813 by Maurice Leblanc - The Seven Scoundrels 13

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter thirteen of eight thirteen eight thirteen by Maurice le Blanc,
Chapter thirteen, The Seven Scoundrels. Will you see this gentleman? Ma'am?
Dolores Casselbach took the card from the footman and read
anre bonis. No, She said, I don't know him. The

(00:21):
gentleman seems very anxious to see you, ma'am. He says
that you are expecting him. Oh, possibly, yes, bring him here.
Since the events which had upset her life and pursued
her with relentless animosity, Dolores, after staying at the hotel Bristol,
had taken up her abode in a quiet house in
the Rie de e Ving down at Pasi. A pretty

(00:43):
garden lay at the back of the house and was
surrounded by other leafy gardens. On days when attacks more
painful than usual did not keep her from morning till night,
behind the closed shutters of her bedroom, she made her
servants carry her under the trees, where she lay stretched
at full length, a victim to melancholy, incapable of fighting
against her hard fate. Footsteps sounded on the gravel path,

(01:05):
and the footman returned, followed by a young man smart
in appearance, and very simply dressed in the rather out
of date fashion adopted by some of our painters, with
a turned down collar and a flowing necktie of white
spots on a blue ground. The footman withdrew Your name
is Entre Bonis, I believe, said Dolores. Yes, Madame, I

(01:26):
have not the honor. I beg your pardon, Madame, knowing
that I was a friend of Madame Elnament Genviev's grandmother,
you wrote to her at Gauche saying that you wished
to speak to me, I have come. Dolores rose in
her seat very excitedly. Oh you are, yes, she stammered,
Really is it you. I don't recognize you. You don't

(01:52):
recognize Prince Paul Sernine. No, everything is different, the forehead,
the eyes, and that is not how the how the
newspapers represented the prisoner at the Sante, he said, with
a smile. And yet it is I really. A long
silence followed, during which they remained embarrassed and ill at ease.

(02:13):
At last, he asked, may I know the reason? Did
not Genviev tell you I have not seen her? But
her grandmother seemed to think that you required my services.
That's right, that's right, And in what way? I am
so pleased? She hesitated a second and then whispered, I
am afraid afraid. He cried, Yes, she said, speaking in

(02:38):
a low voice. I am afraid, afraid of everything, Afraid
of to day and of to morrow and of the
day after, Afraid of life. I have suffered so much,
and I can bear no more. He looked at her
with great pity in his eyes. The vague feeling that
had always drawn him to this woman took a more
precise character now that she was asking for his protection.

(03:00):
He felt an eager need to devote himself to her
wholly without hope of reward. She continued, I am alone, now,
quite alone, with servants whom I have picked up on chance,
and I am afraid. I feel that people are moving
about me, but with what object I do not know.
But the enemy is hovering around and coming closer. Have

(03:21):
you seen him? Have you noticed anything? Yes? The other
day two men passed several times in the street and
stopped in front of the house. Can you describe them?
I saw one of them better than the other. He
was tall and powerful, clean shaven, and wore a little
black cloth jacket. Cut quite short. A waiter at a cafe, perhaps, yes,

(03:42):
a head waiter. I had him followed by one of
my servants. He went down the Rue de la Pompe
and entered a common looking house. The ground floor is
occupied by a wine shop. It is the first house
in the street on the left. Then, a night or
two ago I saw a shadow in the garden from
my bedroom window. Is that all? Yes? He thought, and
then made a suggestion. Would you allow two of my

(04:05):
men to sleep downstairs in one of the ground floor rooms?
Two of your men. Oh, you need not be afraid,
Old Chalarin his son, and they don't look in the
least like what they are. You will be quite safe
with them. As for me, he hesitated. He was waiting
for her to ask him to come again. As she
was silent, he said, as for me, it is better

(04:27):
that I should not be seen here. Yes, it is
better for your sake. My men will let me know
how things go on. He would have liked to say more,
and to remain and to sit down beside her and
comfort her, But he had a feeling that they had
said all that they had to say, and that a
single word more on his side would be an insult.
Then he made her a very low bow and went away.

