
+
+"Then, Juve, how do you account for it that during my visit Dixon
+tricked me and kept me from meeting Josephine while making believe to
+look for her? Is not that again a sign of complicity? Does not that show
+clearly that Josephine, realising that she is suspected in our eyes,
+has decided to evade us?"
+
+Juve smiled.
+
+"Fandor, my lad, you are endowed with a prodigious imagination. You
+impute to Dixon the worst intentions without any proof. He got Josephine
+away, you say? What makes you think so? If you did not see her it was
+due to collusion between them both. Why? As far as I can see, Josephine
+simply picked up an old lover of hers at the 'Crocodile' and went off
+with him as naturally as possible, preferring not to see the arrest of
+Loupart or of Chaleck. I admit that next day she simply took French
+leave of the worthy American, and you may be sure he knew nothing about
+her going."
+
+Fandor was silent and Juve resumed:
+
+"That being so, what can we bring against Dixon? Merely that he knows
+Josephine."
+
+"You are right, Juve; perhaps I went too far with my deductions, but to
+speak frankly, I don't see clearly what we are to do now. All our trails
+are crossed. Loupart is in flight, Chaleck vanished, and as for
+Josephine, I doubt our finding her again for ever so long."
+
+All the while the journalist was speaking, Juve had remained leaning
+against the window, watching the passers-by.
+
+"Fandor, come and see! By the omnibus, there. The person who is going to
+cross."
+
+The journalist burst out:
+
+"Well, I'm damned!"
+
+"You see, Fandor, you must never swear to anything."
+
+"Well, ain't we going to catch and arrest her?"
+
+"Why? Do you think her being in this street is due to chance? Look, she
+is crossing; she is coming straight here. She is entering the house. I
+tell you in a few moments Josephine will have climbed my stairs and will
+be seated cosily in this armchair, which I get ready and set full in the
+light."
+
+Fandor could not get over his astonishment.
+
+"Did you make an appointment with her?"
+
+"Not at all."
+
+Jean, the detective's servant, came into the room and announced:
+
+"There is a lady waiting in the sitting-room. She would not give her
+name."
+
+"Show her in, Jean."
+
+A few moments later Josephine entered.
+
+"Good day, Mademoiselle," cried Juve in a cordial tone. "What fresh news
+have you to tell us?"
+
+Loupart's mistress stood in the middle of the room, somewhat taken
+aback. But Juve set her at ease.
+
+"Sit down, Josephine. You mustn't mind my friend Fandor. He has just
+been telling me about your friend Dixon."
+
+"You know him, sir?"
+
+"A little," said Fandor. "And you, Mademoiselle, have been seeing
+something of him lately?"
+
+"I happened to meet him at the 'Crocodile.'"
+
+"And took a liking to him?"
+
+"We took a liking to each other." She turned to Juve. "I suppose you
+distrust me for giving you the slip with another man?"
+
+Juve smiled. "You found a good companion and forgot us. There is really
+nothing to be angry about. Now, won't you tell us what brings you here?"
+
+"Yes, but M. Juve, you must swear to me that you will never repeat what
+I am going to tell you."
+
+"It is very serious then?"
+
+"M. Juve, I am going to put you in the way of arresting Loupart."
+
+"You are very kind, my dear Josephine, but if the attempt is to succeed
+no better than that we made at the 'Crocodile'----"
+
+"No, no, this time you'll be sure to nab him. Day after to-morrow at 2
+o'clock, Loupart is going with some of his gang to Nogent, 7 Rue des
+Charmilles. He has a job there under way."
+
+Juve laughed. "They've been fooling you, Josephine. Isn't that your
+view, Fandor? Do you think that Loupart would try a stroke in broad
+daylight?"
+
+Josephine gave more details, eager to persuade him.
+
+"There will be fifteen of them outside a little house whose tenants are
+away. Some of them will make a crowd to help their mates in case of
+danger. The Beard is to be in it, too."
+
+"And Loupart?"
+
+"Yes, Loupart, I tell you. He will wear a black mask by which you can
+identify him."
+
+"Very well, if we have nothing better to do we will take a trip to
+Nogent day after to-morrow; eh, Fandor?"
+
+"As you like, Juve."
+
+"Only, remember this, my dear Josephine, if you are putting up a game on
+us you'll be sorry for it. There is a way, to be sure, in which you can
+prove your good faith. Be at Nogent Station at half-past one. If we find
+Loupart where you say he will be, we shall arrest him; if we don't find
+him----"
+
+The detective paused, significantly.
+
+"You will nab him. Only we mustn't look as if we met by appointment. No
+one must suspect that I gave you the tip."
+
+Hereupon, Josephine started to go. Her manoeuvre had succeeded, and
+Loupart's business would go ahead safely. She turned at the door and
+nodded, looking at Fandor.
+
+"Another thing; Loupart doesn't love you; you had better be on your
+guard."
+
+Juve turned thoughtfully to Fandor:
+
+"Strange! Is this woman playing with us, or is she in earnest, and how
+she looked at you when telling us to be on our guard!"
+
+
+
+
+XXIV
+
+A MYSTERIOUS CLASP
+
+
+"Hullo! Hullo!"
+
+Waking with a start, Juve rushed to the telephone. It was already broad
+daylight, but the detective had gone to bed very late and had been
+sleeping profoundly.
+
+"Yes, it's I, Juve. The Surete? It's you, M. Havard? Yes, I am free. Oh!
+That's strange. No signs? I understand. Count on me. I'll go there and
+keep you informed."
+
+Juve dressed in haste, went down to the street and hailed a taxi.
+
+"To Sevres, the foot of the hill at Bellevue, and look sharp about it!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Juve left his taxi-cab, and mounted the slope on foot to the elegant
+villa inhabited by Dixon. All was quiet, and if he had not had word, the
+detective would have doubted that he was close to the scene of a crime,
+or at least of an attempted one.
+
+Scarcely had he entered the grounds when a sergeant came toward him and
+saluted. Juve inquired:
+
+"What has happened?"
+
+"M. Dixon is resting just now, and the doctor has forbidden the least
+noise."
+
+"Is his condition serious?"
+
+"I think not from what Doctor Plassin says."
+
+"Now, Sergeant, tell me everything from the beginning."
+
+The sergeant drew Juve to the arbour, where a policeman was seated
+making out a report. Juve took the paper and read:
+
+     "We, the undersigned, Dubois, Sergeant in the second squad of
+     foot-police, quartered at Sevres, together with Constable Verdier,
+     received this morning, June 28th, at 6.35 from M. Olivetti, a
+     business man, living in Bellevue, the following declaration:
+
+          "'Having left my home at 6.15 and being on the way to the
+          State Railway to take the 6.42 train, by which I go every day
+          to my work, I was passing the slopes of Bellevue, when, being
+          level with Brimborion Park, a little short of the villa number
+          16, which I hear belongs to M. Dixon, an American pugilist, I
+          heard a revolver shot followed by the noise of breaking
+          glass, the pieces falling on to a hard ground, most likely
+          stone.
+
+          "'Having halted for a moment through caution, I looked to see
+          if anyone was hiding near by. I saw nothing but heard three
+          more revolver shots in quick succession, seeming to come from
+          Dixon's house. After some minutes I went near the house and
+          ascertained that the panes of the window on the right side of
+          the front were broken, and the pieces strewed the asphalt
+          terrace in front of the house.
+
+          "'I made up my mind to ring, but no one opened the door. I
+          then thought that some prowlers had amused themselves by
+          making a shindy, and I was about to continue to the train when
+          I thought I heard faint cries coming from the inside of the
+          house. Then, fearing there was a mishap or a crime, I ran to
+          the police station and made the above statement in presence of
+          the sergeant.'"
+
+Juve turned to the sergeant, who gave further details.
+
+"Constable Verdier and I immediately hastened here. We reached the
+terrace of the house, but there we came to a closed door we could not
+break in. Having shouted loudly we were answered by groans and cries for
+help which came from the room on the first floor of which the windows
+were broken. We then got a ladder and climbed up. I passed my hand
+inside and worked the hasp of the window. We went in and found ourselves
+in a bedroom in apple-pie order and in which nothing appeared to have
+been disarranged."
+
+"And on a second inspection?" queried Juve.
+
+"I went to the far end of the room and found stretched on the bed a man
+in undress, who seemed a prey to violent pains. I learned afterwards
+that this was M. Dixon, the tenant of the house. He could scarcely utter
+a word or move. His shoulders and arms were out of the clothes, and I
+could discern that the skin of his chest and shoulders bore traces of
+blood effusion. On a bracket to the right of the bed lay a revolver, the
+six cartridges of which had been recently fired."
+
+"Ah!" cried Juve. "And then?"
+
+"I thought the first thing to do was to call in a doctor. M. Olivetti
+consented to go and call Doctor Plassin, who lives near by. Five minutes
+later the doctor came, and I took advantage of his presence to send my
+man to the Station."
+
+"Have you been over the house?"
+
+"Not yet, Inspector, but nothing will be easier, for in turning out the
+pockets of the victim's clothes we found his bunch of keys."
+
+"To bring the doctor into the house, you must have opened the door to
+him, and therefore had a glimpse of the other rooms in the house, the
+lobby, the staircase?"
+
+The sergeant shook his head.
+
+"No, Inspector. We went up the ladder. I tried to get out of the door of
+M. Dixon's room, but found it was locked. This seemed strange, for the
+assailant presumably entered by the door."
+
+"By the by, Sergeant, are there no servants here? The place seems
+deserted."
+
+Constable Verdier put in his word:
+
+"The American lives here alone except for an old charwoman who comes in
+before nine. She will probably be here in half an hour, for she can have
+no idea of what has happened."
+
+"Good," said Juve. "You will let me know as soon as she comes; wait for
+her in the garden. As for us," and he turned to the sergeant, "let us
+make our way inside."
+
+The two, armed with Dixon's keys, opened without difficulty the main
+entrance door to the ground floor. There they found nothing out of the
+way, but on reaching the first floor, the marks of some one's passage
+was clearly visible.
+
+The door of a lumber room stood wide open, and on its floor sheets of
+paper, letters and documents lay scattered about. Juve took a candle
+and, after a brief investigation, exclaimed:
+
+"They were after the strong box."
+
+A large steel safe, built into the wall, had been burst open, and the
+workman-like manner in which it had been done showed clearly the hand of
+an expert. Juve carefully examined the floor, picked up two or three
+papers that had evidently been trodden on, took some measurements which
+he jotted down in his note-book, and, without telling the sergeant his
+conclusions, went downstairs again, paying no heed to the next room in
+which Dixon lay, watched over by Doctor Plassin.
+
+Verdier, who was mounting guard before the house, came forward and said:
+
+"Mr. Inspector, the doctor says M. Dixon is awake. Do you care to see
+him?"
+
+Juve at once had the ladder put to the first story window and made his
+way into the pugilist's room. The men's description was correct. No
+disorder reigned in the chamber, at the far end of which, on a great
+brass bed, a sturdy individual, his face worn with suffering, lay
+stretched.
+
+In two words Juve introduced himself to the doctor; then expressed his
+sorrow for Dixon's plight.
+
+"These are only contusions, M. Juve. Serious enough, but nothing more.
+By the by, M. Dixon may congratulate himself upon owning muscles of
+exceptional vigour. Otherwise, from the grip he must have undergone,
+his body would be no more than a shapeless pulp."
+
+Juve pricked up his ears. He had heard before of bones snapped and
+broken under a strain that neither flesh nor muscle could resist. The
+mysterious death of Lady Beltham at once occurred to his memory.
+
+"Mr. Dixon, you will tell me all the details of the tragic night you
+have passed through. You probably dined in Paris last evening?"
+
+The sick man replied in a fairly firm voice:
+
+"No, sir, I dined at home alone."
+
+"Is that your usual habit?"
+
+"No, sir, but between five and seven I had been training hard for my
+match which was to have come off to-morrow with Joe Sans."
+
+"Do you think your opponent would have been capable of trying to injure
+you to keep you out of the ring?"
+
+"No, Joe Sans is a good sportsman; besides, he lives at Brussels, and
+isn't due in Paris till to-morrow."
+
+"And after dinner, what did you do?"
+
+"I fastened the shutters and doors, came up here and undressed."
+
+"Are you in the habit of bolting yourself into your room?"
+
+"Yes, I lock my door every evening."
+
+"What time was it when you went to bed?"
+
+"Ten at latest."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"Then I went fast asleep, but in the middle of the night I was waked by
+a strange noise. It sounded like a scratching at my door. I gave a shout
+and banged my fist on the partition."
+
+"Why?" asked Juve, surprised.
+
+The American explained:
+
+"I thought the scratching came from rats, and I simply made a noise to
+frighten them away. Then, the sound having ceased, I fell asleep again."
+
+"And afterwards?"
+
+"I was waked again by the sound of stealthy footsteps on the landing of
+the first floor."
+
+"This time you went to see?"
+
+"I meant to do so, I was about to get up. I had put out my arm to get my
+matches and revolver, when suddenly I felt a weight on my bed and then I
+was corded, bound like a sausage, my arms tight to my body! For ten
+minutes I struggled with all the power of my muscles against a frightful
+and mysterious grip which continually grew tighter."
+
+"A lasso!" suggested Doctor Plassin in a low voice.
+
+"Were you able to determine the nature of the thing that was gripping
+you?" asked Juve.
+
+"I don't know. I remember feeling at the touch of the thing a marked
+sensation of dampness and cold."
+
+"A wetted lasso, exactly. A rope dipped in water tautens of itself,"
+remarked the doctor.
+
+"You had to make a great effort to prevent being crushed or broken?"
+
+"A more than human effort, Mr. Inspector, as the doctor has witnessed;
+if I had not muscles of steel and exceptional strength I should have
+been flattened."
+
+"Good--good," applauded Juve. "That's exactly it!"
+
+"Really! You think so?" queried the American with a touch of sarcasm.
+
+Juve smilingly apologised. His approval meant no more than that the
+statements of the victim coincided with the theories he had formed. And
+indeed he saw clearly in the unsuccessful attempt on the American and
+the achieved killing of Lady Beltham a common way of going to work, the
+same process. Undoubtedly the American owed it to his robust physique
+that he got off but slightly scathed, whereas the hapless woman had been
+totally crushed.
