"Like what? Tell me, we needn"t stand on ceremony."
"Ah, well! You will look just like one of those silly naturalists who put all sorts of little insects under a magnifying gla.s.s, and spend their lives in watching them."
Lecoq had finished his work; and rose from his kneeling position. "You couldn"t have found a better comparison, General," said he. "I owe my idea to those very naturalists you speak about so slightingly. By dint of studying those little creatures-as you say-under a microscope, these patient, gifted men discover the habits and instincts of the insect world. Very well, then. What they can do with an insect, I will do with a man!"
"Oh, ho!" said the governor of the prison, considerably astonished.
"Yes; that"s my plan," continued Lecoq. "I want to learn this prisoner"s secret; and I will do so. That I"ve sworn; and success must be mine, for, however strong his courage may be, he will have his moments of weakness, and then I shall be present at them. I shall be present if ever his will fails him, if, believing himself alone, he lets his mask fall, or forgets his part for an instant, if an indiscreet word escapes him in his sleep, if his despair elicits a groan, a gesture, or a look-I shall be there to take note of it." The tone of resolution with which the young detective spoke made a deep impression upon the governor"s mind. For an instant he was a believer in Lecoq"s theory; and he was impressed by the strangeness of this conflict between a prisoner, determined to preserve the secret of his ident.i.ty, and the agent for the prosecution, equally determined to wrest it from him. "Upon my word, my boy, you are not wanting in courage and energy," said he.
"Misdirected as it may be," growled Gevrol, who, although he spoke very slowly and deliberately, was in his secret soul by no means convinced of what he said. Faith is contagious, and he was troubled in spite of himself by Lecoq"s imperturbable a.s.surance. What if this debutant in the profession should be right, and he, Gevrol, the oracle of the Prefecture, wrong! What shame and ridicule would be his portion, then! But once again he inwardly swore that this inexperienced youngster could be no match for an old veteran like himself, and then added aloud: "The prefect of police must have more money than he knows what to do with, to pay two men for such a nonsensical job as this."
Lecoq disdained to reply to this slighting remark. For more than a fortnight the General had profited of every opportunity to make himself as disagreeable as possible, and the young detective feared he would be unable to control his temper if the discussion continued. It would be better to remain silent, and to work and wait for success. To succeed would be revenge enough! Moreover, he was impatient to see these unwelcome visitors depart; believing, perhaps, that Gevrol was quite capable of attracting the prisoner"s attention by some unusual sound.
As soon as they went away, Lecoq hastily spread his blanket over the stones and stretched himself out upon it in such a position that he could alternately apply his eye and his ear to the aperture. In this position he had an admirable view of the cell below. He could see the door, the bed, the table, and the chair; only the small s.p.a.ce near the window and the window itself were beyond his range of observation. He had scarcely completed his survey, when he heard the bolts rattle: the prisoner was returning from his walk. He seemed in excellent spirits, and was just completing what was, undoubtedly, a very interesting story, since the keeper who accompanied him lingered for a moment to hear the finish. Lecoq was delighted with the success of his experiment. He could hear as easily as he could see. Each syllable reached his ear distinctly, and he had not lost a single word of the recital, which was amusing, though rather coa.r.s.e.
The turnkey soon left the cell; the bolts rattled once more, and the key grated in the lock. After walking once or twice across his cell, May took up his volume of Beranger and for an hour or more seemed completely engrossed in its contents. Finally, he threw himself down upon his bed. Here he remained until meal-time in the evening, when he rose and ate with an excellent appet.i.te. He next resumed the study of his book, and did not go to bed until the lights were extinguished.
Lecoq knew well enough that during the night his eyes would not serve him, but he trusted that his ears might prove of use, hoping that some telltale word might escape the prisoner"s lips during his restless slumber. In this expectation he was disappointed. May tossed to and fro upon his pallet; he sighed, and one might have thought he was sobbing, but not a syllable escaped his lips. He remained in bed until very late the next morning; but on hearing the bell sound the hour of breakfast, eleven o"clock, he sprang from his couch with a bound, and after capering about his cell for a few moments, began to sing, in a loud and cheerful voice, the old ditty: "Diogene!