(04:49):
He went up the garden, walking quickly in his haste
to be outside and master his emotion. The footman was
waiting for him at the hall door. As he passed
out into the street, somebody rang a young woman. He
gave a start, chen Fieve. She fixed a pair of
astonished eyes upon him, and at once recognized him, although
bewildered by the extreme youthfulness of his appearance, and this

(05:12):
gave her such a shock that she staggered and had
to lean against the door for support. He had taken
off his hat and was looking at her, without daring
to put out his hand. Would she put out hers.
He was no longer Prince Surnine. He was aar Sendupey,
and she knew that he was arsendu Pey, and that
he had just come out of prison. It was raining outside.

(05:32):
She gave her umbrella to the footman and said, please
open it and put it somewhere to dry. Then she
walked straight in. My poor old chap, said Lupage to
himself as he walked away. What a series of blows
for a sensitive and highly strung creature like yourself. You
must keep a watch on your heart, or ah, what next?

(05:52):
Here are my eyes beginning to water. Now that's a
bad sign, Monsieur du Pey, you're growing old. He gave
a up on the shoulder to a young man who
was crossing the Chausse de la Moete and going toward
de rid Vine. The young man stopped, stared at him,
and said, I beg your pardon, monsieur, but I don't
think I have the honor. Think again, my dear, monsieur

(06:12):
le duc or, has your memory quite gone? Don't you
remember Versailles and the little room at the Yotel des
trois 'mperrads The young man bounded backwards. You why, yes,
I Prince Surnine, or rather Dupayne, since you know my
real name. Did you think that Lupagne had departed this life? Oh? Yes,
I see prison you were hoping get out, you baby.

(06:37):
He patted him gently on the shoulder. There there, young fellow,
don't be frightened. You have still a few nice, quiet
days left to write your poems. In the time has
not yet come. Write your verses, poet. Then he gripped
Luduc's arm violently, and, looking him full in the face,
said but the time is drawing near, poet, don't forget
that you belong to me body and soul, and to

(07:00):
play your part. It will be a hard and magnificent part,
and as I live, I believe you are the man
to play it. He burst out, laughing, turned on one foot,
and left young Leuduc astounded. A little further, at the
corner of the Rue de la Pompe stood the wine
shop of which Missus Kesselbach had spoken to him. He
went in and had a long talk with the proprietor.

(07:22):
Then he took a taxi and drove to the Grand Hotel,
where he was staying under the name of unre Boni,
and found the brother's Dudville waiting for him. Dupaye, though
used to that sort of pleasure, nevertheless enjoyed the marks
of admiration and devotion with which his friends overwhelmed him.
But Governor, tell us what happened. We're accustomed to all
sorts of wonders with you, but still there are limits.

(07:45):
So you are free, and here you are in the
heart of Paris, scarcely disguised. Have a cigar, said Lupey.
Thank you. No, you're wrong, Dudville, These are worth smoking.
I have them from a great connoissar who is good
enough to call himself my friend. And oh, may one
ask the Kaiser. Come, don't look so flabbergasted the two

(08:06):
of you, and tell me things. I haven't seen the papers.
What effect did my escape have on the public, tremendous Governor?
What was the police version? Your flight took place at
Ghash during an attempt to re enact the murder of Altenheim.
Unfortunately the journalists have proved that it was impossible. After that.
After that, a general fluster, people wondering, laughing and enjoying

(08:29):
themselves like mad Weber. Webber is badly let in. Apart
from that, no news at the detective office, nothing discovered
about the murderer, no clue to help us establish Altenheim's identity. No,
what fools they are, And to think that we pay
millions a year to keep those people. If this sort
of thing goes on, I shall refuse to pay my rates.

(08:52):
Take a seat and a pen. I will dictate a
letter which you must hand into the Donjon. Now this evening,
the world has been waiting for news of me long enough.
It must be gasping with impatience. Write, he dictated to
the editor of the Granjournal, Sir, I must apologize to
our readers for disappointing their legitimate impatience. I have escaped

(09:12):
from prison, and I cannot possibly reveal how I escaped.
In the same way. Since my escape, I have discovered
the famous secret, and I cannot possibly disclose what the
secret is nor how I discovered it. All this will
some day or other form the subject of a rather
original story, which my biographer in ordinary will publish from
my notes. It will form a page of the history

(09:33):
of France, which our grandchildren will read with interest. For
the moment, I have more important matters to attend to.
Disgusted at seeing into what hands the functions which I
once exercised have fallen. Tired of finding the Kesselbach Altenheim
case still dragging along, I am discharging mister Webber and
resuming the post of honor which I occupied with such distinction,

