V
THEY ARE NOT AGREED
As one who had the privilege of free entry to the house, Fandor openedthe front door of Juve's flat with the latchkey he possessed as aspecial favour, traversed the semi-darkness of the corridor and wenttowards his friend's study.
He raised the curtain, opened the door half-way, and caught sight ofJuve at his desk.
"Don't disturb yourself, it is only Fandor!"
The detective was absorbed in the letter he was writing to such adegree that he had never even heard the journalist enter. At the soundof his voice Juve started.
"What! You! I thought you had flown yesterday, flown South!"
Fandor smiled a woeful smile.
"I did expect to get away yesterday evening. Juve, in my calling, asin yours, it is the height of stupidity to make plans. You see! Here Iam still--stuck here!"
Juve nodded assent.
"Well, what then?" he asked.
"Well, what do you think, Juve?"
The detective leaned back in his chair and considered his youngfriend.
"Well, my dear Fandor, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
Fandor did not seem much disposed to answer. He had taken off his hatand overcoat. Now he drew from his pocket a cigarette-case. Heselected one and lighted it carefully, seeming to find a veritabledelight in the first whiffs which he sent towards the ceiling.
"It's a fine day, Juve!"
The detective, more and more astonished, considered the journalistwith the utmost attention.
"What's the matter with you, Fandor?" he said at last.
"Why are you carrying on like this? Why are you not on yourtravels?... Without being inquisitive, I suppose you have your headfull of other things than the state of the weather?"
"And you, Juve?"
"How? I?"
"Juve, I ask you why you are so upset?"
The detective folded his arms.
"My word, Fandor, but you are losing your head. You think, then, thatI am thoroughly upset?"
"Juve, you look like a death's-head!"
"Really?"
"Juve, you have not been to bed!"
"I have not been to bed, have I not? How do you know that?"
Fandor approached the writing-table and pointed to the corner, where aseries of half-smoked cigarettes were ranged side by side.
"Ah, I do not doubt, Juve, but that they tidy up your study everymorning; but, here are twenty-five cigarette ends, lying side by side:you certainly have not smoked all those in one morning, consequentlyyou have lighted them during the night, and consequently you have notgone to bed."
Juve's tone was bantering.
"Continue, little one, you interest me."
"And, to cap it all, the ends of your cigarettes have beenchewed, bitten, mangled,--an indisputable sign of high nervoustension--therefore."...
"Therefore, Fandor?"
"Therefore, Juve, I ask what is wrong with you--that's all!"
The detective fixed the journalist with a piercing look, trying toguess what he was aiming at. But Fandor was too good a pupil of Juveto let him have the slightest inkling of his feelings. There was anenigmatic smile on his lips whilst he awaited Juve's reply.
The detective quickly decided to speak out.
"I am looking into a very serious affair which interests me greatly."
"Grave?"
"Possibly."
This did not satisfy Fandor. He seated himself on the corner of thewriting-table and considered his friend.
"See now, Juve, answer me if you can see your way to it.... Yourattitude makes me sure that important things are in the air: you arein a very emotional condition, and that for some reason I have notfathomed. Can I be useful to you? Will you not let me share thissecret?"
"Will you tell me yours?"
"In three minutes."
Juve sat for a few minutes deep in thought. Then in a changed voice, asolemn voice with a sharp note in it, he said:
"You know about Captain Brocq's sudden death, of course?... Let metell you that I have discovered it was an assassination. It's thisaffair I am giving all my attention to."
When there was mention of the Brocq affair, Fandor started. Here was astrange coincidence. Since last night had not his own mind beendistressed by the mysteries he divined in this strange death? And nowhere was Juve also upset by his examination of this same affair.
Fandor drew up a chair, placed himself astride it, facing Juve,putting his elbows on the back and holding his head between his hands.
"You are looking into this Brocq affair, Juve?... Very well! So amI!... You have read my articles?"
"They are very interesting."
"They lack conclusiveness, however!... But, as things are, I could notdo better, not having any precise information and facts to go upon.Are you quite certain about the facts yourself? Do you know who hasstruck the blow?"
"Don't you suspect, Fandor?"
Juve did not give him time to reply. He half rose from his seat, and,bending close to Fandor, looked him straight in the eyes.