Sous ton manteau, libre et content, Je ris, je bois, sans gene-"
The prisoner did not stop singing until a keeper entered his cell carrying his breakfast. The day now beginning differed in no respect from the one that had preceded it, neither did the night. The same might be said of the next day, and of those which followed. To sing, to eat, to sleep, to attend to his hands and nails-such was the life led by this so-called buffoon. His manner, which never varied, was that of a naturally cheerful man terribly bored.
Such was the perfection of his acting that, after six days and nights of constant surveillance, Lecoq had detected nothing decisive, nor even surprising. And yet he did not despair. He had noticed that every morning, while the employees of the prison were busy distributing the prisoner"s food, May invariably began to sing the same ditty.
"Evidently this song is a signal," thought Lecoq. "What can be going on there by the window I can"t see? I must know to-morrow."
Accordingly on the following morning he arranged that May should be taken on his walk at half-past ten o"clock, and he then insisted that the governor should accompany him to the prisoner"s cell. That worthy functionary was not very well pleased with the change in the usual order of things. "What do you wish to show me?" he asked. "What is there so very curious to see?"
"Perhaps nothing," replied Lecoq, "but perhaps something of great importance."
Eleven o"clock sounding soon after, he began singing the prisoner"s song, and he had scarcely finished the second line, when a bit of bread, no larger than a bullet, adroitly thrown through the window, dropped at his feet.
A thunderbolt falling in May"s cell would not have terrified the governor as much as did this inoffensive projectile. He stood in silent dismay; his mouth wide open, his eyes starting from their sockets, as if he distrusted the evidence of his own senses. What a disgrace! An instant before he would have staked his life upon the inviolability of the secret cells; and now he beheld his prison dishonored.
"A communication! a communication!" he repeated, with a horrified air.
Quick as lightning, Lecoq picked up the missile. "Ah," murmured he, "I guessed that this man was in communication with his friends."
The young detective"s evident delight changed the governor"s stupor into fury. "Ah! my prisoners are writing!" he exclaimed, wild with pa.s.sion. "My warders are acting as postmen! By my faith, this matter shall be looked into."
So saying, he was about to rush to the door when Lecoq stopped him. "What are you going to do, sir?" he asked.
"I am going to call all the employees of this prison together, and inform them that there is a traitor among them, and that I must know who he is, as I wish to make an example of him. And if, in twenty-four hours from now, the culprit has not been discovered, every man connected with this prison shall be removed."
Again he started to leave the room, and Lecoq, this time, had almost to use force to detain him. "Be calm, sir; be calm," he entreated.
"I will punish-"
"Yes, yes-I understand that-but wait until you have regained your self-possession. It is quite possible that the guilty party may be one of the prisoners who a.s.sist in the distribution of food every morning."
"What does that matter?"
"Excuse me, but it matters a great deal. If you noise this discovery abroad, we shall never discover the truth. The traitor will not be fool enough to confess his guilt. We must be silent and wait. We will keep a close watch and detect the culprit in the very act."
These objections were so sensible that the governor yielded. "So be it," he sighed, "I will try and be patient. But let me see the missive that was enclosed in this bit of bread."
Lecoq could not consent to this proposal. "I warned M. Segmuller," said he, "that there would probably be something new this morning; and he will be waiting for me in his office. We must only examine the letter in his presence."
This remark was so correct that the governor a.s.sented; and they at once started for the Palais de Justice. On their way, Lecoq endeavored to convince his companion that it was wrong to deplore a circ.u.mstance which might be of incalculable benefit to the prosecution. "It was an illusion," said he, "to imagine that the governor of a prison could be more cunning than the prisoners entrusted to him. A prisoner is almost always a match in ingenuity for his custodians."
The young detective had not finished speaking when they reached the magistrate"s office. Scarcely had Lecoq opened the door than M. Segmuller and his clerk rose from their seats. They both read important intelligence in our hero"s troubled face. "What is it?" eagerly asked the magistrate. Lecoq"s sole response was to lay the pellet of bread upon M. Segmuller"s desk. In an instant the magistrate had opened it, extracting from the centre a tiny slip of the thinnest tissue paper. This he unfolded, and smoothed upon the palm of his hand. As soon as he glanced at it, his brow contracted. "Ah! this note is written in cipher," he exclaimed, with a disappointed air.
