Maurice Leblanc

“ And Lupin sent a copy of the document to the public prosecutor.
"I am Leon Massier," declared the prisoner, once again.
"You lie," replied Lupin. "You are Louis de Malreich, the last surviving descendant of a small French noble who settled in Germany in the eighteenth century. You had a brother who called himself Parbury, Ribeira and Altenheim, by turns: you killed your brother. You had a sister, Isilda de Malreich: you killed your sister."
"I am Leon Massier."
"You lie. You are Malreich. Here is your birth-certificate. Here are your brother's and your sister's." ”

“ Kesselbach seemed to be in no immediate danger, there was no cause for alarm.
But he was seized with a sudden fit of rage and flew at the seven scoundrels, gave a kick or two to those of the wounded who stirred, felt for his banknotes and put them back in his pocket, then gagged the men's mouths and tied their hands with anything that he could find — blind-cords, curtain-loops, blankets and sheets reduced to strips — and, lastly, laid in a row on the carpet, in front of the sofa, seven bundles of humanity, packed tight together and tied up like so many parcels:
"Mummies on toast!" he chuckled. ”

“ Lupin never hurt a fly yet!... Only, Lupin is a decent man, he can't stand vermin; and the Lupin knows his duty. I ask you, is life possible with a lot of scamps like you about? Think of it: no respect for other people's lives; no respect for property, for laws, for society; no conscience; no anything! What are we coming to? Lord, what are we coming to?"
Without even taking the trouble to lock them in, he left the room, went down the street and walked until he came to his taxi. He sent the driver in search of another and brought both cabs back to Mrs. Kesselbach's house. ”

“ Kesselbach's great scheme is being realized. All that remains for me to do is to make Waldemar swallow Pierre Leduc; and that is child's play. The banns between Genevieve and Pierre shall be published tomorrow. And it shall be the grand-duke's affianced bride that will be presented to Waldemar."
Full of glee, he started in his motor for Bruggen Castle.
He sang in the car, he whistled, he chatted to his chauffeur:
"Octave, do you know whom you have the honor of driving? The master of the world I... Yes, old man, that staggers you, eh? Just so, but it's the truth. I am the master of the world." ”

“ Not a protest, not a movement, not a word. A face of wax that neither saw nor heard. An awful vision of impassive calmness! The people in court shuddered. Their distraught imaginations conjured up a sort of supernatural being rather than a man, a sort of genie out of the Arabian Nights, one of those Hindu gods who symbolize all that is ferocious, cruel, sanguinary and pernicious.
As for the other scoundrels, the people did not even look at them, treated them as insignificant supers overshadowed by that stupendous leader. ”

“ Then he went back to the first room, carefully closed the door between the two and switched on the electric light.
"One second, my lads!" he cried. "You seem in a great hurry to get yourselves smashed to pieces!... Don't you know that Lupin's here? I'll make you dance!"
While speaking, he unfolded a screen in such a way as to hide the sofa on which Mrs. Kesselbach had been lying; and he now spread dresses and coverings over it. The door was on the point of giving way under the blows of the men outside. ”

“ Qui les pousse vers une rive
Ou l'on n'aborde qu'en mourant.
(Our days go by, adrift, adrift,
Borne along by current swift
That urges them toward the strand
Where not until we die, we land.)
"Not so bad," said a voice behind him. "Mme. Amable Tastu might have written that, or Mrs. Felicia Hemans. However, we can't all be Byrons or Lamartines!"
"You!... You!..." stammered the young man, in dismay.
"Yes, I, poet, I myself, Arsene Lupin come to see his dear friend Pierre Leduc."
Pierre Leduc began to shake, as though shivering with fever. ”

“ Lupin explained them all away. In a celebrated article, published on the morning of the trial, he took up the case from the start, revealed what lay beneath it, unravelled its web, showed Malreich, unknown to all, living in the room of his brother, the sham Major Parbury, passing unseen along the passages of the Palace Hotel and murdering Mr. Kesselbach, murdering Beudot the floor-waiter, murdering Chapman the secretary.
The trial lingers in the memory. ”

“ The object is so self-evident that Weber himself could have perceived it. You lie when you say that you will not accept a part which you do not know. You know your part quite well. It is the part which Pierre Leduc would have played were he not dead. ”

“ A shot, rousing and alarming the neighborhood, and the scoundrels would take to their heels.
"Well, no," he muttered, "no! It shall not be said that I shirked the fight. The opportunity is too good.... And, then, who says that they would run away!... There are too many of them to care about the neighbors."
He returned to Dolores' room. There was a noise downstairs. He listened and, finding that it came from the staircase, he locked the door.
Dolores was crying and throwing herself about the sofa.
He implored her:
"Are you strong enough? We are on the first floor. I could help you down. ”

“ What have I to be afraid of? He is alone."
And, leaving her, he went to the back of the shed. As he expected, he found a ladder standing against the wall which brought him to the level of the little window through which he had watched the scoundrels hold their meeting. It was the way by which Malreich had returned to his house in the Rue Delaizement.
He, therefore, took the same road, just as he had done a few hours earlier, climbed into the loft of the other coach-house and down into the garden. He found himself at the back of the villa occupied by Malreich. ”

“ They entered the room, puzzled and suspicious.
"Shut the door, Broker... we shall be more comfortable. Thanks, old man. Oh, by the way, I see the notes are gone. Therefore we're agreed. How easy it is for honest men to come to terms!" ”

“ But I want to know. Who am I?" Arsine Lupin took off his hat, bowed and said: "Hermann IV., Grand-duke of Zweibrucken-Veldenz, Prince of Berncastel, Elector of Treves and lord of all sorts of places."
*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*
Three days later, Arsene Lupin took Mrs. Kesselbach away in a motor-car in the direction of the frontier. The journey was accomplished in silence, Lupin remembered with emotion Dolores's terrified conduct and the words which she spoke in the house in the Rue des Vignes, when he was about to defend her against Altenheim's accomplices. ”

“ But this Grand-duke Hermann...."
"His Royal Highness is at present staying at Bruggen Castle, under the name of Pierre Leduc. I will supply all the necessary proofs of his identity."
That same evening, Lupin took the road back to Paris, with the intention of actively hurrying on the trial of Malreich and the seven scoundrels.
*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*
It would be wearisome to recapitulate the story of the case: the facts, down to the smallest details, are in the memory of one and all. ”