Tales of the Shadowmen 2: Gentlemen of the Night

by Jean-Marc Lofficier

  “If you felt so close to your niece, then why did you concur in the decision to send her to boarding school?”

  “I was not involved in that decision at all. If I had been consulted in the matter, I would have opposed it. Of course, I understand the reason for it.”

  “What is your understanding?”

  “My niece wished to study at a school in Southern France because it would be more conducive to her mastering the Italian and Spanish languages.”

  “You are under a misapprehension, I’m afraid. Your niece was enrolled in that school for a far different reason. She was accused of theft.”

  “Theft? What nonsense are you mouthing, Doctor?”

  “I assure you that I am being quite serious. Madame Fourneau kept meticulous records. In 1885, she interviewed extensively the two ladies who brought Irene to the school.”

  “Was my sister one of these ladies?”

  “No. The ladies were Henriette d’Andresy and the Duchesse of Dreux-Soubise. The Duchesse had visited the d’Andresy residence earlier. On that occasion, she was wearing a diamond brooch. After she left the house, she discovered that it was missing. She returned to the house and insisted that Henriette search the rooms of your sister and your niece. The brooch was found hidden under Irene’s mattress. She was accused of stealing it.”

  “Did my niece offer any explanation as to how the brooch had gotten there?”

  “She offered a rather intriguing theory. Irene believed that the brooch had been stolen by Raoul, Henriette’s son. Your niece argued that he had temporarily hidden the brooch under her mattress planning to retrieve it later. Although Irene was warned that there would be serious consequences if she persisted in her denials, she refused to recant. Your sister declined to defend her. The Duchesse recommended that your niece be sent to the College as punishment. The headmistress of that institution had gone to convent school with the Duchesse and Henriette... I can see by your face that all this information comes as a shock. Do you believe the story that I have outlined?”

  “Yes,” stated Chupin bitterly.

  “Do you feel that your niece was innocent?”

  “Yes.”

  “May I ask your reasons?”

  “Because I have a strong belief in my niece’s character, and because I know Raoul’s all too well.”

  The investigator reconstructed in his mind the probable significance of Cerral’s revelations. Raoul must have hoped to repeat the success of his theft of the Queen’s Necklace five years earlier. Victoire knew that the only way to protect Irene would be to expose Raoul. To pursue such a course would have made public both her and Raoul’s involvement in the previous crime against the Dreux-Soubise. Irene had been made a scapegoat in order to protect both her mother and her half-brother. Chupin reasoned that Henriette d’Andresy sincerely believed in her son’s innocence. He also concluded that Irene had no idea about her mother’s role in the theft of the Queen’s Necklace.

  “I must be honest with you, Doctor. There is one thing that I can’t explain.” The detective reached into his briefcase and pulled out a packet of letters. “I do not understand why my niece never mentioned these events in any of her letters.”

  “May I see those letters?”

  Chupin handed the letters to Cerral. The Doctor untied them and read the letter at the top of the bundle. It was Irene’s very first missive, the same that Victor had been reading on the train.

  “You may be correct, Monsieur Chupin, about your niece’s potential as a detective. I wonder if Irene is as talented at discerning clues as she is as deliberately leaving them.”

  “Clues? Why did Irene leave clues?”

  “In order to fool the censor. All of the mail that the students received or sent was read by one of the headmistress’ assistants. She would never have been allowed to write you the truth about her situation at the College. The individual responsible for censoring Irene’s mail must have been ignorant of English literature.”

  “I do not understand, dDoctor.”

  “Irene mentioned three books in this letter, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Two Years Before the Mast and Nicholas Nickleby. Have you read them?”

  “Yes.”

  “The three books have radically different settings, but they all have something in common. Do you known what that is?”

  Victor paused before answering. “They all deal with physical beatings. Slaves are whipped in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Sailors are beaten in Two Years Before the Mast. Nicholas Nickleby involves the flogging of boys in a boarding school.”

  “Your niece was in a boarding school similar to that portrayed by Dickens. The majority of the pupils were sent there because their families believed them to be guilty of crimes. Fourneau ran her school like a dictatorship. She had a tyrannical personality that must have sparked her son’s madness. Corporal punishment was employed to maintain discipline.”

  “Doctor, you examined Irene. Was she ever beaten?”

  “I regret that I must inform you that your niece has permanent scars on her back. She was beaten with a lash during her initial months in the school.”

  “But Irene accepted a position as one of Fourneau’s student assistants!”

  “Conformity is a convenient avenue of escape from constant persecution.”

  “Irene was later promoted to the position of chief student assistant. Did she try to mitigate the oppression?”

  “By that time, your niece was a privileged member of the ruling regime. The chief assistant was responsible for censoring the mail and administering the flogging.”

  “I can’t conceive that Irene would be capable of such acts!”

  “Did you ever know an individual who was once a decent person but then was compelled by duress to commit a sinful act? And then became a habitual sinner as a result of that one act.”

  “I once knew a man named Baptiste Mascarot. He was a blameless teacher of algebra and geometry until those he loved were in danger of perishing from starvation. Mascarot committed an act of extortion to gain money to feed them. He gradually evolved into the most dangerous blackmailer in Paris.”

