章节正文
They parted. Lupin walked straight to the house and rang the bell.
A detective opened the door and recognized him:
"M. Nicole, I believe?"
"Yes," he said. "Is Chief-inspector Blanchon here?"
"He is."
"Can I speak to him?"
The man took him to the study, where Chief-inspector Blanchon welcomed
him with obvious pleasure.
"Well, chief-inspector, one would say there was something new?"
"M. Nicole, my orders are to place myself entirely at your disposal; and
I may say that I am very glad to see you to-day."
"Why so?"
Because there is something new."
Something serious?"
"Something very serious."
"Quick, speak."
"Daubrecq has returned."
"Eh, what!" exclaimed Lupin, with a start. "Daubrecq returned? Is he
here?"
"No, he has gone."
And did he come in here, in the study?"
Yes."
"This morning."
And you did not prevent him?"
"What right had I?"
"And you left him alone?"
"By his positive orders, yes, we left him alone."
Lupin felt himself turn pale. Daubrecq had come back to fetch the
crystal stopper!
He was silent for some time and repeated to himself:
"He came back to fetch it... He was afraid that it would be found and he
has taken it... Of course, it was inevitable... with d'Albufex arrested,
with d'Albufex accused and accusing him, Daurecq was bound to defend
himself. It's a difficult game for him. After months and months of
mystery, the public is at last learning that the infernal being who
contrived the whole tragedy of the Twenty-Seven and who ruins and kills
his adversaries is he, Daubrecq. What would become of him if, by a
miracle, his talisman did not protect him? He has taken it back."
And, trying to make his voice sound firm, he asked:
"Did he stay long?"
"Twenty seconds, perhaps."
"What! Twenty seconds? No longer?"
"No longer."
"What time was it?"
"Ten o'clock."
"Could he have known of the Marquis d'Albufex' suicide by then?"
"Yes. I saw the special edition of the Paris-Midi in his pocket."
"That's it, that's it," said Lupin. And he asked, "Did M. Prasville
give you no special instructions in case Daubrecq should return?"
"No. So, in M. Prasville's absence, I telephoned to the police-office
and I am waiting. The disappearance of Daubrecq the deputy caused a
great stir, as you know, and our presence here has a reason, in the eyes
of the public, as long as that disappearance continues. But, now that
Daubrecq has returned, now that we have proofs that he is neither under
restraint nor dead, how can we stay in the house?"
"It doesn't matter," said Lupin, absently. "It doesn't matter whether
the house is guarded or not. Daubrecq has been; therefore the crystal
stopper is no longer here."
He had not finished the sentence, when a question quite naturally forced
itself upon his mind. If the crystal stopper was no longer there, would
this not be obvious from some material sign? Had the removal of that
object, doubtless contained within another object, left no trace, no
void?
It was easy to ascertain. Lupin had simply to examine the writing-desk,
for he knew, from Sebastiarn's chaff, that this was the spot of the
hiding-place. And the hiding-place could not be a complicated one,
seeing that Daubrecq had not remained in the study for more than twenty
seconds, just long enough, so to speak, to walk in and walk out again.
Lupin looked. And the result was immediate. His memory had so
faithfully recorded the picture of the desk, with all the articles lying
on it, that the absence of one of them struck him instantaneously, as
though that article and that alone were the characteristic sign which
distinguished this particular writing-table from every other table in
the world.
"Oh," he thought, quivering with delight, "everything fits in! Everything!
... Down to that half-word which the torture drew from Daubrecq in the
tower at Mortepierre! The riddle is solved. There need be no more
hesitation, no more groping in the dark. The end is in sight."
And, without answering the inspector's questions, he thought of the
simplicity of the hiding-place and remembered Edgar Allan Poe's wonderful
story in which the stolen letter, so eagerly sought for, is, in a manner
of speaking, displayed to all eyes. People do not suspect what does not
appear to be hidden.
"Well, well," said Lupin, as he went out, greatly excited by his
discovery, "I seem doomed, in this confounded adventure, to knock up
against disappointments to the finish. Everything that I build crumbles
to pieces at once. Every victory ends in disaster."
