“Marvellous! Marvellous!” exclaimed Simenon. “The boldness of the scheme and the ingenuity of all its details are beyond criticism. But who is the detective whose name and fame served as a magnet to attract the baron and draw him into your net?”
“There is only one name could do it--only one.”
“And that is?”
“Maximilian Buchanan’s personal enemy--the most illustrious Simenon.”
“I?”
“Yourself, Simenon. And, really, it is very funny. If you go there, and the baron decides to talk, you will find that it will be your duty to arrest yourself, just as you arrested me in America. Hein! the revenge is really amusing: I cause Simenon to arrest Simenon.”
Maximilian Buchanan laughed heartily. The detective, greatly vexed, bit his lips; to him the joke was quite devoid of humour. The arrival of a prison guard gave Simenon an opportunity to recover himself. The man brought Maximilian Buchanan’s luncheon, furnished by a neighbouring restaurant. After depositing the tray upon the table, the guard retired. Buchanan broke his bread, ate a few morsels, and continued:
“But, rest easy, my dear Simenon, you will not go to Malaquis. I can tell you something that will astonish you: the Von Royston affair is on the point of being settled.”
“Excuse me; I have just seen the Chief of the Civil police.”
“What of that? Does Mon. Remos know my business better than I do myself? You will learn that Simenon--excuse me--that the pseudo-Simenon still remains on very good terms with the baron. The latter has authorized him to negotiate a very delicate transaction with me, and, at the present moment, in consideration of a certain sum, it is probable that the baron has recovered possession of his pictures and other treasures. And on their return, he will withdraw his complaint. Thus, there is no longer any theft, and the law must abandon the case.”
Simenon regarded the prisoner with a bewildered air.
“And how do you know all that?”
“I have just received the telegram I was expecting.”
“You have just received a telegram?”
“This very moment, my dear friend. Out of politeness, I did not wish to read it in your presence. But if you will permit me---”
“You are joking, Buchanan.”
“My dear friend, if you will be so kind as to break that egg, you will learn for yourself that I am not joking.”
Mechanically, Simenon obeyed, and cracked the egg-shell with the blade of a knife. He uttered a cry of surprise. The shell contained nothing but a small piece of blue paper. At the request of Maximilian he unfolded it. It was a telegram, or rather a portion of a telegram from which the post-marks had been removed. It read as follows:
“Contract closed. Hundred thousand balls delivered. All well.”
“One hundred thousand balls?” said Simenon.
“Yes, one hundred thousand francs. Very little, but then, you know, these are hard times....And I have some heavy bills to meet. If you only knew my budget....living in the city comes very high.”
Simenon arose. His ill humour had disappeared. He reflected for a moment, glancing over the whole affair in an effort to discover a weak point; then, in a tone and manner that betrayed his admiration of the prisoner, he said:
“Fortunately, we do not have a dozen such as you to deal with; if we did, we would have to close up shop.”
Maximilian Buchanan assumed a modest air, as he replied:
“Bah! a person must have some diversion to occupy his leisure hours, especially when he is in prison.”
“What!” exclaimed Simenon, “your trial, your defence, the examination--isn’t that sufficient to occupy your mind?”
“No, because I have decided not to be present at my trial.”
“Oh! oh!”
Maximilian Buchanan repeated, positively:
“I shall not be present at my trial.”
“Really!”
“Ah! my dear monsieur, do you suppose I am going to rot upon the wet straw? You insult me. Maximilian Buchanan remains in prison just as long as it pleases him, and not one minute more.”
“Perhaps it would have been more prudent if you had avoided getting there,” said the detective, ironically.
“Ah! monsieur jests? Monsieur must remember that he had the honour to effect my arrest. Know then, my worthy friend, that no one, not even you, could have placed a hand upon me if a much more important event had occupied my attention at that critical moment.”
“You astonish me.”
