The Victorian Rogues MEGAPACK ™: 28 Classic Tales

by Maurice Leblanc

  “Listen, Daspry, I have had enough of this. You can stay if it interests you. But I am going.”

  Was that simply the expression of my excited nerves? Or was it the result of a laborious task executed under a burning sun? I know that I trembled as I walked away, and that I went to bed, where I remained forty-eight hours, restless and feverish, haunted by skeletons that danced around me and threw their bleeding hearts at my head.

  Daspry was faithful to me. He came to my house every day, and remained three or four hours, which he spent in the large room, ferreting, thumping, tapping.

  “The letters are here, in this room,” he said, from time to time, “they are here. I will stake my life on it.”

  On the morning of the third day I arose—feeble yet, but cured. A substantial breakfast cheered me up. But a letter that I received that afternoon contributed, more than anything else, to my complete recovery, and aroused in me a lively curiosity. This was the letter:

  “Monsieur,

  “The drama, the first act of which transpired on the night of 22 June, is now drawing to a close. Force of circumstances compel me to bring the two principal actors in that drama face to face, and I wish that meeting to take place in your house, if you will be so kind as to give me the use of it for this evening from nine o’clock to eleven. It will be advisable to give your servant leave of absence for the evening, and, perhaps, you will be so kind as to leave the field open to the two adversaries. You will remember that when I visited your house on the night of 22 June, I took excellent care of your property. I feel that I would do you an injustice if I should doubt, for one moment, your absolute discretion in this affair. Your devoted,

  “SALVATOR.”

  I was amused at the facetious tone of his letter and also at the whimsical nature of his request. There was a charming display of confidence and candor in his language, and nothing in the world could have induced me to deceive him or repay his confidence with ingratitude.

  I gave my servant a theatre ticket, and he left the house at eight o’clock. A few minutes later, Daspry arrived. I showed him the letter.

  “Well?” said he.

  “Well, I have left the garden gate unlocked, so anyone can enter.”

  “And you—are you going away?”

  “Not at all. I intend to stay right here.”

  “But he asks you to go—-”

  “But I am not going. I will be discreet, but I am resolved to see what takes place.”

  “Ma foi!” exclaimed Daspry, laughing, “you are right, and I shall stay with you. I shouldn’t like to miss it.”

  We were interrupted by the sound of the door-bell.

  “Here already?” said Daspry, “twenty minutes ahead of time! Incredible!”

  I went to the door and ushered in the visitor. It was Madame Andermatt. She was faint and nervous, and in a stammering voice, she ejaculated:

  “My husband…is coming…he has an appointment…they intend to give him the letters.…”

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “By chance. A message came for my husband while we were at dinner. The servant gave it to me by mistake. My husband grabbed it quickly, but he was too late. I had read it.”

  “You read it?”

  “Yes. It was something like this: `At nine o’clock this evening, be at Boulevard Maillot with the papers connected with the affair. In exchange, the letters.’ So, after dinner, I hastened here.”

  “Unknown to your husband?”

  “Yes.”

  “What do you think about it?” asked Daspry, turning to me.

  “I think as you do, that Mon. Andermatt is one of the invited guests.”

  “Yes, but for what purpose?”

  “That is what we are going to find out.”

  I led the men to a large room. The three of us could hide comfortably behind the velvet chimney-mantle, and observe all that should happen in the room. We seated ourselves there, with Madame Andermatt in the centre.

  The clock struck nine. A few minutes later, the garden gate creaked upon its hinges. I confess that I was greatly agitated. I was about to learn the key to the mystery. The startling events of the last few weeks were about to be explained, and, under my eyes, the last battle was going to be fought. Daspry seized the hand of Madame Andermatt, and said to her:

  “Not a word, not a movement! Whatever you may see or hear, keep quiet!”

  Some one entered. It was Alfred Varin. I recognized him at once, owing to the close resemblance he bore to his brother Etienne. There was the same slouching gait; the same cadaverous face covered with a black beard.

  He entered with the nervous air of a man who is accustomed to fear the presence of traps and ambushes; who scents and avoids them. He glanced about the room, and I had the impression that the chimney, masked with a velvet portiere, did not please him. He took three steps in our direction, when something caused him to turn and walk toward the old mosaic king, with the flowing beard and flamboyant sword, which he examined minutely, mounting on a chair and following with his fingers the outlines of the shoulders and head and feeling certain parts of the face. Suddenly, he leaped from the chair and walked away from it. He had heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Mon. Andermatt appeared at the door.

  “You! You!” exclaimed the banker. “Was it you who brought me here?”

  “I? By no means,” protested Varin, in a rough, jerky voice that reminded me of his brother, “on the contrary, it was your letter that brought me here.”

  “My letter?”

  “A letter signed by you, in which you offered—-”

  “I never wrote to you,” declared Mon. Andermatt.