+
+The similarity of the two crimes allowed Juve to make further
+inductions. He reckoned that it was not by chance that Dixon had met
+Josephine at the "Crocodile" two nights before, while the presence of
+both Chaleck and Loupart in that establishment was still less
+accidental. And already he felt pleased at the thought that he knew
+almost to a certainty the villains to whom this fresh crime must be
+ascribed. They had wanted to get rid of Dixon, that was sure, and by a
+process still unknown to Juve, but which he would soon discover. They
+had rendered the pugilist helpless while they were robbing him.
+
+"Had you a large sum of money in your safe?" he asked.
+
+The American gave a violent start.
+
+"They've burgled me! Tell me, sir, tell me quickly!"
+
+Juve nodded in the affirmative. Dixon stammered feebly:
+
+"Four thousand pounds! They've taken four thousand pounds from me! I
+received the sum a few days ago!"
+
+"Gently, gently!" observed the doctor. "You will make yourself feverish
+and I shall have to stop the interview."
+
+Juve put in:
+
+"I only want a few moments more, doctor. It is important." Then, turning
+to Dixon, he resumed: "How did your struggle with the mysterious
+pressure end?"
+
+"After about ten minutes I felt my bands relaxing. In a short while I
+was free; I heard no more, but suffered such great pain that I fell back
+in bed and either slept or fainted."
+
+"Then you did not get up at all?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And the door of your room to the landing remained locked all night?"
+
+"Yes, all night."
+
+"How about this broken glass in your window? Those revolver shots at six
+in the morning?"
+
+"It was I, firing from my bed to make a noise and bring some one here."
+
+"I thought as much," said Juve, as he went down on all fours and
+proceeded to examine the carpeting of the room between the bed and the
+door, a distance of some seven feet. The carpet, of very close fabric,
+afforded no trace, but on a white bearskin rug the detective noted in
+places tufts of hair glued together as if something moist and sticky had
+passed over it. He cut off one of these tufts and shut it carefully in
+his pocketbook. He then went to the door which was hidden by a velvet
+curtain. He could not suppress a cry of amazement. In the lower panel of
+the door a round hole had been made about six or eight inches in
+diameter. It was four inches above the floor, and might have been made
+for a cat.
+
+"Did you have that hole made in the door?" asked Juve.
+
+"No. I don't know what it is," replied the American.
+
+"Neither do I," rejoined Juve, "but I have an idea." Doctor Plassin was
+jubilant.
+
+"There you are!" he cried. "A lasso! And it was thrust in by that hole."
+
+Through the window, Verdier called:
+
+"M. Inspector, the charwoman is coming."
+
+Juve looked at his watch.
+
+"Half-past nine. I will see her in a minute."
+
+
+
+
+XXV
+
+THE TRAP
+
+
+"Twelve o'clock! Hang it! I've just time to get there to keep my
+engagement with Josephine."
+
+Juve was going down Belleville hill as fast as his legs could take him
+by a short cut past the Sevres school. He cast a mocking glance toward
+the little police station which stands smart and trim at one side of the
+high road.
+
+"Pity," he murmured, "that I can't escort my friends to that delightful
+country house."
+
+Then he hastened his pace still more. He was growing angry.
+
+"I told Fandor to be at Nogent Station exactly at 1.30. It is now five
+past twelve and I am still at Sevres. Matters are getting complicated.
+Oh, I'll take the tramway to Versailles' gate. From there I'll drive to
+Nogent Station in a taxi."
+
+He put this plan into execution, and was lucky enough to find a place
+in the Louvre-Versailles' tram.
+
+"All things considered, I have not wasted my morning. Poor Dixon! He was
+lucky to get off so cheaply. It would seem now that Josephine told the
+truth in saying he is not an accomplice of the Gang."
+
+Juve reflected a while, then added:
+
+"Only it looks as if that accursed Josephine had put her friends up to
+the job."
+
+At the St. Cloud gate the tram came to a stop and Juve got down, hailed
+a taxi, and told the driver:
+
+"To Nogent Station and look sharp. I'm in a terrible hurry."
+
+The driver nodded assent, Juve got in, and the vehicle started. The taxi
+had hardly been going five minutes when Juve became impatient.
+
+"Go quicker, my man! Don't you know how to drive?"
+
+The man replied, nettled:
+
+"I don't want to get run in for breaking the regulations."
+
+Juve laughed.
+
+"Never mind the regulations, I'm from Police Headquarters."
+
+The magical word took effect. From that moment, heedless of the frantic
+signals of policemen, the driver tore along at full speed and reached
+the square in front of Nogent Station.
+
+"It is only 1.45--Fandor should just have got here."
+
+Juve, indeed, had only just settled with his driver when Fandor popped
+up from the waiting-room.
+
+"Well, Juve! Anything fresh this morning?"
+
+The detective smiled.
+
+"Any number of things. But I'll tell you later. Where is Josephine?"
+
+"Not here yet."
+
+"The deuce!"
+
+"That confirms my suspicions; eh, Juve?"
+
+"Somewhat. I should be astonished if we did see her."
+
+The detective led the journalist away, and the two went for a turn
+beside the railway-line on the deserted boulevard.
+
+"Fandor, this is the time to draw up a plan of action. Do you remember
+the directions Josephine gave us?"
+
+"Vaguely."
+
+"Well, we are now going to the neighbourhood of the Rue des Charmilles.
+It is number 7 that Loupart and his gang are to loot, according to
+Josephine. Yesterday afternoon I sent my men to look at the street; this
+is how they described it to me. It is a sort of lane with no issue; the
+house which we are concerned with is the last, standing on the right. It
+is a lodge of humble aspect, the tenants of which are really away. There
+are not many people living in this Charmilles Lane, and the place is
+well chosen for such a job, at least that is Michel's opinion.
+
+"Oh, I forgot one thing, round the house is a fairly large garden of
+which the walls are luckily high. So it is likely that even if the
+burglars should discover our presence they could not get off the back
+way."
+
+"And what is your plan of action, Juve?"
+
+"A very simple one. We are going to the entry of the Rue Charmilles and
+wait there. When our men come up with us I shall try to pick out Loupart
+and fly at his throat. There will be a struggle, no doubt, but in the
+meantime you must bellow with all your might: 'Murder' and 'Help.' I
+trust that succour will reach us."
+
+"Then you haven't any plain-clothes men here?"
+
+"No. I don't want to let my superiors know about this expedition."
+
+The two men went forward some paces in silence along an empty side
+street, till Juve halted in a shady corner and drew out his Browning,
+carefully seeing to the magazine.
+
+"Do as I do, Fandor"; he prepared for a tussle. "I smell powder in the
+air."
+
+Juve was about to start forward again when suddenly a tremendous uproar
+broke out: "Help! Help!"
+
+Juve seized Fandor by the arm.
+
+"Take the left-hand pavement!"
+
+The two had just reached the corner of the street where the house spoken
+of by Josephine should stand, when a jostling crowd of people came in
+sight, rushing toward them, uttering shouts and yells. Juve and Fandor
+recognised a man fleeing at full speed in front of them, whose face was
+hidden by a black mask! Behind him two other men were running, also
+masked, but with grey velvet. In the crowd following were grocers'
+assistants, workmen of all kinds, even a Nogent policeman.
+
+"Help! Murder! Arrest him!"
+
+The fleeing man was threatening his pursuers with an enormous revolver.
+
+"Look out!" shouted Juve. "Loupart is mine! You tackle the others!"
+
+But suddenly catching sight of the detective Loupart slackened his pace.
+
+"Get out of the way!" he cried, flourishing his revolver.
+
+"Stop, or I fire!" returned Juve.
+
+"Fire then! I, too, shall fire!" And, leaping toward the detective, the
+outlaw pointed his revolver at him and fired twice.
+
+With a quick movement Juve leaped aside. The bullets must have brushed
+him, but luckily he was not touched. The plucky detective again flung
+himself on Loupart, seized him by the collar and tried to throw him
+down.
+
+"Let me go! I'll do for you----"
+
+For a moment Juve felt the cold muzzle of the weapon on his neck. Then,
+with a supreme effort, he forced the outlaw's hands down and, aiming his
+revolver, fired.
+
+"Help! I--I----"
+
+A gush of blood welled up from the ruffian's collar. He turned twice,
+and then fell heavily on the ground.
+
+In the meantime Fandor was struggling with the two men in the grey
+masks. Juve was about to go to his assistance, when the crowd now made a
+rush and the detective became the central point of a furious encounter:
+blows and kicks rained on him. He succumbed to numbers.
+
+It was now Fandor's turn to help his friend, and he was about to join
+the fight when he stood rooted to the spot in utter amazement. A little
+beyond the groups of struggling men he caught sight of an individual
+standing beside a tripod on which was placed a contrivance he did not
+at once identify. The man seemed greatly amused, and was watching the
+scene laughing and showing no desire to intervene.
+
+"Very good! Very good! That will make a splendid film!"
+
+Fandor understood----
+
+His head bandaged and his arm in a sling, Juve was replying in a shaky
+voice to the Superintendent of Police of Nogent.
+
+"No, Superintendent, I realised nothing. It is monstrous! I asked in the
+most perfect good faith. I did not fire till I had been fired at three
+times."
+
+"You didn't notice the strange get-up of the burglars? And of the
+policemen? Of that poor actor, Bonardin, you half killed?"
+
+Juve shook his head.
+
+"I hadn't time to notice details. I want you to understand,
+Superintendent, how things came about, to realise how the trap was laid
+for me.... I came to Nogent, assured that I was about to face dangerous
+ruffians. I was to encounter them at such an hour, in such a street. I
+was given their description: they would have their faces masked and come
+out of a certain house. And it all happened as described. I hadn't gone
+ten paces in the said street when sure enough I saw people rushing
+toward me bawling 'Help.' I recognised men in masks: had I time to look
+at the details of their costumes? Certainly not! I spring at the throat
+of the fugitive. He has a revolver and fires. How could I know the
+weapon was only loaded blank? He, an actor in a cinematograph scene,
+takes me for another, acting the part of a policeman. He fires at me and
+I retaliate."
+
+"And you half kill him."
+
+"For which I am exceedingly sorry. But nothing could lead me to suspect
+a trap."
+
+"It's lucky you didn't wound anyone else. How did matters end?"
+
+"The actors, naturally enough, were furious with me, and I was being
+roughly handled when the real policemen arrived and rescued me. All was
+explained when I brought out my card of identity. While they were taking
+me to the station, the actor Bonardin was being carried to the nearest
+house, a convent, I believe."
+
+"Yes, the Convent of the Ladies of St. Clotilde."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The trap had been well devised, and Juve was not wrong in saying that
+anyone in his place would have been taken in by it. And so while the
+detective was detained at the station, Fandor, after a long and minute
+interrogation, returned to Paris in a state of deep dejection.
+
+
+
+
+XXVI
+
+AT THE HOUSE OF BONARDIN, THE ACTOR
+
+
+In the Place d'Anvers, Fandor was passing Rokin College. He heard some
+one calling him. "Monsieur Fandor! Monsieur Fandor!"
+
+It was Josephine, breathless and panting, her bright eyes glowing with
+joy.
+
+Fandor turned, astonished.
+
+"What is up?"
+
+Josephine paused a second, then taking Fandor's hand familiarly drew him
+into the square, which at this time of day was almost deserted.
+
+"Oh, it's something out of the common, I can assure you. I am going to
+astonish you!"
+
+"You've done that already. The mere sight of you----"
+
+"You thought I was arrested, didn't you?"
+
+Fandor nodded.
+
+"Well, it's your Juve who is jugged!"
+
+Contrary to Josephine's expectation, Fandor did not appear very
+astonished.
+
+"Come now, Miss Josephine, that's a likely tale! Juve arrested? On what
+grounds?"
+
+Josephine began an incoherent story.
+
+"I tell you they squabbled like rag-pickers! 'You make justice
+ridiculous,' shouted Fuselier. 'No one has the right to commit such
+blunders!' Well, they kept going on like that for a quarter of an hour.
+And then Fuselier rang and two Municipal guards came and he said:
+'Arrest that man there!' pointing to Juve. And your friend the detective
+was obliged to let them do it. Only as he left the room he gave Fuselier
+such a look! Believe me, between those two it is war to the death from
+now."
+
+When she had ended Fandor asked in a calm voice:
+
+"And how did you get away, Josephine?"
+
+"Oh, M. Fuselier was very nice. 'It's you again?' said he when he saw
+me. 'To be sure it is,' answered I, 'and I'm glad to meet you again, M.
+Magistrate.' Then he began to hold forth about the cinema business. I
+told him what I knew about it, what I told you. Loupart stuffed me up
+with his tale of a trap. As sure as my name's Josephine I believed what
+my lover told me."
+
+Fandor gave her a penetrating glance.
+
+"And how about the Dixon business?"
+
+Josephine coloured, and said in a low tone:
+
+"Oh, the Dixon business, as to that--we are very good pals, Dixon and I.
+Just fancy, I went to see him yesterday afternoon. He has taken a fancy
+to me. He promised to keep me in luxury. Ah, if I dared," sighed the
+girl.
+
+"You would do well to leave Loupart."
+
+"Leave Loupart? Especially now that Juve is in quod, Loupart will be the
+King of Paris!"
+
+"Do you think your lover will attach much weight to the arrest of Juve?
+Won't he fancy it's a put-up job?"
+
+"A put-up job! How could it be? Why, I saw with my two eyes Juve led
+away with the bracelets on his wrists."
+
+The growing hubbub of the newsboys crying the evening papers drew near
+the Place d'Anvers. Instinctively Fandor, followed by Josephine, went
+toward them. On the boulevard he bought a paper.
+
+"There you see!" cried Josephine triumphantly. "Here it is in print, so
+it is true!"
+
+In scare headlines appeared this notice--"Amazing development in the
+affair of the Outlaws of La Chapelle. Detective Juve under lock and
+key."
+
+Fandor, when he met Josephine in the Place d'Anvers, was on his way to
+the Rue des Abesses where Bonardin occupied a nice little suite of three
+rooms, tastefully decorated and comfortably furnished.
+
+The actor had his shoulder in plaster--Juve's bullet had broken his
+clavicle, but the doctor declared that with a few days' rest he would be
+quite well again.
+
+"M. Fandor, I am very sorry for what is happening to M. Juve. Do you
+think if I were to declare my intention not to proceed against him----"
+
+Fandor cut his companion short.
