XIII
JUVE'S STRATAGEM
Whilst Jerome Fandor was commencing his apprenticeship as a soldier atthe Saint Benoit barracks, Verdun, a sordid individual was followingan elegant pedestrian who, descending the rue Solferino, went in thedirection of the Seine. It was about seven in the evening.
"Pstt!"
This sound issued from the ragged individual, but the passer-by didnot turn his head.
"Monsieur!" insisted the sordid one.
As the elegant pedestrian did not seem to know he was being followed,the sordid individual stepped to his side, and murmured in his whitebeard distinctly enough to be heard:
"Lieutenant! Do listen!... Look here, Monsieur de Loubersac ...Henri!"
The young man turned: he gave the importunate speaker a witheringstare: he was furious.
The speaker was Vagualame.
"I shall fine you five hundred francs! How dare you accost me likethis? Are you mad?" De Loubersac's voice shook with rage.
Lieutenant de Loubersac had just quitted the Second Bureau after anunusually hard day's work. Fatigued by the over-heated offices, he wasenjoying the fresh air and exercise in spite of the chilling mistoverhanging Paris. When his thoughts were not connected on his work,he would dwell tenderly on every little detail of his meetings withpretty Mademoiselle de Naarboveck. Had she not given him permission tocall her Wilhelmine, and did he not cherish the hope of soon makingher his wife?
But this Vagualame was insupportable! That he should dare to accosthim without observing the customary precautions--hail him by hisstyle and title in a most public thoroughfare---should so imprudentlycompromise himself and an attache of the Second Bureau! Well, he knewhow to attack informers and such gentry in their most vulnerablespot--their purse; hence the fine of five hundred francs he hadimposed on Vagualame!
The old fellow shuffled along beside the enraged lieutenant, whining,complaining of the precarious state of his finances, but de Loubersacwas adamant. Perceiving this, Vagualame desisted.
"I want to talk to you," said he.
"To-morrow!" suggested de Loubersac.
"No, at once. It is urgent."
De Loubersac could hardly hear what Vagualame said. Twice he cried, inan irritated voice:
"What is the matter with you? I cannot understand what you say. I canhardly hear you."
"I have a severe cold on the chest, lieutenant."
Certainly Vagualame's voice was remarkably hoarse.
"If the Government does not give me something regular to live on, Ishall die in hospital."
De Loubersac looked about him anxiously. If his colonel should catchsight of him conferring with an agent so near the headquarters of theSecond Bureau he would incur a sharp reprimand. The interview musttake place; therefore they must conceal themselves. Vagualame, asthough reading the lieutenant's thought, pointed to the steep flightof steps leading to the banks of the Seine.
"Let us go down by the river! We shall be undisturbed there!"
De Loubersac acquiesced. So the smart young officer and the old beggarin his ragged coat, with the accordion hanging over his shoulder, whomight have been mistaken for Quasimodo himself, descended the steps incompany. Vagualame's eyes gleamed with joy. They were piercing eyes,full of life and intelligence, not the fierce furtive eyes ofVagualame, for this Vagualame was Juve!
The day following the famous evening he had passed in Fandor's flat,Juve, as we know, had discovered that Vagualame, agent of the SecondBureau, was cleverly disguised, and was none other than Fantomas!Juve appropriated the accordion left by the fleeing bandit: Juve alsodecided to personate Vagualame and spy on the various persons who hadrelations with this sinister being. As far as Juve was concerned,Vagualame-Fantomas was done for, therefore it was highly improbablethat the criminal, daring to the last degree though he was, would showhimself in his Vagualame guise for some time to come. Therefore Juvemust act at once. His first move must be to meet and talk with theSecond Bureau officer most in touch with Vagualame, and make him talkwithout arousing his suspicions. Juve also meant to mix withVagualame's associates, trusting to luck and his own perspicacity toget on to various trails, trails that would lead him to the solutionof grave problems.
