XI. MAGISTRATE AND DETECTIVE
M. Fuselier was standing in his office in the law courts at Paris,meditatively smoothing the nap of his silk hat. His mind was busy withthe enquiries he had been prosecuting during the day, and although hehad no reason to be dissatisfied with his day's work he had no clearidea as to what his next steps ought to be.
Three discreet taps on the door broke in upon his thoughts.
"Come in," he said, and then stepped forward with a hearty welcome as herecognised his visitor. "Juve, by all that is wonderful! What good windhas blown you here? I haven't seen you for ages. Busy?"
"Frightfully."
"Well, it's a fact that there's no dearth of sensational crime just now.The calendar is terribly heavy."
Juve had ensconced himself in a huge easy chair in a corner of the room.
"Yes," he said, "you are quite right. But unfortunately the calendarwon't be a brilliant one for the police. There may be lots of cases, butthere are not lots that they have worked out to a finish."
"You've got nothing to grumble at," M. Fuselier smiled. "You have beenin enough cases lately that were worked out to a finish. Your reputationisn't in any danger of diminishing."
"I don't know what you mean," Juve said deprecatingly. "If you refer tothe Beltham and Langrune cases, you must admit that your congratulationsare not deserved. I have achieved no definite result in either of thoseaffairs."
M. Fuselier also dropped into a comfortable chair. He lighted acigarette.
"You have found out nothing fresh about that mysterious murder of LordBeltham?"
"Nothing. I'm done. It is an insoluble mystery to me."
"You seem to be very sorry for yourself, but really you needn't be,Juve. You cleared up the Beltham case, and you solved the Langrune case,although you try to make out you didn't. And allow me to inform you,those two successes count, my friend."
"You are very kind, but you are rather misinformed. Unfortunately I havenot cleared up the Beltham case at all."
"You found the missing peer."
"Well, yes, but----"
"That was an amazing achievement. By the way, Juve, what led you to goto the rue Levert to search Gurn's trunks?"
"That was very simple. You remember what an excitement there was whenLord Beltham disappeared? Well, when I was called in I saw at once thatall ideas of accident or suicide might be dismissed, and thatconsequently the disappearance was due to crime. Once convinced of that,I very naturally suspected every single person who had ever hadrelations with Lord Beltham, for there was no single individual for meto suspect. Then I found out that the ex-Ambassador had been incontinuous association with an Englishman named Gurn whom he had knownin the South African war, and who led a very queer sort of life. That ofcourse took me to Gurn's place, if for nothing else than to pick upinformation. And--well, that's all about it. It was just by going toGurn's place to pump him, rather than anything else, that I found thenoble lord's remains locked away in the trunk."
"Your modesty is delightful, Juve," said M. Fuselier with an approvingnod. "You present things as if they were all matters of course, whereasreally you are proving your extraordinary instinct. If you had arrivedonly twenty-four hours later the corpse would have been packed off tothe Transvaal, and only the Lord knows if after that the extraordinarymystery ever would have been cleared up."
"Luck," Juve protested: "pure luck!"
"And were your other remarkable discoveries luck too?" enquired M.Fuselier with a smile. "There was your discovery that sulphate of zinchad been injected into the body to prevent it from smellingoffensively."
"That was only a matter of using my eyes," Juve protested.
"All right," said the magistrate, "we will admit that you did notdisplay any remarkable acumen in the Beltham case, if you would ratherhave it so. That does not alter the fact that you have solved theLangrune case."
"Solved it!"
M. Fuselier flicked the ash off his cigarette, and leant forward towardsthe detective.
"Of course you know that I know you were at the Cahors Assizes, Juve?What was your impression of the whole affair--of the verdict, and ofEtienne Rambert's guilt or innocence?"
Juve got up and began to walk up and down the room, followed by themagistrate's eyes. He seemed to be hesitating as to whether he wouldanswer at all, but finally he stopped abruptly and faced his friend.
"If I were talking to anybody but you, M. Fuselier, I would either notanswer at all, or I would give an answer that was no answer! But as itis----, well, in my opinion, the Langrune case is only just beginning,and nothing certain is known at all."
"According to that, Charles Rambert is innocent?"