+
+"Let justice take its course, M. Bonardin. There will always be time
+later on."
+
+Although M. Bonardin was only twenty-five, he was beginning to have some
+reputation. By hard work he had come rapidly to the front, and was fast
+gaining a position among the best interpreters of modern comedy.
+
+"My dream," he exclaimed to Fandor, "is one day to attain to the fame of
+my masters, of such men as Tazzide, Gemier, Valgrand and Dumeny."
+
+"You knew Valgrand?" asked Fandor.
+
+Bonardin smiled.
+
+"Why, we were great friends. When I first made my appearance at the
+theatre, after the Conservatoire, Valgrand was my model, my master. You
+certainly don't recollect it, M. Fandor, but I played the lover in the
+famous play 'La Toche Sanglante,' for which Valgrand had made himself up
+exactly like Gurn, the murderer of Lord Beltham. You must have heard of
+the case?"
+
+Fandor pretended to tax his memory.
+
+"Why, to be sure I do recall certain incidents, but won't you refresh my
+memory?"
+
+Bonardin asked no better than to chatter.
+
+"Valgrand, on the first night of his presentation of Gurn,[B] was quite
+worn out and left the theatre very late. He did not come again! For the
+second performance, his understudy took his part. The following day they
+sent to Valgrand's rooms; he had not been there for two days. The third
+day from the 'first night' Valgrand came among us again."
+
+"Pray go on, you interest me immensely!"
+
+"Valgrand came back, but he had gone mad. He managed to get to his
+dressing-room after taking the wrong door. 'I don't know a single word
+of my part,' he confessed to me. I comforted him as best I could, but he
+flung himself down on his couch and shook his head helplessly at me. 'I
+have been very ill, Bonardin,' then suddenly he demanded: 'Where is
+Charlot?'
+
+"Charlot was his dresser. I remembered now that Charlot had not returned
+to the theatre since his master's disappearance. His body was found
+later in the Rue Messier. He had been murdered. I did not want to
+mention this to him for fear it might upset him still more, so I advised
+my old friend to wait for me till the end of the play and let me keep
+him company. I intended to take him home and fetch a doctor. Valgrand
+assented readily. I was then obliged to leave him hurriedly: they were
+calling me--it was my cue. When I returned Valgrand had vanished: he had
+left the theatre. We were not to see him again!"
+
+"A sad affair," commented Fandor.
+
+Bonardin continued his narrative:
+
+"Shortly afterwards in a deserted house in the Rue Messier, near
+Boulevard Arago, the police found the body of a murdered man. The corpse
+was easily identified; it was that of Charlot, Valgrand's dresser."
+
+"How did he come there? The house had no porter: the owner, an old
+peasant, knew nothing."
+
+"Well, what do you conclude from this?" asked Fandor.
+
+"My theory is that Valgrand murdered his dresser, for some reason
+unknown to us. Then, overcome by his crime, he went mad and committed
+suicide. Of that there is no doubt."
+
+"Oh!" muttered Fandor, a little taken aback by this unexpected
+assertion.
+
+The journalist, though he had closely followed the actor's account, was
+far from drawing the same conclusions. For in fact, Gurn, Lord Beltham's
+murderer, whom Fandor believed to be Fantomas, had certainly got
+Valgrand executed in his stead. The Valgrand who came back to the
+theatre, three days after the execution, was not the real one, but the
+man who had taken his place--Gurn, the criminal, Gurn--Fantomas. Ah!
+that was a stroke of the true Fantomas sort! It was certain that if
+Valgrand's disappearance had been simultaneous with Gurn's execution,
+there might have been suspicions. Gurn--Fantomas then found it necessary
+to show Valgrand living to witnesses, so that these could swear that the
+real Valgrand had not died instead of Gurn.
+
+But Valgrand was an actor, Gurn--Fantomas was not! Not enough of one at
+least to venture to take the place on the boards of such a consummate
+player, such a famous tragedian.
+
+"And that was the end?" asked Fandor.
+
+"The end, no!" declared the actor. "Valgrand was married and had a son.
+As is often the case with artists, the Valgrand marriage was not a
+success, and madame, a singer of talent, was separated from her husband,
+and travelled much abroad.
+
+"About a year after these sad occurrences I had a visit from her. On her
+way through Paris, she had come to draw the allowance made her by her
+husband, to supply not only her own wants, but also those of her son, of
+whom she had the custody. Mme. Valgrand chatted with me for hours
+together. I recounted to her at length what I have had the honour of
+telling you, and it seemed to me that she gave no great credence to my
+words.
+
+"Not that she threw doubts on my statements, but she kept reiterating,
+'That is not like him; I know Valgrand would never have behaved in such
+a way!'
+
+"But I never could get her to say exactly what she thought. Some weeks
+after this first visit I saw her again. Matters were getting
+complicated. There was no certificate of her husband's death. Her men of
+business made his 'absence' a pretext: she no longer drew a cent of her
+allowance, and yet people knew that Valgrand had left a pretty large
+amount, and it was in the bank or with a lawyer, I forget which. You are
+aware, M. Fandor, that when the settling of accounts, or questions of
+inheritance or wills, come to the fore there is no end to them."
+
+"That's a fact," replied Fandor.
+
+"We must believe," went on Bonardin, "that the matter was important in
+Mme. Valgrand's eyes, for she refused fine offers from abroad, and
+planted herself in Paris, living on her savings. The good woman
+evidently had a double object, to recover the inheritance for her son,
+little Rene, and also to get at the truth touching her husband's fate.
+
+"She evidently cherished the hope that her husband was not guilty of the
+dresser's murder, that perhaps he was not even dead, that he would get
+over his madness if ever they managed to find him. In short, M. Fandor,
+some six or seven months ago, when I had quite ceased to think of these
+events, I found myself face to face with Mme. Valgrand on the Boulevard.
+I had some difficulty in recognising her, for my friend's widow was no
+longer dressed like the Parisian smart woman. Her hair was plastered
+down and drawn tightly back, her garments were plain and humble, her
+dress almost neglected. No doubt the poor woman had experienced cruel
+disappointments.
+
+"'Good day, Mme. Valgrand,' I cried, moving toward her with
+outstretched hands. She stopped me with a gesture.
+
+"'Hush,' she breathed, 'there is no Mme. Valgrand now. I am a
+companion.' And the unhappy woman explained that to earn her living she
+had to accept an inferior position as reader and housekeeper to a rich
+lady."
+
+"And to whom did Mme. Valgrand go as companion?"
+
+"To an Englishwoman, I believe, but the name escapes me."
+
+"Mme. Valgrand wished, you say, that her identity should remain unknown?
+Do you know what name she took?"
+
+"Yes--Mme. Raymond."
+
+Some moments later Fandor left the actor and was hastening down the Rue
+Lepic as fast as his legs would take him.
+
+
+
+
+XXVII
+
+THE MOTHER SUPERIOR
+
+
+"The Mother Superior, if you please?"
+
+The door shut automatically upon Fandor. He was in the little inner
+court of the small convent, face to face with a Sister, who gazed in
+alarm at the unexpected guest. The journalist persisted:
+
+"Can I see the Mother Superior?"
+
+"Well, sir, yes--no, I think not."
+
+The worthy nun evidently did not know what to say. Finally making up her
+mind she pointed to a passage, and, drawing aside to let the journalist
+pass, said:
+
+"Be good enough to go in there and wait a few moments."
+
+Fandor was ushered into a large, plain and austere room--doubtless the
+parlour of the community. At the windows hung long, white curtains,
+while before the half-dozen armchairs lay tiny rugs of matting; the
+floor, very waxed, was slippery to the tread. The journalist regarded
+curiously the walls upon which were hung here and there religious
+figures or chromos of an edifying kind. Above the chimney hung a great
+crucifix of ebony. But for the noise from without, the passing of the
+trains and motors, and were it not also for the fine savour of cooking
+and roast onions, one might have thought oneself a hundred leagues from
+the world in the peaceful calm of this little convent.
+
+Fandor, on leaving Bonardin, had decided to fulfill without delay a
+pious mission given him by Juve's victim.
+
+Taken in at the time of his accident by the Sisters of the Rue
+Charmille, Bonardin had received from them the first aid his condition
+required, and as he had left them without a word of thanks, he had
+begged Fandor to return and hand them on his behalf a fifty-franc bill
+for their poor.
+
+After some minutes the door opened and a nun appeared. She greeted
+Fandor with a slight movement of the head; while the journalist bowed
+deferentially before her.
+
+"Have I the honour of speaking to the Mother Superior?"
+
+"Our Mother sends her excuses," murmured the nun, "for not being able
+to receive you at this moment. However, I can take her place, sir. I am
+in charge of the finances of the house."
+
+"I bring you news, Sister."
+
+The nun clasped her hands.
+
+"Good news, I hope! How is the poor young man doing?"
+
+"As well as can be expected; the ball was extracted without trouble by
+the doctors."
+
+"I shall thank St. Comus, the patron saint of surgeons. And his
+assailant? Surely he will be well punished?"
+
+Fandor smiled.
+
+"His assailant was the victim of a terrible misconception. He is a most
+upright man."
+
+"Then I will pray to St. Yves, the patron saint of advocates, to get him
+out of his difficulty."
+
+"Well," cried Fandor, "since you have so many saints at command, Sister,
+you would do well to point out to me one who might favour the efforts of
+the police in their struggle with the ruffians."
+
+The nun was a woman of sense who understood a joke. She rejoined: "You
+might try St. George, sir, the patron saint of warriors." Then becoming
+serious again, the Sister made an end of the interview. "Our Mother
+Superior will be much touched, sir, when I report the kind step you have
+taken in coming here to us."
+
+"Allow me, Sister," broke in Fandor, "my mission is not over yet."
+
+Here the journalist discreetly proffered the note.
+
+"This is from M. Bonardin, for your poor."
+
+The nun was profuse in her thanks, and looking at Fandor with a touch of
+malice:
+
+"You may perhaps smile, sir, if I say I shall thank St. Martin, the
+patron saint of the charitable. In any case I shall do it with my whole
+heart."
+
+The soft sound of a bell came from the distance; the Sister
+instinctively turned her head and looked through the windows at the
+inner cloister of the convent.
+
+"The bell calls you, no doubt, Sister?" he inquired.
+
+"It is, indeed, the hour of Vespers."
+
+Fandor, followed by the Sister, left the parlour and reached the outer
+gate. Already the porter was about to open it for him when he pulled up
+short. Moving at a measured pace, one behind the other, the ladies of
+the community crossed the courtyard, going toward the chapel at the far
+end of the garden.
+
+"Sister," Fandor inquired anxiously, "who is that nun who walks at the
+head?"
+
+"That is our holy Mother Superior."
+
+Fandor was lucky enough to find a taxi as he left the little convent,
+into which he jumped: he was immersed in such deep reflections that when
+the taxi stopped he was quite surprised to find himself in Rue
+Bonaparte, when he had meant to go up to Bonardin's and expected to
+reach Montmarte.
+
+"Where did I tell you to go?" he asked the driver.
+
+The man looked at his fare in amazement:
+
+"To the address you gave me, I suppose."
+
+Fandor did not reply, but paid his fare.
+
+"Heaven inspires me," he thought. "To be sure I wanted to see Bonardin
+to tell him I had done his commission, but it was to prove I should have
+gone after what I found out at the convent."
+
+The journalist remained motionless on the pavement without seeming to
+feel the jostling of the passers-by. He stood there with his eyes fixed
+on the ground, his mind lost in a dream. He had unconsciously gone back
+several years, to his mysterious childhood, stormy and restless. He went
+over again in thought, this last affair, which had once more brought him
+so intimately into Juve's life: the abominable crime in the Cite
+Frochot, in which Chaleck and Loupart were involved, and behind them
+Fantomas--the crime of which the victim--as Juve had clearly
+established--was no other than Lady----
+
+He quickly entered the house and rushed up the stairs, but halted on the
+landing.
+
+"What have I come here for? If I am to believe the papers, Juve is under
+lock and key: It must be instinct that guides me. I feel that I am going
+to see Juve: besides, I must."
+
+He did not ring, for he enjoyed the unique favour of a key which allowed
+him to enter Juve's place at will. He entered and went straight to the
+study: it was empty. He then cried out:
+
+"Juve! Many things have happened since I had the pleasure of seeing you!
+Be good enough to let me into your office. I have two words to say to
+you."
+
+But Fandor's words fell dead in the silence of the apartment. After this
+summons he made his way into the office, and ensconced himself in an
+armchair: clearly Fandor was assured his friend had heard him. And he
+was not wrong! Two seconds later, lifting a curtain that hid a secret
+entrance to the study, Juve appeared.
+
+"You speak as if you knew I was here!"
+
+The two men looked at each other and burst into shouts of laughter.
+
+"So you understood it was all a put-up affair intended to make our
+opponents believe that for a time I was powerless to hurt them. What do
+you think of my notion?"
+
+"First rate," replied Fandor. "The more so that the fair Josephine 'saw
+with her own eyes' some of the force taking you off to prison."
+
+"Everybody believe it, don't they?"
+
+"Everybody."
+
+"Look here. You spoke just now as though you knew I was here?"
+
+Fandor smiled.
+
+"The odour of hot smoke is easily distinguished from the dankness of
+cold tobacco."
+
+Juve approved.
+
+"Well done, Fandor. Here, for your pains, roll a cigarette and let's
+talk. Have you anything fresh?"
+
+"Yes--and a lot, too!"
+
+Fandor related the talk he had had with Bonardin touching Valgrand, the
+actor, and Mme. Valgrand, alias--Mme. Raymond.
+
+Juve uttered his reflections aloud.
+
+"This is one riddle the more to solve. I still adhere to the theory that
+Josephine, some months ago, was brought into intimate relations with
+Lady Beltham, whose body I discovered at Cite Frochot and later
+identified."
+
+Fandor sprang up and placed both of his hands upon Juve's shoulders.
+
+"Lady Beltham is not dead: She is alive! As surely as my name's Fandor,
+the Superior of the Convent at Nogent is--Lady Beltham."
+
+
+
+
+XXVIII
+
+AN OLD PARALYTIC
+
+
+At the far end of the Rue de Rome Fandor halted. "After all," he
+thought, "maybe I am going straight into a trap. Who sent me the letter?