(09:54):
and to the general satisfaction, under the name of Monsieur
le n'armand I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Arsendu Pain,
Chief of the Detective Service. At eight o'clock in the evening,
Arsennu Pey and Jean Dudville walked into cayat the fashionable
restaurant Lupey in evening clothes but dressed like an artist
with rather wide trousers and a rather loose tie, and

(10:15):
Dudville in a frock coat with the serious air and
appearance of a magistrate. They sat down in that part
of the restaurant which is set back and divided from
the big room by two columns. A head waiter, perfectly
dressed and supercilious in manner, came to take their order's
note book in hand. Dupay selected the dinner with the
nice thought of an accomplished epicure. Certainly, he said, the

(10:38):
prison ordinary was quite acceptable, but all the same, it
is nice to have a carefully ordered meal. He ate
with a good appetite and silently contenting himself with uttering
from time to time, a short sentence that marked his
train of thought. Course, I shall manage, but it will
be a hard job, such an adversary. But staggers me

(11:00):
is that after six months fighting, I don't even know
what he wants. Mischief accomplice is dead. We are near
the end of the battle, and yet even now I
can't understand his game. What is the wretch after my
own plan is quite clear, to lay hands on the
grand duchy, to shove a grand duke of my own
making on the throne, to give him Jenvieve for a wife,

(11:23):
and to reign. That is what I call lucid, honest
and fair. But he the low fellow, the ghost in
the dark, what is he aiming at? He called waiter.
The head waiter came up, Yes, sir, cigars. The head
waiters stopped away, returned and opened a number of boxes.

(11:44):
Which do you recommend? These upmans are very good, sir.
Lupag gave Dudville a upman, took one for himself and
cut it. The head waiter struck a match and held
it for him. With a sudden movement, Lupang caught him
by the wrist. Not a word, I know you. Your
real name is Dominic lecat. The man who was big

(12:05):
and strong tried to struggle away. He stifled a cry
of pain. Lupayne had twisted his wrist. Your name is
Dominic You live Norie de la pomp on the fourth floor,
where you retired with a small fortune acquired in the service.
Listen to me, you fool, will you, or I'll break
every bone in your body acquired in the service of
Baron Altenheim, at whose house you were butler. The other

(12:27):
stood motionless, his face pallid with fear. Around them, the
small room was empty. In the restaurant beside it, three
gentlemen sat smoking, and two couples were chatting over their liquors.
You see, we are quiet, we can talk. Who are you?
Who are you? Don't you recollect me? Why think of
that famous luncheon in the Villa DuPont. You yourself, you

(12:49):
old flunkey, handed me the plate of cakes and such cakes,
Prince Prince stammered the other. Yes, yes, Prince Aarsen, Prince
Lupey in person. Aha, you breathe again. You're saying to
yourself that you have nothing to fear from Neupey, isn't
that it? Well you're wrong, old chap, you have everything

(13:12):
to fear. He took a card from his pocket and
showed it to him. There. Look, I belong to the
police now, can't be helped. That's what we all come
to in the end, all of us robber kings and
emperors of crime. Well said the head waiter, still greatly alarmed. Well,
go to that customer over there, who's calling you, get
him what he wants and come back to me. And

(13:34):
no nonsense, mind, you don't go trying to get away.
I have ten men outside with orders to keep their
eyes on you. Be off. The head waiter obeyed. Five
minutes after he returned, and standing in front of the
table with his back to the restaurant, as though discussing
the quality of the cigars with his customers, he said, well,
what is it? Lupagne laid a number of hundred franc

(13:56):
notes in a row on the table, one note for
each death, in an answer to my questions. Done now, then,
how many of you were there with Baron Altenheim? Seven?
Without counting myself, no more, no once only we picked
up some workmen in Italy to make the underground passage
from the Villa Digli Sinne at Gache. Were there two

(14:19):
underground passages? Yes, One led to the Pavian Artense, and
the other branched off from the first and ran under
missus Kesselbach's house. What was the object to carry off?
Missus Kesselbach. Were the two maids, Suzanne and Gertrude accomplices? Yes?
Where are they abroad? And your seven pals, those of

(14:40):
the Altenheim gang. I have left them, they are still
going on. Where can I find them? Dominic hesitated. Lupayne
unfolded two notes of a thousand francs each and said,
your scruples, do you, honor Dominic? There's nothing for it
but to swallow them like a man. In answer, Dominic replied,
you will find them at number three Rue de la

(15:01):
ravold Nuili. One of them is called the broker Capital.
And now the name, the real name of Altenheim, do
you know it? Yes, Riberta, Dominic, Dominick, you're asking for trouble.
Riberta was only an assumed name. I asked you. The
real name Parbury, that's another assumed name. The head waiter hesitated.