Juve had felt anxious as he accosted de Loubersac: no doubt thelieutenant and his secret agent had some set form of greeting, someagreed on method of imparting information. By incurring the fine, Juverealised that he had made a wrong start--perhaps omitted a password.Still, he had obtained the essential thing--a private talk with thisparticular official of the Second Bureau.
The talk began with an abrupt question from de Loubersac:
"And the V. affair?"
"The V. affair?... Peuh!"
"What the deuce does he refer to?" Juve was asking himself.
Unsuspecting, de Loubersac came to his aid.
"Our corporal must have returned to Verdun to-day?"
"Ah!" thought Juve, "our corporal is Vinson!" The further he proceededin his present investigations the clearer grew the connection betweenthe Brocq affair and those of Bobinette, Wilhelmine, de Loubersac:surely they were all interpreters of the tragic drama conceived byVagualame-Fantomas!
"His leave expired this morning," continued de Loubersac.
"He left yesterday evening. I have proof of it," assertedJuve-Vagualame.
"Anything new?"
"Not so far."
"Are you going to Verdun?"
"Possibly."
"How about the document?"
"Hum!" murmured Juve-Vagualame. Here was another conundrum he must gowarily.
"You are constantly looking for it, of course? You know it is the mosturgent of all!"...
Juve nodded agreement.
"Place it in my hands, and I shall give you fifty thousand francs inexchange for it--you know that!"
"Less the fine," put in Juve-Vagualame with a comical grimace.
De Loubersac smiled.
"We will speak of that again." There was a pause.
"A good deal has happened since the death of Captain Brocq'smistress."
Juve-Vagualame remarked.
"Is Captain Brocq's mistress dead, too?... Poor girl!"
De Loubersac stared hard at the accordion player.
"Oh come now, Vagualame! Where are your wits--wool-gathering?"
"Wits wool-gathering, lieutenant!" echoed Juve-Vagualame.
"There is no lieutenant, I tell you!" cried de Loubersac, with a stampof his foot. "It is Monsieur Henri--just Henri, if you like. How manymore times am I to tell you this?"
Juve-Vagualame's reply was an equivocal gesture.
"You do not know about the Chalons affair--the assassination of thesinger, Nichoune?"
"No--that is to say."...
"Well, then?" De Loubersac was staring at Vagualame with puzzled eyes.
"Well, then--as to that--no!... I had better hold my tongue."
"Speak out!" commanded de Loubersac.
"No," growled Juve-Vagualame.
"I order you to do so."
"Well, then," conceded Juve-Vagualame, "since you must know what Ithink, I consider Nichoune was in no sense the mistress of CaptainBrocq."
"They found letters from Captain Brocq on her." De Loubersac's laughhad a sneer in it.
"Bah!" said the old accordion player, punctuating his remark with somepiercing sounds from his ancient instrument of discordant music. "Itwas a got-up business!"
"What is that you say?" objected de Loubersac. After a moment'sreflection he added:
"But of course, you must know more about it than anyone, Vagualame,because you saw her just before the end. Didn't you have a talk withNichoune on the Friday, the eve of her death?"
Juve-Vagualame was about to speak. De Loubersac added:
"The innkeeper saw you!"
"Did he now? What is this?" thought Juve. This statement opened up afresh view of things.
De Loubersac did not give him time for reflection.
"Who, then, do you think killed N
ichoune?"
Juve would not for the world voice his suspicions just then. With aside-glance at the lieutenant, he remarked:
"Faith, what I am inclined to think is, that the guilty person is thatAunt Palmyra."
"Aunt Palmyra!" repeated de Loubersac. "Decidedly my poor Vagualame,you are stupid as an owl to-day! Well, there is no harm in telling youthis--Aunt Palmyra was one of my colleagues!"
"I suspected as much," thought Juve, "but I wanted him to confirm it."
De Loubersac was again the questioner.