  “Your niece embarked on a similar downward path the moment she became one of ruling circle of the College.”

  “I still find your assertions about Irene’s conduct impossible to accept.”

  “Did you ever hear of a student whose name was Teresa Grévin?”

  “Mademoiselle Grévin was the College Girl Murderer’s fifth victim. She was slain the night before my niece was attacked.” Chupin recalled the grisly details in the newspapers of Teresa’s corpse after it was found by the Avignon Police. The throat had been slashed and the hands and feet had been removed. There had been further mutilations as well.

  “Teresa was a virtuous girl of 18 years,” continued Cerral. “It is my misfortune that I never met her during her lifetime. Unlike most of her fellow pupils, Teresa had never been accused of any crime. Her offense was her mere existence. Her mother, Mathilde Grévin, was a singer at the Tivoli cabaret in Avignon. She is now over 40, but she likes to pretend otherwise. The presence of a daughter of Teresa’s age called that subterfuge into question. Mathilde simply wished to place Teresa away from prying eyes.”

  Chupin knew the Tivoli. Female entertainers there would generally lose their audience as they grew older unless they were either exceptionally talented or able to develop an unusual gimmick that generated publicity.

  “What about Teresa’s father? Did he not object to Teresa’s enrollment in the College?”

  “Mathilde had her daughter out of wedlock. Teresa’s father was a former lover who left Avignon before she was born. He was totally unaware of her birth.” Cerral paused for a brief moment. “You have probably wondered what prompted me to arrive at the College. Teresa wrote a letter to her mother and arranged for it to be posted outside the normal channels of the school.”

  “How did she engineer that feat?”

  “She befriended a fellow student named Suzanne Noel. Teresa gave
the letter to her. There was a workman who delivered firewood to the school. He had arranged a romantic rendezvous with Suzanne. As a favor to her, he posted the letter after he left the school’s grounds. The letter revealed that Teresa was being persecuted to join the coterie that functioned as the headmistress’ ‘enforcers.’ Teresa had not been flogged, but she had been warned that constant refusals could result in such a penalty. When Mathilde received the letter, she became distraught. Not only did she decide to remove her daughter from the school immediately, but she also wanted a doctor to examine her. Mathilde wanted to make sure Teresa had not been further abused. She enlisted my assistance in retrieving her.”

  “Why did Mathilde come to you?”

  “I had been a patron of the Tivoli early in her career. I hired a carriage and traveled with her to the College. I forced the janitor to open the gates and let us in. You know the rest, how I found your niece in the attic.”

  “Yes, and I will always be grateful for your heroic actions. What relevance does Teresa’s letter have to my niece?”

  “You probably assumed that it was Madame Fourneau who was persecuting your niece, but in fact she delegated much authority to her chief assistant. On her own volition, Irene was harassing Teresa.”

  “I can’t believe that!”

  Cerral reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled out a letter. “This is the letter, Monsieur Chupin. I will let you read it, but I must warn you that it concerns other unusual practices at the school besides the floggings.”

  Cerral handed his companion the letter. Chupin read it in silence for several minutes. When the sleuth had finished, he threw the letter on the desk in disgust.

  “My Irene… Could she be that corrupt?” moaned Victor.

  “Do not be so harsh in judging your niece, Monsieur Chupin. She was accused falsely of a crime and exiled to the equivalent of a penitentiary. She was victimized in the same manner as Teresa. If Teresa had not been slain, she could easily have succumbed to the same temptations that ensnared your niece.”

  “I do not blame my niece. I blame myself.”

  “How could you be at fault?”

  “I failed Irene. I styled myself to be a solver of mysteries, but I couldn’t see the cries for help that she was concealing in her letters.”

  “You had no reason to suspect that the letters had hidden meaning. If anyone failed Irene, it was her mother. Your sister refused to defend your daughter against the accusations made against her, and I suspect there are more complex motivations for her actions.”

  “What are you hinting at, Doctor?”

  “Henriette d’Andresy died in 1886, one year after your daughter was enrolled in the College. The headmistress did not keep her pupils captive for mere spite. She was paid tuition by their relatives or guardians. After Henriette’s death, there was nothing to prevent your sister from removing Irene from the College. Nevertheless, tuition to ensure her entrapment in that school continued to be paid for the next four years. I think you may know whose name was on those payments...”

  “Théophraste Lupin.”

  “Quite correct. I have been very honest with you, Monsieur Chupin; I expect reciprocity. Who is this Théophraste Lupin?”

  “My sister may have told you that she is a widow. She is lying. I cannot prove this, but I have long suspected that Théophraste Lupin is Irene’s real father–and he is also the father of Raoul d’Andresy.”

  “Things are becoming clearer now, Monsieur Chupin. The father must have wished to protect his son from being exposed as a thief. Consequently, Théophraste Lupin paid to continue Irene’s confinement. Your sister seems to have a stronger affection for her lover’s son than for her own daughter.”

  Chupin wondered exactly what role Théophraste Lupin had played in Raoul’s life. Most likely, he had assisted Victoire in disposing of the diamonds. The detective had never heard of any criminal named Lupin. Perhaps Théophraste Lupin was an alias, and Victoire’s paramour was a swindler of the caliber of Ballmeyer and John Clay.