Nevertheless, he did not allow himself to be cast down. On the one hand,
he now knew where Daubrecq the deputy hid the crystal stopper. On the
other hand, he would soon learn from Clarisse Mergy where Daubrecq
himself was lurking. The rest, to him, would be child's play.
The Growler and the Masher were waiting for him in the drawing-room of
the Hotel Franklin, a small family-hotel near the Trocadero. Mme. Mergy
had not yet written to him.
"Oh," he said, "I can trust her! She will hang on to Daubrecq until
she is certain."
However, toward the end of the afternoon, he began to grow impatient and
anxious. He was fighting one of those battles - the last, he hoped - in
which the least delay might jeopardize everything. If Daubrecq threw
Mme. Mergy off the scent, how was he to be caught again? They no longer
had weeks or days, but only a few hours, a terriblylimited number of
hours, in which to repair any mistakes that they might commit.
He saw the proprietor of the hotel and asked him:
"Are you sure that there is no express letter for my two friends?"
"Quite sure, sir."
"Nor for me, M. Nicole?"
"No, sir."
"That's curious," said Lupin. "We were certain that we should hear from
Mme. Audran."
Audran was the name under which Clarisse was staying at the hotel.
"But the lady has been," said the proprietor.
"What's that?"
"She came some time ago and, as the gentlemen were not there, left a
letter in her room. Didn't the porter tell you?"
Lupin and his friends hurriedupstairs. There was a letter on the table.
"Hullo!" said Lupin. "It's been opened! How is that? And why has it
een cut about with scissors?"
The letter contained the following lines:
"Daubrecq has spent the week at the Hotel Central. This morning
he had his luggage taken to the Gare de --- and telephoned to
reserve a berth in the sleeping-car --- for ---
"I do not know when the train starts. But I shall be at the
station all the afternoon. Come as soon as you can, all three
of you. We will arrange to kidnap him."
"What next?" said the Masher. "At which station? And where's the
sleeping-car for? She has cut out just the words we wanted!"
"Yes," said the Growler. "Two snips with the scissors in each place;
and the words which we most want are gone. Who ever saw such a thing?
Has Mme. Mergy lost her head?"
Lupin did not move. A rush of blood was beating at his temples with
such violence that he glued his fists to them and pressed with all his
might. His fever returned, burning and riotous, and his will, incensed
to the verge of physicalsuffering, concentrated itself upon that
stealthy enemy, which must be controlled then and there, if he himself
did not wish to be irretrievably beaten.
He muttered, very calmly:
"Daubrecq has been here."
"Daubrecq!"
"We can't suppose that Mme. Mergy has been amusing herself by cutting
out those two words. Daubrecq has been here. Mme. Mergy thought that
she was watching him. He was watching her instead."
"How?"
"Doubtless through that hall-porter who did not tell us that Mme. Mergy
had been to the hotel, but who must have told Daubrecq. He came. He
read the letter. And, by way of getting at us, he contented himself
with cutting out the essential words."
"We can find out... we can ask... "
"What's the good? What's the use of finding out how he came, when we
know that he did come?"
He examined the letter for some time, turned it over and over, then
stood up and said:
"Come along."
"Where to?"
"Gare de Lyon."
"Are you sure?"
"I am sure of nothing with Daubrecq. But, as we have to choose,
according to the contents of the letter, between the Gare de l'Est and
the Gare de Lyon,* I am presuming that his business, his pleasure and
his health are more likely to take Daubrecq in the direction of
Marseilles and the Riviera than to the Gare de l'Est."
________________________________________________________________________
*These are the only two main-line stations in Paris with the word de
in their name. The others have du, as the Gare du Nord or the Gare du
Luxembourg, d' as the Gare d'Orleans, or no particle at all, as the
Gare Saint-Lazare or the Gare Montpamasse. - Translator's Note.
________________________________________________________________________
It was past seven when Lupin and his companions left the Hotel Franklin.
A motor-car took them across Paris at full speed, but they soon saw that
Clarisse Mergy was not outside the station, nor in the waiting-rooms, nor
on any of the platforms.
