Maurice Leblanc

“ The prospect of a new duel with Arsène Lupin delighted him; and he rubbed his hands with the contented air of a man preparing to taste untold joys.
"At last," exclaimed Wilson, "we shall feel that we're alive!"
And he rubbed his hands with the same contented air.
At the station, Shears took the rugs, and, followed by Wilson carrying the bags—each his burden!—handed the tickets to the collector and walked gaily into the street.
"A fine day, Wilson.... Sunshine!... Paris is dressed in her best to receive us."
"What a crowd!"
"So much the better, Wilson: we stand less chance of being noticed. ”

“ That evening the papers contained the news that Mlle. Gerbois had been kidnapped.
The most delightful factor in what I may call the Arsène Lupin entertainment is the eminently ludicrous part played by the police. Everything passes outside their knowledge. Lupin speaks, writes, warns, orders, threatens, carries out his plans, as though there were no police, no detectives, no magistrates, no impediment of any kind in existence. They seem of no account to him whatever. ”

“ That I am a sorcerer?"
"No, but I have seen you perform such marvels!"
"No one is able to perform marvels.... I no more than another. I make reflections, deductions, conclusions, but I don't make guesses. Only fools make guesses."
Wilson adopted the modest attitude of a beaten dog and did his best, lest he should be a fool, not to guess why Shears was striding angrily up and down the room. ”

“ Shears, I should find it difficult to tell you! Perhaps we just thought it amusing to have a hiding-place of this kind."
"Did nobody know of it?"
"Nobody."
"Except, of course, the thief," objected Shears. "But for that, he would not have taken the trouble to steal the Jewish lamp."
"Obviously. But how could he know of it, seeing that it was by an accident that we discovered the secret mechanism of the lamp?"
"The same accident may have revealed it to somebody else: a servant ... a visitor to the house.... But let us continue: have you informed the police?" ”

“ As for the desk, he had bought it for forty francs at Chevreuse, at the sale of a person deceased, and he considered that he had re-sold it at a fair price. A persistent inquiry revealed nothing further.
But M. Gerbois remained convinced that he had suffered an enormous loss. A fortune must have been concealed in some secret drawer and that was why the young man, knowing of the hiding-place, had acted with such decision.
"Poor father! What should we have done with the fortune?" Suzanne kept saying.
"What! Why, with that for your dowry, you could have made the finest match going!" ”

“ Arsène Lupin and his lady friend."
"But what next? You surely don't imagine they're hiding up the chimney?"
Ganimard rose to his feet, put his five soot-covered fingers on the sleeve of his superior's coat and, in a hollow, angry voice, said:
"Where would you have them be, chief? They must be somewhere. They are beings of flesh and blood, like you and me; they can't vanish into thin air."
"No; but they vanish for all that."
"Where? Where? The house is surrounded! There are men on the roof!" ”

“ The reality, a different reality, came to light, founded upon something much more solid: the reasoning faculties of a Holmlock Shears.
"It is a very serious accusation to bring against our people, Mr. Shears," said the baroness. "They are old family servants and not one of them is capable of deceiving us."
"If one of them did not deceive you, how do you explain that this letter was able to reach me on the same day and by the same post as the one you sent me?"
And he handed her the letter which Arsène Lupin had written to him. ”

“ The door opened and M. d'Imblevalle entered, followed by his wife.
Contrary to Wilson's deductions, they were both young, fashionably dressed and very lively in speech and manner. Both were profuse in thanks:
"It is really too good of you! To put yourself out like this! We are almost glad of this trouble since it procures us the pleasure...."
"How charming those French people are!" thought Wilson, who never shirked the opportunity of making an original observation.
"But time is money," cried the baron. "And yours especially, Mr. Shears. Let us come to the point! ”

“ He held out the fifty thousand francs to the professor. "Monsieur, let me give you this in memory of our pleasant meeting: it will be my wedding-present to Mlle. Gerbois."
M. Gerbois snatched at the notes, but protested:
"My daughter is not being married."
"She can't be married if you refuse your consent. But she is dying to be married."
"What do you know about it?"
"I know that young ladies often cherish dreams without Papa's consent. Fortunately, there are good geniuses, called Arsène Lupin, who discover the secret of those charming souls hidden away in their writing-desks." ”