"Tell me, my boy! Suppose that after six months of truce, six monthsof tranquillity, your whole existence is again violently upset? If youunderstood that the efforts and dangers and struggles and tenacity ofsix long years were entirely wasted, and that the results you thoughtyou had achieved did not exist--that you had to begin all overagain--that once more you had to play a match with not only your lifefor stakes, but your honour as well--tell me, Fandor, would you not bestirred to your depths?"
Our journalist feigned indifference: it was the best way to draw Juveon, he well knew.
"What do you mean, Juve?"
"What do I mean, my boy? You shall hear! Do you know who killedCaptain Brocq?"
"No! Who?"
"Fantomas!"
At this sinister name Fandor jumped up as though thunderstruck.
"Fantomas?... You accuse Fantomas of having killed Captain Brocq?"
Juve nodded assent.
The two men stared at each other in horror-struck silence.
Fantomas!
What a flood of memories, horrid, menacing, that name evoked! Thereflashed through Fandor's mind all that he knew of the atrocities whichcould be imputed to Fantomas. He seemed to live over again the recentyears of continual struggle, of almost daily contest with themysterious criminal--Fantomas!... But had not Juve declared--and notso long ago--after the drama of rue Norvins,[2] when the elusivemonster had been driven to flight--had not Juve declared that Fantomashad vanished for good and all! Now, at this precise moment, he wasaccusing this criminal of a fresh crime!... Fandor thought, too, ofthe conclusions he had himself arrived at, whilst studying the Brocqaffair from his own point of view: that it was a drama of spies andspying.... Surely either he was mistaken--or Juve was!... Was it amurder, or a political assassination?... No longer pretendingindifference, he questioned Juve anxiously:
[Footnote 2: See _The Exploits of Juve_, vol. ii, _Fantomas Series_.]
"You accuse Fantomas? In the name of death and destruction, why?"
Juve had regained his self-possession. By pronouncing the word"Fantomas," by giving utterance to his secret fears, he had relievedhis feelings.
"Fandor!" said he, in a quiet voice: "Consider carefully all thedetails and circumstances of this drama! In open day, on one of themost frequented promenades of Paris, an officer falls mortally woundedwhen passing in a taxicab, going possibly to some appointedmeeting-place in one of the restaurants of the Bois. His taxi issurrounded by a crowd of vehicles, and without having time even to seehis attacker, without anyone having seen him, Brocq collapses,mortally wounded, killed as though in battle, by a shot, a mysteriousshot, fired from a weapon of the most perfect kind.... Come now,Fandor! Is that not a crime worthy of Fantomas?"
But the journalist was not convinced.
"True, this crime is worthy of Fantomas, but I do not think Fantomashas committed it.... You go too far, Juve! You are the victim of yourhobby. Believe me,
you exaggerate--you cannot trace every strange andsubtle crime to this criminal!"
"If you do not attribute this crime to Fantomas, then at whose door doyou lay it?" demanded the detective, who was well aware that he mustguard against being the victim of a Fantomas obsession.
"Juve," replied Fandor, "I have been charged by Dupont to look intothe Brocq affair, and have had to postpone my holiday to do it--thatis how you see me this morning.... Well, I have begun my enquiry, andam trying to find out the exact truth regarding this unfortunateofficer's death.... I have visited certain of his relations,interviewed the people who have known him, I have been able to getinto touch with this Bobinette, who seems to be the last person whoapproached him a little before his assassination, and I have alsoarrived at a conclusion."
"And that is--Fandor?"
"A conclusion, Juve, which does not involve Fantomas in the slightestdegree, a conclusion which, I assure you, has the advantage of beingmore certain, plainer, more absolutely definite than yours."...
"And that is--Fandor?"
"Juve, this officer belonged to the Second Bureau of the StaffOfficer's Headquarters."...
"Yes, and?"...
"Juve, when an officer of the Second Bureau disappears in such tragicconditions, do you know what one presumes to be the reason of thatdisappearance?"
"What?"
"Juve, I assert that if Captain Brocq is dead it is because there is aspy in the pay of a foreign power, who, being under supervision,perhaps on the point of being arrested, has resolved that the captainmust die in order to save himself.... A document has been stolen, andit is precisely this fact which makes me disbelieve in theintervention of Fantomas."...
"You do not believe me, Juve?"
The detective shrugged his shoulders.
