Read Online The Exploits of Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc - Free Book Online

everyone through the medium of the press. Toward the close of his testimony, after referring to his conversations with Arsène Lupin, he stopped, twice, embarrassed and undecided. It was apparent that he was possessed of some thought which he feared to utter. The judge said to him, sympathetically:
    “If you are ill, you may retire for the present.”
    “No, no, but—”
    He stopped, looked sharply at the prisoner, and said:
    “I ask permission to scrutinize the prisoner at closer range. There is some mystery about him that I must solve.”
    He approached the accused man, examined him attentively for several minutes, then returned to the witness-stand, and, in an almost solemn voice, he said:
    “I declare, on oath, that the prisoner now before me is not Arsène Lupin.”
    A profound silence followed the statement. The judge, nonplused for a moment, exclaimed:
    “Ah! What do you mean? That is absurd!”
    The detective continued:
    “At first sight there is a certain resemblance, but if you carefully consider the nose, the mouth, the hair, the color of skin, you will see that it is not Arsène Lupin. And the eyes! Did he ever have those alcoholic eyes!”
    “Come, come, witness! What do you mean? Do you pretend to say that we are trying the wrong man?”
    “In my opinion, yes. Arsène Lupin has, in some manner, contrived to put this poor devil in his place, unless this man is a willing accomplice.”
    This dramatic dénouement caused much laughter and excitement amongst the spectators. The judge adjourned the trial, and sent for Mon. Bouvier, the gaoler, and guards employed in the prison.
    When the trial was resumed, Mon. Bouvier and the gaoler examined the accused and declared that there was only a very slight resemblance between the prisoner and Arsène Lupin.
    “Well, then!” exclaimed the judge, “who is this man? Where does he come from? What is he in prison for?”
    Two of the prison-guards were called and both of them declared that the prisoner was Arsène Lupin. The judged breathed once more.
    But one of the guards then said:
    “Yes, yes, I think it is he.”
    “What!” cried the judge, impatiently, “you *think* it is he! What do you mean by that?”
    “Well, I saw very little of the prisoner. He was placed in my charge in the evening and, for two months, he seldom stirred, but laid on his bed with his face to the wall.”
    “What about the time prior to those two months?”
    “Before that he occupied a cell in another part of the prison. He was not in cell 24.”
    Here the head gaoler interrupted, and said:
    “We changed him to another cell after his attempted escape.”
    “But you, monsieur, you have seen him during those two months?”
    “I had no occasion to see him. He was always quiet and orderly.”
    “And this prisoner is not Arsène Lupin?”
    “No.”
    “Then who is he?” demanded the judge.
    “I do not know.”
    “Then we have before us a man who was substituted for Arsène Lupin, two months ago. How do you explain that?”
    “I cannot.”
    In absolute despair, the judge turned to the accused and addressed him in a conciliatory tone:
    “Prisoner, can you tell me how, and since when, you became an inmate of the Prison de la Santé?”
    The engaging manner of the judge was calculated to disarm the mistrust and awaken the understanding of the accused man. He tried to reply. Finally, under clever and gentle questioning, he succeeded in framing a few phrases from which the following story was gleaned: Two months ago he had been taken to the Dépôt, examined and released. As he was leaving the building, a free man, he was seized by two guards and placed in the prison-van. Since then he had occupied cell 24. He was contented there, plenty to eat, and he slept well—so he did not complain.
    All that seemed probable; and, amidst the mirth and excitement of the spectators, the judge adjourned the trial until the story could be investigated and verified.
    The following facts were at once