III
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
The Cite Frochot is shut in by low stone walls, topped by grating roundwhich creepers intertwine.
The entry to its main thoroughfare, shaded by trees and lined with smallprivate houses, is not supposed to be public, and a porter's lodge tothe right of the entrance is intended to enforce its private character.
It was about seven in the evening. As the fine spring day drew to aclose, Fandor reached the square of the Cite. For an hour past thejournalist had been wholly engaged in keeping track of the famousLoupart, who, after leaving the saloon, had sauntered up the Rue desMartyrs, his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth.
Fandor allowed him to pass at the corner of the Rue Claude, and fromthere on kept him in view.
Juve had completely disappeared.
As Loupart, followed by Fandor, was about to enter the Cite Frochot, anexclamation made them both turn.
Fandor perceived a poorly dressed man anxiously searching for somethingin the gutter. A curious crowd had instantly collected, and word waspassed round that the lost object was a twenty-five-franc gold piece.
Fandor, joining the crowd, was pushed close to the man, who quicklywhispered:
"Idiot! Keep out of the Cite."
The owner of the gold piece was no other than the detective. Then, undercover of loud complaint, Juve muttered to Fandor, "Let him go! Watch theentrance to the Cite!"
"But," objected Fandor in the same key, "what if I lose sight of him?"
"No fear of that. The doctor's house is the second on the right." Thehooligan, who had for a moment drawn near the crowd, was now headingstraight for the Cite.
Juve went on: "In a quarter of an hour at the latest join me again, 27Rue Victor Masse."
"And if Loupart should enter the Cite in the meantime?"
"Come straight back to me."
Fandor was moving off when Juve addressed him out loud: "Thank you, kindgentlemen! But as you are so charitable, give me something more forGod's sake."
The other drew near the pretended beggar and Juve added:
"If anyone questions you as you pass through, say you are going toOmareille, the decorator's; you'll find me on the stairs."
Some moments later the little crowd had melted away and a policeman,arriving as usual too late, wondered what had been going on.
Fandor carried out Juve's instructions to the letter. Hiding behind asentry box he kept an eye on the doctor's house, but nothing out of theway happened. Loupart had vanished, although he was probably not faraway. When the fifteen minutes were up Fandor left his post and enteredNo. 27 Rue Victor Masse. As he reached the third floor he heard Juve'svoice:
"Is that you, lad?"
"Yes."
"The porter didn't question you?"
"I've seen no one."
"All right, come up here."
Juve was seated at a hall window examining Doctor Chaleck's housethrough a field glass.
"You've not seen Loupart go in?" he inquired as Fandor joined him.
"Not while I was on watch."
"It's well to know one's Paris and have friends everywhere, isn't it?"continued Juve. "It occurred to me quite suddenly that this might be anexcellent place from where to follow citizen Loupart's doings. You wouldhave spoiled everything if you had followed him into the Cite. That'swhy I devised my little scheme to hold you back."
"You are right," admitted Fandor, who, the next moment, gave a jump asJuve's hand gripped him hard.
"Look, Fandor! The bird is going into the cage!"
The journalist, excited, saw a figure already familiar to him in the actof slipping into the little garden which separated Dr. Chaleck's housefrom the main thoroughfare.
The detective went on: "There he goes, skirting the house until hereaches the little door hidden in the wall. What's he up to now? Ah!He's fumbling in his pocket. False keys, of course."
They saw Loupart open the door and make his way into the house.
"What comes next?" inquired Fandor.
"We are going to tighten the net which the silly bird has hopped into,"rejoined Juve, as he bolted down the stairs, and added as aprecautionary measure: "While I question the porter, you slip by meinto the main street. I have every reason to believe that M. Chaleck hasbeen absent for two days, and as soon as I get this information, I shallpretend to go away, and then--the rest is my concern."
Juve's program was carried out in all points.
To his questions, the porter replied:
"Why, sir, I can't really say. I saw Doctor Chaleck go off with his bagand I haven't seen him come back. However, if you care to see foryourself----"
"No, thanks," replied Juve, "I'll return in a few days. But look out,your lamp's flaring!"
As the porter turned to remedy the trouble, Juve, instead of going offto the right, quickly followed the direction Fandor had taken and caughtup with the latter just outside Doctor Chaleck's house.
"Now for our plan of campaign," he said. "It's darker now than it willbe later when the street lamps are lit and the moon rises. Thatexcellent Josephine sent me a rough plan of the house. You see there aretwo windows on the ground floor on either side of the hall. Naturallythey belong to the dining-room and drawing-room. The window to the righton the first floor is evidently that of the bedroom. On the left, thiswindow with a balcony belongs to the study of our dealer in death!That's where we must plant ourselves. Understand, Fandor?"
The journalist nodded. "I understand."
The two men advanced carefully, holding their breath and halting atevery step. To catch the ruffian in the act they must reach the studywithout giving the alarm.
The first story of Doctor Chaleck's house was only slightly raised abovethe ground: by the aid of a drain-pipe, Juve and Fandor managed withoutdifficulty to hoist themselves on to the balcony.
"Here's luck," cried Juve. "The study window is wide open!"
After putting on a pair of rubbers and making Fandor remove his boots,the two men entered the room. Juve's first precaution was to test thetwo halves of the window. Finding that their hinges did not creak, hefastened the latch and drew the curtains.