(15:23):
Lupey unfolded three hundred franc notes. What do I care?
Said the man? After all, he's dead, isn't he quite dead?
His name? Said Dupey? His name the Chevalier de Malraich.
Dupayn gave a jump in his chair. What what do
you say? The chevalier say it again, the Chevalier Raoul

(15:46):
de Marraich. A long pause. Lou Payne, with his eyes
fixed before him, thought of the mad girl at Valdens
who had died by poison. Iilda bore the same name, Malraich,
and it was the name borne by the small French
noble who came to the court of Valdens in the
eighteenth century. He resumed his questions, what country did this

(16:07):
malwright belong to? He was a French origin, but born
in Germany. I saw some papers once. That was how
I came to know his name. Oh, if he had
found it out, he would have wrung my neck, I believe.
Lupay reflected and said, did he command the lot of you? Yes?
But he had an accomplice, a partner. Oh, hush, hush.

(16:28):
The head waiter's face suddenly expressed the most intense alarm.
Lupayn noticed the same sort of terror and repulsion which
he himself felt when he thought of the murderer. Who
is he? Have you seen him? Oh, don't let us
talk of that one. It doesn't do to talk of him.
Who is he? I'm asking you. He's the master, the chief.
Nobody knows him, but you've seen him? You answer me?

(16:52):
Have you seen him? Sometimes in the dark at night,
never by daylight? His orders come on little scraps of
paper or by telephone. His name I don't know it.
We never used to speak of him. It was unlucky.
He dresses in black, doesn't he yes? In black? He
is short and slender, with fair hair. And he kills,

(17:14):
doesn't he? Yes? He kills. He kills where another might
steal a bit of bread. His voice shook. He entreated,
let us stop this. It won't do to talk of him.
I tell you, it's unlucky. Lupay was silent, impressed in
spite of himself by the man's anguish. He sat long, thinking,

(17:34):
and then rose and said to the head waiter. Here,
here's your money. But if you want to live in peace,
you will do well not to breathe a word of
our conversation to anybody. He left the restaurant with Dudville
and walked to the Pont Saint Denis without speaking, absorbed
in all that he had heard. At last, he seized
his companion's arm and said, listen to me, Dudville, carefully,

(17:55):
go to the Galdunar. You will get there in time
to catch the Luxembourg Express. Go Develle, the capital of
the Grand Duchy of s Faibruk and Veldenz at the
town hall. You will easily obtain the birth certificate of
the Chevalier de Marraich and further information about the family.
You will be back on the day after tomorrow, That
will be Saturday. Am I to let them know at

(18:15):
the detective office. I'll see to that. I shall telephone
that you are ill. Oh, one word more. On Saturday,
meet me at twelve o'clock in a little cafe on
the Rue de la Ravoult called the restaurant Buffalo. Come
dressed as a workman. The next day, Lupeye, wearing a
short smock and a cap, went down to new Lyue
and began his investigations. At number three Rue de la Ravault.

(18:38):
A gateway opened into an outer yard, and here he
found a huge block of workmen's dwellings, a whole series
of passages and workshops, with a swarming population of artisans,
women and brats. In a few minutes he had won
the good will of the portress, with whom he chatted
for an hour on the most varied topics. During this hour,
he saw three men pass one after the other, whose

(18:59):
manners struck him. That's game, he thought, and gamey game
at that they follow one another by scent. Look quite
respectable of course, but with the eye of the hunted deer,
which knows that the enemy is all around, and that
every tuft, every blade of grass may conceal an ambush.
That afternoon and on the Saturday morning, he pursued his

(19:19):
inquiries and made certain at Altenheim's seven accomplices all lived
on the premises. Four of them openly followed the trade
of second hand clothes dealers, two of the others sold newspapers,
and the third described himself as a broker and was
nicknamed accordingly. They went in and out, one after the other,
without appearing to know one another. But in the evening

