Monsieur Lecoq, v.1

ven by way of the plain, and fully four hours had been occupied by

rn, the young police agent remembered this neglect of elementary precautions, he did not feel alarmed. Considering all

aused them to lose consciousness, they might be robbed or perhaps even murdered. Hence, if any one had been attracted to this notoriously dangerous drinking-shop by the light that streamed through the open door, it coul

prints had died away, and he had regained his usual calm of mind, he made a careful inspection of the abode, and was by no means satisfied with himself. He had experimented upon Father Absinthe with his new system of investigation, just as an aspiring orator tries his powers before his least

ne thread is drawn out, the skein is not untangled. This night would undoubtedly decide his future as a detective, so he swore that if he could not conquer his vanity, he would, at least, compel himse

ictims. Without losing a moment, Lecoq began to pick up and study the various objects scattered over the floor. Some of these still remained intact. The Widow Chupin had recoiled from the expense of a tiled floor, judging the ba

of water, wine, and sugar, known round about the barrieres as vin a la Frangaise. After the salad-bowl, the two men picked up five of the weighty glasses ordinarily used in wine-shops, and which, while looking as though they would contain half a bottle, are in point of fact so thick at the bottom that they

wet marks of the five glasses, of the salad-bowl, and even of the spoons could be distinguished. Lecoq very properly regarded this circumstance as a

entirely different tones. "Then the two wo

orm to the others, but much smaller. Its smell showed that it had contained brandy. Then these two women had not been with the murderer, and therefore he could not have fought because the other men had insulted them. Thi

at his companion had become ver

been here in

ossi

had since touched it. And yet the pockets of this apron were now turned inside out; this was a proof, this was evidence. At this discovery Lecoq was overcome with c

who dared to penetrate into this abode and face the corpses of these murdered men-this person could have been none

hey discovered in the mud, just inside the marks made by Gevrol's tread, a footprint that bore a close resemblance to those left by the m

" continued he, violently. "I understand only too well. Some article that would have served to throw light on this horrible affair had been left or forgotten, or lost here, and to obtain it, to find it, he decided to run this terrible risk. And to think that it was my fault, my fault alone

er?" asked his fr

nambulist, he approached the spot to which he had pointed, stooped, pi

e setting was of marvelous workmanship. "This diamond," declared Lecoq, after

u in ea

could swe

ink" a few hours before, but the blunder he had made was

earring that the accomplice came t

ld not have sought for it in Mother Chupin's apron. No, he mu

hink," he murmured, astonished by the brilliancy of the stone, "to think that a woman who had ten thou

le, very absurd. And yet we shall see many things quite as strange if we e

tigation. There was not an inch of space that had not been explored, carefully examined and studi

e view of making his recital as intelligible as possible,

hic Om

his was not so much modesty as calculation. By hiding one's self on well-chosen occasions, one gains greater notoriety when one emerges from the shade. It was also through cunning that he gave Gevrol such a prominent position.

it was a simple report, that would be admitted under the title of an inquiry, and yet the young detective compos

carpenter, to execute such work. Not at all. With a tape-line with which to take some measurements, and a bit of board in place of a rule, his inexperienced colleague had soon accomplished the miracle. Father Absinthe's respect for Lecoq was there

e was by no means sensitive, he felt the influence of the horrors that surrounded him, and which seemed more sinister than ever in the bleak light of morning. He began to ferret in the cupboar

is not a very famous brand, to be sure; but it is just a

It must be remembered that Lecoq's future depended upon such an order. Accordingly, he took particular care to be brief, clear, and concise, to plainly indicate how his suspicions on the subject of the murder had been aroused, how they had

nt footprints in the garden, and the Widow Chupin's apron with its pockets turned inside out. There was also the murderer's revolver, with two barrels discharged and three still loaded. T

ure upon such a course. Besides his own inexperience in such a matter, there was Gevrol to be thought of, and the inspector, furious at his own mistak

this respect, and he was rereading his report, modifying a few expressions, when F

ything new?"

and two of our comrades with the commi

dissement the subject of Parisian conversation during the next few days. Why, indeed, should he be troubled about it? For Gevrol, whose

bitues of the Poivriere," he had said, adding sententiously: "If all t

derer, reported the case to the prefecture, and now he was coming-leisurely enough-accompanied by two physicians, appointed by the authorities to draw up a medico-legal report in all such cases. The party also comprised a sergeant-major of the 53d regiment of infantr

ady laughing in his sleeve over the discomfiture of the presumptuous fool who had desired to remain to glean, where he, the experienced and skilful officer, had perceived nothing. As soon as he w

ve you any great melodrama, very dark

drawing his pipe from his lips, "I am too stupid, that is perfectly under

ing of his colleague, displeased Gevrol so much that he pretende

entionally, the worthy fellow had certainly become the young police agent's godfather. From that

whose hearing was evidently im

y of his superior officer. But he cared little for that: Lecoq had become his deity, and no matter w

uth whom success might transform into a rival. He said no more, for the little party which h

ergeant-major of the 53d, who followed him, an old soldier, decorated and medaled-who had smelt powder many scores of times-was still more overcome. He grew a

d; he bowed, and assuming a respectful

the commissary, kindly; "and quite unnecessar

superior officer; I have searched the premises thoroughly, and I have ascertained many things. I have, for example, acquired the certainty that the murderer had a friend, possibly a

rt, like a man whose impulse had exceeded his discr

the commissary, "pra

r, before the station-house, at the Barriere d'Italie, where the murderer is confined, I noticed close by an individual whose appearance was not unlike that of the man described by Lecoq. This man seemed to be very

t wish them to read in his eyes how p

we shook him-we made him sit up; we told him that he could not remain there, but he immediately flew into a furious rage. He swore at us, threatened us,

the same cell with the m

y two cages in the station-house at the barriere-

"Ah! that's very unfortunate," he

"I can send one of my men to the station-hou

oldly. "If this individual is an accomplice, he has got so

tor, with an ironical air. "May one be perm

w to seize it; and that the best thing we can do now is to give over mour

ding of his report. He read it rapidly, refraining as much as possible from placing the decisive proofs in strong relief, reserving these for his own be

rugged his shoulders till they were well-nigh di

I may be mistaken; but your explanations have made me alter my opinion concerning the murderer's attitude while I was questioning

el convinced, in presence of one of those mysterious crimes the causes of which are beyond the reach of human sagacity-this strikes me as being one of tho