"I don't say that."
"What then? I suppose you don't think the father was the murderer?"
"The hypothesis is not absurd! But there! What is the real truth of thewhole affair? That is what I am wondering all the time. That murder isnever out of my head; it interests me more and more every day. Oh, yes,I've got lots of ideas, but they are all utterly vague and improbable:sometimes my imagination seems to be running away with me."
He stopped, and M. Fuselier wagged a mocking finger at him.
"Juve," he said, "I charge you formally with attempting to implicateFantomas in the murder of the Marquise de Langrune!"
The detective replied in the same tone of raillery.
"Guilty, my lord!"
"Good lord, man!" the magistrate exclaimed, "Fantomas is a perfectobsession with you," and as Juve acquiesced with a laugh the magistratedropped his bantering tone. "Shall I tell you something, Juve? I too ambeginning to have an obsession for that fantastic miscreant! And what Iwant to know is why you have not come to me before to ask me about thatsensational robbery at the Royal Palace Hotel?"
"The robbery from Princess Sonia Danidoff?"
"Yes: the Fantomas robbery!"
"Fantomas, eh?" Juve protested. "That remains to be seen."
"Why, man," M. Fuselier retorted, "you have heard that detail about thecard the man left, haven't you?--the visiting card that was blank whenthe Princess found it, and on which the name of Fantomas afterwardsbecame visible?"
"There's no Fantomas about that, in my opinion."
"Why not?"
"Well, it isn't one of Fantomas' little ways to leave clear tracesbehind him. One might as well picture him committing robbery or murderin a cap with a neat little band round it: 'Fantomas and Co.' He mighteven add 'Discretion and Dispatch!' No, it's most unlikely."
"You don't think Fantomas capable of throwing down his glove to thepolice in the shape of some such material proof of his identity?"
"I always base my arguments on the balance of probabilities," Juvereplied. "What emerges from this Royal Palace story is that some commonhotel thief conceived the ingenious idea of casting suspicion onFantomas: it was just a trick to mislead the police: at least, that ismy opinion."
But M. Fuselier declined to be convinced.
"No, you are wrong, Juve: it was no common hotel thief who stole Mme.Van den Rosen's necklace and Princess Sonia's hundred and twentythousand francs; the prize was big enough to appeal to Fantomas: and theamazing audacity of the crime is suggestive too. Just think whatcoolness the man must have had to be able to paralyse the Princess'spower of resistance when she tried to call for help: and also to getclear away in spite of the hosts of servants in the hotel and all theprecautions taken!"
"Tell me all about the robbery, M. Fuselier," said Juve.
The magistrate sat down at his desk and took up the notes he had made inthe course of his official enquiry that day. He told Juve everything hehad been able to elicit.
"The most amazing thing to me," he said in conclusion, "is the way thefellow, when he had once got out of Princess Sonia's room, contrived toget into the lift, shed his evening dress, get into livery, and make hisfirst attempt to escape. When the hall porter stopped him he did notlose his head, but got into the lift again, sent that flying up to thetop of the hotel with the cloth
es that would have betrayed him, calmlypresented himself before Muller, the night watchman, and contrived to betold to go for the police, ran down the stairs again, and took advantageof the night watchman's telephoning to the hall porter to get the latterto open the door for him, and so marched off as easily as you please. Aman who kept his nerve like that and could make such amazing use ofevery circumstance, who was so quick and daring, and who was capable ofcarrying through such a difficult comedy in the middle of the generaluproar, richly deserves to be taken for Fantomas!"
Juve sat in deep consideration of the whole story.
"That isn't what interests me most," he said at last. "His escape fromthe hotel might have been effected by any clever thief. What I thinkmore remarkable is the means he took to prevent the Princess fromscreaming when he was just leaving her rooms: that really was masterly.Instead of trying to get her as far away as possible and shut her up inher bedroom, to take her with him to the very door opening on to thecorridor, where the faintest cry might have involved the worst possibleconsequences, and to be sure that the terror he had inspired wouldprevent her from uttering that cry, to be able to assume that the victimwas so overwrought that she would make no effort at all and could donothing--that is really very good indeed: quite admirable psychology!Fine work!"