"Still," muttered Lupin, whose agitation grew as the obstacles increased,
"still, if Daubrecq booked a berth in a sleeping-car, it can only have
been in an evening train. And it is barely half-past seven!"
A train was starting, the night express. They had time to rush along
the corridor. Nobody... neither Mme. Mergy nor Daubrecq...
But, as they were all three going, a porter accosted them near the
refreshment-room:
"Is one of you gentlemen looking for a lady?"
"Yes, yes,... I am," said Lupin. "Quick, what is it?"
"Oh, it's you, sir! The lady told me there might be three of you or
two of you.... And I didn't know... "
"But, in heaven's name, speak, man! What lady?"
"The lady who spent the whole day on the pavement, with the luggage,
waiting."
"Well, out with it! Has she taken a train?"
"Yes, the train-de-luxe, at six-thirty: she made up her mind at the last
moment, she told me to say. And I was also to say that the gentleman
was in the same train and that they were going to Monte Carlo."
"Damn it!" muttered Lupin. "We ought to have taken the express just now!
There's nothing left but the evening trains, and they crawl! We've lost
over three hours."
The wait seemed interminable. They booked their seats. They telephoned
to the proprietor of the Hotel Franklin to send on their letters to
Monte Carlo. They dined. They read the papers. At last, at half-past
nine, the train started.
And so, by a really tragicseries of circumstances, at the most critical
moment of the contest, Lupin was turning his back on the battlefield and
going away, at haphazard, to seek, he knew not where, and beat, he knew
not how, the most formidable and elusive enemy that he had ever fought.
And this was happening four days, five days at most, before the
inevitableexecution of Gilbert and Vaucheray.
A detective opened the door and recognized him:
"M. Nicole, I believe?"
"Yes," he said. "Is Chief-inspector Blanchon here?"
"He is."
"Can I speak to him?"
The man took him to the study, where Chief-inspector Blanchon welcomed
him with obvious pleasure.
"Well, chief-inspector, one would say there was something new?"
"M. Nicole, my orders are to place myself entirely at your disposal; and
I may say that I am very glad to see you to-day."
"Why so?"
Because there is something new."
Something serious?"
"Something very serious."
"Quick, speak."
"Daubrecq has returned."
"Eh, what!" exclaimed Lupin, with a start. "Daubrecq returned? Is he
here?"
"No, he has gone."
And did he come in here, in the study?"
Yes."
"This morning."
And you did not prevent him?"
"What right had I?"
"And you left him alone?"
"By his positive orders, yes, we left him alone."
Lupin felt himself turn pale. Daubrecq had come back to fetch the
crystal stopper!
He was silent for some time and repeated to himself:
"He came back to fetch it... He was afraid that it would be found and he
has taken it... Of course, it was inevitable... with d'Albufex arrested,
with d'Albufex accused and accusing him, Daurecq was bound to defend
himself. It's a difficult game for him. After months and months of
mystery, the public is at last learning that the infernal being who
contrived the whole tragedy of the Twenty-Seven and who ruins and kills
his adversaries is he, Daubrecq. What would become of him if, by a
miracle, his talisman did not protect him? He has taken it back."
And, trying to make his voice sound firm, he asked:
"Did he stay long?"
"Twenty seconds, perhaps."
"What! Twenty seconds? No longer?"
"No longer."
"What time was it?"
"Ten o'clock."
"Could he have known of the Marquis d'Albufex' suicide by then?"
"Yes. I saw the special edition of the Paris-Midi in his pocket."
"That's it, that's it," said Lupin. And he asked, "Did M. Prasville
give you no special instructions in case Daubrecq should return?"
"No. So, in M. Prasville's absence, I telephoned to the police-office
and I am waiting. The disappearance of Daubrecq the deputy caused a
great stir, as you know, and our presence here has a reason, in the eyes
of the public, as long as that disappearance continues. But, now that
Daubrecq has returned, now that we have proofs that he is neither under
restraint nor dead, how can we stay in the house?"