"We must not lose patience," said Lecoq quietly. He took the slip of paper from the magistrate and read the numbers inscribed upon it. They ran as follows: "235, 15, 3, 8, 25, 2, 16, 208, 5, 360, 4, 36, 19, 7, 14, 118, 84, 23, 9, 40, 11, 99."
"And so we shall learn nothing from this note," murmured the governor.
"Why not?" the smiling clerk ventured to remark. "There is no system of cipher which can not be read with a little skill and patience; there are some people who make it their business."
"You are right," said Lecoq, approvingly. "And I, myself, once had the knack of it."
"What!" exclaimed the magistrate; "do you hope to find the key to this cipher?"
"With time, yes."
Lecoq was about to place the paper in his breast-pocket, when the magistrate begged him to examine it a little further. He did so; and after a while his face suddenly brightened. Striking his forehead with his open palm, he cried: "I"ve found it!"
An exclamation of incredulous surprise simultaneously escaped the magistrate, the governor, and the clerk.
"At least I think so," added Lecoq, more cautiously. "If I am not mistaken, the prisoner and his accomplice have adopted a very simple system called the double book-cipher. The correspondents first agree upon some particular book; and both obtain a copy of the same edition. When one desires to communicate with the other, he opens the book haphazard, and begins by writing the number of the page. Then he must find on the same page the words that will express his thoughts. If the first word he wishes to write is the twentieth on the page, he places number 20 after the number of the page; then he begins to count one, two, three, and so on, until he finds the next word he wishes to use. If this word happens to be the sixth, he writes the figure 6, and he continues so on till he has finished his letter. You see, now, how the correspondent who receives the note must begin. He finds the page indicated, and then each figure represents a word."
"Nothing could be clearer," said the magistrate, approvingly.
"If this note," pursued Lecoq, "had been exchanged between two persons at liberty, it would be folly to attempt its translation. This simple system is the only one which has completely baffled inquisitive efforts, simply because there is no way of ascertaining the book agreed upon. But in this instance such is not the case; May is a prisoner, and he has only one book in his possession, "The Songs of Beranger." Let this book be sent for-"
The governor of the Depot was actually enthusiastic. "I will run and fetch it myself," he interrupted.
But Lecoq, with a gesture, detained him. "Above all, sir," said he, "take care that May doesn"t discover his book has been tampered with. If he has returned from his promenade, make some excuse to have him sent out of his cell again; and don"t allow him to return there while we are using his book."
"Oh, trust me!" replied the governor, hastily leaving the room.
Less than a quarter of an hour afterward he returned, carrying in triumph a little volume in 32mo. With a trembling hand Lecoq turned to page 235, and began to count. The fifteenth word on the page was "I"; the third afterward, "have"; the eighth following, "told"; the twenty-fifth, "her"; the second, "your"; the sixteenth, "wishes." Hence, the meaning of those six numbers was: "I have told her your wishes."
The three persons who had witnessed this display of shrewdness could not restrain their admiration. "Bravo! Lecoq," exclaimed the magistrate. "I will no longer bet a hundred to one on May," thought the smiling clerk.
But Lecoq was still busily engaged in deciphering the missive, and soon, in a voice trembling with gratified vanity, he read the entire note aloud. It ran as follows: "I have told her your wishes; she submits. Our safety is a.s.sured; we are waiting your orders to act. Hope! Courage!"
XIX
Yet what a disappointment it produced after the fever of anxiety and expectation that had seized hold of everybody present. This strange epistle furnished no clue whatever to the mystery; and the ray of hope that had sparkled for an instant in M. Segmuller"s eyes speedily faded away. As for the versatile Goguet he returned with increased conviction to his former opinion, that the prisoner had the advantage over his accusers.
"How unfortunate," remarked the governor of the Depot, with a shade of sarcasm in his voice, "that so much trouble, and such marvelous penetration, should be wasted!"
"So you think, sir, that I have wasted my time!" rejoined Lecoq in a tone of angry banter, a scarlet flush mantling at the same time over his features. "Such is not my opinion. This sc.r.a.p of paper undeniably proves that if any one has been mistaken as regards the prisoner"s ident.i.ty, it is certainly not I."
"Very well," was the reply. "M. Gevrol and myself may have been mistaken: no one is infallible. But have you learned anything more than you knew before? Have you made any progress?"
"Why, yes. Now that people know the prisoner is not what he pretends to be, instead of annoying and hampering me, perhaps they will a.s.sist us to discover who he really is."