+Who is this M. Mahon? I never heard of him. Why this menacing phrase,
+'Come, if you take any interest in the affairs of Lady B---- and F----.'
+Oh, if only I could take counsel of Juve!"
+
+But for the last fortnight, since the ill-starred affair of Nogent and
+the almost incredible discovery he had made that Lady Beltham was still
+alive, Fandor had not seen Juve. He had been to the Surete a number of
+times, but Juve had vanished.
+
+Fandor stopped before a private house on the Boulevard Pereire North. He
+passed in through the outer hall and reached the porter's lodge.
+
+"Madame, have you a tenant here named Mahon?"
+
+The porteress came forward.
+
+"M. Mahon? To be sure--fifth floor on the right."
+
+"Thank you. I should like to ask a few questions about him. I have
+come--to negotiate an insurance policy for him and I should like to know
+about the value of the furniture in his rooms. What sort of a man is
+this M. Mahon? About how old is he?"
+
+Fandor had, by pure professional instinct, found the best device in the
+world. There is not a porteress who has not many times enlightened
+insurance agents.
+
+"Why, sir, M. Mahon has lived here only a month or six weeks. He can
+scarcely be very well off, for when he moved in I did not see any fine
+furniture go up. I believe for that matter he is an old cavalry officer,
+and, in the army nowadays, folks scarcely make fortunes."
+
+"That's true enough," assented Fandor.
+
+"Anyhow he is a very charming man, an ideal lodger. To begin with, he is
+infirm, almost paralysed in both legs. I believe he never goes out of an
+evening. And then he never has any visitors except two young fellows who
+are serving their time in the army."
+
+"Are they with him now?"
+
+"No, sir, they never come till three or four in the afternoon."
+
+Fandor slipped a coin into the woman's hand and went upstairs. He rang
+at the door and was surprised at a strange, soft rolling sound.
+
+"Oh, I know," he thought; "the poor man must move about his rooms in a
+rubber-tired wheel chair."
+
+He was not mistaken. Scarcely was the door opened when he caught sight
+of an old man of much distinction seated in a wheel chair. This invalid
+greeted the journalist pleasantly.
+
+"M. Fandor?"
+
+"The same, sir."
+
+M. Mahon pushed forward his chair and motioned to his visitor to come
+in.
+
+Fandor entered a room in which the curtains were closely drawn and which
+was brilliantly illuminated with electric lights, although it was the
+middle of the afternoon. Was it a trap? The journalist instinctively
+hesitated in the doorway. But behind him a cordial voice called:
+
+"Come in, you all kinds of an idiot!"
+
+The door clicked behind him and the invalid, getting out of his chair,
+burst into a fit of laughter.
+
+"Juve! Juve!"
+
+"As you see!"
+
+"Bah, what farce are you playing here? Why this lit-up room?"
+
+"All for very good reasons. If you will be kind enough to take a seat, I
+will explain."
+
+Fandor dropped into a chair staring at Juve, who continued:
+
+"When you came back the other day and told me that unlikely yarn about
+Lady Beltham being alive, I decided to try new methods. First of all, I
+became a cavalry officer, then I got this wheel chair and moved into
+this apartment."
+
+As Juve paused, Fandor, more and more amazed, inquired:
+
+"But your reason for all this!"
+
+"Just wait! The day after the Dixon business, I put three of my best men
+on the track of the American. I had a notion he would want to see
+Josephine again, and I was not mistaken. She came back to justify
+herself in his eyes. The story ended as might have been foreseen.
+Michel, who brought me the news, said that Josephine had agreed to
+become Dixon's mistress."
+
+"The deuce!"
+
+"Oh, there is nothing to be surprised at that. Michel made arrangements
+to learn all the details. Josephine is to live at 33 C in Boulevard
+Pereire South; that is, to the right of the railway line, fourth floor.
+Here we are at 24 B Boulevard Pereire North, to left of the railway,
+fifth floor, and just opposite."
+
+"And what does this old M. Mahon do, Juve?"
+
+Juve smiled.
+
+"You are going to see, my lad."
+
+He settled himself again in the wheel chair, drew a heavy rug over his
+knees and became once more the old invalid.
+
+"My dear friend, will you open the door for me?"
+
+Fandor laughingly complied, and Juve wheeled himself into another room.
+
+"You see I have plenty of air here thanks to this balcony upon which I
+can wheel my chair. Would you be good enough to pass me that spy-glass?"
+
+Juve pointed the glass toward the far end of Boulevard Pereire, in the
+direction of Poste Maillot.
+
+"Mlle. Josephine has lately had a craze for keeping her nails polished."
+
+"But you are not looking toward the house opposite, you are looking in a
+contrary direction!"
+
+Juve laid his spy-glass on his knees and laughed.
+
+"I expected you to make that remark. See, those glasses at the end are
+only for show, inside is a whole system of prisms. With this perspective
+you see not in front of you, but on one side. In other words, when I
+point it at the far end of the boulevard, what I am really looking at is
+the house opposite."
+
+Fandor was about to congratulate his friend on this new specimen of his
+ingenuity, but Juve did not give him time. He startled the journalist by
+suddenly asking him:
+
+"Tell me, do you love the army?"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I think those two soldiers you see over there are coming."
+
+"To see you," added Fandor.
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"From your porteress."
+
+"You pumped her?"
+
+"I did. I got her to talk a bit about that excellent M. Mahon."
+
+Juve laughed:
+
+"Confound you!"
+
+With a quick movement Fandor, at the detective's request, drew back the
+wheel chair and shut the window.
+
+"You understand," explained Juve, "there is nothing to surprise my
+neighbours in my having two soldiers to visit me. But I don't care for
+third persons to hear what they say to me." There was a ring at the
+apartment door. "Go and open, Fandor. I don't leave my cripple's chair
+for them; people can see through the curtains."
+
+Shown in by Fandor, the soldiers shook hands with Juve and took seats
+opposite him.
+
+"Do you recognise Michel and Leon?"
+
+"Oh, perfectly!" cried Fandor, "but why this disguise?"
+
+"Because no heed is paid to uniforms, there are soldiers everywhere, and
+also it is not easy to recognise a civilian suddenly appearing in
+uniform. What is fresh, Michel?"
+
+"Something pretty serious, sir. According to your instructions we have
+been shadowing the Superior of the Nogent Convent."
+
+"Well, what have you discovered?"
+
+"Every Tuesday evening the Superior leaves Nogent and goes to Paris."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"To one of the branches of her religious house in the Boulevard
+Jourdan."
+
+"No. 180?"
+
+Michel was dumbfounded.
+
+"Yes, sir, you knew?"
+
+"No," said Juve, coldly. "What does she do at this branch?"
+
+"There are four or five old nuns there. The Superior spends Tuesday
+night there and on Wednesday goes back to Nogent about one in the
+afternoon."
+
+"And you know no more than that?"
+
+"No, sir. Must we go on with the shadowing?"
+
+"No, it is not worth while. Return to the Prefecture and report to M.
+Havard."
+
+When the two men had left, Fandor turned to Juve.
+
+"What do you make of it?"
+
+Juve shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Michel is an idiot. That house has two exits; one to the Boulevard, the
+other to waste ground that leads to the fortifications. The Superior, or
+Lady Beltham, goes there to change her dress, and then hastens to some
+prearranged meeting elsewhere. The house at Neuilly will bear
+watching."
+
+
+
+
+XXIX
+
+THROUGH THE WINDOW
+
+
+"What a splendid fellow! One can count on him at any time. A friendship
+like his is rare and precious."
+
+Fandor had just left Juve, and the detective could not help being
+strangely moved as he thought of the devotion shown him by the
+journalist.
+
+The detective was still in his wheel chair; with a skilful turn he went
+back to the balcony and his post of observation.
+
+Evening was coming on. After a fine day the sky had become leaden and
+overcast with great clouds: a storm was threatening. Juve swore.
+
+"I shan't see much this evening; this confounded Josephine is so
+sentimental that she loves dreaming in the gloaming at her window
+without lighting up. Devil take her!"
+
+Juve had armed himself with his spy-glass; he apparently levelled it at
+Porte Maillot, and in that way he could see something of the movements
+of Josephine in the rooms opposite him.
+
+"Flowers on the chimney and on the piano! Expecting her lover probably!"
+
+Suddenly he started up in his chair.
+
+"Ah! some one has rung her bell. She is going toward the entrance door."
+
+A minute passed; in the front rooms Juve no longer saw anyone. Josephine
+must be receiving a visitor.
+
+Some minutes more went by; a heavy shower of rain came down and Juve was
+forced to leave his balcony.
+
+When he resumed his watching he could not suppress an exclamation of
+surprise.
+
+"Ah, if he would only turn! This cursed rain prevents me from seeing
+clearly what is afoot. The brute! Why won't he turn! There, he has laid
+his bag on a chair, his initials must be on it, but I can't read them.
+Yet the height of the man! His gestures! It's he, sure enough, it's
+Chaleck!"
+
+Juve suddenly abandoned his post of observation, propelled his chair to
+the back room of the suite and seized the telephone apparatus.
+
+"Hello! Give me the Prefecture. It is Juve speaking. Send at once
+detectives Leon and Michel to No. 33 C Boulevard Pereire South. They
+are to wait at the door of the house and arrest as they come out the
+persons I marked as numbers 14 and 15. Let them make haste."
+
+"Assuredly Chaleck won't leave at once if he has come to see Josephine;
+no doubt he has important things to say. Leon and Michel will arrive in
+time to nab him first and Josephine after. And to-morrow, when I have
+them handcuffed before me, it's the deuce if I don't manage to get the
+truth out of them."
+
+Juve went back to his look-out.
+
+"Oh, they seem very lively, both of them; the talk must be serious.
+Josephine doesn't look pleased. She seems to disagree with what Chaleck
+is saying. One would think he was giving her orders. No! she is down on
+her knees. A declaration of love! After Loupart and Dixon it's that
+infernal doctor's turn!"
+
+Juve watched for a moment longer the young woman and the mysterious and
+elusive Chaleck.
+
+"Ah! that's what I feared! Chaleck is going and Leon and Michel haven't
+come!"
+
+Juve hesitated. Should he go down, rush to the Boulevard and try to
+collar the ruffian? That wasn't possible. Juve lived on the fifth floor,
+so that he had one more story to get down than Chaleck, then there was
+the railway line between him and Josephine's house. Chaleck would have
+ample time to disappear. But Juve reassured himself.
+
+"Luckily he has left his hold-all, and if I mistake not, that is his
+stick on the chair. Therefore he expects to come back."
+
+Powerless to act, Juve witnessed the exit of Chaleck, who soon appeared
+at the door of Josephine's house and went striding off. Juve followed
+him with his eyes, intensely chagrined. Would he ever again find such a
+good opportunity of laying hands on the ruffian?
+
+Chaleck vanished round the corner of the street, and Juve again took to
+watching Josephine! The young woman did not appear to be upset by her
+late visitor. She sat, her elbows on the table, turning with a listless
+finger the pages of a volume.
+
+"Clearly he is coming back," thought Juve, "or he would not have left
+his things there. I shall nab him in a few days at latest."
+
+Juve was about to leave his post of observation when he saw Josephine
+raise her head in an attitude of listening to an indefinable and
+mysterious noise.
+
+"What is going on?" Juve asked himself. "She cannot be already watching
+for Chaleck's return."
+
+Then Juve started.
+
+"Oh! oh!"
+
+He had just seen Josephine at a single bound spring toward the window.
+The young woman gazed steadily in front of her, her arms outstretched in
+a posture of horror. She seemed in a state of abject terror. There was
+no mistaking her motions. She was panic-stricken, panting, trembling in
+all her limbs. Juve, who lost no movement of the hapless woman, felt a
+cold sweat break out on his forehead.
+
+"What's the matter with her? There is nobody in the room, I see nothing!
+What can frighten her to that extent? Oh, my God!"
+
+Forgetting all precautions, all the comedy he was preparing so carefully
+for the neighbour's benefit, he sprang to his feet, deserting his wheel
+chair. His hands clenched on the rail of the balcony while spellbound by
+the sight he beheld, he leaned over the rail as if in a frantic desire
+to fling himself to the young woman's help. Josephine had bestridden the
+sash of her window. She was now standing on the ledge, holding with one
+hand to the rail of her balcony and her body flung backwards as if mad
+with terror.
+
+"What is happening? Oh, the poor soul!"
+
+Josephine, uttering a desperate cry, had let go of the supporting rail
+and had flung herself into space. Juve saw the young woman's body spin
+in the air, heard the dull thud that it made as it crashed against the
+ground.
+
+"It is monstrous!"
+
+Juve beside himself tore down the stairs full tilt, passed breathlessly
+the porteress, who seemed likely to faint at the sight of the headlong
+pace of the supposed paralytic.
+
+He went round Boulevard Pereire, darted along the railway line, and,
+panting, got to the side of the ill-starred Josephine. At the sound of
+her fall and the cries she uttered people had flown to the windows,
+passers-by had turned round: when Juve got there a ring of people had
+already formed round the unfortunate woman. The detective roughly pushed
+some of them aside, knelt down beside the body and put his ear to the
+chest.
+
+"Dead? No!"
+
+A faint groan came from the lips of the poor sufferer. Juve realised
+that by unheard-of luck, Josephine, in the course of her fall, had
+struck the outer branches of one of the trees that fringed the
+Boulevard. This had somewhat broken the shock, but her legs were
+frightfully broken and one of her arms hung lifeless.
+
+"Quick!" commanded Juve. "A cab; take her to the hospital."
+
+As soon as help was forthcoming, Juve, recalled to the duties of his
+profession, asked himself:
+
+"What can have occurred? What was it she tried to escape by throwing
+herself into space? I saw the whole room, there was no one with her. She
+must have been the victim of a delusion."
+
+
+
+
+XXX
+
+UNCLE AND NEPHEW
+
+
+"So, uncle, you have decided to live at Neuilly?"
+
+"Oh, it's quite settled. Your aunt finds the place charming, and
+besides, it would be so pleasant to have a garden. Also, the land is
+sure to grow more valuable in this neighbourhood and the purchase of a
+house here would be a good speculation!"
+
+The stout man, as he uttered the word "speculation," beamed. The mere
+sight of him suggested the small tradesman grown rich by dint of long
+and arduous years of toil, retired from business and prone to fancy he
+was a man of genius.