"It doesn't matter," said Lupin, absently. "It doesn't matter whether
the house is guarded or not. Daubrecq has been; therefore the crystal
stopper is no longer here."
He had not finished the sentence, when a question quite naturally forced
itself upon his mind. If the crystal stopper was no longer there, would
this not be obvious from some material sign? Had the removal of that
object, doubtless contained within another object, left no trace, no
void?
It was easy to ascertain. Lupin had simply to examine the writing-desk,
for he knew, from Sebastiarn's chaff, that this was the spot of the
hiding-place. And the hiding-place could not be a complicated one,
seeing that Daubrecq had not remained in the study for more than twenty
seconds, just long enough, so to speak, to walk in and walk out again.
Lupin looked. And the result was immediate. His memory had so
faithfully recorded the picture of the desk, with all the articles lying
on it, that the absence of one of them struck him instantaneously, as
though that article and that alone were the characteristic sign which
distinguished this particular writing-table from every other table in
the world.
"Oh," he thought, quivering with delight, "everything fits in! Everything!
... Down to that half-word which the torture drew from Daubrecq in the
tower at Mortepierre! The riddle is solved. There need be no more
hesitation, no more groping in the dark. The end is in sight."
And, without answering the inspector's questions, he thought of the
simplicity of the hiding-place and remembered Edgar Allan Poe's wonderful
story in which the stolen letter, so eagerly sought for, is, in a manner
of speaking, displayed to all eyes. People do not suspect what does not
appear to be hidden.
"Well, well," said Lupin, as he went out, greatly excited by his
discovery, "I seem doomed, in this confounded adventure, to knock up
against disappointments to the finish. Everything that I build crumbles
to pieces at once. Every victory ends in disaster."
Nevertheless, he did not allow himself to be cast down. On the one hand,
he now knew where Daubrecq the deputy hid the crystal stopper. On the
other hand, he would soon learn from Clarisse Mergy where Daubrecq
himself was lurking. The rest, to him, would be child's play.
The Growler and the Masher were waiting for him in the drawing-room of
the Hotel Franklin, a small family-hotel near the Trocadero. Mme. Mergy
had not yet written to him.
"Oh," he said, "I can trust her! She will hang on to Daubrecq until
she is certain."
However, toward the end of the afternoon, he began to grow impatient and
anxious. He was fighting one of those battles - the last, he hoped - in
which the least delay might jeopardize everything. If Daubrecq threw
Mme. Mergy off the scent, how was he to be caught again? They no longer
had weeks or days, but only a few hours, a terriblylimited number of
hours, in which to repair any mistakes that they might commit.
He saw the proprietor of the hotel and asked him:
"Are you sure that there is no express letter for my two friends?"
"Quite sure, sir."
"Nor for me, M. Nicole?"
"No, sir."
"That's curious," said Lupin. "We were certain that we should hear from
Mme. Audran."
Audran was the name under which Clarisse was staying at the hotel.
"But the lady has been," said the proprietor.
"What's that?"
"She came some time ago and, as the gentlemen were not there, left a
letter in her room. Didn't the porter tell you?"
Lupin and his friends hurriedupstairs. There was a letter on the table.
"Hullo!" said Lupin. "It's been opened! How is that? And why has it
een cut about with scissors?"
The letter contained the following lines:
"Daubrecq has spent the week at the Hotel Central. This morning
he had his luggage taken to the Gare de --- and telephoned to
reserve a berth in the sleeping-car --- for ---
"I do not know when the train starts. But I shall be at the
station all the afternoon. Come as soon as you can, all three
of you. We will arrange to kidnap him."
"What next?" said the Masher. "At which station? And where's the
sleeping-car for? She has cut out just the words we wanted!"
"Yes," said the Growler. "Two snips with the scissors in each place;
and the words which we most want are gone. Who ever saw such a thing?
Has Mme. Mergy lost her head?"
Lupin did not move. A rush of blood was beating at his temples with
such violence that he glued his fists to them and pressed with all his
might. His fever returned, burning and riotous, and his will, incensed
to the verge of physicalsuffering, concentrated itself upon that
stealthy enemy, which must be controlled then and there, if he himself
did not wish to be irretrievably beaten.