Lecoq"s tone, and his allusion to the difficulties he had encountered, cut the governor to the quick. The knowledge that the reproof was not altogether undeserved increased his resentment and determined him to bring this discussion with an inferior to an abrupt close. "You are right," said he, sarcastically. "This May must be a very great and ill.u.s.trious personage. Only, my dear Monsieur Lecoq (for there is an only), do me the favor to explain how such an important personage could disappear, and the police not be advised of it? A man of rank, such as you suppose this prisoner to be, usually has a family, friends, relatives, proteges, and numerous connections; and yet not a single person has made any inquiry during the three weeks that this fellow May has been under my charge! Come, admit you never thought of that."
The governor had just advanced the only serious objection that could be found to the theory adopted by the prosecution. He was wrong, however, in supposing that Lecoq had failed to foresee it; for it had never once been out of the young detective"s mind; and he had racked his brain again and again to find some satisfactory explanation. At the present moment he would undoubtedly have made some angry retort to the governor"s sneering criticism, as people are wont to do when their antagonists discover the weak spot in their armor, had not M. Segmuller opportunely intervened.
"All these recriminations do no good," he remarked, calmly; "we can make no progress while they continue. It would be much wiser to decide upon the course that is now to be pursued."
Thus reminded of the present situation of affairs, the young detective smiled; all his rancor was forgotten. "There is, I think, but one course to pursue," he replied in a modest tone; "and I believe it will be successful by reason of its simplicity. We must subst.i.tute a communication of our own composition for this one. That will not be at all difficult, since I have the key to the cipher. I shall only be obliged to purchase a similar volume of Beranger"s songs; and May, believing that he is addressing his accomplice, will reply in all sincerity-will reveal everything perhaps-"
"Excuse me!" interrupted the governor, "but how will you obtain possession of his reply?"
"Ah! you ask me too much. I know the way in which his letters have reached him. For the rest, I will watch and find a way-never fear!"
Goguet, the smiling clerk, could not conceal an approving grin. If he had happened to have ten francs in his pocket just then he would have risked them all on Lecoq without a moment"s hesitation.
"First," resumed the young detective, "I will replace this missive by one of my own composition. To-morrow, at breakfast time, if the prisoner gives the signal, Father Absinthe shall throw the morsel of bread enclosing my note through the window while I watch the effect through the hole in the ceiling of the cell."
Lecoq was so delighted with this plan of his that he at once rang the bell, and when the magistrate"s messenger appeared, he gave him half a franc and requested him to go at once and purchase some of the thinnest tissue paper. When this had been procured, Lecoq took his seat at the clerk"s desk, and, provided with the volume of Beranger"s songs, began to compose a fresh note, copying as closely as possible the forms of the figures used by the unknown correspondent. The task did not occupy him more than ten minutes, for, fearing lest he might commit some blunder, he reproduced most of the words of the original letter, giving them, however, an entirely different meaning.
When completed, his note read as follows: "I have told her your wishes; she does not submit. Our safety is threatened. We are awaiting your orders. I tremble."
Having acquainted the magistrate with the purport of the note, Lecoq next rolled up the paper, and enclosing it in the fragment of bread, remarked: "To-morrow we shall learn something new."
To-morrow! The twenty-four hours that separated the young man from the decisive moment he looked forward to seemed as it were a century; and he resorted to every possible expedient to hasten the pa.s.sing of the time. At length, after giving precise instructions to Father Absinthe, he retired to his loft for the night. The hours seemed interminable, and such was his nervous excitement that he found it quite impossible to sleep. On rising at daybreak he discovered that the prisoner was already awake. May was sitting on the foot of his bed, apparently plunged in thought. Suddenly he sprang to his feet and paced restlessly to and fro. He was evidently in an unusually agitated frame of mind: for he gesticulated wildly, and at intervals repeated: "What misery! My G.o.d! what misery!"
"Ah! my fine fellow," thought Lecoq, "you are anxious about the daily letter you failed to receive yesterday. Patience, patience! One of my writing will soon arrive."
At last the young detective heard the stir usually preceding the distribution of the food. People were running to and fro, sabots clicked noisily in the corridors, and the keepers could be heard engaged in loud conversation. By and by the prison bell began to toll. It was eleven o"clock, and soon afterward the prisoner commenced to sing his favorite song: "Diogene! Sous ton manteau, libre et content-"
Before he commenced the third line the slight sound caused by the fragment of bread as it fell upon the stone floor caused him to pause abruptly.
