Diabolical woman! What coolness! There was a woman who knew her own mind. Threats would get me nowhere with her. I must go slowly.
“Very well. Let’s dine. Then we’ll talk.”
I was certainly exasperated to think that Natalie had been able to find the hiding-place Durin couldn’t find. I had carefully hidden the necklace in a hole between the bricks and up so high that nobody would have noticed it even if the fender were taken. But that precaution hadn’t misled Natalie. She had found the necklace and was keeping it. By what right? She must give it to me... or...
The dinner wasn’t very gay. I had to hold on to myself. What could I say to Helena when she asked me for the necklace? It was only the imitation. But, imitation or not, in her eyes it was priceless. Hadn’t she advised me to hide it with the greatest care?... What was more I would have to have it the day I got the other one from around Durin’s neck. It would have to be done by ruse so Durin would not realize immediately that he had been robbed. The false necklace must be substituted for the real one. I had to have my necklace, the false one.
I kept drinking in order to acquire the easy assurance I needed to deal with this new Natalie.
“Aren’t you drinking too much?” she said, with a strange little smile. “It’s not necessary, considering the little you have to do this evening.”
Then her manner changed.
“You would like to kill me this evening, wouldn’t you, Antonin? You are furious. The only way I can win forgiveness for taking the necklace is to return it to you, isn’t it?”
“No, Natalie, that’s not what I was thinking. My interest is only that of the professional. Others hunted for the necklace, but nobody found it.”
“Oh, it’s pride, is it?” she smiled. “You’re annoyed that a poor little girl has outwitted two Mr. Flows? Still it’s not especially surprising. I had time to hunt. I knew you used to come to our room as though it were your own home... from the very first night you did it. I’m a very light sleeper and hear everything. We had nothing anyone would want to take. But when I realized that somebody else was coming, I began to wonder.”
“Somebody else? You mean Durin?”
“Naturally. I knew he had broken in.”
“How did you know, Natalie?”
“What does that matter? Suppose Victor followed Durin... or that I knew Durin’s finger-prints and that I noticed them on several pieces of furniture. Or suppose that in order to force the door he made a second hole beside the one you had made... wouldn’t that set me guessing? Or suppose anything you like, the fact remains that I began to wonder why two Mr. Flows followed each other up into my room. Probably one of them was looking for something the other had left there. I knew every nook and corner of our cubby-hole of a home. I looked and looked. Nothing hidden in the walls; nothing under the floor. The fireplace — that was the only possibility. I searched several times; no luck. I went back once more, convinced it was there, and found it.”
“That’s fine, Natalie. I’ll be very glad to get it back.”
“Oh no, Antonin dear.”
“But it’s not yours.”
“No, it’s not mine it’s true; but the pearls are my sister’s. Do you suppose for a moment I would let Clotilde be fleeced of twenty or thirty million francs?”
“But that necklace belongs to Lady Helena.”
“No, not at all. It’s a Skarlett family heirloom. Sir Archibald’s murderer stole it. But nobody can pretend Sir Archibald left it to Lady Helena. On the contrary, if Sir Archibald had died a natural death, the necklace would have passed on to Sir Philip. Well, my sister is Sir Philip’s legal wife, and he has made his will in her favour. Under any conditions, the necklace would go to her. She has a right to it. I am taking it from burglars for her. For reasons I needn’t go into now, it is not part of my plan to give it at once to my sister. I want to keep it a little while before I put it around her neck, and I assure you I am taking all precautions that no one takes it from me.”
“Natalie, I cannot tell you the whole story now, but should I take it, I swear that Clotilde will not suffer. I must have it.”
“No, Antonin dear. It’s my sister’s and no one can take it from me, not even you.”
“But what shall I answer when someone asks me for it? For they will.”
“No, I have taken precautions; no one will. Listen, Antonin, if I had not loved you, if Clotilde had not loved you, your Helena and her Durin would have been arrested long ago. I couldn’t accuse them without accusing you. You should thank God, Antonin, that we loved you.”