  “You did not write to me!”

  Instinctively, Varin was put on his guard, not against the banker, but against the unknown enemy who had drawn him into this trap. A second time, he looked in our direction, then walked toward the door. But Mon. Andermatt barred his passage.

  “Well, where are you going, Varin?”

  “There is something about this affair I don’t like. I am going home. Good evening.”

  “One moment!”

  “No need of that, Mon. Andermatt. I have nothing to say to you.”

  “But I have something to say to you, and this is a good time to say it.”

  “Let me pass.”

  “No, you will not pass.”

  Varin recoiled before the resolute attitude of the banker, as he muttered:

  “Well, then, be quick about it.”

  One thing astonished me; and I have no doubt my two companions experienced a similar feeling. Why was Salvator not there? Was he not a necessary party at this conference? Or was he satisfied to let these two adversaries fight it out between themselves? At all events, his absence was a great disappointment, although it did not detract from the dramatic strength of the situation.

  After a moment, Mon. Andermatt approached Varin and, face to face, eye to eye, said:

  “Now, after all these years and when you have nothing more to fear, you can answer me candidly: What have you done with Louis Lacombe?”

  “What a question! As if I knew anything about him!”

  “You do know! You and your brother were his constant companions, almost lived with him in this very house. You knew all about his plans and his work. And the last night I ever saw Louis Lacombe, when I parted with him at my door, I saw two men slinking away in the shadows of the trees. That, I am ready to swear to.”

  “Well, what has that to do with me?”

  “The two men were you and your brother.”

  “Prove it.”

  “The best proof is that, two days later, you yourself showed me the papers and the plans that belonged to Lacombe and offered to sell them. How did these papers come into you
r possession?”

  “I have already told you, Mon. Andermatt, that we found them on Louis Lacombe’s table, the morning after his disappearance.”

  “That is a lie!”

  “Prove it.”

  “The law will prove it.”

  “Why did you not appeal to the law?”

  “Why? Ah! Why—-,” stammered the banker, with a slight display of emotion.

  “You know very well, Mon. Andermatt, if you had the least certainty of our guilt, our little threat would not have stopped you.”

  “What threat? Those letters? Do you suppose I ever gave those letters a moment’s thought?”

  “If you did not care for the letters, why did you offer me thousands of francs for their return? And why did you have my brother and me tracked like wild beasts?”

  “To recover the plans.”

  “Nonsense! You wanted the letters. You knew that as soon as you had the letters in your possession, you could denounce us. Oh! no, I couldn’t part with them!”

  He laughed heartily, but stopped suddenly, and said:

  “But, enough of this! We are merely going over old ground. We make no headway. We had better let things stand as they are.”

  “We will not let them stand as they are,” said the banker, “and since you have referred to the letters, let me tell you that you will not leave this house until you deliver up those letters.”

  “I shall go when I please.”

  “You will not.”

  “Be careful, Mon. Andermatt. I warn you—-”

  “I say, you shall not go.”

  “We will see about that,” cried Varin, in such a rage that Madame Andermatt could not suppress a cry of fear. Varin must have heard it, for he now tried to force his way out. Mon. Andermatt pushed him back. Then I saw him put his hand into his coat pocket.

  “For the last time, let me pass,” he cried.

  “The letters, first!”

  Varin drew a revolver and, pointing it at Mon. Andermatt, said:

  “Yes or no?”

  The banker stooped quickly. There was the sound of a pistol-shot. The weapon fell from Varin’s hand. I was amazed. The shot was fired close to me. It was Daspry who had fired it at Varin, causing him to drop the revolver. In a moment, Daspry was standing between the two men, facing Varin; he said to him, with a sneer:

  “You were lucky, my friend, very lucky. I fired at your hand and struck only the revolver.”

  Both of them looked at him, surprised. Then he turned to the banker, and said:

  “I beg your pardon, monsieur, for meddling in your business; but, really, you play a very poor game. Let me hold the cards.”

  Turning again to Varin, Daspry said:

  “It’s between us two, comrade, and play fair, if you please. Hearts are trumps, and I play the seven.”

  Then Daspry held up, before Varin’s bewildered eyes, the little iron plate, marked with the seven red spots. It was a terrible shock to Varin. With livid features, staring eyes, and an air of intense agony, the man seemed to be hypnotized at the sight of it.

  “Who are you?” he gasped.

  “One who meddles in other people’s business, down to the very bottom.”

  “What do you want?”

  “What you brought here tonight.”

  “I brought nothing.”

  “Yes, you did, or you wouldn’t have come. This morning, you received an invitation to come here at nine o’clock, and bring with you all the papers held by you. You are here. Where are the papers?”

  There was in Daspry’s voice and manner a tone of authority that I did not understand; his manner was usually quite mild and conciliatory. Absolutely conquered, Varin placed his hand on one of his pockets, and said:

  “The papers are here.”