Lecoq, at the opening in the ceiling above, was holding his breath and watching with both eyes. He did not miss one of the prisoner"s movements-not so much as the quiver of an eyelid. May looked first at the window, and then all round the cell, as if it were impossible for him to explain the arrival of this projectile. It was not until some little time had elapsed that he decided to pick it up. He held it in the hollow of his hand, and examined it with apparent curiosity. His features expressed intense surprise, and any one would have sworn that he was innocent of all complicity. Soon a smile gathered round his lips, and after a slight shrug of the shoulders, which might be interpreted, "Am I a fool?" he hastily broke the pellet in half. The sight of the paper which it contained seemed to amaze him.
"What does all this mean?" wondered Lecoq.
The prisoner had opened the note, and was examining with knitted brows the figures which were apparently dest.i.tute of all meaning to him. Then, suddenly rushing to the door of his cell, and hammering upon it with clenched fists, he cried at the top of his voice: "Here! keeper! here!"
"What do you want?" shouted a turnkey, whose footsteps Lecoq could hear hastening along the adjoining pa.s.sage.
"I wish to speak to the magistrate."
"Very well. He shall be informed."
"Immediately, if you please. I have a revelation to make."
"He shall be sent for immediately."
Lecoq waited to hear no more. He tore down the narrow staircase leading from the loft, and rushed to the Palais de Justice to acquaint M. Segmuller with what had happened.
"What can all this mean?" he wondered as he darted over the pavement. "Are we indeed approaching a denouement? This much is certain, the prisoner was not deceived by my note. He could only decipher it with the aid of his volume of Beranger, and he did not even touch the book; plainly, then, he hasn"t read the letter."
M. Segmuller was no less amazed than the young detective. They both hastened to the prison, followed by the smiling clerk, who was the magistrate"s inevitable shadow. On their way they encountered the governor of the Depot, arriving all in a flutter, having been greatly excited by that important word "revelation." The worthy official undoubtedly wished to express an opinion, but the magistrate checked him by the abrupt remark, "I know all about it, and I am coming."
When they had reached the narrow corridor leading to the secret cells, Lecoq pa.s.sed on in advance of the rest of the party. He said to himself that by stealing upon the prisoner unawares he might possibly find him engaged in surrept.i.tiously reading the note. In any case, he would have an opportunity to glance at the interior of the cell. May was seated beside the table, his head resting on his hands. At the grating of the bolt, drawn by the governor himself, the prisoner rose to his feet, smoothed his hair, and remained standing in a respectful att.i.tude, apparently waiting for the visitors to address him.
"Did you send for me?" inquired the magistrate.
"Yes, sir."
"You have, I understand, some revelation to make to me."
"I have something of importance to tell you."
"Very well! these gentlemen will retire."
M. Segmuller had already turned to Lecoq and the governor to request them to withdraw, when the prisoner motioned him not to do so.
"It is not necessary," said May, "I am, on the contrary, very well pleased to speak before these gentlemen."
"Speak, then."
May did not wait for the injunction to be repeated. Throwing his chest forward, and his head back as had been his wont throughout his examinations, whenever he wished to make an oratorical display, he began as follows: "It shall be for you to say, gentlemen, whether I"m an honest man or not. The profession matters little. One may, perhaps, act as the clown of a traveling show, and yet be an honest man-a man of honor."
"Oh, spare us your reflections!"
"Very well, sir, that suits me exactly. To be brief, then here is a little paper which was thrown into my cell a few minutes ago. There are some numbers on it which may mean something; but I have examined them, and they are quite Greek to me."
He paused, and then handing Lecoq"s missive to the magistrate, quietly added: "It was rolled up in a bit of bread."
This declaration was so unexpected, that it struck all the officials dumb with surprise, but the prisoner, without seeming to notice the effect he had produced, placidly continued: "I suppose the person who threw it, made a mistake in the window. I know very well that it"s a mean piece of business to denounce a companion in prison. It"s a cowardly act and one may get into trouble by doing so; still, a fellow must be prudent when he"s charged with murder as I am, and with something very unpleasant, perhaps, in store for him."