“A woman was looking at me, Simenon, and I loved her. Do you fully understand what that means: to be under the eyes of a woman that one loves? I cared for nothing in the world but that. And that is why I am here.”
“Permit me to say: you have been here a long time.”
“In the first place, I wished to forget. Do not laugh; it was a delightful adventure and it is still a tender memory. Besides, I have been suffering from neurasthenia. Life is so feverish these days that it is necessary to take the `rest cure’ occasionally, and I find this spot a sovereign remedy for my tired nerves.”
“Maximilian Buchanan, you are not a bad fellow, after all.”
“Thank you,” said Buchanan. “Simenon, this is Friday. On Wednesday next, at four o’clock in the afternoon, I will smoke my cigar at your house in the rue Pergolese.”
“Maximilian Buchanan, I will expect you.”
They shook hands like two old friends who valued each other at their true worth; then the detective stepped to the door.
“Simenon!”
“What is it?” asked Simenon, as he turned back.
“You have forgotten your watch.”
“My watch?”
“Yes, it strayed into my pocket.”
He returned the watch, excusing himself”
“Pardon me....a bad habit. Because they have taken mine is nor reason why I should take yours. Besides, I have a chronometer here that satisfies me fairly well.”
He took from the drawer a large gold watch and heavy chain.
“From whose pocket did that come?” asked Simenon.
Maximilian Buchanan gave a hasty glance at the initials engraved on the watch.
“J.B.....Who the devil can that be?....Ah! yes, I remember. Jules Bouvier, the judge who conducted my examination. A charming fellow!....”
Maximilian Buchanan had just finished his repast and taken from his pocket and excellent cigar, with a gold band, which he was examining with unusual care, when the door of his cell was opened. He had barely time to throw the cigar into the drawer and move away from the table. The guard entered. It was the hour for exercise.
“I was waiting for you, my dear boy,” exclaimed Buchanan, in his accustomed good humour.
They went out together. As soon as they had disappeared at a turn in the corridor, two men entered the cell and commenced a minute examination of it. One was Inspector Burdette; the other was Inspector Ruelenfant. They wished to verify their suspicion that Maximilian Buchanan was in communication with his accomplices outside of the prison. On the preceding evening, the `Grand Journal’ had published these lines addressed to its court reporter:
“Monsieur: “In a recent article you referred to me in most unjustifiable terms. Some days before the opening of my trial I will call you to account. Maximilian Buchanan.”
The handwriting was certainly that of Maximilian Buchanan. Consequently, he sent letters; and, no doubt, received letters. It was certain that he was preparing for that escape thus arrogantly announced by him.
The situation had become intolerable. Acting in conjunction with the examining judge, the chief of the Civil police, Mon. Remos, had visited the prison and instructed the gaoler in regard to the precautions necessary to insure Buchanan’s safety. At the same time, he sent the two men to examine the prisoner’s cell. They raised every stone, ransacked the bed, did everything customary in such a case, but they discovered nothing, and were about to abandon their investigation when the guard entered hastily and
said:
“The drawer....look in the table-drawer. When I entered just now he was closing it.”
They opened the drawer, and Burdette exclaimed:
“Ah! we have him this time.”
Ruelenfant stopped him.
“Wait a moment. The chief will want to make an inventory.”
“This is a very choice cigar.”
“Leave it there, and notify the chief.”
Two minutes later Mon. Remos examined the contents of the drawer. First he discovered a bundle of newspaper clippings relating to Maximilian Buchanan taken from the `Argus de la Presse,’ then a tobacco-box, a pipe, some paper called “onion-peel,” and two books. He read the titles of the books. One was an English edition of Carlyle’s “Hero-worship"; the other was a charming elzevir, in modern binding, the “Manual of Epictetus,” a German translation published at Leyden in 1634. On examining the books, he found that all the pages were underlined and annotated. Were they prepared as a code for correspondence, or did they simply express the studious character of the reader? Then he examined the tobacco-box and the pipe. Finally, he took up the famous cigar with its gold band.