“ They both returned to the boudoir, where Madame d'Imblevalle was waiting for them.
Shears was silent for a few minutes longer and then spoke these words:
"Ever since you began your story, monsieur le baron, I was struck by the really too simple side of the offence. To apply a ladder, remove a pane of glass, pick out an object and go away: no, things don't happen so easily as that. It is all too clear, too plain."
"You mean to say...?"
"I mean to say that the theft of the Jewish lamp was committed under the direction of Arsène Lupin."
"Arsène Lupin!" exclaimed the baron. ”

“ Holmlock Shears reflected for a few moments and resumed:
"Let us come to the theft. You say it was committed in the room where we now are?"
"Yes. Just here, between this twelfth-century Virgin and that chased-silver tabernacle, there was a little Jewish lamp. It has disappeared."
"And is that all?"
"That is all."
"Oh!... And what do you call a Jewish lamp?"
"It is one of those lamps which they used to employ in the old days, consisting of a stem and of a receiver to contain the oil. This receiver had two or more burners, which held the wicks."
"When all is said, objects of no great value." ”

“ He walked away slowly, along the shops, and looked into the windows.
"Our friend's too quiet," said Ganimard. "A fellow with a million in his pocket does not keep so quiet as all that."
"What can he do?"
"Oh, nothing, of course.... No matter, I mistrust him. It's Lupin, Lupin...."
At that moment M. Gerbois went to a kiosk, bought some newspapers, took his change, unfolded one of the sheets and, with outstretched arms, began to read, while walking on with short steps. And, suddenly, with a bound, he jumped into a motor-cab which was waiting beside the curb. ”

“ M. Gerbois did not speak, nor the governor either. But there are certain secrets which leak out without any indiscretion having been committed, and the public suddenly learnt that Arsène Lupin had had the pluck to send number 514, series 23, back to M. Gerbois! The news was received with a sort of stupefied admiration. What a bold player he must be, to fling so important a trump as the precious ticket upon the table! True, he had parted with it wittingly, in exchange for a card which equalized the chances. But suppose the girl escaped? Suppose they succeeded in recapturing his hostage? ”

“ And yet the police struggle to do their best. The moment the name of Arsène Lupin is mentioned, the whole force, from top to bottom, takes fire, boils and foams with rage. He is the enemy, the enemy who mocks you, provokes you, despises you, or, even worse, ignores you. And what can one do against an enemy like that?
According to the evidence of the servant, Suzanne went out at twenty minutes to ten. At five minutes past ten, her father, on leaving the college, failed to see her on the pavement where she usually waited for him. ”

“ Lupin followed the same road, passed through the Porte des Ternes again, and entered the house on the Place Saint-Ferdinand.
The concierge was closing the door for the night when Ganimard came up:
"You saw him, I suppose?"
"Yes, I was turning off the gas on the stairs. He has bolted his door."
"Is there no one with him?"
"No one: he doesn't keep a servant ... he never has his meals here."
"Is there no back staircase?"
"No."
Ganimard said to Shears:
"The best thing will be for me to place myself outside Lupin's door, while you go to the Rue Demours and fetch the commissary of police. ”

“ Arsène Lupin laughed:
"Yes; and you would, besides, have had the appreciable advantage of keeping the whole of number 514, series 23, for yourself."
"And you would not have thought of kidnapping my daughter, whom all this business must needs have upset."
"All what business?"
"The abduction ..."
"But, my dear sir, you are quite mistaken. Mlle. Gerbois was not abducted."
"My daughter was not abducted!"
"Not at all. Kidnapping, abduction implies violence. Now Mlle. Gerbois acted as a hostage of her own free will."
"Of her own free will!" repeated the professor, in confusion. ”

“ How can we expect to?... It would be madness on his part! He trusts us, no doubt: we are honest men, incapable of betraying him. But the danger lies elsewhere."
And M. Gerbois, shattered, with his hands on the notes, stammered:
"If he would only come, oh, if he would only come! I would give all this to have Suzanne back."
The door opened.
"Half will do, M. Gerbois."
Some one was standing on the threshold—a young man, fashionably dressed—and M. Gerbois at once recognized the person who had accosted him outside the curiosity-shop. ”

