Juve, then rapidly explained to the journalist the origin of this nickname, and also told him how the bandits treated him as one of themselves; how, as soon as they were convinced that he could not remember anything he had seen or heard for two hours together, they talked freely before him of their plans and doings!
The detective went on:
"I must add, my dear Fandor, that no very sensational revelations have come to me, so far, through my intimacy with this set of criminals. It seemed to me I was in the midst of common thieves, who smuggled and circulated false coin; but one thing did puzzle me--puzzles me still: these folk succeed in selling a considerable number of pounds sterling, false coin, of course, and that without my being able to discover, so far, where they sell them--who makes their market. They also sell lace smuggled from Belgium; that, however, interests me but little, and I was prepared to leave to the lower ranks of the service the duty of clearing Paris of this common-place brood of criminals; already, indeed, the regular police had arrested one of the smugglers, the Cooper, and two of his subordinate confederates; I was about to turn my back on this crew in order to give all my attention to a new trail which might put me on the track of Fantomas once more, when the Dollon affair blazed forth; and then suddenly, I meet again my Fandor, braver than ever, more perspicacious also, adroitly taking the affair in hand, bravely thrusting himself into the breach!
"Is there any connection between the Dollon affair and my band of smugglers?"
"You will appreciate the importance of this question and the reply to it in a minute, my Fandor, when you learn that the Depot warder, Nibet, is one of the most valuable confederates of the coiners, of Mother Toulouche, of that hooligan, the Beard...."
"Is it possible!" cried Fandor. "Ah, Juve, all this is so strange that I believe you are really on Fantomas" track, once more!"
Juve shook his head; then he continued:
"I have still a great deal to tell you, but I must pause a moment to say, that I ought to apologise to you for a fairly brutal act I committed on your behalf--in your best interests, as you will see...."
And to Fandor, who opened his eyes in astonishment, the detective related, in humorous fashion, the history of the famous kick he had administered--a kick wherewith Juve had removed his friend from the immediate and certain danger of a.s.sa.s.sination, at the hand and by the knife of Nibet.
Fandor could not get over it! He grasped Juve"s hands and pressed them warmly.
"My friend! My good friend!" murmured he, moved almost to tears. "If I had had the least suspicion!..."
Juve interrupted him.
"There are many more things, Fandor, you never suspected, things you ought to know.... And what is more, you seem to me to be neglecting your work badly at this very moment, Mr. Reporter! It is already one o"clock in the afternoon; and if they are counting on you to supply them with information about this affair of the place de l"Opera...."
Fandor leapt to his feet.
"It"s true!" he cried. "I had quite forgotten it!... But it is of no importance by the side of ..."
Juve interrupted.
"_The affair is serious, Fandor, attention!..._ Do you remember? It is the formula I employed on two or three occasions, when warning you, after the a.s.sa.s.sination of Jacques Dollon, after the attack on Sonia Danidoff at Thomery"s house...."
"What! It was you, Juve!" cried Fandor.
"Yes, it was ... but let us pa.s.s on! Time presses. I am going to disappear anew; but you now know where to find me, in future, and under what form, should occasion require it. Cranajour I am; Cranajour I remain--for the time being, at any rate. As to you, Fandor, be off with you at once ... and go and hatch out that article of yours!"
Our journalist rose mechanically; but Juve, thinking better of it, caught him by the arm, drew him back and pointed out the writing-table.
"Come to think of it, you know nothing about the affair, and I do: there are things which should be said, above all things, to be hinted at ...
do you wish me to give you information?... Sit yourself there, my lad: I am going to dictate your article to you!"
Our journalist, understanding the gravity of the situation, and well knowing that if Juve took this course, he had important reasons for so doing, did not say one word. He simply brought out his fountain pen, screwed it ready for action, and, with his hand resting on a pile of white paper, he waited.
Juve dictated.
"First of all, put this as your t.i.tle:
_An Audacious Theft_
"That does not tell the reader anything, but it awakens his curiosity.... Let us continue!
"Write."
XI
AN AUDACIOUS THEFT
Two hours after Juve had dictated his article to Fandor, our journalist was reading it, in proof, in the offices of _La Capitale_. His article ran thus:
"By a fortunate coincidence we found ourselves, this very morning, in the directorial office of the Barbey-Nanteuil bank, chatting with Monsieur Barbey himself, when Monsieur Nanteuil arrived, breathless, and announced to his partner that a sensational robbery had just been committed in the rue du Quatre Septembre, a robbery involving a sum of twenty millions representing a clearance recently effected by the Federated Republic.
