The Teeth of the Tiger | Page 8

which is that, after two years, you fell into an ambush of forty Berbers, that you were captured, and that you did not rejoin the Legion until last month."
"Just so, Monsieur le Pr��fet, in time to receive my discharge, as my five years' service was up."
"But how did Mr. Cosmo Mornington come to mention you in his will, when, at the time when he was making it, you had disappeared from view for eighteen months?"
"Cosmo and I used to correspond."
"What!"
"Yes; and I had informed him of my approaching escape and my return to Paris."
"But how did you manage it? Where were you? And how did you find the means? ..."
Don Luis smiled without answering.
"Monte Cristo, this time," said M. Desmalions. "The mysterious Monte Cristo."
"Monte Cristo, if you like, Monsieur le Pr��fet. In point of fact, the mystery of my captivity and escape is a rather strange one. It may be interesting to throw some light upon it one of these days. Meanwhile, I must ask for a little credit."
A silence ensued. M. Desmalions once more inspected this curious individual; and he could not refrain from saying, as though in obedience to an association of ideas for which he himself was unable to account:
"One word more, and one only. What were your comrades' reasons for giving you that rather odd nickname of Ars��ne Lupin? Was it just an allusion to your pluck, to your physical strength?"
"There was something besides, Monsieur le Pr��fet: the discovery of a very curious theft, of which certain details, apparently incapable of explanation, had enabled me to name the perpetrator."
"So you have a gift for that sort of thing?"
"Yes, Monsieur le Pr��fet, a certain knack which I had the opportunity of employing in Africa on more than one occasion. Hence my nickname of Ars��ne Lupin. It was soon after the death of the man himself, you know, and he was much spoken of at the time."
"Was it a serious theft?"
"It was rather; and it happened to be committed upon Cosmo Mornington, who was then living in the Province of Oran. That was really what started our relations."
There was a fresh silence; and Don Luis added:
"Poor Cosmo! That incident gave him an unshakable confidence in my little detective talents. He was always saying, 'Perenna, if I die murdered'--he had a fixed notion in his head that he would meet with a violent death--'if I die murdered, swear that you will pursue the culprit,'"
"His presentiment was not justified," said the Prefect of Police. "Cosmo Mornington was not murdered."
"That's where you make a mistake, Monsieur le Pr��fet," said Don Luis.
M. Desmalions gave a start.
"What! What's that? Cosmo Mornington--?"
"I say that Cosmo Mornington did not die, as you think, of a carelessly administered injection, but that he died, as he feared he would, by foul play."
"But, Monsieur, your assertion is based on no evidence whatever!"
"It is based on fact, Monsieur le Pr��fet."
"Were you there? Do you know anything?"
"I was not there. A month ago I was still with the colours. I even admit that, when I arrived in Paris, not having seen the newspapers regularly, I did not know of Cosmo's death. In fact, I learned it from you just now, Monsieur le Pr��fet."
"In that case, Monsieur, you cannot know more about it than I do, and you must accept the verdict of the doctor."
"I am sorry, but his verdict fails to satisfy me."
"But look here, Monsieur, what prompts you to make the accusation? Have you any evidence?"
"Yes."
"What evidence?"
"Your own words, Monsieur le Pr��fet."
"My own words? What do you mean?"
"I will tell you, Monsieur le Pr��fet. You began by saying that Cosmo Mornington had taken up medicine and practised it with great skill; next, you said that he had given himself an injection which, carelessly administered, set up inflammation and caused his death within a few hours."
"Yes."
"Well, Monsieur le Pr��fet, I maintain that a man who practises medicine with great skill and who is accustomed to treating sick people, as Cosmo Mornington was, is incapable of giving himself a hypodermic injection without first taking every necessary antiseptic precaution. I have seen Cosmo at work, and I know how he set about things."
"Well?"
"Well, the doctor just wrote a certificate as any doctor will when there is no sort of clue to arouse his suspicions."
"So your opinion is--"
"Ma?tre Lepertuis," asked Perenna, turning to the solicitor, "did you notice nothing unusual when you were summoned to Mr. Mornington's death-bed?"
"No, nothing. Mr. Mornington was in a state of coma."
"It's a strange thing in itself," observed Don Luis, "that an injection, however badly administered, should produce such rapid results. Were there no signs of suffering?"
"No ... or rather, yes.... Yes, I remember the face showed brown patches which I did not see on the occasion of my first visit."
"Brown patches? That confirms my supposition Cosmo Mornington