"I fastened the shutters and doors, came up here and undressed."
"Are you in the habit of bolting yourself into your room?"
"Yes, I lock my door every evening."
"What time was it when you went to bed?"
"Ten at latest."
"And then?"
"Then I went fast asleep, but in the middle of the night I was waked by a strange noise. It sounded like a scratching at my door. I gave a shout and banged my fist on the part.i.tion."
"Why?" asked Juve, surprised.
The American explained:
"I thought the scratching came from rats, and I simply made a noise to frighten them away. Then, the sound having ceased, I fell asleep again."
"And afterwards?"
"I was waked again by the sound of stealthy footsteps on the landing of the first floor."
"This time you went to see?"
"I meant to do so, I was about to get up. I had put out my arm to get my matches and revolver, when suddenly I felt a weight on my bed and then I was corded, bound like a sausage, my arms tight to my body! For ten minutes I struggled with all the power of my muscles against a frightful and mysterious grip which continually grew tighter."
"A la.s.so!" suggested Doctor Pla.s.sin in a low voice.
"Were you able to determine the nature of the thing that was gripping you?" asked Juve.
"I don"t know. I remember feeling at the touch of the thing a marked sensation of dampness and cold."
"A wetted la.s.so, exactly. A rope dipped in water tautens of itself,"
remarked the doctor.
"You had to make a great effort to prevent being crushed or broken?"
"A more than human effort, Mr. Inspector, as the doctor has witnessed; if I had not muscles of steel and exceptional strength I should have been flattened."
"Good--good," applauded Juve. "That"s exactly it!"
"Really! You think so?" queried the American with a touch of sarcasm.
Juve smilingly apologised. His approval meant no more than that the statements of the victim coincided with the theories he had formed. And indeed he saw clearly in the unsuccessful attempt on the American and the achieved killing of Lady Beltham a common way of going to work, the same process. Undoubtedly the American owed it to his robust physique that he got off but slightly scathed, whereas the hapless woman had been totally crushed.
The similarity of the two crimes allowed Juve to make further inductions. He reckoned that it was not by chance that Dixon had met Josephine at the "Crocodile" two nights before, while the presence of both Chaleck and Loupart in that establishment was still less accidental. And already he felt pleased at the thought that he knew almost to a certainty the villains to whom this fresh crime must be ascribed. They had wanted to get rid of Dixon, that was sure, and by a process still unknown to Juve, but which he would soon discover. They had rendered the pugilist helpless while they were robbing him.
"Had you a large sum of money in your safe?" he asked.
The American gave a violent start.
"They"ve burgled me! Tell me, sir, tell me quickly!"
Juve nodded in the affirmative. Dixon stammered feebly:
"Four thousand pounds! They"ve taken four thousand pounds from me! I received the sum a few days ago!"
"Gently, gently!" observed the doctor. "You will make yourself feverish and I shall have to stop the interview."
Juve put in:
"I only want a few moments more, doctor. It is important." Then, turning to Dixon, he resumed: "How did your struggle with the mysterious pressure end?"
"After about ten minutes I felt my bands relaxing. In a short while I was free; I heard no more, but suffered such great pain that I fell back in bed and either slept or fainted."
"Then you did not get up at all?"
"No."
"And the door of your room to the landing remained locked all night?"
"Yes, all night."
"How about this broken gla.s.s in your window? Those revolver shots at six in the morning?"
"It was I, firing from my bed to make a noise and bring some one here."
"I thought as much," said Juve, as he went down on all fours and proceeded to examine the carpeting of the room between the bed and the door, a distance of some seven feet. The carpet, of very close fabric, afforded no trace, but on a white bearskin rug the detective noted in places tufts of hair glued together as if something moist and sticky had pa.s.sed over it. He cut off one of these tufts and shut it carefully in his pocketbook. He then went to the door which was hidden by a velvet curtain. He could not suppress a cry of amazement. In the lower panel of the door a round hole had been made about six or eight inches in diameter. It was four inches above the floor, and might have been made for a cat.
"Did you have that hole made in the door?" asked Juve.
"No. I don"t know what it is," replied the American.
"Neither do I," rejoined Juve, "but I have an idea." Doctor Pla.s.sin was jubilant.
"There you are!" he cried. "A la.s.so! And it was thrust in by that hole."
Through the window, Verdier called:
"M. Inspector, the charwoman is coming."
Juve looked at his watch.
"Half-past nine. I will see her in a minute."