“Fichtre!” he exclaimed. “Our friend smokes a good cigar. It’s a Henry Clay.”
With the mechanical action of an habitual smoker, he placed the cigar close to his ear and squeezed it to make it crack. Immediately he uttered a cry of surprise. The cigar had yielded under the pressure of his fingers. He examined it more closely, and quickly discovered something white between the leaves of tobacco. Delicately, with the aid of a pin, he withdrew a roll of very thin paper, scarcely larger than a toothpick. It was a letter. He unrolled it, and found these words, written in a feminine handwriting:
“The basket has taken the place of the others. Eight out of ten are ready. On pressing the outer foot the plate goes downward. From twelve to sixteen every day, H-P will wait. But where? Reply at once. Rest easy; your friend is watching over you.”
Mon. Remos reflected a moment, then said:
“It is quite clear....the basket....the eight compartments.... From twelve to sixteen mean from twelve to four o’clock.”
“But this H-P, that will wait?”
“H-P must mean automobile. H-P, horsepower, is the way they indicate strength of the motor. A twenty-four H-P is an automobile of twenty-four horsepower.”
Then he rose, and asked:
“Had the prisoner finished his breakfast?”
“Yes.”
“And as he has not yet read the message, which is proved by the condition of the cigar, it is probable that he had just received it.”
“How?”
“In his food. Concealed in his bread of in a potato, perhaps.”
“Impossible. His food was allowed to be brought in simply to trap him, but we have never found anything in it.”
“We will look for Buchanan’s reply this evening. Detain him outside for a few minutes. I shall take this to the examining judge, and, if he agrees with me, we will have the letter photographed at once, and in an hour you can replace the letter in the drawer in a cigar similar to this. The prisoner must have no cause for suspicion.”
It was not without a certain curiosity that Mon. Remos returned to the prison in the evening, accompanied by Inspector Burdette. Three empty plates were sitting on the stove in the corner.
“He has eaten?”
“Yes,” replied the guard.
“Burdette, please cut that macaroni into very small pieces, and open that bread-roll....Nothing?”
“No, chief.”
Mon. Remos examined the plates, the fork, the spoon, and the knife--an ordinary knife with a rounded blade. He turned the handle to the left; then to the right. It yielded and unscrewed. The knife was hollow, and served as a hiding-place for a sheet of paper.
“Peuh!” he said, “that is not very clever for a man like Maximilian. But we mustn’t lose any time. You, Burdette, go and search the restaurant.”
Then he read the note:
“I trust to you, H-P will follow at a distance every day. I will go ahead. Au revoir, dear friend.”
“At last,” cried Mon. Remos, rubbing his hands gleefully, “I think we have the affair in our own hands. A little strategy on our part, and the escape will be a success in so far as the arrest of his confederates are concerned.”
“But if Maximilian Buchanan slips through your fingers?” suggested the guard.
“We will have a sufficient number of men to prevent that. If, however, he displays too much cleverness, ma foi, so much the worse for him! As to his band of robbers, since the chief refuses to speak, the others must.”
And, as a matter of fact, Maximilian Buchanan had very little to say. For several months, Mon. Jules Bouvier, the examining judge, had exerted himself in vain. The investigation had been reduced to a few uninteresting arguments between the judge and the advocate, Maitre Danval, one of the leaders of the bar. From time to time, through courtesy, Maximilian Buchanan would speak. One day he said:
“Yes, monsieur, le judge, I quite agree with you: the robbery of the Credit Lyonnais, the theft in the rue de Babylone, the issue of the counterfeit bank-notes, the burglaries at the various chateaux, Armesnil, Gouret, Imblevain, Groseillers, Malaquis, all my work, monsieur, I did it all.”
“Then will you explain to me---”
“It is useless. I confess everything in a lump, everything and even ten times more than you know nothing about.”