+
+Compared with him the young man he styled nephew, slim, elaborately
+elegant, his little moustache carefully curled, gave the impression of
+coming out of a draper's shop and wanting to be taken for a swell.
+Evidently the nephew courted the uncle and flattered him.
+
+"You are right, land speculations are very sure and very profitable. So
+you wrote to the caretaker of the house to let you view it?"
+
+"I did, and he answered, 'Come to-day or to-morrow. I shall be at your
+orders.' That is why I sent you word to go with me, for since you are
+the sole heir of my fortune----"
+
+"Oh, uncle, you may be sure----"
+
+The Madeleine tramway where the two men were talking aloud, heeding
+little the amused notice of the other passengers, pulled up a moment in
+the Place de l'Eglise at Neuilly.
+
+"Let us get down. Boulevard Inkermann begins here."
+
+With the pantings and gaspings of a man whose stoutness made all
+physical exercise irksome, the uncle lowered himself off the footboard
+of the tram. The young man sprang to his side. After five minutes' walk
+the two men were in front of Lady Beltham's house, the identical house
+to which Juve and Fandor had previously come before to make exhaustive
+inquiries.
+
+"You see, my boy," declared the stout party, "it is not at all a bad
+looking house. Evidently it has not been lived in for a long time, its
+state of outside dilapidation shows how neglected it has been, but it
+is possible that inside there may not be many repairs to be made."
+
+"In any case, the garden is very fine."
+
+"Yes, the grounds are large enough. And then what I like is its
+wonderful seclusion: the wall surrounding it on all sides is very high,
+and the entrance gate would be hard for robbers to tackle."
+
+"Shall I ring?"
+
+"Yes, ring."
+
+The young man pressed the button, a peal rang out in the distance:
+presently the porter appeared. He was a big fellow with long whiskers
+and a distinguished air, the perfect type of the high-class servant.
+
+"You gentlemen have come to see the house?"
+
+"Exactly. I am M. Durant. It is I who wrote to you."
+
+"To be sure, sir, I remember."
+
+The porter showed the two visitors into the garden, and forthwith the
+stout man drew his nephew along the paths. The sense of proprietorship
+came over him at once; he spared his relative none of the points of the
+property.
+
+"You see, Emile, it isn't big, but still it is amply sufficient. No
+trees before the house, which allows a view of the Boulevard from all
+the windows. The servants' quarters being in the far part of the garden
+can in no way annoy the people in the house: Notice, too, that the trees
+are quite young and their foliage thin. I don't care for too luxuriant
+gardens which are apt to block the view."
+
+"That's right, Uncle."
+
+The porter, who was following the two, broke in upon the ecstasy of the
+prospective owner.
+
+"Would you gentlemen like to see the house?"
+
+"Why, certainly, certainly."
+
+The stout man, however, before entering, was bent on going round it. He
+noticed the smallest details, growing more and more enthusiastic.
+
+"Look, Emile, it is very well built. The ground floor is sufficiently
+raised so as not to be too damp. This big terrace, on which the three
+French windows open, must be very cheerful in summer. Oh, there are
+drain pipes at the four corners! And we mustn't fail to see the cellars.
+I'm sure they are very fine. Bend down over the air-holes; what do you
+think of the gratings that close them? And, now, shall we go in?"
+
+The porter led them to the main entrance door.
+
+"Here is the vestibule, gentlemen, to the left, the servants' hall and
+kitchen; to the right, the dining-room; facing you a small drawing-room,
+then the large drawing-room, and, lastly, the double staircase leading
+to the first floor."
+
+The stout man dropped into a chair.
+
+"And to whom does this place belong?"
+
+"Lady Beltham, sir."
+
+"She does not live here?"
+
+"Not now. At this moment she is travelling."
+
+In the wake of the porter, uncle and nephew went through the rooms on
+the ground floor. As happens in all untenanted houses, the damp had
+wrought terrible havoc. The flooring, worm-eaten, creaked under their
+feet, the carpets had large damp spots on them, the paper hung loose on
+the walls, while the furniture was covered with a thick coat of dust.
+
+"Don't pay any attention to the furniture, Emile, it matters little;
+what we must first look at is the arrangement of the rooms. Why, there
+are iron shutters--I like that."
+
+"To be sure, Uncle, they are very practical."
+
+"Yes, yes; to begin with, when those shutters are closed it would be
+impossible from the outside to see anything in the rooms. Not even the
+least light."
+
+The porter proceeded to show them the first floor of the house.
+
+"There is only one staircase?" asked the stout man.
+
+"Yes, only one."
+
+"And what is the cause of the unusual dampness? We are far from the
+Seine; the garden is not very leafy."
+
+"There is a leaky cistern in the cellars, sir. Here is the largest
+bedroom. It was my Lady's."
+
+"Yes, one sees it has been the last room to be lived in."
+
+At this harmless remark the porter seemed very upset.
+
+"What makes you think that, sir?"
+
+"Why, the chairs are pushed about as though recently used. There is much
+less dust on the furniture. And--there's a print--look at the desk,
+there is a trace of dust on the diary. The blotting paper has been moved
+lately, some one has been writing there--why, what's wrong with you?"
+
+As he listened to the stout man's remarks the porter grew strangely
+pale.
+
+"Oh," he stammered, "it's nothing, nothing at all."
+
+"One would say you were afraid."
+
+"Afraid? No, sir. I am not afraid--only----"
+
+"Only what?"
+
+"Well, gentlemen, it is best not to stay here--Lady Beltham is selling
+the house because it is--haunted!"
+
+Neither of the visitors seemed impressed by the statement of their
+guide. The elder laughed a jolly laugh.
+
+"Are there ghosts?"
+
+"Why, sir, 'spirits' come here."
+
+"Have you seen them?"
+
+"Oh! certainly not, sir. When they are there, I shut myself up in the
+lodge, I can assure you----"
+
+"When do they appear?"
+
+"They come almost always on Tuesday nights."
+
+And warming to his subject the porter gave details. He got the
+impression first on one occasion when her Ladyship was absent. She had
+left some days before for Italy. It was Sunday, and then during Tuesday
+night while walking in the garden he heard movements inside the house.
+
+"I went to fetch my keys and when I came back I found nobody! I thought
+at first it was burglars, but I saw nothing had been taken away. Yet, I
+was not mistaken, furniture had been moved. There were bread crumbs on
+the floor."
+
+The young man roared with laughter.
+
+"Bread crumbs! Then your spirits come and sup here?"
+
+The uncle, equally amused, asked:
+
+"And what did Lady Beltham think when you told her that?"
+
+"Lady Beltham laughed at me. But, sir, I had my own ideas. I watched in
+the garden daily and I heard the same sounds and always on Tuesday
+nights. At last I laid a trap; I put a chalk mark round the chairs in
+Lady Beltham's room, she being still away. Well, sir, when I came to the
+house again on Thursday the chairs had been moved. I told Lady Beltham,
+and this time she seemed very much frightened. It is since then she made
+up her mind to sell the house."
+
+"For all that, what makes you say they are spirits?"
+
+"What else could it be, sir. I also heard the sounds of chains jangling.
+One night I even heard a strange and terrible hiss."
+
+"Well!" cried the stout man, beginning to go down the staircase, "since
+the house is haunted I shall have to pay less for it; eh, Emile?"
+
+"You will buy, sir, in spite of that?"
+
+"To be sure. Your phantoms alarm me less than the damp."
+
+"Oh, the damp? That can be easily remedied. You will see that we have a
+central heating stove installed."
+
+The porter led his visitors down a narrow stair to the cellars.
+
+"Take care, gentlemen, the stairs are slippery."
+
+Then he observed: "You don't need a candle, the gratings are big enough
+to give plenty of light."
+
+"What is that?" asked the young man, pointing to a huge iron cylinder
+embedded in the earth and rising some four-and-a-half feet above the
+floor.
+
+"The cistern of which I spoke, as you can see for yourselves, it is all
+but full."
+
+The porter hurried them on.
+
+"That is the heating stove. There are conductors throughout the house.
+When it is in full blast the house is even too warm."
+
+"But your grate stove is in pieces!" objected the stout man, pointing
+with his stick to iron plates torn out of one side of the central
+furnace.
+
+"Oh, sir, that happened at the time of the floods. But it won't cost
+much to put it right. If you gentlemen will examine the inside of the
+apparatus you will see that the pipes are in perfect order."
+
+The uncle followed the porter's suggestion.
+
+"Your pipes are as big as chimneys; a man could pass through them."
+
+The inspection ended, uncle and nephew bestowed a liberal tip on their
+guide. They would think it over and write or come again soon.
+
+The two relatives retraced their steps to Boulevard Inkermann.
+
+"Fandor?"
+
+"Juve?"
+
+"We have got them!"
+
+Uncle and nephew--that is to say, Juve and Fandor--could talk quite
+freely now.
+
+"Juve, are you certain that we have got them?"
+
+Juve pushed his friend into a wine-shop and ordered drinks. He then drew
+from his pocket a piece of paper, quite blank.
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"A bit of paper I picked up on Lady Beltham's desk while the porter's
+back was turned. It will serve for a little experiment. If it is not
+long since a hand rested on it, we shall find the print."
+
+"On this blank paper?"
+
+"Yes, Fandor. Look!"
+
+Juve drew a pencil from his pocket and scratched off a fine dust of
+graphite which he shook over the paper. Gradually the outline of a hand
+appeared, faint, but quite visible.
+
+"That is how," resumed Juve, "with this very simple process, you can
+decipher the finger prints of persons who have written or rested their
+hands on anything--paper, glass, even wood. According to the clearness
+of this outline which is thrown up by the coagulation of the
+plumbago--thanks to the ordinary moisture of the hand--which was laid
+on the paper, I can assure you that some one wrote on Lady Beltham's
+desk about ten days ago."
+
+"It is wonderful," said Fandor. "Here, then, is proof positive that her
+Ladyship visits her house from time to time."
+
+"Correct--or at least that some one goes there, for that is a man's
+hand."
+
+"Well, what are you going to do now, Juve?"
+
+"Now? I'm off to the Prefecture to get rid of my false embonpoint, which
+bothers me no end. I have never been so glad that I am not naturally
+stout."
+
+Fandor laughed.
+
+"And I own to you that I shan't be sorry to get rid of my false
+moustache. All the while I was inspecting that cursed house, this
+moustache kept tickling my nose and making me want to sneeze."
+
+"You should have done so."
+
+"But suppose my moustache had come off?"
+
+
+
+
+XXXI
+
+LOVERS AND ACCOMPLICES
+
+
+"Oh! who is that?"
+
+From the shadow issued some one who calmly replied:
+
+"It is I."
+
+"Ah!--I know you now, but why this disguise?"
+
+"Madame the Superior--I present myself--Doctor Chaleck. Isn't my
+disguise as good as yours?"
+
+"What do you want of me? Speak quickly, I am frightened."
+
+"To begin with, I thank you for coming to the tryst at your house--at
+ours. For five Tuesdays I have waited in vain. But first, madame,
+explain your sudden conversion, the reason of your sudden entry into
+Orders. That is a strange device for the mistress of Gurn."
+
+Doctor Chaleck held under the lash of his irony the unhappy woman who
+seemed overcome by anxiety. The two were facing each other in the large
+room that formed the middle of the first floor of the house in Boulevard
+Inkermann at Neuilly. It was, in fact, the only room fit to use: they
+had left to neglect and inclement weather the other rooms in the elegant
+mansion which some years before was considered in the Parisian world as
+one of the most comfortable and luxurious in the foreign colony.
+
+It was in truth here that in days gone by the tragic drama had been
+played: death had laid its cold hand upon the gilded trappings of the
+great apartment and laughter and joy had taken flight. However, time
+passes so quickly and evil memories so soon grow dim that many had
+forgotten the grim happenings which three years before had beset the
+mansion on the Boulevard.
+
+It was at first the deep mourning of Lady Beltham whose husband had been
+mysteriously done to death at Belleville. Then, some weeks later,
+occurred the awful scene of the arrest of Lord Beltham's murderer, just
+as he was leaving the house, an arrest due to Juve, who, though he
+succeeded in laying hands on the assassin, the infamous Gurn, was not
+able to prove--sure though he might be of it--that the slayer of the
+husband was the lover of the wife.
+
+After these shocking events Lady Beltham left France, dismissing the
+many attendants with whom she loved to surround herself like a true
+queen of beauty, luxury and wealth.
+
+At rare intervals the Lady, whose existence grew more and more
+mysterious, went back for a few days to her house at Neuilly. She would
+vanish, would reappear, living like a recluse, almost in entire
+solitude, receiving none of her old acquaintances.
+
+About a year ago she seemed to want to settle finally at Boulevard
+Inkermann. Workmen began to put the house in order again, the lodge was
+opened and a family of caretakers came; then suddenly the work had been
+broken off; some weeks went by while Lady Beltham lived alone with her
+companion; then both disappeared.
+
+Lady Beltham shivered, and, gathering about her shoulders the cloak
+which covered her religious habit, muttered: "I'm cold."
+
+"Beastly weather, and to think this is July."
+
+Chaleck crossed to a register in the corner of the room.
+
+"No good to leave that open! An icy wind comes through the passage to
+the cellar."
+
+Lady Beltham turned in alarm toward her enigmatic companion.
+
+"Why did you let it be supposed I was dead?"
+
+"Why did you yourself leave here two days before the crime at the Cite
+Frochot?"
+
+Lady Beltham hung her head and with a sob in her voice:
+
+"I was deserted and jealous. Besides, I was enduring frightful remorse.
+The idea had come to me to write down the terrible secret which haunted
+my spirit, to give the story to some one I could trust, an attorney, and
+then----"
+
+"Go on, pray!"
+
+"And, then, what I had written suddenly vanished. It was after that I
+lost my head and fled. I had long been meaning to withdraw from the
+world. The Sisters of St. Clotilde offered to receive me in their house
+at Nogent."
+
+Chaleck added brutally:
+
+"That isn't all. You forgot to say you were afraid. Come, be frank,
+afraid of Gurn, of me!"
+
+"Well, yes, I was afraid, not so much of you, but of our crimes. I am
+also afraid of dying."
+
+"That confession you wrote became known to some one who confided it to
+me."
+
+"Heavens," murmured the unhappy woman. "Who mentioned it?"
