did he kill Mr. Kesselbach?”
“I don’t know. This all remains a mystery. The utmost that we have the right to suppose is that he did not come with the intention of killing, but with the intention, he too, of taking the documents contained in the morocco note-case and the ebony box; and that, finding himself by accident in the presence of the enemy reduced to a state of helplessness, he killed him.”
Valenglay muttered:
“Yes, strictly speaking, that is possible … And, according to you, did he find the documents?”
“He did not find the box, because it was not there; but he found the black morocco note-case. So that Lupin and … the other are in the same position. Each knows as much as the other about the Kesselbach scheme.”
“That means,” remarked the premier, “that they will fight.”
“Exactly. And the fight has already begun. The murderer, finding a card of Arsène Lupin’s, pinned it to the corpse. All the appearances would thus be against Arsène Lupin … therefore, Arsène Lupin would be the murderer.”
“True … true,” said Valenglay. “The calculation seemed pretty accurate.”
“And the stratagem would have succeeded,” continued M. Lenormand, “if in consequence of another and a less favorable accident, the murderer had not, either in coming or going, dropped his cigarette-case in room 420, and if the floor-waiter, Gustave Beudot, had not picked it up. From that moment, knowing himself to be discovered, or on the point of being discovered …”
“How did he know it?”
“How? Why, through M. Formerie, the examining-magistrate, himself! The investigation took place with open doors. It is certain that the murderer was concealed among the people, members of the hotel staff and journalists, who were present when Gustave Beudot was giving his evidence; and when the magistrate sent Gustave Beudot to his attic to fetch the cigarette-case, the man followed and struck the blow. Second victim!”
No one protested now. The tragedy was being reconstructed before their eyes with a realism and a probable accuracy which were equally striking.
“And the third victim?” asked Valenglay.
“He himself gave the ruffian his opportunity. When Beudot did not return, Chapman, curious to see the cigarette-case for himself, went upstairs with the manager of the hotel. He was surprised by the murderer, dragged away by him, taken to one of the bedrooms and murdered in his turn.”
“But why did he allow himself to be dragged away like that and to be led by a man whom he knew to be the murderer of Mr. Kesselbach and of Gustave Beudot?”
“I don’t know, any more than I know the room in which the crime was committed, or the really miraculous way in which the criminal escaped.”
“Something has been said about two blue labels.”
“Yes, one was found on the box which Lupin sent back; and the other was found by me and doubtless came from the morocco note-case stolen by the murderer.”
“Well?”
“I don’t think that they mean anything. What does mean something is the number 813, which Mr. Kesselbach wrote on each of them. His handwriting has been recognized.”
“And that number 813?”
“It’s a mystery.”
“Then?”
“I can only reply again that I don’t know.”
“Have you no suspicions?”
“None at all. Two of my men are occupying one of the rooms in the Palace Hotel, on the floor where Chapman’s body was found. I have had all the people in the hotel watched by these two men. The criminal is not one of those who have left.”
“Did no one telephone while the murders were being committed?”
“Yes, some one telephoned from the outside to Major Parbury, one of the four persons who occupied rooms on the first-floor passage.”
“And this Major Parbury?”
“I am having him watched by my men. So far, nothing has been discovered against him.”
“And in which direction do you intend to seek?”
“Oh, in a very limited direction. In my opinion, the
“I don’t know. This all remains a mystery. The utmost that we have the right to suppose is that he did not come with the intention of killing, but with the intention, he too, of taking the documents contained in the morocco note-case and the ebony box; and that, finding himself by accident in the presence of the enemy reduced to a state of helplessness, he killed him.”
Valenglay muttered:
“Yes, strictly speaking, that is possible … And, according to you, did he find the documents?”
“He did not find the box, because it was not there; but he found the black morocco note-case. So that Lupin and … the other are in the same position. Each knows as much as the other about the Kesselbach scheme.”
“That means,” remarked the premier, “that they will fight.”
“Exactly. And the fight has already begun. The murderer, finding a card of Arsène Lupin’s, pinned it to the corpse. All the appearances would thus be against Arsène Lupin … therefore, Arsène Lupin would be the murderer.”
“True … true,” said Valenglay. “The calculation seemed pretty accurate.”
“And the stratagem would have succeeded,” continued M. Lenormand, “if in consequence of another and a less favorable accident, the murderer had not, either in coming or going, dropped his cigarette-case in room 420, and if the floor-waiter, Gustave Beudot, had not picked it up. From that moment, knowing himself to be discovered, or on the point of being discovered …”
“How did he know it?”
“How? Why, through M. Formerie, the examining-magistrate, himself! The investigation took place with open doors. It is certain that the murderer was concealed among the people, members of the hotel staff and journalists, who were present when Gustave Beudot was giving his evidence; and when the magistrate sent Gustave Beudot to his attic to fetch the cigarette-case, the man followed and struck the blow. Second victim!”
No one protested now. The tragedy was being reconstructed before their eyes with a realism and a probable accuracy which were equally striking.
“And the third victim?” asked Valenglay.
“He himself gave the ruffian his opportunity. When Beudot did not return, Chapman, curious to see the cigarette-case for himself, went upstairs with the manager of the hotel. He was surprised by the murderer, dragged away by him, taken to one of the bedrooms and murdered in his turn.”
“But why did he allow himself to be dragged away like that and to be led by a man whom he knew to be the murderer of Mr. Kesselbach and of Gustave Beudot?”
“I don’t know, any more than I know the room in which the crime was committed, or the really miraculous way in which the criminal escaped.”
“Something has been said about two blue labels.”
“Yes, one was found on the box which Lupin sent back; and the other was found by me and doubtless came from the morocco note-case stolen by the murderer.”
“Well?”
“I don’t think that they mean anything. What does mean something is the number 813, which Mr. Kesselbach wrote on each of them. His handwriting has been recognized.”
“And that number 813?”
“It’s a mystery.”
“Then?”
“I can only reply again that I don’t know.”
“Have you no suspicions?”
“None at all. Two of my men are occupying one of the rooms in the Palace Hotel, on the floor where Chapman’s body was found. I have had all the people in the hotel watched by these two men. The criminal is not one of those who have left.”
“Did no one telephone while the murders were being committed?”
“Yes, some one telephoned from the outside to Major Parbury, one of the four persons who occupied rooms on the first-floor passage.”
“And this Major Parbury?”
“I am having him watched by my men. So far, nothing has been discovered against him.”
“And in which direction do you intend to seek?”
“Oh, in a very limited direction. In my opinion, the
Similar Books
