revolver from her pocket, cocked it and laid it on the table by the bedside.
“Brrrrr!” said the prisoner. “We might be at the Ambigu! … Fourth act: the Traitor’s Doom. And the fair sex to do the deed … The hand of the Graces … What an honour! … Mme. Dugrival, I rely on you not to disfigure me.”
“Hold your tongue, Lupin.”
“Ah, so you know? … By Jove, how clever we are!”
“Hold your tongue, Lupin.”
There was a solemn note in her voice that impressed the captive and compelled him to silence. He watched his two gaolers in turns. The bloated features and red complexion of Mme. Dugrival formed a striking contrast with her nephew’s refined face; but they both wore the same air of implacable resolve.
The widow leant forward and said:
“Are you prepared to answer my questions?”
“Why not?”
“Then listen to me. How did you know that Dugrival carried all his money in his pocket?”
“Servants’ gossip …”
“A young man-servant whom we had in our employ: was that it?”
“Yes.”
“And did you steal Dugrival’s watch in order to give it back to him and inspire him with confidence?”
“Yes.”
She suppressed a movement of fury:
“You fool! You fool! … What! You rob my man, you drive him to kill himself and, instead of making tracks to the uttermost ends of the earth and hiding yourself, you go on playing Lupin in the heart of Paris! … Did you forget that I swore, on my dead husband’s head, to find his murderer?”
“That’s what staggers me,” said Lupin. “How did you come to suspect me?”
“How? Why, you gave yourself away!”
“I did? …”
“Of course … The fifty thousand francs …”
“Well, what about it? A present …”
“Yes, a present which you gave cabled instructions to have sent to me, so as to make believe that you were in America on the day of the races. A present, indeed! What humbug! The fact is, you didn’t like to think of the poor fellow whom you had murdered. So you restored the money to the widow, publicly, of course, because you love playing to the gallery and ranting and posing, like the mountebank that you are. That was all very nicely thought out. Only, my fine fellow, you ought not to have sent me the selfsame notes that were stolen from Dugrival! Yes, you silly fool, the selfsame notes and no others! We knew the numbers, Dugrival and I did. And you were stupid enough to send the bundle to me. Now do you understand your folly?”
Lupin began to laugh:
“It was a pretty blunder, I confess. I’m not responsible; I gave different orders. But, all the same I can’t blame any one except myself.”
“Ah, so you admit it! You signed your theft and you signed your ruin at the same time. There was nothing left to be done but to find you. Find you? No, better than that. Sensible people don’t find Lupin: they make him come to them! That was a masterly notion. It belongs to my young nephew, who loathes you as much as I do, if possible, and who knows you thoroughly, through reading all the books that have been written about you. He knows your prying nature, your need to be always plotting, your mania for hunting in the dark and unravelling what others have failed to unravel. He also knows that sort of sham kindness of yours, the drivelling sentimentality that makes you shed crocodile tears over the people you victimize; And he planned the whole farce! He invented the story of the two burglars, the second theft of fifty thousand francs! Oh, I swear to you, before Heaven, that the stab which I gave myself with my own hands never hurt me! And I swear to you, before Heaven, that we spent a glorious time waiting for you, the boy and I, peeping out at your confederates who prowled under our windows, taking their bearings! And there was no mistake about it: you were bound to come! Seeing that you had restored the Widow Dugrival’s fifty thousand francs, it was out of the question that you should allow the Widow Dugrival to be
“Brrrrr!” said the prisoner. “We might be at the Ambigu! … Fourth act: the Traitor’s Doom. And the fair sex to do the deed … The hand of the Graces … What an honour! … Mme. Dugrival, I rely on you not to disfigure me.”
“Hold your tongue, Lupin.”
“Ah, so you know? … By Jove, how clever we are!”
“Hold your tongue, Lupin.”
There was a solemn note in her voice that impressed the captive and compelled him to silence. He watched his two gaolers in turns. The bloated features and red complexion of Mme. Dugrival formed a striking contrast with her nephew’s refined face; but they both wore the same air of implacable resolve.
The widow leant forward and said:
“Are you prepared to answer my questions?”
“Why not?”
“Then listen to me. How did you know that Dugrival carried all his money in his pocket?”
“Servants’ gossip …”
“A young man-servant whom we had in our employ: was that it?”
“Yes.”
“And did you steal Dugrival’s watch in order to give it back to him and inspire him with confidence?”
“Yes.”
She suppressed a movement of fury:
“You fool! You fool! … What! You rob my man, you drive him to kill himself and, instead of making tracks to the uttermost ends of the earth and hiding yourself, you go on playing Lupin in the heart of Paris! … Did you forget that I swore, on my dead husband’s head, to find his murderer?”
“That’s what staggers me,” said Lupin. “How did you come to suspect me?”
“How? Why, you gave yourself away!”
“I did? …”
“Of course … The fifty thousand francs …”
“Well, what about it? A present …”
“Yes, a present which you gave cabled instructions to have sent to me, so as to make believe that you were in America on the day of the races. A present, indeed! What humbug! The fact is, you didn’t like to think of the poor fellow whom you had murdered. So you restored the money to the widow, publicly, of course, because you love playing to the gallery and ranting and posing, like the mountebank that you are. That was all very nicely thought out. Only, my fine fellow, you ought not to have sent me the selfsame notes that were stolen from Dugrival! Yes, you silly fool, the selfsame notes and no others! We knew the numbers, Dugrival and I did. And you were stupid enough to send the bundle to me. Now do you understand your folly?”
Lupin began to laugh:
“It was a pretty blunder, I confess. I’m not responsible; I gave different orders. But, all the same I can’t blame any one except myself.”
“Ah, so you admit it! You signed your theft and you signed your ruin at the same time. There was nothing left to be done but to find you. Find you? No, better than that. Sensible people don’t find Lupin: they make him come to them! That was a masterly notion. It belongs to my young nephew, who loathes you as much as I do, if possible, and who knows you thoroughly, through reading all the books that have been written about you. He knows your prying nature, your need to be always plotting, your mania for hunting in the dark and unravelling what others have failed to unravel. He also knows that sort of sham kindness of yours, the drivelling sentimentality that makes you shed crocodile tears over the people you victimize; And he planned the whole farce! He invented the story of the two burglars, the second theft of fifty thousand francs! Oh, I swear to you, before Heaven, that the stab which I gave myself with my own hands never hurt me! And I swear to you, before Heaven, that we spent a glorious time waiting for you, the boy and I, peeping out at your confederates who prowled under our windows, taking their bearings! And there was no mistake about it: you were bound to come! Seeing that you had restored the Widow Dugrival’s fifty thousand francs, it was out of the question that you should allow the Widow Dugrival to be
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