+
+Chaleck had again crossed to the register, which, although closed by him
+some moments before, was open again, letting into the room a blast of
+icy air from the basement.
+
+"This can't stay shut, it must be seen to," he muttered.
+
+Lady Beltham, shaken by a nervous tremour, insisted:
+
+"Who betrayed me? Who told?"
+
+Chaleck seated himself by her side.
+
+"You remember Valgrand, the actor? Well, Valgrand was married. His wife
+sought to clear up the mystery of his disappearance and went--where, I
+ask you? Why, to you, Lady Beltham! You took her as companion! It would
+have been impossible to introduce a more redoubtable spy into the house
+than the widow Valgrand, known by you under the false name of Mme.
+Raymond."
+
+Lady Beltham remained panic-stricken.
+
+"We are lost!"
+
+Chaleck squeezed her two hands in a genuine burst of affection.
+
+"We are saved!" he shouted. "Mme. Raymond will talk no more!"
+
+"The body at the Cite Frochot!"
+
+Chaleck nodded. "Yes."
+
+She looked at him in alarm, mingled with repulsion and horror.
+
+"Now, understand that that death saved you, and if I saved you it is
+because I loved you, love you still, will always love you!"
+
+Lady Beltham, overcome, let herself fall into Chaleck's arms, her head
+resting on her lover's shoulder as she wept hot tears.
+
+Lady Beltham was once more enslaved, a captive! More than two years ago
+she had broken with the mysterious and terrible being whom she had once
+egged on to kill her husband, and with whom she then committed the most
+appalling of crimes. During this separation the unhappy woman had tried
+to pull herself together, to acquire a fresh honesty of mind and body, a
+new soul; dreamed of finding again in religion some help, some
+forgetfulness. She had later experienced the frightful tortures of
+jealousy, knowing her late lover had mistresses! But she resisted the
+craving to see him again, and pictured him to herself in such terrible
+guise that she felt an overwhelming fear of finding herself face to face
+with him. Now the season of calm and quiet she had evoked was suddenly
+dispelled. First came the mysterious disappearance of her confession and
+the weird crime of the Cite Frochot following on its loss. To be sure
+she did not then know that Doctor Chaleck, of whom the papers spoke, was
+none other than Gurn, but had they not in _La Capitale_ spoken of
+Fantomas in that connection? And at this disquieting comparison Lady
+Beltham had felt sinister forebodings. Other mysteries had then
+supervened, unaccountable to the guilty lady who by that time was
+already seeking her new birth in the bosom of Religion. Alas! her
+miseries were to grow definite enough.
+
+At the very gate of the convent an innocent man, Bonardin, the actor,
+fell victim to the attack of Juve, also innocent, and in that affair she
+felt the complicity of her late lover grow more and more certain. She
+then received a letter from him, followed by a second. Gurn called her
+to his place--their place--the mansion at Neuilly, every Tuesday night.
+She held out several times despite threatened reprisals. At last she
+yielded and went: she expected Gurn--it was Chaleck she found. The two
+were one!
+
+From henceforth she was faced with this accomplice, guilty of new
+crimes, clothed in a new personality, already under suspicion, which
+doubtless he would cast off only to assume another which would enable
+him still further to extend the list of his crimes! But despite all the
+horror her lover inspired her with she felt herself tamed again,
+powerless to resist him, ready to do anything the moment he bade her!
+
+She inquired feebly:
+
+"Who was it killed Mme. Raymond? Was it that ruffian--whom they speak of
+in the papers--Loupart?"
+
+"Well, not exactly!"
+
+"Then was it you? Speak, I would rather know."
+
+"It was neither he nor I, and yet it was to some extent both."
+
+"I do not understand."
+
+"It is rather difficult to understand. Our 'executioner' does not lack
+originality. I may say it is something which lives yet does not think."
+
+"Who is it! Who is it!"
+
+"Why not ask Detective Juve. Oh! Juve, too, would like to know who the
+deuce all these people are. Gurn, Chaleck, Loupart, and, above
+all--Fantomas!"
+
+"Fantomas! Ah, I scarcely dare utter that name. And yet a doubt
+oppresses my heart! Tell me, are you not, yourself--Fantomas?"
+
+Chaleck freed himself gently, for Lady Beltham had wound her arms round
+his neck.
+
+"I know nothing, I am merely the lover who loves you."
+
+"Then let us go far away. Let us begin a new existence together. Will
+you? Come!" She stopped all at once--"I heard a noise." Chaleck, too,
+listened. Some slight creakings had, indeed, disturbed the hush of the
+room. But outside the wind and the rain whirled around the dilapidated,
+lonely abode, and it was not surprising that unaccountable sounds should
+be audible in the stillness. Once more Lady Beltham built up her plans,
+catching a glimpse of a future all peace and happiness.
+
+With a brief, harsh remark, Chaleck brought her back to reality.
+
+"All that cannot be, at least for the moment, we must first----"
+
+Lady Beltham laid her hand on his lips.
+
+"Do not speak!" she begged. "A fresh crime--that's what you mean?"
+
+"A vengeance, an execution! A man has set himself to run me down, has
+determined my ruin: between us it is a struggle without quarter; my life
+is not safe but at the cost of his, so he must perish. In four days they
+will find Detective Juve dead in his own bed. And with him will finally
+vanish the fiction he has evoked of Fantomas! Fantomas! Ah, if society
+knew--if humanity, instead of being what it is--but it matters little!"
+
+"And Fantomas? What will become of him--of you?"
+
+"Have I told you that I was Fantomas?"
+
+"No," stammered she, "but----"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The dim light of a pale dawn filtered through the closed shutters of the
+big drawing-room in which lover and mistress had met again, after long
+weeks of separation, to call up sinister memories. For all their hopes
+the limit of the tribulations to which they were a prey seemed still far
+off.
+
+Chaleck blew out the lamp. He drew aside the curtains. Sharply he put an
+end to the interview:
+
+"I am off, Lady Beltham. Soon we shall meet again. Never let anyone
+suspect what we have said to each other--Farewell."
+
+The hapless woman, crushed and broken by emotion, remained nearly an
+hour alone in the great room. Then the requirements of her official life
+came to her mind. It was necessary to return to the convent at Nogent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Extricating themselves painfully from the pipes of the great stove, Juve
+and Fandor, covered with plaster, wreathed with cobwebs, and freely
+sprinkled with dust, fell back suddenly into the middle of the cellar.
+The two men, heedless of the disarray of their dress and their painful
+cramped limbs, spoke both at once, dumbfounded but joyful:
+
+"Well, Juve?"
+
+"Well, Fandor, we got something for our money."
+
+"Oh, what a lovely night, Juve; I wouldn't have given up my place for a
+fortune."
+
+"We had front seats, though to be sure the velvet armchairs were
+lacking."
+
+They were silent for a moment, their minds fully occupied with a crowd
+of ideas. So Chaleck and Loupart were one and the same? And Lady Beltham
+was indeed the accomplice of Gurn. An unhappy accomplice, repentant,
+wretched, a criminal through love.
+
+"Fandor, they are ours now. Let us act!"
+
+The pair, not sorry to breathe a little more easily than they had done
+for the past few hours, went upstairs, reached the ground floor and made
+their way into the drawing-room, where during the night Doctor Chaleck
+and Lady Beltham had had their memorable interview.
+
+Juve, without a word, paced up and down the room, poking in all the
+corners, then gave a cry:
+
+"Here is the famous mouth of the heater which that brute Chaleck tried
+to shut, and I persisted in opening so as not to lose a word of his
+instructive conversation. No matter, if he felt cold, what did I feel
+like?"
+
+"The fact is," added Fandor, whose hoarse voice bore witness to the
+difficulties he had just passed through, "these stove pipes have very
+little comfort about them."
+
+"What can you expect?" cried Juve. "The architect did not think of us
+when he built the house. And now, Fandor, we have a hard task before us
+and we need all the luck we can get. For certainly it is Fantomas we
+have unearthed: Fantomas, the lover of Lady Beltham, the slayer of her
+husband, the murderer of Valgrand, the master that got rid of Mme.
+Raymond! Gurn, Chaleck, Loupart. The one being who can be all those and
+himself too--Fantomas."
+
+As the two friends left Lady Beltham's house without attracting notice,
+the detective drew from his pocket a species of little scale which he
+showed Fandor.
+
+"What do you make of that?"
+
+"I haven't the least idea."
+
+"Well, I have, and it may put us in the way of a great discovery. Did
+you notice that Chaleck did not say definitely who the 'executioner' of
+Mme. Raymond was?"
+
+"To be sure."
+
+"Well, I believe that I have a morsel of this 'executioner' in my
+pocket."
+
+
+
+
+XXXII
+
+THE SILENT EXECUTIONER
+
+
+Juve was in his study smoking a cigarette. It was nine in the evening.
+The door leading to the lobby opened and Fandor walked in.
+
+"All right, this evening?"
+
+"All right. What brings you here, Fandor?"
+
+The journalist smiled and pointed to a calendar on the wall: "The fact
+that--it's this evening, Juve."
+
+"The date fixed by Chaleck or Fantomas for my demise. To-morrow morning
+I am to be found in my bed, strangled, crushed, or something of the
+sort. I suppose you've come to get a farewell interview for _La
+Capitale_. To gather the minutest details of the frightful crime so that
+you can publish a special edition. '_The tragedy in Rue Bonaparte! Juve
+overcome by Fantomas!_'"
+
+Fandor listened, amused at the detective's outburst.
+
+"You'd be angry with me, Juve," he declared, in the same jocular strain,
+"for passing by such a sensational piece of news, wouldn't you?"
+
+"That is so. And then I own I expected my last evening to be a lonely
+one, there was a feeling of sadness at the bottom of my heart. I thought
+that before dying I should have liked to say farewell to young Fandor,
+whose life I am continually putting in peril by my crazy ventures, but
+whom I love as the surest of companions, the sagest of advisers, the
+most discreet of confidants."
+
+Fandor was touched. With a spontaneous movement he sprang to the
+armchair in which Juve sat, seized and wrung the detective's hands.
+
+"What?"
+
+"I shall stay here. You don't suppose I'm going to leave you to pass
+this night alone?"
+
+Juve, touched beyond measure by Fandor's words, seemed uncertain what he
+ought to decide.
+
+"I can't pretend, Fandor, that your presence is not agreeable, and I'm
+grateful to you for your sympathy; I knew I could count on you: but
+after all, lad, we must look ahead and consider all contingencies.
+Fantomas may succeed! Now you know what I have set out to do; if I
+should fail, I should like to think that you would carry on the work as
+my successor and put an end to Fantomas."
+
+"But, Juve, you are threatened by Fantomas; that is why I am here to
+help you."
+
+"Well, I have no bed to put you in."
+
+Fandor, taken aback, stared at the detective. The latter rose and began
+walking about the room, then turned sharply and gazed at the young man:
+
+"You are quite determined to stay with me?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And if I bade you go?"
+
+"I should disobey you."
+
+"Very well, then," concluded Juve, shrugging his shoulders, "come along
+and light me."
+
+The detective passed out of the apartment and made for the stairs.
+
+"Where are we bound for?" asked Fandor.
+
+"The garret," Juve replied.
+
+A quarter of an hour later Juve and Fandor dragged into the bedroom a
+huge open-work wicker-basket.
+
+"Whew!" cried Juve, mopping his forehead, "no one would believe it was
+so heavy."
+
+Fandor smiled.
+
+"It's full of rubbish. Really, Juve, you are not a tidy man!"
+
+Juve, without reply, proceeded to empty the basket, pulling out books,
+linen, pieces of wood, carpet, rolls of paper; in fact, the accumulated
+refuse of fifteen years.
+
+"What is your height?" he asked.
+
+"If I remember right, five feet ten."
+
+Juve got out his pocket measure and took the length of the crate.
+
+"That's all right," he murmured. "You'll be quite snug and comfortable
+in it."
+
+Fandor burst out:
+
+"You're a cheerful host, Juve. You bottle up your guests in cages now!"
+
+Juve placed a mattress at the bottom of the basket and laid two blankets
+over that, then he put a pillow on top. Patting the bedding to make it
+smooth, he declared with a laugh:
+
+"I fear nothing, but I have taken precautions. I have posted two men in
+the porter's lodge. I have loaded my revolver, and dined comfortably.
+About half-past eleven I shall go to bed as usual. However, instead of
+going to sleep I shall endeavour to keep awake. At dinner I took three
+cups of coffee, and when you go I shall drink a fourth."
+
+"Excuse me," said Fandor, "but I am not going away."
+
+"There! You'll sleep splendid inside that, Fandor."
+
+The journalist, used to the devices of his friend, nodded his head. Juve
+had already taken off his coat and waistcoat and now drew from a box
+three belts half a yard in breadth and studded outside with sharp
+points. "Look, Fandor! I shall be completely protected when I am swathed
+in them. Oh," he added, "I was going to forget my leg guards!"
+
+Juve went back to the box and took out two other rolls, also studded
+with spikes. Fandor looked in amazement at this gear and Juve observed
+laughingly:
+
+"It will cost me a pair of sheets and maybe a mattress."
+
+"What does it mean?"
+
+"These defensive works have a double object. To protect me against
+Fantomas, or the 'executioner' he will send, and also I shall be able to
+determine the civil status of the 'executioner' in question."
+
+Fandor, more and more puzzled, inspected the iron spikes, which were two
+or more inches in length.
+
+"This contrivance is not new," said Juve; "Liabeuf wore arm guards like
+these under his jacket, and when the officers wanted to seize him they
+tore their hands."
+
+"I know, I know," replied Fandor, "but----"
+
+The detective all at once laid a finger on his lips.
+
+"It's now twenty past eleven, and I am in the habit of being in bed at
+half past. Fantomas is bound to know it: when he comes or sends, he must
+not notice anything out of the way. Get into your wicker case and shut
+the lid down carefully. By the by, I shall leave the window slightly
+open."
+
+"Isn't that a bit risky?"
+
+"It is one of my habits, and not to make Fantomas suspicious I alter my
+ways in nothing."
+
+Fandor settled himself in his case and Juve also got into bed. As he put
+out the light he gave a warning.
+
+"We mustn't close an eye or utter a word. Whatever happens, don't move.
+But when I call, strike a light at once and come to me."
+
+"All right," replied Fandor.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Fandor!"