“Don’t ask me to believe such a story, Natalie. Was it because you loved me, and Victor loved me, and Sir Philip loved me, that none of you accused me? That’s nonsense. They would see me in prison, they would crush me without the least regret. You’re holding back something.”
“You’re awfully stupid, Antonin. I’d not hesitate a second to turn Durin and his mistress over to the police; in fact, I’d love to and furnish every proof to all the Petit-Jeans in the world, if it wouldn’t involve you.
“Neither Victor nor Sir Philip want to go to the police. Victor, because he was Durin’s accomplice; Philip, because with him it’s an affair of honour. As head of the Skarlett clan, he must wreak his own vengeance. Until recently, Victor and Sir Philip had the same goal. Then Sir Philip, having heard you talk in the private diningroom, got the idea that Victor was double-crossing him. And then Clotilde said quite ingeniously that she wouldn’t have any suspicions so far as you were concerned. She’s so innocent, that poor child! Finally, Victor, realizing that Sir Philip was beginning to distrust him, quit us, saying he would come back in three months with the proofs.”
“Proofs of what?”
“That Durin murdered Sir Archibald, of course.”
I was beginning to understand everything; but she must not guess.
I smiled. I told her that Durin was much the wiser of the two and would pull out somehow; he always did.
“We’ll see about that. Even if he outwits Victor, he’s got to reckon with me.”
“What difference does it make to you whether Durin is punished or not?” I asked.
“Durin’s fate doesn’t bother me at all. But Helena’s does. Don’t force me to tell you why again, Antonin. Would it interest you to know that I could have killed Durin... that I had him at my mercy... that I had him covered with my pistol?”
Covered with her pistol! The woman was crazy!
I must have looked at her in such amazement that she burst out laughing.
“That surprised you? Well, it’s true. I had the drop on him. I had only to pull the trigger and there would have been no more Mr. Flow. To put it another way, Lady Sherfield would have been a widow. That’s what saved Durin.”
“But when was this, Natalie, and where? Where did you see Durin? You could have killed him?”
“Yes, Antonin, I could have killed Durin. Less than four days ago.”
“Four days ago? But he’s in India!”
Mingled scorn and pity was written on Natalie’s face.
“In India! That’s what your Helena said... and you believed it? God, but you men are dumb! Durin in India! What would he be doing in India? Trying to find another Archibald Skarlett to whom to sell his wife? Antonin, you’re a terrible fool!
“Durin is rich now and can pose as an honest man. In India! How that woman can lead you around by the nose! She has probably persuaded you she was free, and that now Sir Douglas Sherfield has sailed for India, her sole thought was to be happy in loving you! And you believed that!”
Half turning in her chair, Natalie laughed so heartily that I was thoroughly annoyed.
“Where is he?” I asked sulkily. “Where is he, since you know all about him?”
“I know exactly where he was four days ago, rather four nights ago. Before that, I knew nothing. Where he is now I am not quite sure, although I have my suspicions. Four nights ago, this famous Mr. Flow was at Lion-by-the-Sea and broke into the house
of my very distinguished brother-in-law, Sir Philip Skarlett.
“Your good friend Natalie... how good a friend you don’t know... good old Natalie, she who sleeps with one eye always open... poor little Natalie, as you have always seen her... was startled by unfamiliar night sounds. She watched the intruder as he worked; she was on the point of ending his nefarious career when she realized that if Helena were made a widow her dream of marrying you would come true. And that is why Mr. Flow got away safe and sound. That was the luckiest night of his useless life.”
Dumbfounded, I listened. So Helena had lied to me? Durin was in France, every night had been near our villa! Why had he allowed Helena to remain with me?
“You are quite sure it was Durin, Natalie?”
“Absolutely sure. There are a great many Durin documents at Lion-by-the-Sea, documents and photographs. Moreover, when my burglar left, he went into the garden, where he met a lady whose every feature resembled those of a lady you know very well!”
“Natalie, I will..”
