第36章

"At last," he reflected, when he had seen them settled, "there is no one between the Daubrecq bird and me.He can do nothing more to Mme.Mergy and the kid; and she no longer runs the risk of diverting the struggle through her intervention.By Jingo, we have made blunders enough! First, I have had to disclose myself to Daubrecq.Secondly, I have had to surrender my share of the Enghien movables.True, I shall get those back, sooner or later; of that there is not the least doubt.But, all the same, we are not getting on; and, in a week from now, Gilbert and Vaucheray will be up for trial."What Lupin felt most in the whole business was Daubrecq's revelation of the whereabouts of the flat.The police had entered his place in the Rue Chateaubriand.The identity of Lupin and Michel Beaumont had been recognized and certain papers discovered; and Lupin, while pursuing his aim, while, at the same time, managing various enterprises on which he had embarked, while avoiding the searches of the police, which were becoming more zealous and persistent than ever, had to set to work and reorganize his affairs throughout on a fresh basis.

His rage with Daubrecq, therefore, increased in proportion to the worry which the deputy caused him.He had but one longing, to pocket him, as he put it, to have him at his bidding by fair means or foul, to extract his secret from him.He dreamt of tortures fit to unloose the tongue of the most silent of men.The boot, the rack, red-hot pincers, nailed planks: no form of suffering, he thought, was more than the enemy deserved; and the end to be attained justified every means.

"Oh," he said to himself, "oh, for a decent bench of inquisitors and a couple of bold executioners!...What a time we should have!"Every afternoon the Growler and the Masher watched the road which Daubrecq took between the Square Lamartine, the Chamber of Deputies and his club.Their instructions were to choose the most deserted street and the most favourable moment and, one evening, to hustle him into a motor-car.

Lupin, on his side, got ready an old building, standing in the middle of a large garden, not far from Paris, which presented all the necessary conditions of safety and isolation and which he called the Monkey's Cage.

Unfortunately, Daubrecq must have suspected something, for every time, so to speak, he changed his route, or took the underground or a tram;and the cage remained unoccupied.

Lupin devised another plan.He sent to Marseilles for one of his associates, an elderly retired grocer called Brindebois, who happened to live in Daubrecq's electoral district and interested himself in politics.

Old Brindebois wrote to Daubrecq from Marseilles, announcing his visit.

Daubrecq gave this important constituent a hearty welcome, and a dinner was arranged for the following week.

The elector suggested a little restaurant on the left bank of the Seine, where the food, he said, was something wonderful.Daubrecq accepted.

This was what Lupin wanted.The proprietor of the restaurant was one of his friends.The attempt, which was to take place on the following Thursday, was this time bound to succeed.

Meanwhile, on the Monday of the same week, the trial of Gilbert and Vaucheray opened.

The reader will remember - and the case took place too recently for me to recapitulate its details - the really incomprehensible partiality which the presiding judge showed in his cross-examination of Gilbert.

The thing was noticed and severely criticised at the time.Lupin recognized Daubrecq's hateful influence.

The attitude observed by the two prisoners differed greatiy.Vaucheray was gloomy, silent, hard-faced.He cynically, in curt, sneering, almost defiant phrases, admitted the crimes of which he had formerly been guilty.But, with an inconsistency which puzzled everybody except Lupin, he denied any participation in the murder of Leonard the valet and violently accused Gilbert.His object, in thus linking his fate with Gilbert's, was to force Lupin to take identical measures for the rescue of both his accomplices.

Gilbert, on the other hand, whose frank countenance and dreamy, melancholy eyes won every sympathy, was unable to protect himself against the traps laid for him by the judge or to counteract Vaucheray's lies.

He burst into tears, talked too much, or else did not talk when he should have talked.Moreover, his counsel, one of the Leaders of the bar, was taken ill at the last moment - and here again Lupin saw the hand of Daubrecq - and he was replaced by a junior who spoke badiy, muddied the whole case, set the jury against him and failed to wipe out the impression produced by the speeches of the advocate-general and of Vaucheray's counsel.

Lupin, who had the inconceivable audacity to be present on the last day of the trial, the Thursday, had no doubt as to the result.A verdict of gullty was certain in both cases.

It was certain because all the efforts of the prosecution, thus supporting Vaucheray's tactics, had tended to link the two prisoners closely together.It was certain, also and above all, because it concerned two of Lupin's accomplices.From the opening of the inquiry before the magistrate until the delivery of the verdict, all the proceedings had been directed against Lupin; and this in spite of the fact that the prosecution, for want of sufficient evidence and also in order not to scatter its efforts over too wide an area, had decided not to include Lupin in the indictment.He was the adversary aimed at, the leader who must be punished in the person of his friends, the famous and popular scoundrel whose fascination in the eyes of the crowd must be destroyed for good and all.With Gilbert and Vaucheray executed, Lupin's halo would fade away the legend would be exploded.