(19:40):
Dupain discovered that they met in a sort of coach
house situated right at the back of the last of
the yards, a place in which the broker kept his wares,
piled up old iron, broken kitchen ranges, rusty stove pipes,
and also, no doubt the best part of the stolen
goods come. He said, The work is shaping nicely. I
asked my cousin of Germany for month, and I believe

(20:01):
a fortnight will be enough for my purpose. And what
I like about it is that I shall start operations
with the scoundrels who made me take a header in
the Seine, My poor old Goodrell. I shall revenge you
at last and high time too. At twelve o'clock on Saturday,
he went to the restaurant Buffalo, a little low ceilinged
room to which bricklayers and cab drivers resorted for their

(20:22):
midday meal. Some one came and sat down beside him.
It's done, governor, Ah, is it you, dud Phil? That's right,
I'm dying to know. Have you the particulars the birth certificate? Quick?
Tell me, well, it's like this. Altenheim's father and mother
died abroad. Never mind about them. They left three children. Three. Yes,

(20:44):
the eldest would have been thirty years old by now.
His name was Raoul de Malreich. That's our man Altenheim. Next,
the youngest of the children was a girl, Zilda. The
register has an entry in fresh ink deceased Zilda. Zilda repeated, lupag.
That's just what I thought. As Zilda was Altenheim's sister,

(21:04):
I saw a look in her face which I seemed
to recognize. So that was the link between them. But
the other, the third child, or rather the second, a son.
He would be twenty six by now his name Louis
de Malraich. Lupege gave a little start. That's it, Luis
de Maraich, the initials l M the awful and terrifying signature.

(21:27):
The murderer's name is Luis de Maraich. He was the
brother of Altenheim and the brother of a Zilda, and
he killed both of them for fear of what they
might reveal. Lupey sat long, silent and gloomy, under the obsession,
no doubt of the mysterious being. Dudville objected, what had
he to fear from his sister, a Zilda. She was mad,

(21:48):
they told me, mad, yes, but capable of remembering certain
details of her childhood. She must have recognized the brother
with whom she grew up, and that recollection cost her
her life. And he added mad. But all those people
were mad. The mother was mad, the father a dipsomaniac, Altenheim,
a regular brute beast, a Zilda of poor innocent. As

(22:10):
for the other, the murderer, he is the monster, the crazy, lunatic, crazy,
do you think so, Governor, Yes, crazy with flashes of genius,
of devilish cunning and intuition, but a cracked brained fool,
a madman like all that malriche family. Only madmen kill,
and especially madmen of his stamp. For after all he

(22:32):
interrupted himself, and his face underwent so great a change
that Dudville was struck by it. What's the matter? Governor? Look?
A man had entered and hung his hat, a soft
black felt hat, on a peg. He sat down at
a little table, examined the bill of fare which a
waiter brought him, gave his order, and waited motionless, with
his body stiff and direct, and his two arms crossed

(22:55):
over the tablecloth. And Dupay saw him full face. He
had a lean, horrid visage, absolutely smooth and pierced, with
two sockets, in the depths of which appeared a pair
of steel gray eyes. The skin seemed stretched from bone
to bone like a sheet of parchment, so stiff and
so thick that not a hare could have penetrated through it,

(23:16):
and the face was dismal and dull. No expression enlivened it.
No thoughts seemed to abide under that ivory forehead, and
the eyelids, entirely devoid of lashes, never flickered, which gave
the eyes the fixed look of the eyes in a statue.
Dupe beckoned to one of the waiters, who is that gentleman,
the one eating his lunch over there? Yes, he is

(23:38):
a customer. He comes here two or three times a week.
Can you tell me his name? Why? Yes, Leon Massier, oh,
blurted Lupagne very excitedly, l m the same two letters.
Could it be Luis de Marai? He watched him eagerly. Indeed,
the man's appearance agreed with Lupenn's conjectures, with what he

(23:59):
knew of him and his hideous mode of existence. But
what puzzled him was that look of death about him.
Where he anticipated life and fire, Where he would have
expected to find the torment, the disorder, the violent facial
distortion of the great accursed, he beheld sheer impassiveness. Asked
the waiter, What does he do? I really can't say.

