The first story of Doctor Chaleck"s house was only slightly raised above the ground: by the aid of a drain-pipe, Juve and Fandor managed without difficulty to hoist themselves on to the balcony.
"Here"s luck," cried Juve. "The study window is wide open!"
After putting on a pair of rubbers and making Fandor remove his boots, the two men entered the room. Juve"s first precaution was to test the two halves of the window. Finding that their hinges did not creak, he fastened the latch and drew the curtains.
"We"ll risk a light," he whispered, taking out a pocket-lamp, which lit up the room sufficiently to allow him to take his bearings.
The study was elegantly furnished. In the middle was a huge desk piled with papers, reports, and files. To the right of the desk in the corner opposite the window and half hidden by a heavy velvet curtain was the door leading to the landing. A large corner sofa occupied the s.p.a.ce of two wall panels. A set of book-shelves covered a whole wall. Here and there cosy armchairs invited meditation.
"I don"t see the famous safe," Murmured Fandor.
"That"s because your eyes aren"t trained," replied the detective. "Look at that corner sofa, topped by that richly carved bracket. Observe the thick appearance of the delicate mahogany panel. You may be quite sure that it hides a solid steel casket which the best tools would have no easy job to cut through. That little moulding you see to the right can be easily pushed aside."
Here Juve, with the precision of an expert, set the woodwork in motion and showed the astonished Fandor a scarcely visible key-hole.
"Now, let"s put out the light and hide ourselves behind the curtains.
Luckily they are far enough from the window for our presence not to be noticed."
For about an hour the men remained motionless, then, weary of standing, they squatted on the floor. Each had his revolver ready to hand.
Ten had just struck from a distant clock when suddenly a slight sound reached their attentive ears.
The two had whiled away the time of waiting by drilling the curtains with a small penknife. These holes were invisible at a distance, but enabled them to see what was going on in the room.
The noise continued, slow and measured; some one was walking about in the adjacent rooms without any attempt to disguise the sound. Evidently Loupart believed himself quite alone in the house of the absent doctor.
The steps drew nearer, and Fandor, in spite of his courage, felt the rapid beating of his heart. The handle of the door leading from the hall to the study was turned, and some person entered the room.
There was an instant of silence, and then the desk was suddenly lit up.
The new-comer had found the switch. But he was not Loupart.
He seemed a man of forty and wore a brown beard, brushed fan-shape; a noticeable baldness heightened his forehead. On his strongly arched nose a double eye-gla.s.s was balanced. Suddenly, having looked at the clock which marked half-past eleven, he began to loosen his tie and unb.u.t.ton his waistcoat and then went out, leaving the study lit as if intending to come back.
"It"s Chaleck!" exclaimed Fandor.
"Just so," replied the detective. "And this complicates matters; we may have to protect him as well as his safe."
Indeed, Juve"s first impulse was to go straight to Doctor Chaleck, apprise him of the situation, and, under his guidance, search the house thoroughly. But that would have put Loupart on the alert. It would be taking too great a chance. If Juve should lay hands on him outside of Chaleck"s house he would have no right to hold him. For the subtle power of Loupart, that well-loved hooligan of the purlieus of Paris, lay in his remaining constantly a source of fear, always a suspect without ever being caught with the goods.
Coming back to his first idea of insuring Chaleck"s safety, Juve said to himself: "The doctor is coming back here, that"s sure, and we must protect him without his knowing it. That is the best plan for the present."
Sure enough after an absence of ten minutes Chaleck returned to the study and seated himself at his desk. He had now changed into his pajamas.
Time pa.s.sed.
When the little Empire time piece which decorated the mantel struck three, Fandor, for all his anxiety, could not repress a yawn: the night was long and thus far had been devoid of incidents. From their hiding-place, he and Juve kept an eye on Doctor Chaleck. When did the man sleep?
Nothing in the physician"s countenance betrayed the slightest weariness.
He examined numerous doc.u.ments spread out on the desk, and also wrote a letter which he sealed by lighting a candle and melting some wax. He lingered a good twenty minutes afterwards, then finally put out the lights and left the room.
The room was now in total darkness. The journalist and the detective listened a few moments longer as a precaution, but nothing happened to break the hush of the waning night.
Half an hour more and the outlines of the two would be visible on the thin curtains. It was high time to be off.
Fandor and Juve rose with difficulty to their feet, so cramped were their legs from the enforced rigidity.
"What now?" asked Fandor.
"Listen!" Juve abruptly gripped the other"s arm as a fresh noise came to their ears. This time it was not the footsteps of a man walking carelessly, but weird creakings, sly gropings. The noise stopped, began again and again stopped. Where did it come from?
"This room is a ma.s.s of hangings," muttered Juve.
"It"s impossible to locate those sounds or determine their origin."
"You would suppose," began Fandor----
But he stopped short. The door had opened, the light was switched on and Doctor Chaleck appeared once more, probably disturbed in his sleep by the mysterious noises.
Chaleck gave a quick glance round the room, and then, to the consternation of the two men, he took a few steps toward the window, revolver in hand. At this moment dull creakings were heard, apparently coming from the landing. Chaleck turned quickly, and, leaving the door open, went out. An increase of light indicated that the other rooms in the house were being searched, and as the lights were gradually switched off again, it was apparent that Chaleck was concluding his domiciliary visit without having noticed anything abnormal.
The two remained still for an hour longer, although they had heard Chaleck go back to his room and lock himself into it.
Meantime the daylight was growing brighter, and in a little while the neighbourhood would be awake.
"We must slip out," decreed Juve, as he turned the hasp of the window with infinite care and set it ajar to reach the balcony.
A few moments later Juve had shed his disguise and the two men drew breath in the middle of the Place Pigalle, having fled ignominiously like common criminals.
IV
A WOMAN"S CORPSE
"Well, Juve, I suppose you"ll agree with me that Josephine"s information was a piece of pure fiction," said Fandor as they turned into the Rue Pigalle.
"You are talking nonsense," replied Juve.
"But," protested the other, "we arrived punctually at the place appointed, and most a.s.suredly nothing happened there."
"We were punctual, it is true, but so was Loupart. Josephine"s letter gave us two items of information: That her lover would be at Doctor Chaleck"s house and that he would rob the safe. Events have proved her correct in one case. As to the second, while he did not break open the safe, nothing proves that he had not that intention. He may have been frustrated by the unexpected appearance of Doctor Chaleck, or he may have discovered that we were following him."
At this moment Fandor pointed out to Juve three men who were running toward them, violently gesticulating.
"What does that mean?" he asked.
Before Juve could reply one of the men, much out of breath, inquired: "Well, chief!"