  “All of them?”

  “Yes.”

  “All that you took from Louis Lacombe and afterwards sold to Major von Lieben?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are these the copies or the originals?”

  “I have the originals.”

  “How much do you want for them?”

  “One hundred thousand francs.”

  “You are crazy,” said Daspry. “Why, the major gave you only twenty thousand, and that was like money thrown into the sea, as the boat was a failure at the preliminary trials.”

  “They didn’t understand the plans.”

  “The plans are not complete.”

  “Then, why do you ask me for them?”

  “Because I want them. I offer you five thousand francs—not a sou more.”

  “Ten thousand. Not a sou less.”

  “Agreed,” said Daspry, who now turned to Mon. Andermatt, and said:

  “Monsieur will kindly sign a check for the amount.”

  “But.… I haven’t got—-”

  “Your check-book? Here it is.”

  Astounded, Mon. Andermatt examined the check-book that Daspry handed to him.

  “It is mine,” he gasped. “How does that happen?”

  “No idle words, monsieur, if you please. You have merely to sign.”

  The banker took out his fountain pen, filled out the check and signed it. Varin held out his hand for it.

  “Put down your hand,” said Daspry, “there is something more.” Then, to the banker, he said: “You asked for some letters, did you not?”

  “Yes, a package of letters.”

  “Where are they, Varin?”

  “I haven’t got them.”

  “Where are they, Varin?”

  “I don’t know. My brother had charge of them.”

  “They are hidden in this room.”

  “In that case, you know where they are.”

  “How should I know?”

  “Was it not you who found the hiding-place? You appear to be as well informed…as Salvator.”

  “The letters are not in the hiding-place.”

  “They are.”

  “Open it.”

  Varin looked at him, defiantly. Were not Daspry and Salvator the same person? Everything pointed to that conclusion. If so, Varin risked nothing in disclosing a hiding-place already known.

  “Open it,” repeated Daspry.

  “I have not got the seven of hearts.”

  “Yes, here it is,” said Daspry, handing him the iron plate. Varin recoiled in terror, and cried:

  “No, no, I will not.”

  “Never mind,” replied Daspry, as he walked toward the bearded king, climbed on a chair and applied the seven of hearts to the lower part of the sword in such a manner that the edges of the iron plate coincided exactly with the two edges of the sword. Then, with the assistance of an awl which he introduced alternately into each of the seven holes, he pressed upon seven of the little mosaic stones. As he pressed upon the seventh one, a clicking sound was heard, and the entire bust of the King turned upon a pivot, disclosing a large opening lined with steel. It was really a fire-proof safe.

  “You can see, Varin, the safe is empty.”

  “So I see. Then, my brother has taken out the letters.”

  Daspry stepped down from the chair, approached Varin, and said:

  “Now, no more nonsense with me. There is another hiding-place. Where is it?”

  “There is none.”

  “Is it money you want? How much?”

  “Ten thousand.”

  “Monsieur Andermatt, are those letters worth then thousand francs to you?”

  “Yes,” said the banker, firmly.

  Varin closed the safe, took the seven of hearts and placed it again on the sword at the same spot. He thrust the awl into each of the seven holes. There was the same clicking sound, b
ut this time, strange to relate, it was only a portion of the safe that revolved on the pivot, disclosing quite a small safe that was built within the door of the larger one. The packet of letters was here, tied with a tape, and sealed. Varin handed the packet to Daspry. The latter turned to the banker, and asked:

  “Is the check ready, Monsieur Andermatt?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you have also the last document that you received from Louis Lacombe—the one that completes the plans of the sub-marine?”

  “Yes.”

  The exchange was made. Daspry pocketed the document and the checks, and offered the packet of letters to Mon. Andermatt.

  “This is what you wanted, Monsieur.”

  The banker hesitated a moment, as if he were afraid to touch those cursed letters that he had sought so eagerly. Then, with a nervous movement, he took them. Close to me, I heard a moan. I grasped Madame Andermatt’s hand. It was cold.

  “I believe, monsieur,” said Daspry to the banker, “that our business is ended. Oh! no thanks. It was only by a mere chance that I have been able to do you a good turn. Good-night.”

  Mon. Andermatt retired. He carried with him the letters written by his wife to Louis Lacombe.

  “Marvelous!” exclaimed Daspry, delighted. “Everything is coming our way. Now, we have only to close our little affair, comrade. You have the papers?”

  “Here they are—all of them.”

  Daspry examined them carefully, and then placed them in his pocket.

  “Quite right. You have kept your word,” he said.

  “But—-”

  “But what?”

  “The two checks? The money?” said Varin, eagerly.

  “Well, you have a great deal of assurance, my man. How dare you ask such a thing?”