(24:19):
He's a rum cove. He's always quite alone. He never
talks to anybody. We here don't even know the sound
of his voice. He points his finger at the dishes
on the bill of fare, which he wants. He has
finished in twenty minutes. Then he pays and goes, and
he comes back again every three or four days. He's
not regular. It's he. It cannot be any one else,

(24:40):
said du Payne to himself. It's Malraich. There he is
breathing at four steps from me. There are the hands
that kill. There is the brain that gloats upon the
smell of blood. There is the monster, the vampire. Yet
was it possible? Dupay had ended by looking upon Malraich
as so fantastic a being that he was disconcerted at

(25:02):
seeing him in the flesh, coming, going, moving. He could
not explain to himself how the man could eat bread
and meat like other men, drink beer like any one else.
This man, whom he had pictured as a foul beast,
feeding on live flesh and sucking the blood of his victims.
Come away, Durville. What's the matter with you, Governor? You
look quite white? Oh my dear, come out outside. He

(25:26):
drew a deep breath, wiped the perspiration from his forehead,
and muttered, that's better. I was stifling and mastering himself.
He added, Now we must play our game cautiously and
not lose sight of his tracks. Hadn't we better separate? Governor?
Our man saw us together, he will take less notice
of us. Singly did he see us? Said Lupage pensively.

(25:48):
He seems to me to see nothing, to hear nothing,
and to look at nothing. What a bewildering specimen. And
in fact, ten minutes later, Leon Massier appeared and walked away,
without even looking to see if he was followed. He
had lit a cigarette and smoked with one of his
hands behind his back, strolling along like a saunterer, enjoying
the sunshine in the fresh air, and never suspecting that

(26:10):
his movements could possibly be watched. He passed through the
toll gates, skirted the fortifications, went out again through the
porch Champere, and retraced his steps along the Rue de
la Rivult. Would he enter the buildings at number three,
Lupaine eagerly hoped that he would, for that would have
been a certain proof of his complicity with the Altenheim Gang,
But the man turned round and made for the Rue

(26:31):
de Lesment, which he followed until he passed the velodrome buffalo.
On the left, opposite the cycling track, between the public
tennis court and the booths that lined the Rue de
Lesment stood a small detached villa surrounded by a scanty garden.
Leon Massier stopped took out his keys, opened first the
gate of the garden and then the door of the house,
and disappeared. Eupaint crept forward cautiously, yet once noticed that

(26:56):
the block in the Rue de la le Vauld stretched
back as far as the garden wall. Coming still nearer,
he saw that the wall was very high, and that
a coach house rested against it at the bottom of
the garden. The position of the buildings was such as
to give him the certainty that his coach house stood
back to back with the coach house in the inner
yard of number three, which served as a lumber room
for the broker. Leon Massier therefore occupied a house adjoining

(27:19):
the place in which the seven members of the Attennheim
gang held their meetings. Consequently, Leon Masier was, in point
of fact, the supreme leader who commanded that gang, and
there was evidently a passage between the two coach houses
through which he communicated with his followers. I was right,
said du Paye. Leon Massier and Luis de Malrek are
one and the same man. The situation is much simpler

(27:41):
than it was. There is no doubt about that, said d'uurville.
And everything will be settled in a few days. That
is to say, I shall have been stabbed in the throat.
What are you saying, Governor, there's an idea, Pooh, who knows?
I have always had a presentiment that that monster would
bring me ill luck. Henceforth it became a matter of
watching Malgreik's life in such a way that none of

(28:03):
his movements went unobserved. This life was of the oddest,
if one could believe the people of the neighborhood whom
Dudville questioned. The bloke from the villa, as they called him,
had been living there for a few months. Only he
saw and received nobody. He was not known to keep
a servant of any kind, and the windows, though they
were left wide open even at night, always remained dark

(28:24):
and were never lit with the glow of a lamp
or candle. Moreover, Leon Massier most often went out at
the close of day and did not come in again
until very late at dawn, said people who had come
upon him at sunrise. And does any one know what
he does? Asked Lupay of his companion when they next met. No,
he leads an absolutely irregular existence. He sometimes disappears for

(28:45):
several days together, or rather he remains indoors, when allus
said nobody knows anything, well, we shall know, and that
soon he was wrong. After a week of continuous efforts
and investigations, he had learned no more than before about
that strange individual. The extraordinary thing that constantly happened was this, that, suddenly,

(29:06):
while Lupage was following him, the man who was ambling
with short steps along the streets, without ever turning round
or ever stopping, the man would vanish, as if by
a miracle. True, he sometimes went through houses with two entrances,
but at other times he seemed to fade away in
the midst of the crowd like a ghost, and Dupag
was left behind, petrified, astounded, filled with rage and confusion.

