The Victorian Rogues MEGAPACK ™: 28 Classic Tales

by Maurice Leblanc

  II.

  Thubway Tham continued talking to Detective Craddock as if nothing unusual was happening. He glanced down as the man picked up the big cuspidor and marched away with it toward the rear of the establishment, to clean it with the others when all had been carried there.

  “I guess we’ll take a little stroll now,” Craddock was saying. “You are leaving’ this part of town immediately, are you not, my dear Tham? Tell me it is so, I beg of you.”

  “I reckon it ith tho!” Tham said angrily.

  “Come along, then.”

  “Mr. Craddock, you go firth.”

  “I want to be with you as long as possible, Tham. I regret losing you. Let us have our little last moment together. How do you intend going downtown?”

  “By the thubway.”

  “Let me advise you, Tham, to take the elevated., The air is better in higher altitudes, and you tell me that you haven’t been feeling well recently. There is less temptation, too, on the elevated.”

  “Juth as you thay.”

  “Thank you. Shall we be going?”

  Tham made a last desperate attempt. “Everybody will thay that I am a thool pigeon,” he announced. “And you know I ain’t.”

  “I know it, Tham; you’re an honest crook!”

  “Thank you, thir! But if I am theen waltzin’ down the threet with you—”

  “Set your mind at rest, my dear Tham. I shall take the trouble to let it become known that you are not working for me, if that is what you fear your friends will think. But I must walk as far as the elevated with you and see you safely on your way downtown. In fact, I insist on it.”

  “Very well, thir!” Tham said, with black rage in his heart.

  He looked toward the rear, but the porter had disappeared. Thubway Tham got up and followed Detective Craddock outdoors. They walked down the street and turned toward the structure of the elevated a short distance away.

  “Let me express the hope that your health will improve, my dear Tham,” Craddock said. “You’ve been traveling on the subway too much, I am afraid. The air there is bad, and there is continual excitement. My suggestion is, that you remain away from the subway for a time and engage in some pursuit that is not noted for fraying the nerves.”

  “I grathp you,” said Thubway Tham.

  “Here we are. I shall wait and see you aboard the train. Oh, I insist. Here she comes, Tham. Shake hands. If I ever see you again, let me hope, for your sake, that it is not in this section of the village. Should it be, I’ll feel it my duty, no doubt, to see that you take a long rest in a certain sanitarium, where the rules are very strict.”

  “I grathp you again,” said Tham. He got aboard, turned to glare angrily into th grinning face of Detective Craddock, and then sat down heavily as the train whirled around the first curve.

  Thubway Tham had no intention of letting an unknown new porter profit through his skill. Thubway Tham was in need of funds, and he knew that the wallet he had dropped into the cuspidor was fat, and that the watch was not only an excellent one, but also had a fine diamond set in the back of the case.

  He knew, too, that he would be in danger if he returned to the vicinity of the Circle after being placed aboard the elevated by Craddock. Detective Craddock was known as a man of his word. He had laid down the law to Thubway Tham, and he expected to be obeyed. Tham, however, intended to have the wallet and watch.

  At the second station he got off, descended to the street, and worked his way back toward the Circle. He was in no hurry about it; he half suspected that Craddock would return to the dingy little resort and watch around it for a time, especially since he had appeared to be greatly interested in two or three of the patrons of the place. Also, Tham wanted to take plenty of time, so he could approach the place by the proper streets, which were not the brightest, regarding light, nor the most densely populated at this hour of the evening.

  Tham approached carefully and in a scientific manner. He looked far ahead, and far behind, and he was careful about turning corners. He came to within a block of the resort, and stood in a dark doorway to figure out the last move.

  There was a gloomy alley, and there was a rear door to the resort. Tham had used the rear door many times. He would go up the alley and knock at the rear door, and it would be opened by somebody who understood that knock. He would hold a short and impassioned interview with the new porter; and with the proprietor of the place if it proved necessary, and possibly with the waiter—and he would get the watch and wallet, rewarding the faithful if they proved honest.

  Tham waited for the proper moment, and then hurried across the street and dodged into the alley. He made his way through it until he came to the little door. His progress was noiseless; he moved like a shadow.

  At the door he stopped for a moment, to peer through the darkness around him, and to listen. He reached for the knob and turned it—and found that, through the carelessness of somebody, the door had been left unlocked. Tham opened it and slipped silently inside.

  Here there was a small, dark, evil-smelling hall. Two or three small rooms opened off it, and Tham, because he heard somebody coming, darted inside the first. He crept to a corner and waited.

  Voices came to him from beyond the partition. From force of habit, Tham listened. One was the voice of the proprietor, another that of the waiter, and a third—Tham gathered from the language used—that of the new porter.

  “Then we’ll cop the whole thing ourselves,” Tham heard the proprietor saying.

  “I can guess how it happened,” the waiter said. “Craddock picked up Tham and started to pump him. Why they came in here, I don’t know. I heard some of their talk. Craddock had seen Tham come out of the subway. I’ll bet Tham had this swag on him, and dropped it into the cuspidor because he was afraid Craddock might take a notion to search him. He gave the ‘noise sign’ once.”