  “Now that we have had a frank discussion, Monsieur Chupin, I can explain my refusal to allow your sister to see Irene. In a physical sense, your niece is in excellent health. The bandages have been removed. With the exception of some surgical scars near her wrists, her hands have healed perfectly. In fact, Irene has even been able to skillfully play a piano.”

  “I was unaware that my niece has any musical aptitudes.”

  “She learned how to play the instrument during her five years at the College. Despite her failings as a human being, Madame Fourneau did have some talent as an educator. It is not your niece’s physical state that worries me. It is her mental health. She has nightmares.”

  “She must be haunted by her memories of the College Girl Murderer.”

  “It is not the spirit of that deranged youth that troubles Irene. It is the guilt of her conduct as Fourneau’s chief assistant. Irene cannot live with the knowledge of how she tormented Teresa and other pupils at the College. Your niece views the defilement of her hands as a form of divine retribution. I could not allow a visit by Irene’s mother to upset her. At the very least, it would add feelings of betrayal and resentment to her burdens.”

  “Will you at least permit me to see her?”

  “Of course. I recognize that your only priority is Irene’s well-being. She is in a therapy room practicing on her piano with Madame Grévin.”

  “Teresa’s mother? Is it wise for the two of them to be together?”

  “Madame Grévin has no desire to revenge herself on Irene. In fact, Mathilde views herself as Irene’s benefactor. I must alert you to the fact that Irene has become emotionally dependent on both Mathilde and me. Your niece has adopted us both as substitute parents.”

  Cerral and Chupin left the office. They went to a room on another floor of the hospital. As the detective entered the room, he heard music. He saw a slender attractive girl with dark hair playing at the piano. It was Irene. Next to her was a middle-aged woman, whom he guessed was Mathilde Grévin. She was singing a ballad. Victor noticed the table with books by Madame Blavatsky. Tarot cards were arranged in a pattern next to the volumes. Irene immediately stopped playing and rose from the piano. Mathilde stopped her singing.

  “Uncle Victor!” Irene cried with joy. She then stopped and raised her soft delicate hands. She stared at them and then began to cry. “You had better leave, Monsieur Chupin. Irene no longer exists. She died in the attic of a boarding school.” She then rushed towards Mathilde and embraced her. “Mama, have Papa tell this man to leave! I won’t be ready for my debut!” she screamed.

  Cerral responded by motioning Chupin to leave. The Doctor suggested that they confer in his office. When they reach it, Cerral closed the door.

  “I am afraid that your visit has only upset your niece further. I don’t think your continued presence will benefit her further.”

  “On the contrary, Doctor, I must insist that you discharge my niece immediately!”

  “On what grounds do you make this demand?”

  “You have not been totally truthful with me. I may have failed to utilize my deductive powers to help my niece five years ago, but I won’t make that mistake now.”

  “I give you my word that I have not lied to you.”

  “But you omitted certain key facts. For example, there is the nature of my daughter’s operation. You did not simply repair her hands. Irene’s slender hands were strong and firm. They are now soft and delicate. Her original hands had been completely severed. You somehow grafted new hands onto her body!”

  “Would you rather that I had equipped her with ugly appendages like hooks?”

  “It would have been better for my niece’s sanity if you had. You gave her the hands of Teresa Grévin. Her hands were soft and delicate, like your own. I suspected from your remarks that Teresa was your daughter.”

  “I swear to you that I did not know that they were Teresa’s hands when I performed the operation. I found those hands lying in a da
rkened corner of the attic. I assumed they were Irene’s. That monstrous killer must have severed Teresa’s hands in order to practice for his later attack on your niece. I did not realize the truth until I saw Irene’s reactions when I removed the bandages. She is an artist with a flair for anatomical detail. She recognized the hands as Teresa’s.”

  “And that knowledge consumed her very being, drove her mad. She came to the absurd conclusion that the spirit of Teresa now lives within her. She must want to expunge her guilt by becoming another person. Mathilde Grévin has fed on that delusion for her own selfish purposes. She has augmented my niece’s hallucination with occult paraphernalia such as Tarot cards and the absurd doctrines of Blavatsky. She is an aging cabaret performer who needs a gimmick to revive her act. She intends for my niece to be her accompanist on the stage. Mathilde will present her as the sole surviving victim of the College Girl Murderer. And she will also portray herself as Irene’s rescuer, no doubt. Well, I cannot and will not allow my niece to be exploited in such a manner!”

  “I had no choice but to acquiesce in Mathilde’s stratagem. She threatens to reveal my illicit affair with her to my wife. I was foolish enough to write her letters and send her my picture years ago.”

  “Your domestic problems are your own affair, Doctor. You must immediately discharge my niece or I will bring you up on charges to the medical authorities!”

  “The operation was a success!”

  “It still was an operation not accepted by the medical community. You made my niece the subject of a potentially dangerous operation without the permission of her family. Do you agree to my demand?”

  “Yes.”

  “I have another demand. I want Teresa’s letter.”

  “Why?”