his disappearance. A hurried visit to Fandor's lodgings disclosed the fact that the journalist, after a brief absence, had returned home for an hour and had then disappeared again.
"Upon my word," he thought, "he might at least have sent me some word. He must know how anxious I would be about him."
From Fandor's house Juve had gone direct to Susy d'Orsel's apartment. It was a theory of his that a good detective could never visit too often the scene of a crime. Mechanically he went through the various rooms until he reached the kitchen.
"I have a feeling that something happened here," he muttered, "but what?"
A close examination of the floor showed distinct traces of feet in some fine coal dust. These traces proved to be those of a woman's shoes, small, elegant and well made. They could not possibly belong to Mother Citron nor to Susy d'Orsel, who, he recalled, had worn satin mules on the night of the murder. The person who immediately presented herself to Juve's mind was Marie Pascal.
"The deuce!" he cried, "this becomes complicated. This coal dust and these imprints were not here a few days ago, therefore some one has been here since and has evidently been at pains to lay a false trail!"
With the intention of examining the servants' staircase again, he let himself out with a pass-key and began the descent. But so absorbed was he in his thoughts that unconsciously he went down one flight too many and found himself in the cellar of the building.Juve, following his custom of never neglecting to search even the most unsuspicious places, lit his electric light and examined the room he had entered.
On either side of the cellar were ranged a number of doors, all securely padlocked. These were evidently the private cellars of the tenants. As he threw his light on the floor, he could not repress a movement of surprise. Dropping on all fours, he began a close examination of the ground.
"Now I begin to see daylight. For some time I have had the conviction that Frederick-Christian, upon leaving Fandor made his escape by the servants' staircase, and thus left the house. But I could not understand why he had not returned to his hotel. My conclusion was wrong. Frederick-Christian, like myself, came down a flight too many and found himself, as I have, in this cellar. Evidently a scoundrel was waiting for him here. The trampled ground, the shreds of silk torn from a high hat, all indicate clearly the struggle which took place. But the King, being drunk, was easily overpowered and bound. That is the reason he did not reach his hotel."
One difficulty still troubled the detective. It had been shown that on the night of December 31st, the third person, otherwise the King, whom Fandor declared to be in the apartment, had been unable to escape by the back stairs, since the door was locked and bolted. Then it came into Juve's mind that the maid Justine in giving testimony had become embarrassed and finally had admitted that the key having been lost, she had neglected to lock the door. This cleared up the dubious point and established in Juve's mind the complete explanation of what happened.
Fantômas, after killing Susy d'Orsel, had lurked on the stairs until the King left the apartment. Then, locking the door, he had hurried after his victim and caught him at the moment he reached the cellar.
The detective's next move was to break into the apartment of the Marquis de Sérac. By the aid of a ladder which he found in a corner, he climbed up and broke a windowpane and thus made his entrance. At first nothing in the apartment seemed worthy of suspicion. The rooms were elegant but commonplace. The bureaus and wardrobes were locked, and gave out a hollow sound when rapped upon. As he did not have his burglar's equipment with him, Juve decided to come back later and investigate. He was on the point of leaving when his foot caught in a garment, which he found to be a waistcoat. He gave vent to an exclamation of surprise as he picked it up and folding it into a bundle hid it under his overcoat. The Marquis de Sérac had been under his suspicion for some time; now that suspicion was in a fair way to become a certainty. Were the Marquis and Fantômas one and the same?
Juve was inclined to answer in the affirmative… .
The next step was to invite Wulf to dine with him, to show him the waistcoat and prove beyond doubt that it had been made by a tailor of Glotzbourg.
Juve's opinion had now become a solid conviction. Fantômas had worn the garment, and had carried the diamond in the pocket of the waistcoat he found in the Marquis de Sérac's apartment. Hence the Marquis de Sérac was Fantômas.
Chapter 27 THE EXPLOSION OF THE NORD-SUD
The Empire clock on Juve's desk struck half-past eleven. The detective, having gone over in his mind the course of events just narrated, rose abruptly and tapped Wulf on the shoulder.
"Monsieur Wulf, if you are to remain here you are very welcome to do so; as for me, I'm going out."
Wulf, wakened out of a doze, sat up and stared at Juve, an expression of dawning suspicion in his eyes.
"Where are you going?" he inquired.
Juve, absorbed in his thoughts, did not remark the strange behavior of his colleague. He had settled on a plan of action, which was simply to arrest the Marquis de Sérac.
"Oh, I'm just going … for a walk."
"All right, get your hat."
A few moments later the two men hailed a taxi and drove to 247 Rue de Monceau.
During the trip Juve pumped Wulf about his relations with Fandor, and it appeared that the latter had pursued the policy of making Wulf drunk upon every occasion. Doubtless, the detective reasoned, it was thus that Fandor was enabled to escape for an hour, during which time the substitution had been effected. Wulf explained how he had found the King near the fountains in the Place de la Concorde, and Juve realized that in some way or other the King and the fountains were mysteriously connected.
In his turn, Wulf plied Juve with questions as to what he had done during his stay at Glotzbourg.
What sort of welcome had he received from M. Heberlauf?
How had the arrest of Fantômas been effected?
How had the monster died?
The detective, naturally, had no intention of enlightening Wulf as to the truth.
He therefore answered in monosyllables, annoyed by the turn the conversation had taken. In fact, as the questions became more pressing, it flashed through Juve's mind that the stupid officer was actually beginning to suspect him of being Fantômas. As the taxi neared its destination Juve suddenly put his head out of the window and cried with an oath to the chauffeur:
"Follow that automobile which is just starting and don't lose sight of it!"
Wulf turned inquiringly:
"It's the Marquis de Sérac."
"Well, what of it?"
"Why, is he the man we are after?" Then turning again to the chauffeur:
"Have you plenty of gasoline?"
"Enough to run a hundred miles, Monsieur."
The chase began at the Boulevard de Courcelles, continued through the Place de l'Etoile and the Avenue de la Grande Armée. The two taxis, of the same horsepower, kept an equal pace, but the Marquis de Sérac's chauffeur seemed the smarter man. At any rate, he was the more daring.