(29:30):
He at once hurried to the Rue de Lesment and
stood on guard outside the villa. Minutes followed upon minutes,
half hour upon half hour, a part of the night
slipped away. Then suddenly the mysterious man hove in sight.
What could he have been doing? An express message for you, Governor,
said Dudville at eight o'clock one evening, as he joined

(29:50):
him in the Rue de Lesment, Lupey opened the envelope.
Missus Kesselback implored him to come to her aid. It
appeared that two men had taken up their stand under
her wings windows at night, and one of them had said,
what luck. We've dazzled them completely this time. So it's
understood we shall strike the blow to night. Missus Kesselbach
thereupon went downstairs and discovered that the shutter in the

(30:12):
pantry did not fasten, or at least that it could
be opened from the outside. Last, said de Pey, it's
the enemy himself who offers to give battle. That's a
good thing. I'm tired of marching up and down under
Mara's windows. Is he there at this moment? No, he
played me one of his tricks again in Paris, just
as I was about to play him one of mine.

(30:33):
But first of all, listen to me, Dudvil, go and
collect ten of our men and bring them to the
Rie de Ving. Look here, bring Marco and Jerome the Messenger.
I have given them a holiday since the business at
the Palace hotel. Let them come this time, Daddy Charroline,
his son ought to be mountain guard. By now make
your arrangements with them, and at half past eleven come
and join me at the corner of the Rie de

(30:54):
ving and the rue Renouirs. There we will watch the house.
Dudville went away, Lupey waited for an hour longer until
that quiet thoroughfare the Rue de Lasment was quite deserted,
and then, seeing that Leon Massier did not return, he
made up his mind and went up to the villa.
There was no one in sight. He took a run
and jumped on the stone ledge that supported the railings

(31:15):
of the garden. A few minutes later he was inside.
His plan was to force the door of the house
and search the rooms in order to find the Emperor's letters,
which Malgred had stolen from Velden's, but he thought a
visit to the coach house of more immediate importance. He
was much surprised to see that it was opened, and
next to find, by the light of his electric lantern,
that it was absolutely empty, and that there was no

(31:37):
door in the back wall. He hunded about for a
long time, but met with no more success. Outside, however,
he saw a ladder standing against the coach house and
obviously serving as a means of reaching a sort of
loft contrived under the slate roof. The loft was blocked
with old packing cases, trusses of straw and gardener's frames,
or rather, it seemed to be blocked, for he very

(31:59):
soon discovered a gangway that took him to the wall.
Here he knocked up against a cucumber frame, which he
tried to move, Failing to effect his purpose. He examined
the frame more closely and found first that it was
fixed to the wall, and secondly that one of the
panes was missing. He passed his arm through and encountered space.
He cast the bright light of a lantern through the

(32:19):
aperture and saw a big shed, a coach house, larger
than that of the villa, and filled with old iron
work and objects of every kind. That's it, said Dupane
to himself. This window has been contrived in the broker's
lumber room, right up at the top, and from here
Luis de Malreich sees, hears, and watches his accomplices without
being seen or heard by them. I now understand how

(32:41):
it is that they do not know their leader. Having
found out what he wanted, he put out his light
and was on the point of leaving when a door
opened opposite him. Down below, some one came in in
little lamp. He recognized the broker. He thereupon resolved to
stay where he was, since the expedition, after all, could
not be done so long as that man was there.

(33:02):
The broker took two revolvers from his pocket. He tested
the triggers and changed the cartridges, whistling a music hall
tune as he did so. An hour elapsed in this way.
Lupagne was beginning to grow restless, without, however, making up
his mind to go. More minutes passed, half an hour,
an hour. At last, the man said aloud, come in.