  “Why did he go away with Craddock?” the proprietor asked.

  “I heard that, too. Craddock made him. He gave Tham orders to stay away from this part of town, and he made it pretty strong. Tham won’t take a chance coming back, even after swag. But he may telephone about it.”

  “That’s easy,” said the proprietor. “Bill, here, is the new porter. We’ll send him over to Brooklyn, get him a job there. Then we can tell Tham that maybe the new porter got the swag, because he lit out as soon as he finished his work.”

  “Where do I come in?” the porter demanded.

  “You get a hundred-case note out of the wallet.”

  “I could have taken the whole thing.”

  “But you didn’t. You knew you couldn’t put it over alone. And you know you’re just from up the river, and, that I can send you there again, as easy as batting my eye. You take the hundred, and I’ll see that you get along, all right.”

  “How much was in it?” the porter asked.

  “Four thousand in big bills, and some little ones. And the watch will bring a hundred, easy. All you get is your hundred bucks! And don’t howl about it, or I’ll kick you out, and you won’t get a cent. See? Beat it!”

  Tham almost whistled. Four thousand dollars, eh? He had guessed that the wallet was a prosperous one, but nothing to compare with this. And these crooks were going to rob him, just because they knew Craddock had ordered him to stay away from that part of town, and they thought he wouldn’t put in an appearance and raise a row. He’d see about that!

  He found a small aperture in the partition and glued one eye to it. The porter was just leaving the other room, and the proprietor and waiter were watching him.

  “He’ll be all right,” the proprietor said, after the porter was gone. “I’ve got him by the throat. We’ll split the thing even.”

  “Right now.”

  “Nothing doing!” the proprietor said. “Got any sense at all? Craddock may c
ome in here when the theft is reported. Everything must look natural if he does—I’ve got to be inside, and you’ve got to be waiting on customers. Suppose he searched you and found a couple of thousand?”

  “What’s the idea, then?”

  “Get out and attend to your business. I’ll plant this where even Craddock couldn’t find it, and I’ll slip you your share at closing time.”

  “Suits me, boss,” the waiter responded; then hurried from the room to attend to his tables in front.

  Thubway Tham pressed his eye nearer the aperture. This would be the interesting part. The fat proprietor walked to the corner, where his coat was hanging on a nail, held the wallet and watch in his hand, and prepared to put them in a pocket of the coat.

  He seemed, however, to decide against that at the last moment. He looked around the room, went to another corner, and kicked aside a pile of old sacks that happened to be there. He put the wallet and watch on the floor, threw the sacks over them in a careless fashion, stepped back, and viewed his work, shook his head with satisfaction, and went out of the room.

  Thubway Tham licked his lips and stepped back from the partition. To get the swag he would have to go into the hall, and from that into the other room. That would not be difficult if the proprietor went to his station in the front of the place. The loot regained, Tham could go downtown, and telephone from there to the proprietor, listen to his lies, shout that he was a thief, and thus direct suspicion elsewhere.

  Tham made no move for several minutes, and then he opened the door cautiously and glanced into the dark hall. From the front of the resort came the sound of several voices. Tham slipped into the room that held the pile of sacks.

  Hastening to the corner, he lifted the sacks, got wallet and watch and put the sacks back into place again. “Cop my thwag, would they!” he said, to himself. “I’ll get thquare with that thneakin’ double-crother! He ith a dirty crook!”

  A sudden step sounded in the hall.

  III.

  Detective Craddock entered the resort at the front door, went at once to the fat proprietor, and requested an interview in the office.

  “I’m going to talk straight to you, and you’d better listen straight, my man,” Craddock told him. “We’ve had our eyes on you for some time. We know that this dump of yours is a clearing house for subway thieves and dips. Shut up! You know it, and I know it, and you know I wouldn’t say it if we didn’t have the goods. You’ve got to clean up and walk the chalk line, or we’re going to handle you. Understand?

  “About an hour ago, a certain man was touched for his watch and another for a fat wallet, just as they were leaving the subway station. It’s a safe bet you know something about it. I’m listening!”

  “I—I don’t know a thing,” the proprietor said.

  “I’ve got a couple of men out in front, and we’re going to take half a dozen of your customers in, on general principles, and search this dump from one end to the other. You’ll have small business after that, even if you’re not sent away.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “Who’s been here?”

  “Thubway Tham was here,” said the propietor, his face brightening.

  “Hang it on somebody else!” said Craddock grimly. “I was here with Thubway Tham, you know. I got him as he came out of the subway, and I watched him every minute I was with him, and put him on the elevated and shot him downtown, with orders to stay there. He offered to let me search him, but I didn’t. I knew, by the way he acted, that he didn’t have anything on him. Who else?”

  “I don’t know a thing about it!” the proprietor insisted.

  Craddock whistled; two uniformed officers came inside, and a third stood in the doorway. Four men drinking in the front room found themselves arrested on suspicion. And then Craddock and one of the officers began the search.

  “You ain’t got any right—” the proprietor began.

  “Shut up! Go to court and howl about this search, if you care to; and I’ll go into court and have you jugged on the evidence we’ve got.”