Wearied by his fruitless task, the judge had suspended his examinations, but he resumed them after the two intercepted messages were brought to his attention; and regularly, at mid-day, Maximilian Buchanan was taken from the prison to the Depot in the prison-van with a certain number of other prisoners. They returned about three or four o’clock.
Now, one afternoon, this return trip was made under unusual conditions. The other prisoners not having been examined, it was decided to take back Maximilian Buchanan first, thus he found himself alone in the vehicle.
These prison-vans, vulgarly called “panniers a salade"--or salad- baskets--are divided lengthwise by a central corridor from which open ten compartments, five on either side. Each compartment is so arranged that the occupant must assume and retain a sitting posture, and, consequently, the five prisoners are seated one upon the other, and yet separated one from the other by partitions. A municipal guard, standing at one end, watches over the corridor.
Maximilian was placed in the third cell on the right, and the heavy vehicle started. He carefully calculated when they left the quai de l’Horloge, and when they passed the Palais de Justice. Then, about the centre of the bridge Saint Michel, with his outer foot, that is to say, his right foot, he pressed upon the metal place that closed his cell. Immediately something clicked, and the metal plate moved. He was able to ascertain that he was located between the two wheels.
He waited, keeping a sharp look-out. The vehicle was proceeding slowly along the boulevard Saint Michel. At the corner of Saint Germain it stopped. A truck horse had fallen. The traffic having been interrupted, a cast throng of fiacres and omnibuses had gathered there. Maximilian Buchanan looked out. Another prison-van had stopped close to the one he occupied. He moved the plate still farther, put his foot on one of the spokes of the wheel and leaped to the ground. A coachman saw him, roared with laughter, then tried to raise an outcry, but his voice was lost in the noise of the traffic that had commenced to move again. Moreover, Maximilian Buchanan was already far away.
He had run for a few steps; but, once upon the sidewalk, he turned and looked around; he seemed to scent the wind like a person who is uncertain which direction to take. Then, having decided, he put his hands in his pockets, and, with the careless air of an idle stroller, he proceeded up the boulevard. It was a warm, bright autumn day, and the cafes were full. He took a seat on the terrace of one of them. He ordered a bock and a package of cigarettes. He emptied his glass slowly, smoked one cigarette and lighted a second. Then he asked the waiter to send t
he proprietor to him. When the proprietor came, Maximilian spoke to him in a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone:
“I regret to say, monsieur, I have forgotten my pocketbook. Perhaps, on the strength of my name, you will be pleased to give me credit for a few days. I am Maximilian Buchanan.”
The proprietor looked at him, thinking he was joking. But Maximilian repeated:
“Buchanan, prisoner at the Sante, but now a fugitive. I venture to assume that the name inspires you with perfect confidence in me.”
And he walked away, amidst shouts of laughter, whilst the proprietor stood amazed.
Buchanan strolled along the rue Soufflot, and turned into the rue Saint Jacques. He pursued his way slowly, smoking his cigarettes and looking into the shop-windows. At the Boulevard de Port Royal he took his bearings, discovered where he was, and then walked in the direction of the rue de la Sante. The high forbidding walls of the prison were now before him. He pulled his hat forward to shape his face; then, approaching the sentinel, he asked:
“It this the prison de la Sante?”
“Yes.”
“I wish to regain my cell. The van left me on the way, and I would not abuse--”
“Now, young man, move along--quick!” growled the sentinel.
“Pardon me, but I must pass through that gate. And if you prevent Maximilian Buchanan from entering the prison it will cost you dear, my friend.”
“Maximilian Buchanan! What are you talking about!”
“I am sorry I haven’t a card with me,” said Maximilian, fumbling in his pockets.
The sentinel eyed him from head to foot, in astonishment. Then, without a word, he rang a bell. The iron gate was partly opened, and Maximilian stepped inside. Almost immediately he encountered the keeper of the prison, gesticulating and feigning a violent anger. Maximilian smiled and said:
Maximilian The Master Thief Page 4