"We'll risk a light," he whispered, taking out a pocket-lamp, which litup the room sufficiently to allow him to take his bearings.
The study was elegantly furnished. In the middle was a huge desk piledwith papers, reports, and files. To the right of the desk in the corneropposite the window and half hidden by a heavy velvet curtain was thedoor leading to the landing. A large corner sofa occupied the space oftwo wall panels. A set of book-shelves covered a whole wall. Here andthere cosy armchairs invited meditation.
"I don't see the famous safe," Murmured Fandor.
"That's because your eyes aren't trained," replied the detective. "Lookat that corner sofa, topped by that richly carved bracket. Observe thethick appearance of the delicate mahogany panel. You may be quite surethat it hides a solid steel casket which the best tools would have noeasy job to cut through. That little moulding you see to the right canbe easily pushed aside."
Here Juve, with the precision of an expert, set the woodwork in motionand showed the astonished Fandor a scarcely visible key-hole.
"Now, let's put out the light and hide ourselves behind the curtains.Luckily they are far enough from the window for our presence not to benoticed."
For about an hour the men remained motionless, then, weary of standing,they squatted on the floor. Each had his revolver ready to hand.
Ten had just struck from a distant clock when suddenly a slight soundreached their attentive ears.
The two had whiled away the time of waiting by drilling the curtainswith a small penknife. These holes were invisible at a distance, butenabled them to see what was going on in the room.
The noise continued, slow and measured; some one was walking about inthe adjacent rooms without any attempt to disguise the sound. EvidentlyLoupart believed himself quite alone in the house of the absent doctor.
The
steps drew nearer, and Fandor, in spite of his courage, felt therapid beating of his heart. The handle of the door leading from the hallto the study was turned, and some person entered the room.
There was an instant of silence, and then the desk was suddenly lit up.The new-comer had found the switch. But he was not Loupart.
He seemed a man of forty and wore a brown beard, brushed fan-shape; anoticeable baldness heightened his forehead. On his strongly arched nosea double eye-glass was balanced. Suddenly, having looked at the clockwhich marked half-past eleven, he began to loosen his tie and unbuttonhis waistcoat and then went out, leaving the study lit as if intendingto come back.
"It's Chaleck!" exclaimed Fandor.
"Just so," replied the detective. "And this complicates matters; we mayhave to protect him as well as his safe."
Indeed, Juve's first impulse was to go straight to Doctor Chaleck,apprise him of the situation, and, under his guidance, search the housethoroughly. But that would have put Loupart on the alert. It would betaking too great a chance. If Juve should lay hands on him outside ofChaleck's house he would have no right to hold him. For the subtle powerof Loupart, that well-loved hooligan of the purlieus of Paris, lay inhis remaining constantly a source of fear, always a suspect without everbeing caught with the goods.
Coming back to his first idea of insuring Chaleck's safety, Juve said tohimself: "The doctor is coming back here, that's sure, and we mustprotect him without his knowing it. That is the best plan for thepresent."
Sure enough after an absence of ten minutes Chaleck returned to thestudy and seated himself at his desk. He had now changed into hispajamas.
Time passed.
When the little Empire time piece which decorated the mantel struckthree, Fandor, for all his anxiety, could not repress a yawn: the nightwas long and thus far had been devoid of incidents. From theirhiding-place, he and Juve kept an eye on Doctor Chaleck. When did theman sleep?
Nothing in the physician's countenance betrayed the slightest weariness.He examined numerous documents spread out on the desk, and also wrote aletter which he sealed by lighting a candle and melting some wax. Helingered a good twenty minutes afterwards, then finally put out thelights and left the room.
The room was now in total darkness. The journalist and the detectivelistened a few moments longer as a precaution, but nothing happened tobreak the hush of the waning night.
Half an hour more and the outlines of the two would be visible on thethin curtains. It was high time to be off.
Fandor and Juve rose with difficulty to their feet, so cramped weretheir legs from the enforced rigidity.
"What now?" asked Fandor.
"Listen!" Juve abruptly gripped the other's arm as a fresh noise came totheir ears. This time it was not the footsteps of a man walkingcarelessly, but weird creakings, sly gropings. The noise stopped, beganagain and again stopped. Where did it come from?
"This room is a mass of hangings," muttered Juve.
"It's impossible to locate those sounds or determine their origin."
"You would suppose," began Fandor----
But he stopped short. The door had opened, the light was switched onand Doctor Chaleck appeared once more, probably disturbed in his sleepby the mysterious noises.
Chaleck gave a quick glance round the room, and then, to theconsternation of the two men, he took a few steps toward the window,revolver in hand. At this moment dull creakings were heard, apparentlycoming from the landing. Chaleck turned quickly, and, leaving the dooropen, went out. An increase of light indicated that the other rooms inthe house were being searched, and as the lights were gradually switchedoff again, it was apparent that Chaleck was concluding his domiciliaryvisit without having noticed anything abnormal.
The two remained still for an hour longer, although they had heardChaleck go back to his room and lock himself into it.
Meantime the daylight was growing brighter, and in a little while theneighbourhood would be awake.
"We must slip out," decreed Juve, as he turned the hasp of the windowwith infinite care and set it ajar to reach the balcony.
A few moments later Juve had shed his disguise and the two men drewbreath in the middle of the Place Pigalle, having fled ignominiouslylike common criminals.