  The office adjoined the room wherein was Thubway Tham and the swag. Thubway Tham knew that they would search there. And the proprietor’s coat was hanging on the wall.

  Thubway Tham kissed the watch and put it into a pocket of the coat. “Hate to loth that watch, but I’ll get thquare with that double-crother!” he said.

  Danger threatened him. He was not away from the place; he knew one of the officers was in the little hall watching; and in the office, and liable to come into this room any minute, was Detective Craddock, who had warned Thubway Tham to remain away from this part of town. Tham had the fat wallet in his pocket, too.

  He felt in the proprietor’s coat, and found a revolver. He might leave it there and cause additional trouble for the proprietor, but he sensed a better use for it. Despite the danger, he slipped the weapon into his own coat.

  On the other side of the room from the hall was a narrow passage that ran to a basement door. Thubway Tham slipped into it, though he knew there was no way out except through the office or the front door, and officers barred that way.

  He listened while Craddock and the other officer left the office and went into the adjoining room. Thubway Tham slipped into the office, and again he listened. He heard Craddock and the other officer going about the room, and he heard the propietor crying that they would find nothing, that their suspicions were without foundation.

  “What’s this?” he heard Craddock say. “Here’s the watch—in the coat you admit is your own.”

  Tham heard the proprietor gasp his surprise and fright, and felt inclined to laugh, but did not. The moment had come for his get-away. He pulled the proprietor’s revolver from his pocket, pointed it toward the ceiling, and fired three shots as fast as he could pull the trigger. Then he threw the weapon on the floor and darted back into the dark passage.

  There was a chorus of cries. Craddock and the officer with him hurried into the hall, and to the office, dragging the proprietor along with them. The policeman in the rear hall ran forward. Craddock began shouting for them to search the passage, to watch the front and see that nobody escaped.

  Thubway Tham left the passage and darted into the room where hung the proprietor’s coat. Just prior to the shooting, Craddock had dropped the watch back into the coat pocket, intending to take the coat along for evidence. As he flew across the room, Thubway Tham jerked down the coat, extracted the watch, and threw the coat on the floor. As Craddock and the others stormed into the passage, Thubway Tham ran into the hall on the other side. He bowled over a fat officer hurrying to the scene, and ran for the alley.

  Behind him was bedlam. He gained the alley door, threw it slammed it behind him. He ran down the alley like the wind, crouching low, keeping close to the wall in the darkness. A shout, and then a shot sounded behind him. Thubway Tham gave neither any attention.

  He had the wallet and the watch. Craddock’s evidence against the proprietor would be missing, but the proprietor would be subjected to trouble, nevertheless, and that was all Tham desired.

  Reaching the street, he mingled with the throng, turned to the right, chuckling, and hurried along.

  Three minutes later, like a rat taking to its hole, Thubway Tham darted into his beloved subway in time to catch an express downtown.

  ABOUT ARSÈNE LUPIN

  Arsène Lupin is a fictional character who appears in a book series of detective fiction/crime fiction novels written by French writer Maurice Leblanc, as well as a number of non-canonical sequels and numerous film, television such as Night Hood, stage play and comic book adaptations.

  A contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941) was the creator of the character of gentleman thief Arsène Lupin who, in Francophone countries, has enjoyed a popularity as long-lasting and considerable as Sherlock Holmes
in the English-speaking world.

  There are twenty volumes in the Arsène Lupin series written by Leblanc himself, plus five authorized sequels written by the celebrated mystery writing team of Boileau-Narcejac, as well as various pastiches.

  The character of Lupin was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine Je sais tout (I Know All), starting in No. 6, dated 15 July 1905. He was originally called Arsène Lopin, until a local politician of the same name protested, resulting in the name change.

  Arsène Lupin is a literary descendant of Pierre Alexis Ponson du Terrail’s Rocambole. Like him, he is often a force for good, while operating on the wrong side of the law. Those whom Lupin defeats, always with his characteristic Gallic style and panache, are worse villains than he. Lupin shares distinct similarities with E. W. Hornung’s archetypal gentleman thief A. J. Raffles who first appeared in The Amateur Cracksman in 1899, but both creations can be said to anticipate and have inspired later characters such as Louis Joseph Vance’s The Lone Wolf and Leslie Charteris’s The Saint.

  The character of Arsène Lupin might also have been based by Leblanc on French anarchist Marius Jacob, whose trial made headlines in March 1905, but Leblanc had also read Octave Mirbeau’s Les 21 jours d’un neurasthénique (1901), which features a gentleman thief named Arthur Lebeau, and had seen Mirbeau’s comedy Scrupules (1902), whose main character is a gentleman thief.

  Its official last book, The Billions of Arsene Lupin, was published without the ninth chapter “The Safe” (“IX. Les coffres-forts”), and even the published book became out of print by Maurice Leblanc’s son’s request. However, in 2002, by the efforts of some Lupinians and Korean translator Sung Gwi-Su, the missing part became restored and the complete collection of Arsene Lupin happened to be published first in Korea, from Kkachi Publishing House.

  THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ARSÈNE LUPIN,