+
+Juve's cry rent the stillness of the night, loud and compelling. The
+journalist leaped from his wicker-basket so abruptly that he knocked
+against the lamp stand and the lamp fell to the floor. Fandor searched
+for his matches in vain.
+
+"Light up, Fandor!" shouted Juve.
+
+The noise of a struggle, the dull thud of a fall on the floor, maddened
+the journalist. In the darkness he heard Juve groaning, scraping the
+floor with his boots, making violent efforts to resist some mysterious
+assailant.
+
+"Be quick, in God's name," implored the pain-wrung voice of the
+detective. Fandor trod on the glass of the lamp, which broke. He
+tripped, knocked his head against a press, rebounded, then suddenly
+uttered a terrible cry. His hands, outstretched apart, in the gloom, had
+brushed a cold, shiny body which slid under his palms.
+
+"Fandor! Help, Fandor!"
+
+Desperate, Fandor plunged haphazard about the disordered chamber,
+wrapped in darkness. Suddenly, he rushed into the study hard by, found
+there another lamp which he lit in haste, and hurried back with it.
+
+A fearful sight wrung a cry of terror from him. Juve, on his knees on
+the floor, was covered with blood.
+
+"Juve!"
+
+"It's all right, Fandor. Some one has bled, but not I."
+
+The detective rushed to the open window and leaned out into the dark
+night.
+
+"Listen!" he cried. "Do you hear that low hissing, that dull rustling?"
+
+"Yes. I heard it just now."
+
+"It was the 'executioner.'"
+
+The detective drew back into the room, shut the window, pulled down the
+blinds, and then took off his armour. Curiously he examined the stains
+of blood, the tiny shreds of flesh that had remained on the points.
+
+"We have no more to fear now," he said, "the stroke has been tried--and
+has failed."
+
+"Juve! tell me what has just happened? I may be an idiot, but I don't
+understand at all!"
+
+"You are no fool, Fandor; far from it, but if in many circumstances you
+reason and argue with considerable aptness, I grant you far less
+deductive faculty. That does not seem to be your forte."
+
+Fandor seated himself before the detective, and the latter held forth.
+
+"When we found ourselves faced with the first crime, that of the Cite
+Frochot, and our notice was drawn to the elusive Fantomas, we were
+unable to decide in what manner that hapless Mme. Raymond, whom we then
+took for Lady Beltham, had been done to death. Now, remember, Fandor,
+that during that night of mystery, hidden behind the curtains in
+Chaleck's study we heard weird rustlings and faint sort of hissings,
+didn't we?"
+
+"We did," admitted Fandor, at a loss, "but go on, Juve."
+
+"When we were called to investigate the attack on the American, Dixon,
+it was easy for us to conclude that the attempt of which the pugilist
+had been the object was the outcome of the same plan of battle as that
+which cost the widow Valgrand her life. The mysterious 'executioner,'
+which Chaleck did not disguise from Lady Beltham, was thus a being
+endowed with vigour enough to completely crush a woman's body, and
+likely do as much to that of an ordinary man. But the 'executioner' in
+question was not strong enough to get the better of the grand physique
+of the champion pugilist, since it failed in its attempt.
+
+"This instrument 'of limited power,' if I may so describe it, must then
+be, not a mechanism which nothing can resist, but a living being! It
+must also be a creature striking panic, terrifying, formidable: you ask
+why, Fandor?"
+
+"Yes, to be sure."
+
+"I am going to tell you. If our poor friend Josephine were not still in
+a high fever she would certainly uphold me. You remember the business on
+the Boulevard Pereire? Chaleck or Fantomas wants to be rid of the woman
+he loved under the guise of Loupart, since he has gone back to Lady
+Beltham. Moreover, Josephine chatters too much with Dixon, with the
+police.
+
+"Chaleck, Fantomas, therefore, goes up to Josephine's. After having told
+the poor creature I know not what yarn, he departs, leaving behind in
+his hold-all, the instrument. Now this last, when it shows itself, so
+terrifies the poor girl that she throws herself out of the window."
+
+"I begin to see what you mean," said the journalist.
+
+"Listen," replied Juve. "The mysterious, nameless and terrible
+accomplice of Fantomas, is no other than a snake! A snake trained to
+crush bodies in its coils. After having long suspected its existence, I
+began to be sure of it when I found that strange scale at Neuilly. This
+accounts for the incomprehensible state of Mme. Valgrand's body, the
+extraordinary attempt on Dixon, the murderous thing that terrified
+Josephine! That is why, expecting to-night's visit, I barbed myself with
+iron like a knight of old, feeling pretty sure that if the hands of the
+officers were torn by the armlets of Liabeuf, the coils of Fantomas'
+serpent would be flayed on touching my sharp spikes."
+
+"Juve!" cried Fandor, "if I hadn't had the bad luck to upset the lamp,
+we should have caught this frightful beast."
+
+"Probably, but what should we have done with it? After all, it's better
+that it should go back to Fantomas."
+
+"But you haven't yet told me what happened!"
+
+The young man's face displayed such curiosity that Juve burst out
+laughing.
+
+"Journalist! Incorrigible newsmonger! All right, take notes for your
+article describing this appalling adventure. So, then, Fandor, the lamp
+once out, the hours go by, a trifle more slowly in the darkness than in
+the light. You are silent and still like a little Moses in your wicker
+cradle. As for me, armoured as I was, I tried not to stir in my bed--to
+spare the sheets--Juve is not wealthy. Midnight, one o'clock, two, the
+quarter past. How long it is!--Then, an alarm! A cat that mews
+strangely. Then comes that little hissing sound I begin to know.
+Hiss--hiss! Oh, what a horrid feeling! I guess that the window is
+opening wider. You heard, as I did, Fandor, the revolting scales grit on
+the boards. But you didn't know what it was, whereas I did know it was
+the snake! I swear to you it needed all my pluck not to flinch, for I
+wanted at any cost to see it through to the end, and know whether,
+behind this reptile, Fantomas was not going to show his vile snout.
+
+"Ah, the brute, how quickly he went to work. As I was listening, my
+muscles tense, my nerves on edge, I suddenly felt my sheet stir--the
+foul beast is trained to attack beds, remember the attack on Dixon--and
+suddenly it was the grip, furious, quick as a whip stroke, twining about
+me. I was thrown down, tossed, shaken, torn like a feather, tied up like
+a sausage!
+
+"My arms glued to my body, my loins hampered. I intended not to say a
+word, I had faith in my iron-work; but to be frank, I was scared,
+awfully scared. And I yelled: 'Fandor! Help!'
+
+"Oh, those accursed moments. He began to squeeze horribly when all at
+once I felt a cold liquid flow over my skin--blood. The brute was
+wounded. We still wrestled, and you tripped in the darkness and smashed
+the glass of the lamp, and I was choking gradually. All my life I shall
+remember it. And then, what relief, what joy when the grip slackened,
+when he gives up and makes off. The beast glided over the floor, reached
+the window, hissed frantically and vanished. There, M. Reporter, you
+have impressions from life, and rough ones, too! Well, the luck is
+turning, and I think it is veering to our quarter. Things are going from
+bad to worse for Fantomas. I tell you, Fandor, we shall nab him before
+long!"
+
+
+
+
+XXXIII
+
+A SCANDAL IN THE CLOISTER
+
+
+Slight sounds, scarcely audible, disturbed the peace of the cloister. In
+the absolute silence of the night, vague noises could be distinguished.
+Furtive steps, whisperings, doors opened or shut cautiously. Then the
+blinking light of a candle shone at a casement, two or three other
+windows were illuminated and the hubbub grew general. Voices were heard,
+frightened interjections, the stir increased in the long corridor on
+which cells opened. Generally the curtains of these cells were
+discreetly drawn; now they were being pulled aside. Drowsy faces looked
+out of the gloom; the excitement increased.
+
+"Sister Marguerite! Sister Vincent! Sister Clotilde! What is it? What is
+happening? Listen!"
+
+The alarmed nuns gathered at the far end of the passage. The worthy
+women, roused from their rest, had hastily arranged their coifs, and
+chastely wrapped themselves in their flowing robes. They turned their
+frightened faces toward the chapel.
+
+"Burglars!" murmured the Sister who was treasurer of the convent,
+thinking of the cup of gold that the humble little sisterhood preserved
+as a relic with jealous care.
+
+Another Sister, recently come from the creuse, from which she had been
+driven by the laws, did not conceal her fears.
+
+"More emissaries of the government! They are going to turn us out!"
+
+The Senior, Sister Vincent, quivering with alarm, stammered:
+
+"It is a revolution--I saw that in '70."
+
+A heap of chairs under the vaulting suddenly toppled down. Panic
+stricken, the sisters crowded closed together, not daring to go to the
+chapel, which was joined to the passage by a little staircase.
+
+"And the Mother Superior, what did she think of it all--what would she
+say?"
+
+They drew near the cell, a little apart from the others, occupied by the
+lady, who, on taking the headship of the "House," had brought with her
+precious personal assistance and a good deal of money as well. Sister
+Vincent, who had gone forward and was about to enter the little
+chamber, drew back.
+
+"Our Holy Mother," she informed the others, "is at her prayers."
+
+At this very moment broken cries rang down the passage. Sister Frances,
+the janitress, who everyone believed was calmly slumbering in her lodge,
+suddenly appeared, her eyes wild, her garments in disarray.
+
+The sisters gathered round her, but the helpless woman shrieked, quite
+beside herself.
+
+"Let me go! Let us flee! I have seen the devil! He is there! In the
+church! It is frightful!"
+
+Mad with terror, the Sister explained in disjointed phrases what had
+alarmed her. She had heard a noise and fancied it might be the
+gardener's dog shut by mistake in the chapel. Then behold! At the moment
+she entered the choir the stained-glass window above the shrine of St.
+Clotilde, their patroness, suddenly gave way, and through the opening
+appeared a supernatural being who came toward her ejaculating words she
+could not understand. Armed with a great cudgel, he struck right and
+left, making a terrible uproar.
+
+Thereupon the janitress made an effort to escape, but the demon barred
+her path, and in a sepulchral voice commanded her to go for the Mother
+Superior and bid her come at once, if she did not want the worst of
+evils to fall upon the sisterhood.
+
+She had scarcely finished when an echoing crash was heard. The sisters
+suppressed a cry, and as they turned, pale with dread, before them stood
+their Mother Superior. With a sweeping gesture, she vaguely gave a
+blessing as if to endow them with courage, then turned to the janitress.
+
+"My dear Sister Francoise, calm yourself! Be brave! God will not forsake
+us! I intend to comply with the desire of the stranger. I will go
+alone--with God alone!" Lady Beltham made a mighty effort to disguise
+the emotion she felt. Slowly she went down the steps and entered the
+sanctuary, where she halted in a state of terror.
+
+The choir was lit up. The tapers were flaring on the high altar, and in
+the middle of the chapel, wrapped in a large black cloak, his face
+hidden by a black mask, stood a man, mysterious and alarming.
+
+"Lady Beltham!"
+
+At the sound of this voice, Lady Beltham fancied she recognised her
+lover.
+
+"What do you want? What are you doing? It is madness!"
+
+"Nothing is madness in Fantomas!"
+
+Lady Beltham pressed her hands to her heart, unable to speak.
+
+The voice resumed: "Fantomas bids you leave here, Lady Beltham. In two
+hours you will go from this convent; a closed motor will be waiting for
+you at the back of the garden, at the little gate. The vehicle will take
+you to a seaport, where you will board a vessel which the driver will
+indicate; when the voyage is over you will be in England: there you will
+receive fresh orders to make for Canada."
+
+Lady Beltham wrung her hands in despair.
+
+"Why do you wish to force me to leave my dear companions?"
+
+"Were you not ready to leave everything, Lady Beltham, to make a new
+life for yourself with--him you love?"
+
+"Alas!"
+
+"Remember last Tuesday night at the Neuilly mansion!"
+
+"Ah! You should have carried me off then, not left me time to think it
+over. Now I am no longer willing."
+
+"You will go! Yes or no. Will you obey?"
+
+"I will--for, after all, I love you!"
+
+The two tragic beings were silent for a moment, listening; outside the
+church the uproar grew in violence, brief orders were being shouted, a
+blowing of whistles. Suddenly, uttering a hoarse cry, the ruffian
+exclaimed:
+
+"The police! The police are on the track of Fantomas! Juve's police.
+Well, this time Fantomas will be too much for them. Lady Beltham--till
+we meet again."
+
+Beating a rapid retreat behind a pillar of the chapel he vanished. Lady
+Beltham found herself alone in the chapel. Five minutes later the heavy
+steps of the police sounded in the passages. They went through the
+house, searching for clues, then disappeared in the darkness of the
+night.
+
+Lady Beltham addressed the nuns:
+
+"A great peril threatens our sisters of the Boulevard Jourdan. They must
+be warned at all costs and at once. And it is necessary that I, and I
+only, should go to warn them. Have no fear. No harm will happen to me. I
+know what I am doing."
+
+Under the appalled eyes of the sisterhood the Mother Superior slowly
+passed from the assembled community with a sweeping gesture of farewell.
+The moment she was alone, she ran to the far end of the garden and
+passed through the little gate in the wall behind the chapel. She was
+gone!
+
+While these strange occurrences were in progress at the peaceful convent
+of Nogent, and the flight of Lady Beltham at the bidding of Fantomas was
+effected under the eyes of the sisters, no little stir was manifest in
+the environs of La Chapelle, in the dreaded region where the hooligans,
+forming the celebrated gang of Cyphers, have their haunts.
+
+A certain misrule reigned in the confederation, due to the fact that
+Loupart had not been seen for some time. None of its members believed
+for an instant the newspaper story that Loupart had turned out to be
+Fantomas--the elusive, the superhuman, the improbable, the weird
+Fantomas. This was beyond them. Good enough to stuff the numskull of the
+law with such a tale, but there was no use for it among the gang of
+Cyphers.
+
+That same evening there was considerable excitement at the station in
+the Rue Stephenson. Detectives, inspectors, real or sham hooligans, were
+assembled there.
+
+"Who is that gentleman?" asked M. Rouquelet, the Commissary of the
+district, pointing to a young man seated in a corner of the room, taking
+notes on a pad.
+
+Juve, to whom the query was addressed, turned his head.
