The Crystal Stopper Maurice Leblanc (top 10 books to read .TXT) 📖

from your mind any idea, any fear, however obscure, of an understanding between yourself and him⁠ ⁠… of any sort of bargain⁠ ⁠…”

“I swear it.”

She looked at him with an expression of absolute security and reliance; and he, under her gaze, felt the joy of devotion and an ardent longing to restore that woman’s happiness, or, at least, to give her the peace and oblivion that heal the worst wounds:

“Come,” he said, in a cheerful tone, rising from his chair, “all will yet be well. We have two months, three months before us. It is more than I need⁠ ⁠… on condition, of course, that I am unhampered in my movements. And, for that, you will have to withdraw from the contest, you know.”

“How do you mean?”

“Yes, you must disappear for a time; go and live in the country. Have you no pity for your little Jacques? This sort of thing would end by shattering the poor little man’s nerves⁠ ⁠… And he has certainly earned his rest, haven’t you, Hercules?”

The next day Clarisse Mergy, who was nearly breaking down under the strain of events and who herself needed repose, lest she should fall seriously ill, went, with her son, to board with a friend who had a house on the skirt of the Forest of Saint-Germain. She felt very weak, her brain was haunted by visions and her nerves were upset by troubles which the least excitement aggravated. She lived there for some days in a state of physical and mental inertia, thinking of nothing and forbidden to see the papers.

One afternoon, while Lupin, changing his tactics, was working out a scheme for kidnapping and confining Daubrecq; while the Growler and the Masher, whom he had promised to forgive if he succeeded, were watching the enemy’s movements; while the newspapers were announcing the forthcoming trial for murder of Arsène Lupin’s two accomplices, one afternoon, at four o’clock, the telephone-bell rang suddenly in the flat in the Rue Chateaubriand.

Lupin took down the receiver:

“Hullo!”

A woman’s voice, a breathless voice, said:

“M. Michel Beaumont?”

“You are speaking to him, madame. To whom have I the honour⁠ ⁠…”

“Quick, monsieur, come at once; Madame Mergy has taken poison.”

Lupin did not wait to hear details. He rushed out, sprang into his motorcar and drove to Saint-Germain.

Clarisse’s friend was waiting for him at the door of the bedroom.

“Dead?” he asked.

“No,” she replied, “she did not take sufficient. The doctor has just gone. He says she will get over it.”

“And why did she make the attempt?”

“Her son Jacques has disappeared.”

“Carried off?”

“Yes, he was playing just inside the forest. A motorcar was seen pulling up. Then there were screams. Clarisse tried to run, but her strength failed and she fell to the ground, moaning, ‘It’s he⁠ ⁠… it’s that man⁠ ⁠… all is lost!’ She looked like a madwoman. Suddenly, she put a little bottle to her lips and swallowed the contents.”

“What happened next?”

“My husband and I carried her to her room. She was in great pain.”

“How did you know my address, my name?”

“From herself, while the doctor was attending to her. Then I telephoned to you.”

“Has anyone else been told?”

“No, nobody. I know that Clarisse has had terrible things to bear⁠ ⁠… and that she prefers not to be talked about.”

“Can I see her?”

“She is asleep just now. And the doctor has forbidden all excitement.”

“Is the doctor anxious about her?”

“He is afraid of a fit of fever, any nervous strain, an attack of some kind which might cause her to make a fresh attempt on her life. And that would be⁠ ⁠…”

“What is needed to avoid it?”

“A week or a fortnight of absolute quiet, which is impossible as long as her little Jacques⁠ ⁠…”

Lupin interrupted her:

“You think that, if she got her son back⁠ ⁠…”

“Oh, certainly, there would be nothing more to fear!”

“You’re sure? You’re sure?⁠ ⁠… Yes, of course you are!⁠ ⁠… Well, when Madame Mergy wakes, tell her from me that I will bring her back her son this evening, before midnight. This evening, before midnight: it’s a solemn promise.”

With these words, Lupin hurried out of the house and, stepping into his car, shouted to the driver:

“Go to Paris, Square Lamartine, Daubrecq the deputy’s!”

VI The Death-Sentence

Lupin’s motorcar was not only an office, a writing-room furnished with books, stationery, pens and ink, but also a regular actor’s dressing-room, containing a complete makeup box, a trunk filled with every variety of wearing-apparel, another crammed with “properties”⁠—umbrellas, walking-sticks, scarves, eyeglasses and so on⁠—in short, a complete set of paraphernalia which enabled him to alter his appearance from top to toe in the course of a drive.

The man who rang at Daubrecq the deputy’s gate, at six o’clock that evening, was a stout, elderly gentleman, in a black frock-coat, a bowler hat, spectacles and whiskers.

The portress took him to the front-door of the house and rang the bell. Victoire appeared.

Lupin asked:

“Can M. Daubrecq see Dr. Vernes?”

“M. Daubrecq is in his bedroom; and it is rather late⁠ ⁠…”

“Give him my card, please.”

He wrote the words, “From Mme. Mergy,” in the margin and added:

“There, he is sure to see me.”

“But⁠ ⁠…” Victoire began.

“Oh, drop your buts, old dear, do as I say, and don’t make such a fuss about it!”

She was utterly taken aback and stammered:

“You!⁠ ⁠… is it you?”

“No, it’s Louis XIV!” And, pushing her into a corner of the hall, “Listen⁠ ⁠… The moment I’m done with him, go up to your room, put your things together anyhow and clear out.”

“What!”

“Do as I tell you. You’ll find my car waiting down the avenue. Come, stir your stumps! Announce me. I’ll wait in the study.”

“But it’s dark in there.”

“Turn on the light.”

She switched on the electric light and left Lupin alone.

“It’s here,” he reflected, as he took a seat, “it’s here that the crystal stopper lives⁠ ⁠… Unless Daubrecq always keeps it by him⁠ ⁠… But no, when people have a good hiding-place, they make use of it. And this is a capital one; for none of us⁠ ⁠… so far⁠ ⁠…”

Concentrating all his attention, he examined the objects in the room; and he remembered the