813

"Paris!"

The journey was a real race for life or death. Lupin, thinking that Octave was not driving fast enough, took the steering-wheel himself and drove at a furious, break-neck speed. On the road, through the villages, along the crowded streets of the towns they rushed at sixty miles an hour. People whom they nearly upset roared and yelled with rage: the meteor was far away, was out of sight.

"G – governor," stammered Octave, livid with dismay, "we shall be stuck!"

"You, perhaps, the motor, perhaps; but I shall arrive!" said Lupin.

He had a feeling as though it were not the car that was carrying him, but he carrying the car and as though he were cleaving space by dint of his own strength, his own will-power. Then what miracle could prevent his arriving, seeing that his strength was inexhaustible, his will-power unbounded?

"I shall arrive because I have got to arrive," he repeated.

And he thought of the man who would die, if he did not arrive in time to save him, of the mysterious Louis de Malreich, so disconcerting with his stubborn silence and his expressionless face.

And amid the roar of the road, under the trees whose branches made a noise as of furious waves, amid the buzzing of his thoughts, Lupin, all the same, strove to set up an hypothesis. And this hypothesis became gradually more defined, logical, probable, certain, he said to himself, now that he knew the hideous truth about Dolores and saw all the resources and all the odious designs of that crazy mind:

"Yes, it was she who contrived that most terrible plot against Malreich. What was it she wanted? To marry Pierre Leduc, whom she had bewitched, and to become the sovereign of the little principality from which she had been banished. The object was attainable, within reach of her hand. There was one sole obstacle… I, Lupin, who, for weeks and weeks, persistently barred her road; I, whom she encountered after every murder; I, whose perspicacity she dreaded; I, who would never lay down my arms before I had discovered the culprit and found the letters stolen from the Emperor… Well, the culprit should be Louis de Malreich, or rather, Leon Massier. Who was this Leon Massier? Did she know him before her marriage? Had she been in love with him? It is probable; but this, no doubt, we shall never know. One thing is certain, that she was struck by the resemblance to Leon Massier in figure and stature which she might attain by dressing up like him, in black clothes, and putting on a fair wig. She must have noticed the eccentric life led by that lonely man, his nocturnal expeditions, his manner of walking in the streets and of throwing any who might follow him off the scent. And it was in consequence of these observations and in anticipation of possible eventualities that she advised Mr. Kesselbach to erase the name of Dolores from the register of births and to replace it by the name of Louis, so that the initials might correspond with those of Leon Massier… The moment arrived at which she must act; and thereupon she concocted her plot and proceeded to put it into execution. Leon lived in the Rue Delaizement. She ordered her accomplices to take up their quarters in the street that backed on to it. And she herself told me the address of Dominique the head-waiter, and put me on the track of the seven scoundrels, knowing perfectly well that, once on the track, I was bound to follow it to the end, that is to say, beyond the seven scoundrels, till I came up with their leader, the man who watched them and who commanded them, the man in black, Leon Massier, Louis de Malreich… As a matter of fact, I came up with the seven scoundrels first. Then what would happen? Either I should be beaten or we should all destroy one another, as she must have hoped, that night in the Rue des Vignes. In either case Dolores would have been rid of me. But what really happened was this: I captured the seven scoundrels. Dolores fled from the Rue des Vignes. I found her in the Broker's shed. She sent me after Leon Massier, that is to say, Louis de Malreich. I found in his house the Emperor's letters, which she herself had placed there, and I delivered him to justice and I revealed the secret communication, which she herself had caused to be made, between the two coach-houses, and I produced all the evidence which she herself had prepared, and I proved, by means of documents which she herself had forged, that Leon Massier had stolen the social status of Leon Massier and that his real name was Louis de Malreich… And Louis de Malreich was sentenced to death… And Dolores de Malreich, victorious at last, safe from all suspicion once the culprit was discovered, released from her infamous and criminal past, her husband dead, her brother dead, her sister dead, her two maids dead, Steinweg dead, delivered by me from her accomplices, whom I handed over to Weber all packed up, delivered, lastly, from herself by me, who was sending the innocent man whom she had substituted for herself to the scaffold, Dolores de Malreich, triumphant, rich with the wealth of her millions and loved by Pierre Leduc, Dolores de Malreich would sit upon the throne of her native grand-duchy… Ah," cried Lupin, beside himself with excitement, "that man shall not die! I swear it as I live: he shall not die!"

