Read Online The Misadventure of Shelrock Holmes by Anthology - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anthology
Tags: Detective and Mystery Stories, Holmes, Sir, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction, 1859-1930, Arthur Conan, Doyle
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it?" "Tomorrow, or some other day." "And then?"
"Arsene Lupin would have been caught in a trap." "And my things . . ." "Would not have been carried off." "My things are here." "Here?" "They were brought back at three o'clock."
"By Lupin?"
"By a quartermaster sergeant, in two military wagons!' 1 Holmlock Shears violently thrust his cap down upon his head and adjusted his bag; but Devanne, in a fever of excitement, exclaimed: "What are you doing?" "I am going." "Why should you?" "Your things are here. Arsene Lupin is gone. There is nothing
left for me to do."
"Why, my dear sir, I simply can't get on without you. What happened last night may be repeated tomorrow, seeing that we know nothing of the most important part: how Arsene Lupin effected his entrance, how he left, and why, a few hours later, he proceeded to restore what he had stolen."
"Oh, I see; you don't know . . ." The idea of a secret to be discovered mollified Holmlock Shears. "Very well, let's look into it. But at once, please, and, as far as possible, alone."
The phrase clearly referred to the bystanders. Devanne took the hint, and showed the Englishman into the guardroom. Shears put a number of questions to him touching the previous evening, the guests who were present, and the inmates and frequenters of the castle. He next examined the two volumes of the Chronicle, compared the plans of the underground passage, made Devanne repeat the two sentences noted by the Abbe Gelis, and asked:
"You're sure it was yesterday that you first spoke of those two quotations?"
"Yesterday."
"You had never mentioned them to Monsieur Horace Velmont?"
"Never."
"Very well. You might order your car. I shall leave in an hour."
"In an hour?"
"Arsene Lupin took no longer to solve the problem which you put to him."
"I! . . . Which I put.to him?"
"Why, yes, Arsene Lupin or Velmont, it's all the same."
"I thought as much. . . . Oh, the rascal! . . ."
"Well, at ten o'clock last night you supplied Lupin with the facts which he lacked, and which he had been seeking for weeks. And during the course of the night Lupin found time to grasp these facts, to collect his gang, and to rob you of your property. I propose to be no less expeditious."
He walked from one end of the room to the other, thinking as he went, then sat down, crossed his long legs, and closed his eyes.
Devanne waited in some perplexity.
"Is he asleep? Is he thinking?"
In any case, he went out to give his instructions. When he returned
he found the Englishman on his knees at the foot of the staircase in the gallery, exploring the carpet. "What is it?"
"Look at these candle stains." "I see ... they are quite fresh . . ."
"And you will find others at the top of the stairs, and more still around this glass case which Arsene Lupin broke open, and from which he removed the curiosities and placed them on this chair." "And what do you conclude?"
"Nothing. All these facts would no doubt explain the restitution which he effected. But that is a side of the question which I have no time to go into. The essential thing is the map of the underground passage."
"You still hope . . ."
"I don't hope; I know. There's a chapel at two or three hundred yards from the castle, is there not?" "Yes, a ruined chapel, with the tomb of Duke Rollo." "Tell your chauffeur to wait near the chapel." "My chauffeur is not back yet. . . . They are to let me know. . . . So, I see, you consider that the underground passage ends at the chapel. What indication — "
Holmlock Shears interrupted him: "May I ask you to get me a ladder and a lantern?" "Oh, do you want a ladder and a lantern?" "I suppose so, or I wouldn't ask you for them." Devanne, a little taken aback by this cold logic, rang the bell. The ladder and the lantern were brought.
Orders succeeded one another with the strictness and precision of military commands: "Put the ladder against the bookcase, to the left of the word
THIBERMESNIL . . ."
Devanne did as he was asked, and the
"Arsene Lupin would have been caught in a trap." "And my things . . ." "Would not have been carried off." "My things are here." "Here?" "They were brought back at three o'clock."
"By Lupin?"
"By a quartermaster sergeant, in two military wagons!' 1 Holmlock Shears violently thrust his cap down upon his head and adjusted his bag; but Devanne, in a fever of excitement, exclaimed: "What are you doing?" "I am going." "Why should you?" "Your things are here. Arsene Lupin is gone. There is nothing
left for me to do."
"Why, my dear sir, I simply can't get on without you. What happened last night may be repeated tomorrow, seeing that we know nothing of the most important part: how Arsene Lupin effected his entrance, how he left, and why, a few hours later, he proceeded to restore what he had stolen."
"Oh, I see; you don't know . . ." The idea of a secret to be discovered mollified Holmlock Shears. "Very well, let's look into it. But at once, please, and, as far as possible, alone."
The phrase clearly referred to the bystanders. Devanne took the hint, and showed the Englishman into the guardroom. Shears put a number of questions to him touching the previous evening, the guests who were present, and the inmates and frequenters of the castle. He next examined the two volumes of the Chronicle, compared the plans of the underground passage, made Devanne repeat the two sentences noted by the Abbe Gelis, and asked:
"You're sure it was yesterday that you first spoke of those two quotations?"
"Yesterday."
"You had never mentioned them to Monsieur Horace Velmont?"
"Never."
"Very well. You might order your car. I shall leave in an hour."
"In an hour?"
"Arsene Lupin took no longer to solve the problem which you put to him."
"I! . . . Which I put.to him?"
"Why, yes, Arsene Lupin or Velmont, it's all the same."
"I thought as much. . . . Oh, the rascal! . . ."
"Well, at ten o'clock last night you supplied Lupin with the facts which he lacked, and which he had been seeking for weeks. And during the course of the night Lupin found time to grasp these facts, to collect his gang, and to rob you of your property. I propose to be no less expeditious."
He walked from one end of the room to the other, thinking as he went, then sat down, crossed his long legs, and closed his eyes.
Devanne waited in some perplexity.
"Is he asleep? Is he thinking?"
In any case, he went out to give his instructions. When he returned
he found the Englishman on his knees at the foot of the staircase in the gallery, exploring the carpet. "What is it?"
"Look at these candle stains." "I see ... they are quite fresh . . ."
"And you will find others at the top of the stairs, and more still around this glass case which Arsene Lupin broke open, and from which he removed the curiosities and placed them on this chair." "And what do you conclude?"
"Nothing. All these facts would no doubt explain the restitution which he effected. But that is a side of the question which I have no time to go into. The essential thing is the map of the underground passage."
"You still hope . . ."
"I don't hope; I know. There's a chapel at two or three hundred yards from the castle, is there not?" "Yes, a ruined chapel, with the tomb of Duke Rollo." "Tell your chauffeur to wait near the chapel." "My chauffeur is not back yet. . . . They are to let me know. . . . So, I see, you consider that the underground passage ends at the chapel. What indication — "
Holmlock Shears interrupted him: "May I ask you to get me a ladder and a lantern?" "Oh, do you want a ladder and a lantern?" "I suppose so, or I wouldn't ask you for them." Devanne, a little taken aback by this cold logic, rang the bell. The ladder and the lantern were brought.
Orders succeeded one another with the strictness and precision of military commands: "Put the ladder against the bookcase, to the left of the word
THIBERMESNIL . . ."
Devanne did as he was asked, and the
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