(33:24):
One of the scoundrels slipped into the shed, and one
after the other, a third arrived, and a fourth. We
are all here, said the broker. Yo, Dune and Chubby
will meet us down there. Come, we've no time to lose.
Are you armed to the teeth? That's all right, it'll
be hot work. How do you know, broker, i've seen
the chief. When I say that, i've seen him, No,

(33:47):
but he spoke to me, yes, said one of the
men in the dark at a street corner. As usual,
Altenheim's ways were better than that. At least one knew
what one was doing. And don't you know, retorted the broker.
We're breaking in at the Kesselbach woman's. And what about
the two watchers, the two coves whom Lupey posted there,
that's their look out. There's seven of us. They had

(34:08):
better give us as little trouble as possible. What about
the Kesselbach Gag her first, then bind her and bring
her here there on that old sofa, and then wait
for orders. Is the job well paid? The kesselbox's jewels
to begin with, Yes, if it comes off. But I'm
speaking of the certainty three hundred franc notes apiece beforehand,

(34:29):
and twice as much again afterwards. Have you the money? Yes,
that's all right. You can say what you like, but
as far as pain goes, there's no one to equal
that bloke. And in a voice so low that Lupeg
could hardly hear, I say, broke her. If we're obliged
to use the knife? Is there a reward the same
as usual? Two thousand If it's lu pay three thousand. Oh,

(34:53):
if we could only get him one after the other.
They left the lumber room. Lupayne heard the broker's parting word.
This is the plan of attack. We divide into three
lots a whistle, and every one runs forward DuPage hurriedly
left his hiding place, went down the ladder, ran round
the house without going in, and climbed back over the railings.

(35:15):
The broker's right, it'll be hot work. Ah, it's my skin.
Thereafter a reward for Loupagne the rascals, he passed through
the toll gate and jumped into a taxi reru Renoir.
He stopped the cab at two hundred yards from the
rie de ving and walked to the corner of the
two streets. To his great surprise, Dudville was not there.

(35:36):
That's funny, said Gupey. It's past twelve. This business looked
suspicious to me. He waited ten minutes, twenty minutes. At
half past twelve, nobody had arrived. Further delay was dangerous.
After all, if Dudville and his men were prevented from coming, Charvroleis,
his son and he Loupeg himself were enough to repel

(35:57):
the attack without counting the assistance of the servants. He
therefore went ahead, but he caught sight of two men
who tried to hide in the shadow of a corner wall.
Hang it, he said, that's the vanguard of the gang,
Jo Dun and Chuffy. I've allowed myself to be out
distanced like a fool. Here he lost more time. Should
he go straight up to them, disable them, and then

(36:19):
climb into the house through the pantry window, which he
knew to be unlocked. That would be the most prudent
course and would enable him moreover to take missus Kesselbah
away at once and to remove her to a place
of safety. Yes, but it also meant the failure of
his plan. It meant missing this glorious opportunity of trapping
the whole gang, including Louis de Mailrai himself without doubt.

(36:41):
Suddenly a whistle sounded from somewhere on the other side
of the house. Was it the rest of the gang
so soon and was an offensive movement to be made
from the garden? But at the preconcerted signal, the two
men climbed through the window and disappeared from view. Lupay
scaled the balcony at a bound and jumped into the pantry.
By the sound of their footsteps, he judged that the

(37:02):
assailants had gone into the garden, and the sound was
so distinct that he felt easy in his mind. Charrolet
and his son could not fail to hear the noise.
He therefore went upstairs. Missus Kesselback's bedroom was on the
first landing. He walked in without knocking. A night light
was burning in the room, and he saw Dolores on
a sofa fainting. He ran up to her, lifted her

(37:25):
and in a voice of command, forcing her to answer, listen, Charrolet,
his son. Where are they? She stammered, w why wo woh,
what do you mean they're gone? Of course, what gone?
You send me word an hour ago, a telephone message.

(37:47):
He picked up a piece of blue paper lying beside
her and read, send the two watchers away at once
and all my men, tell them to meet me at
the Grand Hotel. Have no fear thunder and you believed it,
But your servant gone. He went up to the window outside.
Three men were coming from the other end of the garden.

(38:07):
From the window in the next room, which looked out
on the street, he saw two others on the pavement,
and he thought of du Dun, of Chubby, of Luis
de Marae, above all, who must now be prowling around
invisible and formidable. Hang it, he muttered, I half believe
they've done me this time. End of chapter thirteen.