He muttered, very calmly:
"Daubrecq has been here."
"Daubrecq!"
"We can't suppose that Mme. Mergy has been amusing herself by cutting
out those two words. Daubrecq has been here. Mme. Mergy thought that
she was watching him. He was watching her instead."
"How?"
"Doubtless through that hall-porter who did not tell us that Mme. Mergy
had been to the hotel, but who must have told Daubrecq. He came. He
read the letter. And, by way of getting at us, he contented himself
with cutting out the essential words."
"We can find out... we can ask... "
"What's the good? What's the use of finding out how he came, when we
know that he did come?"
He examined the letter for some time, turned it over and over, then
stood up and said:
"Come along."
"Where to?"
"Gare de Lyon."
"Are you sure?"
"I am sure of nothing with Daubrecq. But, as we have to choose,
according to the contents of the letter, between the Gare de l'Est and
the Gare de Lyon,* I am presuming that his business, his pleasure and
his health are more likely to take Daubrecq in the direction of
Marseilles and the Riviera than to the Gare de l'Est."
________________________________________________________________________
*These are the only two main-line stations in Paris with the word de
in their name. The others have du, as the Gare du Nord or the Gare du
Luxembourg, d' as the Gare d'Orleans, or no particle at all, as the
Gare Saint-Lazare or the Gare Montpamasse. - Translator's Note.
________________________________________________________________________
It was past seven when Lupin and his companions left the Hotel Franklin.
A motor-car took them across Paris at full speed, but they soon saw that
Clarisse Mergy was not outside the station, nor in the waiting-rooms, nor
on any of the platforms.
"Still," muttered Lupin, whose agitation grew as the obstacles increased,
"still, if Daubrecq booked a berth in a sleeping-car, it can only have
been in an evening train. And it is barely half-past seven!"
A train was starting, the night express. They had time to rush along
the corridor. Nobody... neither Mme. Mergy nor Daubrecq...
But, as they were all three going, a porter accosted them near the
refreshment-room:
"Is one of you gentlemen looking for a lady?"
"Yes, yes,... I am," said Lupin. "Quick, what is it?"
"Oh, it's you, sir! The lady told me there might be three of you or
two of you.... And I didn't know... "
"But, in heaven's name, speak, man! What lady?"
"The lady who spent the whole day on the pavement, with the luggage,
waiting."
"Well, out with it! Has she taken a train?"
"Yes, the train-de-luxe, at six-thirty: she made up her mind at the last
moment, she told me to say. And I was also to say that the gentleman
was in the same train and that they were going to Monte Carlo."
"Damn it!" muttered Lupin. "We ought to have taken the express just now!
There's nothing left but the evening trains, and they crawl! We've lost
over three hours."
The wait seemed interminable. They booked their seats. They telephoned
to the proprietor of the Hotel Franklin to send on their letters to
Monte Carlo. They dined. They read the papers. At last, at half-past
nine, the train started.
And so, by a really tragicseries of circumstances, at the most critical
moment of the contest, Lupin was turning his back on the battlefield and
going away, at haphazard, to seek, he knew not where, and beat, he knew
not how, the most formidable and elusive enemy that he had ever fought.
And this was happening four days, five days at most, before the
inevitableexecution of Gilbert and Vaucheray.