“Don’t you try anything like that! This gang is too much for you. Go away! Don’t you see they want to keep you around so you can help them when they need you? Do you think it was mere luck that you were at Luc-by-the-Sea and that you passed the château at Lion at the very time that Durin was pulling off that job? That man and that woman play a shrewd game and you’re one of their aces. Go! Leave France for a year or two.”
“Tell me, Natalie,” I said, hoping for helpful details, “do you know why they wanted to break into the château at Lion? The newspapers said they took nothing.”
“Nothing but papers — of which I have duplicates.”
“The documents and papers you just mentioned?”
“Yes. They must have thought there were copies somewhere.”
“Yes. But didn’t the papers they got reveal Sir Philip’s plans?”
“Wonderful find that must have been; what need had they to see Sir Philip’s plans in black and white? They knew that Victor was in my brother-in-law’s employ. But they didn’t know that Victor had already betrayed him to Sir Archibald. So what good was the burglary? It was dangerous; I could have killed Durin. It merely shows that Mr. Flow is pretty much worried. He’s going to be more worried! But that has nothing to do with you. If you really had any sense you would take my advice and get away from France. Then later, and soon, I hope, when these two bandits have been legally hanged, or unceremoniously strangled by Sir Philip, you can come back and take up the life of an honest man.
“As far as the necklace is concerned,” she went on dryly, “I intend to keep it. It’s not yours, you’ll admit, nor does it belong to that damnable woman. It belongs in the Skarlett family... to my sister. She shall have it at the proper time.”
Right here, I was tempted to tell her it was only an imitation; but I resisted. Somehow, I was rather pleased to think that this self-reliant woman had been duped, too.
“Come,” she said, “pay the cheque; we’re going home. I can stay only a few days in Paris and I have many things to do. It’s quite possible I may have to go back in a few hours.”
At her door I bade her good night. Unexpectedly, she offered me her cheek.
“Kiss me,” she said. “I deserve that, at least.”
Alone in my room, I began to think things out. Helena had left me; Natalie had the necklace — these two things my next-door neighbour had made clear.
Helena was still doing Durin’s bidding. What had happened that he ordered her to leave me?
Between the time he robbed Sir Philip’s chateau and when she left me, something had happened; someone had learned of the burglary at Black Rooks....
That Black Rooks burglary apparently had great significance for Helena; and perhaps Durin. He knew the Mr. Flow of Etretat was Antonin Rose; the Mr. Flow of Lion-by-the-Sea was Durin. But he must be asking himself who the Mr. Flow of Black Rooks was.
Hadn’t Helena left so suddenly because Durin had gone to find out who the Black Rooks’ burglar was and he felt he ought to take his wife with him?
Natalie said she knew where he was. But she wouldn’t tell me, for that would be to give me Helena’s address, too.
Therefore, I couldn’t help but reason, Durin and Helena were where Victor was. Where was Victor? The answer was easy; where he thought he would find proof that Durin killed Sir Archibald. And where but Black Rooks, where Sir Archibald was killed? Of course, Victor was at Black Rooks; of course, he broke into the chateau. He was the third Mr. Flow!
Conclusion: Helena and Durin were at Black Rooks.
That was it! Natalie, thinking to befuddle me, had told me all. Helena and Durin were about to strike at Victor; they must be in danger up there. And Sir Philip and Clotilde were in Scotland. Natalie had asked what I was doing here when everyone was in Scotland?
I would not stay alone here in Paris. Who knew what might happen up there? In order to undo Durin, Victor must find me. I was the one supposed to have killed Sir Archibald. I would go far away so he couldn’t do either.
He had to prove that the fake clergyman, who went to Sir Archibald’s room, left it after Sir Archibald was murdered.
The only way he could prove it was to establish the exact hour of the departure of the spurious clergyman — who was Antonin Rose! He must establish who the clerically garbed impostor was. Then, the route he took. In fact, I was the crux of all his webwork of falsehood.
Helena was right not to take me with her. It was probably because she didn’t want to involve me. I had been reproaching her for abandoning me. Might not that very abandonment be a proof of her love?