"So you see there are some unusual features in the case," said M.Fuselier complacently: "this, for instance: why do you suppose thefellow stayed such a long time with the Princess and went through allthat comedy business in the bathroom? Don't forget that she came inlate, and it is extremely probable that he might have finished his jobbefore she returned."
Juve passed his hand through his hair, a characteristic trick when hismind was working.
"I can imagine only one answer to that question, M. Fuselier. But youhave inspected the scene of the crime: tell me first, where do you thinkthe rascal was hidden?"
"Oh, I can answer that definitely. The Princess's suite of rooms ends inthe bathroom, you know, and the chief things there are the famous bath,some cupboards, and a shower bath: the shower bath is one of those largemodel Norchers with lateral as well as vertical sprays, and a waterproofcurtain hanging from rings at the top right down to the tub at thebottom. There were footmarks on the enamel of the tub, so it is clearthat the thief hid there, behind the curtain, until the Princess gotinto her bath."
"And I suppose the shower bath is in the corner of the room near thewindow?" Juve went on. "And the window was partly open, or had beenuntil the maid went in to prepare her mistress's bath? It's quiteinteresting! The man had just succeeded in stealing the necklace fromMme. Van den Rosen, whose rooms are next to Princess Sonia's: for somereason or other he had not been able to escape through the corridor, andso he naturally made up his mind to get into the Princess's suite, whichhe did by the simple process of stepping over the railing on the balconyand walking in through the open window of the dressing-room."
"And then Nadine came in, and he had to hide?"
"No, no!" said Juve, "you are getting on too fast. If that had been so,there would have been no need for all the bath business; besides, thePrincess was robbed, too, you know. That was not just chance, it wasplanned; and so if the thief hid in the shower bath he did so on purposeto wait for the Princess."
"But he did not want her!" Fuselier retorted: "very much the reverse. Ifhe was in the room before anybody else, all he had to do was, take thepocket-book and go!"
"Not a bit of it!" said Juve. "This robbery took place at the end of themonth, when the Princess would have big monthly bills to meet, as thethief must have known. He must have found out that she had withdrawn herportfolio and money from the custody of the hotel. But he must have beenignorant of where she had placed the portfolio; and he waited for her toask her--and she told him!"
"That's a pretty tall yarn!" M. Fuselier protested. "What on earth doyou base it all upon? The Princess would never have shown the man thedrawer where the money was taken from!"
"Yes, she did!" said Juve. "Look here: this is what happened: the fellowwanted to steal this pocket-book, and did not know where it was. He hidin the shower bath and waited, either for the Princess to go to bed ortake a bath, either of which would place her at his mercy. When the ladywas in the bath he appeared, threatened her, until she was terrified,and then bucked her up a bit again and hit on the dodge of putting outthe electric light--not out of respect for her wounded feelings, butsimply in order to get a chance to search through her clothes and makesure that the pocket-book was not there. I am convinced that if he hadfound it then he would have bolted at once. But he didn't find it. So hewent to the end of the next room and waited for the Princess to come tohim there, which is precisely what she did. He did not know where themoney was, so he watched every movement of her eyes and saw them goautomatically towards the drawer and stay there; then he slipped hiscard into the drawer, abstracted the pocket-book, and took his leave,driving his impudence and skill to the length of making her see him tothe door!"
"Upon my word, Juve, you are a wonder," M. Fuselier said admiringly."I've spent the entire day cross-examining everybody in the hotel, andcame to no definite conclusion; and you, who have not seen anything oranybody connected with it, sit in that chair and in five minutes clearup the entire mystery. What a pity you won't believe that Fantomas hada finger in this pie! What a pity you won't take up the search!"
Juve paid no heed to the compliments to his skill. He took out his watchand looked at the time.
"I must go," he said; "it's quite time I was at my own work. Well, wemay not have been wasting our time, M. Fuselier. I admit I had not paidmuch attention to the Royal Palace Hotel robbery. You have reallyinterested me in it. I won't make any promises, but I think I shall verylikely come again in a day or two for another talk with you about thecase. It really interests me now. And when once I'm quit of one or twopressing jobs, I don't say I shan't ask leave to go thoroughly into itwith you."