"No, I do not think you are right.... In the first place, Fantomas iscapable of everything--capable of the theft of a document for which aforeign power would pay him very highly, just as there is no otherkind of theft he is not capable of.... And then, dear boy, a spy, atraitor in the pay of a foreign power would not dare to attempt thecrime to which we are giving all our attention--not in that particularway at any rate. There is only one person who would riskthat--Fantomas."
Fandor's laugh had a note of mockery in it. He let Juve see that hethought his ideas on this subject were very simple indeed.
"It is your hobby which always inspires you," he repeated.... "Beyondquestion I am the first to believe in the audacity of Fantomas ... andif I do not know all the secrets of terror hidden in this word'spying,' I am ready enough to be convinced.... But, look here, Juve,I know the world of spies, I have studied them, I know what they arecapable of attempting, ... and I do not speak lightly when I tell youthat the assassination of Brocq is a political crime."
Juve continued to shake his head, quite unconvinced.
Fandor continued:
"Juve, believe me! Who says 'spy,' says 'capable of anything.' Theofficers of the Second Bureau are, in short, the true directors of thepolice spy system; they know all the shameful mysteries whereby someindividual reputed honest, honourable in appearance, is in the pay ofthe foreigner. They know the traitors. They know who sells France andwho buys France. Every day they are in relation with the agentsbelonging to all classes of society, lawyers, commercial men, smallshopkeepers, commercial travellers, railway servants, women of theworld, women of the pavement, thousands of individuals who continuallytravel about the country, holding it in a network of observations,notes, remarks, the result of all of which might be that some onepower would have immediately the advantage over some other, because itknew the weak points where it could launch its attack.... You know,Juve, that they are people who do not shrink from anything when theirinterest is at stake. You know that the man who betrays, who spies,who is an informer, is always disavowed by the country who employshim.... You know that those who are taken in the act are punished tothe utmost, consequently they will stick at nothing to save themselvesfrom being caught. Do you not think that in this spy-world there mightbe found a man who, driven into a corner by circumstances, would bedaring enough to commit the crime which is occupying our attentionnow? You say: 'It is a crime worthy of Fantomas!' Agreed. But I replyto you: 'There must be spies worthy of being compared toFantomas!'"...
Fandor stopped short. Suddenly Juve threw himself back in his chair:the detective laughed aloud, a burst of ironic laughter. "My dearboy," said he, "do not be angry with me."
"What nonsense, Juve--You know very well that I would not be that!"
"Well, my dear Fandor, you see in the assassination of Captain Brocqan affair of spying because you have had your hobby for some timepast--the hobby of spying."
Fandor smiled. Juve continued:
"Come! Is it not true that six months ago--it was just after theDollon assassination--you published in _La Capitale_ a whole series ofpapers relating to affairs of treason?"
"True, but."...
"Is it correct that you learned just then that one could define theSecond Bureau as the world of spies, and that you were extremelystruck by this, extremely surprised?"
"That is so, Juve. It is precisely because I had this information, andwas able to get a fair knowledge of the terrible secrets existing inthis dark Government department, that I am in a position now toascribe the Brocq affair to the action of some group of spies."
"Your hobby again, Fandor! The assassination of the captain hasoccurred under such circumstances that it can only be imputed toFantomas. Let us look the truth in the face! We are going to enterinto a fresh struggle with Fantomas! That is a certainty!"
"It's your hobby now, Juve! There's no Fantomas in this affair. No! Weare face to face with a very serious business, there I agree with you;but it is wholly a spy job--nothing else!"
Getting up, the journalist added:
"This very evening I shall publish in _La Capitale_ an article inwhich I shall explain exactly what spies are, the real part they playin the body politic, their terrible power; that it is a mistake toconsider them only cowards; that owing to the exigencies of theirsinister profession, they very often give proof of an exceptionalcourage--bravery--and in which I shall."...
With a shrug, Juve interrupted:
"In which you will write nonsense, old boy.... Anyhow, you are free!"
"That's true! Free to spend a fortnight in the Sunny South, where Ishall be in a few hours' time! Anyhow, read my article in _LaCapitale_; I tell you I am going to take a lot of trouble over it!"...
"A fortnight hence, then, Juve!" He added in a bantering tone:
"Don't dream too much of Fantomas.... What!"