"It seems that at ten o"clock this morning, Monsieur Nanteuil accompanied the little hand-cart used for transferring the bullion and paper money to the station, from whence it was to be despatched.
According to custom, six of the bank clerks and three plain clothes men went with Monsieur Nanteuil. But, at the very moment when the hand-cart pa.s.sed out of the place de l"Opera and turned the corner of the rue du Quatre Septembre, that is to say, at the precise moment when it was pa.s.sing the palisade, surrounding the works on the Auteuil-Opera Metropolitan line, a formidable explosion was heard, and the hand-cart, as well as the men who were drawing it, and escorting it, including Monsieur Nanteuil himself, disappeared in a deep excavation caused by the explosion, whilst a water pipe which had burst at the same moment, poured out torrents of water, flooding the surrounding pavement and roadway.
"It was then about eleven o"clock in the morning, and the rue du Quatre Septembre presented a very animated appearance. At the noise of the explosion, the pa.s.sers-by were glued to the spot, dazed, stupefied. Then exclamations broke out on all sides.
""An accident?"
""A bomb?"
"The explosion had created a veritable chasm. The first moment of stupefaction past, policeman 326 quickly organised the rescuers, and sent notice to the nearest police station. Some minutes later, the firemen arrived on the scene armed with ladders and ropes. Meanwhile, the crowd of curious onlookers was increasing with amazing rapidity.
"Monsieur Nanteuil was the first to be drawn up from the pit; by a miracle he had escaped injury; unfortunately, the clerks of the Barbey-Nanteuil bank had not got off so well; bruises, contusions, cases of severe shock, more or less serious, had to be attended to by neighbouring chemists.
"Monsieur Nanteuil, rea.s.sured as to the fate of his clerks, turned his attention to the hand-cart and its millions of bullion, and the police in charge were given to understand that it must be drawn up without delay.
"Into the pit the firemen once more descended; at first they were surprised not to find the hand-cart and its millions! No doubt, it had been covered by the ma.s.s of fallen bricks and mortar! But fireman Le Goffic, who had advanced some yards along the railway line, caught sight of it. The cart was lying upside down; but, except for a few scratches, it was found to be unbroken.
"It was immediately hauled up to the roadway. Monsieur Nanteuil at once ascertained that the seals were intact. He then gave orders that it was to be taken back to the Barbey-Nanteuil bank without delay. As the train, which was to have borne away the bullion, had left the station hours ago, Monsieur Nanteuil decided to break the seals, and place the bullion in one of the bank"s safes for the night.
"Monsieur Nanteuil"s stupefaction can be imagined when, having unsealed and opened the hand-cart, he realised that the sacks of gold had been replaced by sacks of lead!
"It was at this moment that Monsieur Barbey was informed of the fact by his half-frantic partner. We were witnesses of this dramatic scene.
"Every second was of value: instant action was the thing! Police headquarters was warned at once; and, but a few minutes had elapsed, when Monsieur Havard arrived in a taxicab to take charge of the investigations.
"Thanks to the courtesy of Monsieur Havard, we were allowed to accompany him to the stone-yards of the Metropolitan: the police were convinced that it was hereabouts that the robbery had been accomplished. We reached the spot about an hour after the explosion. The first investigations produced no result; but Monsieur Havard pursued his solitary search up one of the sidings, and had his reward. His exclamation was heard, and we hastened to the spot.... He had just found a second hand-cart, in all points similar to that he had recently examined in the courtyard of the Barbey-Nanteuil bank!
"Monsieur Havard at once realised that he had before his eyes the original hand-cart, and that the hand-cart he had seen in the bank courtyard was a clever subst.i.tute! It need scarcely be said that there is no trace of the stolen millions to be found in the original hand-cart, cast away in a siding of the Metropolitan....
"Our readers know something of the appearance presented by these lines, in course of construction on the Metropolitan railway. We have repeatedly published in _La Capitale_ details regarding the way in which the engineers and workmen supervise and execute the cutting of the pa.s.sageway on the underground. The operations in the place de l"Opera are on an enormous scale, for there is a junction here, and the soil is more undermined than elsewhere on the railway.
"At the precise spot where the explosion occurred, there are four galleries in course of construction: one is the future Auteuil-Opera line, the others either lead to existing lines, or are galleries made for the convenience of the workmen. Hand-cart number one, that is to say, the subst.i.tuted hand-cart filled with sacks of lead, was found in the pa.s.sageway of the Auteuil-Opera line, which is perfectly accessible, and would naturally be visited by the rescuers.