But she mustn’t sacrifice herself for me. I’d join her. I’d take Durin’s necklace and go to her. I loved Helena. Natalie disgusted me with her implacable manner, interspersed with sighs and sentimental expressions. No, no, rather the death cell than those eyes she turned on me.
But how could I go to Helena without the necklace? I had to have it!
Natalie’s door was like a fortress. I couldn’t force the locks or break the bolts — too long, too difficult; make too much noise! What could I do?
A noise interrupted my thoughts. Wasn’t she in bed yet? What was she doing? I put out my light and stole to my window. Leaning out, I could see her window. Her light was out.
But I could see one thing; the hygienic Natalie slept with her window wide open!
It wouldn’t be so difficult to climb along the eaves, drop over the window bars; I would be right in her room. She thought she was safe from robbers who sought to come in by the door; she never gave a thought to the window! She said she was a light sleeper. Well, if she woke up I would have to put her to sleep again. I had to have that necklace! The wine I had for dinner had given me the nerve to take desperate steps. I felt exactly as I did the night I broke into Chavrier’s house.
Lamp in hand, some tools in my pocket, by way of precaution, I started. What risk was I taking? Suppose she cried out? If the neighbours came to her rescue they’d merely think it a lover’s quarrel.
As an acrobatic feat it was not difficult. Two minutes later I slid from the roof. I listened a moment on the window-sill. Not a sound. Then to the floor. I flashed my light... then I felt along the fireplace. Hello, the fender was off!
I was sure that when we left for dinner the fender was on the fireplace. Before going to bed Natalie had... perhaps the noise I heard was Natalie removing the fender! Watch out!
Ah, ha! I had the necklace! It was in the fireplace. Natalie, thinking I’d not look there again, had put it back. In fact, if the fender had been replaced, I would not have looked there. Quick, now, get out!
Two minutes later I was back in my room. I closed the window after me.
What a kick I got out of having outwitted Natalie! What pleasure to have my old imitation necklace back. The three locks, the metal plating, the safety clasps! To-morrow Natalie would find them intact. I must take advantage of the luck Fate had granted me. I’d snatch a few hours’ sleep, then off to S
cotland.
XVI.
BLACK ROOKS
ON THE DOVER boat. The sea was calm and I remained upon deck, smoking a cigarette.
“Good morning, Antonin,” somebody said behind me.
Natalie! She was trailing me! I could have pitched her overboard without a qualm. I turned round.
“What a strange turn in events!” was my reply. “Last night we dined together in the Boulevard St. Germain; to-night, perhaps, we shall be dining together in London.... The world is small!”
“Don’t be silly! I don’t believe in luck, and I don’t want to. I think we shape our own lives....”
“You look very well this morning, Natalie; I see you slept well last night.”
“I was just going to say the same thing.”
“Why not? Our street is quiet. The house is always so peaceful; you can always sleep with your window wide open.”
Natalie’s face tightened.
“You might have killed yourself,” she said softly.
Her tone disarmed me.
“Nothing is easier than to walk on a roof.... And don’t forget, Natalie, it was all your fault. I had to have the necklace to keep faith with Helena!”
“Oh, I see. You didn’t want to appear a crook in the eyes o£ another crook... and you were afraid. Come, Antonin, confess that that woman has bewitched you, and that you would risk death for the smiles of that adventuress!”
She led me to the ship’s rail and spoke with great emphasis. “Don’t go to Scotland, Antonin. You don’t know what danger you are inviting. Have faith in me. Get away from all this! Catch the first boat. My God, what can I say, what can I do to keep you from going to Scotland?”
“Natalie, aren’t you losing your head a bit?”
“Poor Antonin, you are forgetting what happened there last year, aren’t you? You don’t seem to realize that your presence there may result in disaster.”
There was a fierceness in her voice that was almost convincing; but I had to go to Scotland, I had to fight my own battle at Black Rooks. And, although I always hated Helena when I was with her, the mere thought of her swept me towards her, irresistibly.
Collected Works of Gaston Leroux Page 489