"Vagualame! You spoke just now of Brocq's mistress: if, as you seem tothink, Nichoune had no such relation with the captain, where are we tolook for his mistress?"
"Hah!... Look in another direction ... among his friends ... in thegreat world ... the diplomatic set, for preference ... Think of thosein the de Naarboveck circle."...
"Look out, Vagualame!" exclaimed de Loubersac. "Weigh your wordswell!"
"Do not be afraid, lieu ... pardon--Monsieur Henri!"
"Perhaps you think it is Bobinette?" queried de Loubersac.
"No."
"Who then?"
Juve shot his answer at the lieutenant, like a stone from a catapult.
"Wilhelmine de Naarboveck!"
A shout of indignant protest burst from de Loubersac. He could notcontain his fury: he kicked the supposed Vagualame with such forcethat he sent him rolling in the greasy mud of the Seine bank.
"Beast!" growled Juve, as he picked himself up. "If I were notVagualame, I should know how to answer him," he muttered. "As itis!"...
Juve rose, stumbling and staggering like a badly shaken old man, andleaned against the hand railing of the steps.
Meanwhile de Loubersac was walking up and down, talking aloud, in astate of extreme agitation.
"Disgusting creatures!... Low-minded wretches!... Degradingoccupation!... They respect nothing, and no one!... Insinuating suchabominations!... Wilhelmine de Naarboveck the mistress of Brocq!...How vile!... Loathsome creatures!"
It was now obvious to the alert Juve, who drank in every word, eachgesture of de Loubersac's that the enraged lieutenant adoredWilhelmine ... no doubt on that score!
When de Loubersac had calmed down somewhat, Juve cried softly:
"Oh, Monsieur Henri!"...
Roused from his reflections, de Loubersac shouted:
"Hold your tongue, you sicken me!"
"But," insisted Juve-Vagualame, "I have only done my duty. If I spokeas I did, it was because my conscience."...
"Have you got consciences--your sort?" cried de Loubersac, casting aglance of withering contempt at the supposed old man.
There was a silence. Then de Loubersac walked up to the old accordionplayer and asked anxiously:
"Can you give me proofs of the truth of what you have just asserted?"
"Perhaps," was the evasive answer.
"You will have to give me proofs," insisted de Loubersac.
"Proofs?... I have none," replied the mysterious old fellow. "But Ihave intuitions; better still, my confidence is grounded on a strongprobability."
This statement came to de Loubersac with the force of a stunning blow:it came from one whom he considered his best agent: he knew Vagualamealways weighed his words: his information was generally correct.
"We cannot continue this conversation here," he said. "To-morrow wemust meet as usual--and remember--do not attempt to accost me withoutusing the password."
"Now, how the deuce am I to know what this famous word is?" Juve askedhimself. Then he had an inspiration.
"We must not use it again," he announced. "I have reason to think ourcustomary password is known ... I will explain another time ... it isa regular story--a long one."
"All right," agreed de Loubersac. "What should it be?... Suppose I say_monoplane_?"
"I will answer _dirigible_," said Juve-Vagualame.
"Agreed."
De Loubersac rapidly mounted the steps leading to the quay, glad toclose a detestable interview.
Juve-Vagualame remained below. He struck his forehead.
"Monsieur Henri!" he called.
"What?"
"The meeting place to-morrow?"
De Loubersac had just signalled to a taxi: he leaned over the parapetand called to Juve-Vagualame, who had got no farther than the middleof the steps:
"Why at half past three, in the garden, as usual!"
* * * * *
"Oh, ho!" said the old accordion player. "He will be furious! I shallplay him false--bound to--for how can I keep the appointment--confoundit! What garden? Whereabouts in it?" Then, as he regained the quay,Juve laughed in his false white beard.
"What do I care? I snap my fingers at that rendezvous. I haveextracted from him what I wanted to know--it matters not a jot if Inever set eyes on him again! And ... now ... it is we two,Bobinette!"