"Look out, governor," said Octave, scared, "we are near the town now… the outskirts.. the suburbs.."

"What shall I care?"

"But we shall topple over… And the pavement is greasy.. we are skidding.."

"Never mind."

"Take care… Look ahead.."

"What?"

"A tram-car, at the turn.."

"Let it stop!"

"Do slow down, governor!"

"Never!"

"But we have no room to pass!"

"We shall get through."

"We can't get through."

"Yes, we can."

"Oh, Lord!"

A crash.. outcries… The motor had run into the tram-car, cannoned against a fence, torn down ten yards of planking and, lastly, smashed itself against the corner of a slope.

"Driver, are you disengaged?"

Lupin, lying flat on the grass of the slope, had hailed a taxi-cab.

He scrambled to his feet, gave a glance at his shattered car and the people crowding round to Octave's assistance and jumped into the cab:

"Go to the Ministry of the Interior, on the Place Beauvau.. Twenty francs for yourself.."

He settled himself in the taxi and continued:

"No, no, he shall not die! No, a thousand times no, I will not have that on my conscience! It is bad enough to have been tricked by a woman and to have fallen into the snare like a schoolboy… That will do! No more blunders for me! I have had that poor wretch arrested… I have had him sentenced to death… I have brought him to the foot of the scaffold.. but he shall not mount it!.. Anything but that! If he mounts the scaffold, there will be nothing left for me but to put a bullet through my head."

They were approaching the toll-house. He leant out:

"Twenty francs more, driver, if you don't stop."

And he shouted to the officials:

"Detective-service!"

They passed through.

"But don't slow down, don't slow down, hang it!" roared Lupin. "Faster!.. Faster still! Are you afraid of running over the old ladies? Never mind about them! I'll pay the damage!"

In a few minutes, they were at the Ministry of the Interior. Lupin hurried across the courtyard and ran up the main staircase. The waiting-room was full of people. He scribbled on a sheet of paper, "Prince Sernine," and, hustling a messenger into a corner, said:

"You know me, don't you? I'm Lupin. I procured you this berth; a snug retreat for your old age, eh? Only, you've got to show me in at once. There, take my name through. That's all I ask of you. The premier will thank you, you may be sure of that.. and so I will… But, hurry you fool! Valenglay is expecting me.."

Ten seconds later, Valenglay himself put his head through the door of his room and said:

"Show the prince in."

Lupin rushed into the room, slammed the door and, interrupting the premier, said:

"No, no set phrases, you can't arrest me… It would mean ruining yourself and compromising the Emperor… No, it's not a question of that. Look here. Malreich is innocent… I have discovered the real criminal… It's Dolores Kesselbach. She is dead. Her body is down there. I have undeniable proofs. There is no doubt possible. It was she.."

He stopped. Valenglay seemed not to understand.

"But, look here, Monsieur le President, we must save Malreich… Only think.. a judicial error!.. An innocent man guillotined!.. Give your orders.. say you have fresh information.. anything you please.. but, quick, there is no time to lose.."

Valenglay looked at him attentively, then went to a table, took up a newspaper and handed it to him, pointing his finger at an article as he did so.

Lupin cast his eye at the head-line and read:

"EXECUTION OF THE MONSTER"

"Louis de Malreich underwent the death-penalty this morning.."

He read no more. Thunderstruck, crushed, he fell into the premier's chair with a moan of despair..