- detective [di´tektiv]
n.侦探 a.侦探的 (初中英语单词) - obvious [´ɔbviəs] a.明显的；显而易见的 (初中英语单词)
- learning [´lə:niŋ] n.学习；学问；知识 (初中英语单词)
- tragedy [´trædʒidi] n.悲剧；惨案；灾难 (初中英语单词)
- absence [´æbsəns] n.不在，缺席；缺乏 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)
- crystal [´kristəl] n.水晶 a.水晶的 (初中英语单词)
- doubtless [´dautlis] ad.无疑地；大概，多半 (初中英语单词)
- complicated [´kɔmplikeitid] a.结构复杂的；难懂的 (初中英语单词)
- torture [´tɔ:tʃə] n.&vt.折磨；痛苦；拷问 (初中英语单词)
- stolen [´stəulən] steal 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- eagerly [´i:gəli] ad.渴望地，急切地 (初中英语单词)
- suspect [´sʌspekt, sə´spekt] v.怀疑；觉得 n.嫌疑犯 (初中英语单词)
- victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- terribly [´terəbli] ad.可怕地 (初中英语单词)
- repair [ri´peə] v.&n.修理，修补 (初中英语单词)
- violence [´vaiələns] n.猛烈；暴力(行) (初中英语单词)
- physical [´fizikəl] a.物质的；有形的 (初中英语单词)
- suffering [´sʌfəriŋ] n.痛苦；灾害 (初中英语单词)
- essential [i´senʃəl] a.必需的 n.要素，要点 (初中英语单词)
- contents [´kɔ:ntents] n.容纳物；要旨 (初中英语单词)
- barely [´beəli] ad.公开地；仅仅 (初中英语单词)
- series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)
- contest [kən´test, ´kɔntest] v.争辩 n.争夺；竞赛 (初中英语单词)
- disposal [di´spəuzəl] n.处理；支配 (高中英语单词)
- positive [´pɔzətiv] a.确定的 (高中英语单词)
- repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)
- inevitable [i´nevitəbəl] a.不可避免的 (高中英语单词)
- marquis [´mɑ:kwis] n.侯爵 (高中英语单词)
- suicide [´su:isaid, ´sju:-] n.&a.自杀(者)(的) (高中英语单词)
- edition [i´diʃən] n.版本；很相似的 (高中英语单词)
- deputy [´depjuti] n.代理人；代表 (高中英语单词)
- removal [ri´mu:vəl] a.可移动的；可去除的 (高中英语单词)
- ascertain [,æsə´tein] vt.探查；查明 (高中英语单词)
- characteristic [,kæriktə´ristik] a.特有的 n.特性 (高中英语单词)
- riddle [´ridl] n.谜(语) v.解(谜等) (高中英语单词)
- impatient [im´peiʃənt] a.不耐烦的，急躁的 (高中英语单词)
- limited [´limitid] a.有限(制)的 (高中英语单词)
- proprietor [prə´praiətə] n.所有人；业主；经营者 (高中英语单词)
- porter [´pɔ:tə] n.守门人；勤杂工人 (高中英语单词)
- hurried [´hʌrid] a.仓促的，慌忙的 (高中英语单词)
- luggage [´lʌgidʒ] n.行李；皮箱 (高中英语单词)
- amusing [ə´mju:ziŋ] a.有趣的 (高中英语单词)
- contented [kən´tentid] a.满足的；心满意足的 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- particle [´pɑ:tikl] n.微粒；极小量 (高中英语单词)
- agitation [,ædʒi´teiʃən] n.鼓动；摇动；焦虑 (高中英语单词)
- corridor [´kɔridɔ:] n.走廊；指定航路 (高中英语单词)
- pavement [´peivmənt] n.路面；铺筑材料 (高中英语单词)
- tragic [´trædʒik] a.悲剧的；悲惨的 (高中英语单词)
- formidable [´fɔ:midəbəl] a.可怕的；艰难的 (高中英语单词)
- execution [,eksi´kju:ʃən] n.执行；演奏；表演 (高中英语单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
- upstairs [,ʌp´steəz] ad.在楼上 a.楼上的 (英语四级单词)
- scissors [´sizəz] n.剪刀，剪子 (英语四级单词)
- happening [´hæpəniŋ] n.事件，偶然发生的事 (英语四级单词)
- infernal [in´fə:nəl] a.地狱的，恶魔似的 (英语六级单词)
- disappearance [,disə´piərəns] n.消失；失踪 (英语六级单词)
- absently [´æbsəntli] ad.心不在焉地 (英语六级单词)
- speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)
- kidnap [´kidnæp] vt.拐骗；绑架 (英语六级单词)
- beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)
- interminable [in´tə:minəbəl] a.无终止的；冗长的 (英语六级单词)
- battlefield [´bætlfi:ld] n.战场 (英语六级单词)
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