“ Wilson had an idea:
"The letter written to my friend Holmlock Shears was posted?"
"Naturally."
"Who posted it?"
"Dominique, who has been with me as my own man for twenty years," replied the baron. "Any search in that direction would be waste of time."
"Time employed in searching is never wasted," stated Wilson, sententiously. ”

“ My best wishes, Mlle. Suzanne, and kind regards to M. Philippe." He took a heavy gold hunter from his pocket. "M. Gerbois, it is now eighteen minutes to four: I authorize you to leave this room at fourteen minutes to four.... Not a moment before fourteen minutes to four.... Is it understood?"
"But they'll enter by force!" Maître Detinan could not help saying.
"You forget the law, my dear maître! Ganimard would never dare to violate the sanctity of a Frenchman's home. We should have time for a pleasant rubber. ”

“ I am sure you see something."
"Oh, so I do: a shadow ... no, two!"
"I thought so: against the railings.... See, they're moving.... Let's lose no time."
Groping and holding on to the banister, they made their way down the stairs and came to a room that opened on to the garden steps. Through the glass doors, they could see the two figures still in the same place.
"It's curious," said Shears. "I seem to hear noises in the house."
"In the house? Impossible! Everbody's asleep." ”

“ No, a thousand times no: a man and a woman do not vanish into space like the wicked genii in the fairy-tales! And, without losing courage, he continued his searchings and investigations, as though he hoped to discover them hidden in some impenetrable retreat, bricked up in the walls of the house. ”

“ At last Suzanne said:
"But, father, they will pay you all the same."
"Why? On what evidence?"
"Does it require evidence?"
"Of course!"
"And have you none?"
"Yes, I have."
"Well?"
"It was in the box."
"In the box that has disappeared?"
"Yes. And the other man will get the money."
"Why, that would be outrageous! Surely, father, you can stop the payment?"
"Who knows? Who knows? That man must be extraordinarily clever! He has such wonderful resources.... Remember ... think how he got hold of the desk...."
His energy revived; he sprang up and, stamping his foot on the floor. ”

“ But, twelve days later, M. Gerbois received a letter from Arsène Lupin, marked "Private and confidential," which worried him not a little:
Dear Sir
"The gallery is amusing itself at our expense. Do you not think that the time has come to be serious? I, for my part, have quite made up my mind.
"The position is clear: I hold a ticket which I am not entitled to cash and you are entitled to cash a ticket which you do not hold. Therefore neither of us can do anything without the other. ”

“ No doubt it was Suzanne Gerbois.
Consequently, the abduction must have taken place in broad daylight, on a busy road, in the very heart of the town! How? At what spot? Not a cry had been heard, not a suspicious movement observed.
The grocer described the car, a Peugeot limousine, 24 horse-power, with a dark blue body. Inquiries were made, on chance, of Mme. Bob-Walthour, the manageress of the Grand Garage, who used to make a specialty of motor-car elopements. She had, in fact, on Friday morning, hired out a Peugeot limousine for the day to a fair-haired lady, whom she had not seen since. ”

“ He caught the man around the body and tried to throw him. But the man turned, seized him with one hand and, with the other, plunged a knife full into his chest. Wilson gave a sigh, staggered and fell.
"Damnation!" roared Shears. "If they've done for him, I'll do for them!"
He laid Wilson on the lawn and rushed at the ladder. Too late: the man had run up it and, in company with his accomplices, was fleeing through the shrubs. ”

“ Mechanically, Shears turned the pages of the lesson-books heaped up on the table and of some others lying on the shelves of a cupboard. And suddenly a cry of joy escaped him. In a corner of the cupboard, under a pile of old exercise-books, he had found a children's album, a sort of picture alphabet, and, in one of the pages of this album, he had seen a gap.
He examined the page. It gave the names of the days of the week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and so on. The word "Saturday" was missing. Now the Jewish Lamp was stolen on a Saturday night. ”

“ Wilson looked out in his turn. Close to them, a ladder rose against the wall, leaning against the balustrade of the balcony.
"By Jove!" said Shears. "There's some one in the boudoir. That's what we heard. Quick, let's take away the ladder!"
But, at that moment, a form slid from the top to the bottom, the ladder was removed and the man who carried it ran swiftly toward the railings, to the place where his accomplices were waiting. Shears and Wilson had darted out. They came up with the man as he was placing the ladder against the railings. Two shots rang out from the other side. ”