+
+"Why, it's Fandor, Jerome Fandor, my friend."
+
+Juve was seated at the magistrate's table, comparing papers, documents,
+and material evidence; he had, standing round him men in uniform or
+mufti. One might have thought it the office of a general staff during a
+battle. The door opened to a man dressed like a market gardener.
+
+"Well, Leon?" asked Juve.
+
+"M. Inspector, it is done. We have nabbed the 'Cooper.'"
+
+A sergeant of the 19th Arrondissement appeared and saluted.
+
+"M. Inspector, my men are bringing in 'The Flirt.' Her throat is cut."
+
+"Is her murderer taken?"
+
+"Not yet--there are several of them--but we know them. The wounded woman
+was able to tell us their names. They 'bled' her because they suspected
+her of giving us information."
+
+M. Rouquelet telephoned to Lariboisiere for an ambulance, and the
+officers went to see the victim, who was lying on a stretcher in the
+hall. At that moment, the sound of a struggle hurried Juve to the
+entrance of the station. Some officers were hauling in a youth with a
+pallid complexion and wicked eyes. Fandor recognised the captive.
+
+"It's that little collegian who bit my finger the night of the
+Marseilles Express!"
+
+Leon, who had drawn near, likewise identified the youth.
+
+"I know him, that's Mimile. His account is settled, he is jugged!"
+
+The hall of the station filled once more: an old woman, dragged in
+forcibly, was groaning and bawling at the top of her voice:
+
+"Pack of swine! Isn't it shameful to treat a poor woman so!"
+
+"M. Superintendent," explained one of the men, "we caught this woman,
+Mother Toulouche--in the act of stowing away in her bodice a bundle of
+bank notes just passed to her by a man. Here they are."
+
+The constable handed the packet to the magistrate, and Fandor, who was
+watching, could not repress an exclamation.
+
+"Oh!--Notes in halves! Suppose they belong to M. Martialle! Allow me, M.
+Rouquelet, to look at the numbers."
+
+"In with Mother Toulouche!" cried the Superintendent, then rubbing his
+hands he turned to Juve and cried:
+
+"A fine haul, M. Inspector. What do you think?"
+
+But Juve did not hear him; he had drawn Fandor into a corner of the
+office and was explaining:
+
+"I have done no more at present than have Lady Beltham shadowed, but I
+do not mean to arrest her. You see, if I asked Fuselier for a warrant
+against Lady Beltham, a person legally dead and buried more than two
+months ago, that excellent functionary would swallow his clerk, stool
+and all, in sheer amazement."
+
+At that moment a cyclist constable, dripping with sweat and quite out of
+breath, came in and hastening straight to Juve, cried:
+
+"I come from Nogent!"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, M. Inspector, they saw a masked man come out of the convent,
+wrapped in a big cloak. They gave chase--he fired a revolver twice and
+killed two officers."
+
+"Good God! It was certainly----"
+
+"We thought, too--that perhaps--after all--it was--it was Fantomas!"
+
+"Juve!" called the Commissary. "You are wanted on the telephone. Neuilly
+is asking for you."
+
+The detective picked up the receiver.
+
+"Hello! hello! Is that you, Michel? Yes. What is it? In a motor? Oh, you
+have taken the driver. But he--curse it! Who the devil is this man who
+always escapes us? What? He is in Lady Beltham's house! You have
+surrounded the house? Good, keep your eyes open! Do nothing till I
+come."
+
+Juve hung up the receiver and turned to Fandor.
+
+"Fantomas is at Lady Beltham's; shut up in the house. I am going there."
+
+"I'll go with you."
+
+As the two men left the station, they were met by Inspector Grolle.
+
+"We have taken 'The Beard' at Daddy Korn's," he cried.
+
+"Confound that!" shouted Juve, as he jumped into a taxi with Fandor.
+"Neuilly! Boulevard Inkermann, and top speed!"
+
+
+
+
+XXXIV
+
+FANTOMAS' REVENGE
+
+
+"Phew! Here I am!"
+
+Checking his headlong course at the top of the terrace steps, Fantomas
+rapidly entered the house, then double-locked himself in. The ruffian at
+once inspected the fastenings of the windows and doors on the ground
+floor.
+
+The monster cocked his ear. Three calls of the horn sounded dolefully in
+the silence of the night. Fantomas counted them anxiously and then
+exclaimed:
+
+"There! That's my signal! My driver is taken."
+
+A slight shudder shook the sturdy frame of the man. He went up to the
+first floor and peered through the shutters. He caught the sound of
+footsteps. In the light of a street lamp he suddenly descried the
+outline of his driver. The latter, among half a score of policemen, was
+walking, head bent, with his hands fettered.
+
+"Poor fellow!" he murmured. "Another who has to pay! Ah! they have left
+my 'sixty horse' for my use presently. But there is no time to lose,
+I'll bet that Juve, flanked by his everlasting journalist, will not be
+long in coming here. Very well! Juve, it is not as master that you will
+enter this house, but as a doomed man!"
+
+Fantomas now became absorbed in a strange task which claimed all his
+attention. On the floor of the dark closet where all the electric gear
+of the house terminated, the bandit laid a sort of oblong fusee that he
+drew from his capacious cloak.
+
+He fitted to the end of this fusee two electric wires previously freed
+of their insulator; then having verified the tie of the pulls of the
+distribution board, he hid the cartridge under a little lid of wood.
+Then he left the closet, taking care to double-lock the door.
+
+"These detectives," he growled, "are about to witness the finest
+firework display imaginable and, I dare say, take part in it, too.
+Dynamite can transform a respectable middle-class house into a sparkling
+bouquet of loose stone!"
+
+Such was, indeed, the fearful reception Fantomas held in reserve for his
+opponents. He had made everything ready to blow up the house and escape
+unhurt himself.
+
+If Juve and Fandor had paid more attention to the piping of the wires,
+they would have seen that some of them ran outside the house and
+disappeared below ground, reappearing at the far end of the property in
+an old deserted woodshed.
+
+Fantomas was about to leave the house. He was already stepping onto the
+terrace when, suppressing an oath, he wheeled about suddenly.
+
+As Juve and Fandor were about to enter the grounds, Detective Michel
+rose up out of the dusk.
+
+"That you, sir?"
+
+"Well," replied Juve, "is the bird in the nest?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and the cage is well guarded, I assure you. Fifteen of my men
+kept a strict guard round the house."
+
+"Good. Here is the plan of action. You, Sergeant, will enter the house
+with Inspector Michel, at my back. The men will continue to watch the
+exit."
+
+Juve broke off sharply. He saw the door of the house open a little way
+and Fantomas appear, then vanish again inside the house.
+
+"At last!" cried Juve, who sprang forward, followed by Fandor.
+
+"Slowly, gentlemen! We have now victory in sight, we mustn't imperil it
+by rashness. You remain on the ground floor. Each one in a room, and
+don't stir without good reason. I am going up."
+
+"I am going with you," exclaimed Fandor.
+
+The two went cautiously up the stairs to the first floor.
+
+"Fantomas!" challenged Juve, halting on the landing, "you are caught;
+surrender!"
+
+But the detective's voice only roused distant echoes; the big house was
+silent.
+
+"Now, this is what we must do," he cautioned Fandor. "Above us is a
+loft--we will search it first; if it is empty, we will close it again.
+Then we will come down again, taking each room in turn and locking it
+after us. At the slightest sound fling yourself on the ground and let
+Fantomas fire first; the flash of the shot will tell us where it comes
+from."
+
+The two man-hunters searched the loft without success. At the first
+floor Juve repressed a slight tremor, for the handle of the door leading
+into Lady Beltham's room creaked ominously. He opened it, springing
+aside quickly, expecting to be fired at. The room was empty, no trace of
+Fantomas. The two passed into another room, then as soon as their
+visitation was completed locked up the apartment.
+
+Suddenly, as they reached the foot of the stairs, Juve gave a violent
+start. From the door of the drawing-room a shadow, black from head to
+foot, came bounding out. Quick as lightning the form crossed the
+ante-room, then plunged by a low entrance into the cellarage.
+
+Two shots rang out!
+
+Fantomas drew behind him a big bar and prided himself on the barrier he
+thus put between his pursuers and himself. But despite his consummate
+confidence, he was beginning to feel a certain uneasiness, an undeniable
+anxiety. His black mask clung to his temples, dripping with sweat.
+
+He crossed the basement to the little air-hole overlooking the garden.
+
+"That is a way of escape," he thought, "unless----"
+
+But, baffled, he ceased his inspection.
+
+"Curse it! There are three policemen before that exit."
+
+He scraped a match and reviewed the place in which he found
+himself--which for that matter he knew better than any one.
+
+Facing him stood the dilapidated stove and at his feet shimmered the
+cistern.
+
+All at once Fantomas clenched his fists. Under the increasing blows of
+the detective and his men the door of the basement yielded. Above the
+crash of the boards and iron-work Juve's voice rang out:
+
+"Fantomas! Surrender!"
+
+Fantomas groped in the darkness. His hand came on a bottle. A crackle of
+shattered glass was heard, Fantomas had taken the bottle by the neck and
+broken it against the wall.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Juve, revolver in hand, followed by Fandor, moved cautiously down the
+stairs to the cellar: both men were brave, yet they felt their hearts
+beating as though they would burst.
+
+Juve reached the last step. He pressed the knob of his electric torch; a
+rush of light lit up the little room. It was empty!
+
+Juve went the round of the cellar, carefully inspecting the walls and
+sounding them with the butt of his revolver. He went round the cistern.
+Its surface was black and still. A broken bottle, floating head
+downward, remained half immersed, absolutely motionless.
+
+Fandor laid his hand on the detective's arm.
+
+"Did you hear; some one breathed!"
+
+Beyond doubt some one had breathed!
+
+"Idiots that we are! He is in there," cried Juve, pointing to the pipe
+of the great stove.
+
+The detective caught sight in a corner of a number of bundles of straw.
+
+"That is what we want, Fandor! We are going to make a bonfire."
+
+When the opening of the furnace was fitted, Juve set a light to it and
+the flames rose, crackling, while up the pipe of the heater rose a
+pungent smoke, thick and black.
+
+"And now to the openings of the stove! Sergeant! Michel! This way!"
+
+Through the apertures in the ground-floor rooms the great stove was
+beginning to smoke.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A broken bottle with the bottom gone was floating head downward on the
+black water of the tank. Scarcely had Juve and Fandor gone than the
+water was stirred, and slowly the mysterious bottle rose again to the
+top. Behind it rose the head of Fantomas, still wrapped in the black
+hood which now clung to his face like a mask moulded on the features.
+
+Dripping, he issued from the tank and breathed hard for some moments.
+Despite his ingenious contrivance for feeding his lungs he was not far
+from suffocating.
+
+"All the same," he growled, "if I hadn't remembered the plan of the
+Tonkingese who lie stretched at the bottom of a river for hours at a
+time, breathing through hollow reeds, I think that time we should have
+exchanged shots to some purpose!"
+
+Fantomas was wringing out his garments in haste when loud cries sounded
+above his head, and two or three shots rang out. At the same time a
+sudden stirring took place in and around the house. He turned it to
+account by going at once to the air-hole. Now there was no one on guard,
+so Fantomas put his head through, then his shoulders.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"That's all right; the brute is dead!"
+
+Juve was examining curiously the creature which lay helpless on the
+floor. Two trembling sergeants stood at the door of the room.
+
+"We were expecting Fantomas to appear and a snake unrolls itself and
+springs in our faces!" cried Fandor.
+
+Half emerging from the mouth of the heater the monstrous body of a boa
+constrictor lay on the floor. The men Juve had brought into the house
+were resolute, ripe for anything, but never did they imagine that
+Fantomas could assume such an unexpected shape. And terrified,
+overwhelmed with dread, they recoiled in a frenzy of fear and fled,
+calling on their mates outside, who at once ran to their assistance.
+
+"Sir!" A terrified voice called from outside.
+
+Juve rushed to the window. A dripping creature, clad in black from head
+to foot, crossed the garden, running toward the servants' quarters. It
+was Fantomas. Juve swore a great oath: "There he is! Getting away!"
+
+The detective left his cry unfinished.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As he issued by the air-holes, Fantomas leaped forward. He was free!
+
+"Juve scored the first game, the second is mine," he cried.
+
+He reached the woodshed. With a practised hand he turned the electric
+tap which ignited a spark in the dark closet behind the pantry.
+
+"I win!" shouted Fantomas, as a terrible explosion made itself heard.
+
+The earth shook, a huge column of black smoke rose skywards, explosion
+followed explosion. The roar of falling walls was mingled with fearful
+cries and dying groans.
+
+Lady Beltham's villa had been blown up, burying under its ruins the
+hapless men who in their pursuit of Fantomas had ventured too near.
+Assuredly this arch-criminal had got away once more. But were Juve and
+Fandor among the dead?
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
++-----------------------+
+| FOOTNOTES:            |
+|                       |
+| [A] See "Fantomas."   |
+|                       |
+| [B] See "Fantomas."   |
++-----------------------+
+
+
+
++---------------------------------------------------------------+
+|                                                               |
+| Transcriber's note:                                           |
+|                                                               |
+| Italics are represented in this text version by underscores.  |
+|                                                               |
+| The following printer's errors have been corrected.           |
+|                                                               |
+| Page  48  'turnd' to 'turned'                                 |
+| 'Loupart turned and tramped'                                  |
+|                                                               |
+| Page  83  'reasurred' to 'reassured'                          |
+| 'Juve quickly reassured him'                                  |
+|                                                               |
+| Page  96  'than' to 'then'                                    |
+| 'then in a voice'                                             |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 158  'Mechancially' to 'mechanically'                    |
+| 'mechanically she went forward'                               |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 176  'grenery' to greenery'                              |
+| 'under the arch of greenery'                                  |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 221  'unkown' to 'unknown'                               |
+| 'identity should remain unknown'                              |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 252  'vistors' to 'visitors'                             |
+| 'The porter led his visitors'                                 |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 266  'acccomplice' to 'accomplice'                       |
+| 'was indeed the accomplice of'                                |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 270  'later' to 'latter'                                 |
+| 'the latter rose and began'                                   |
+|                                                               |
+| Page 295  'drpping' to 'dripping'                             |
+| 'dripping with sweat'                                         |
+|                                                               |
+|                                                               |
++---------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
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