The Triumphs of Eugène Valmont | Page 7

accomplished.
I rushed out almost on his heels, as one might say, and hurriedly questioned my waiting
men. They had all seen the tall American come out with the greatest leisure and stroll
towards the west. As he was not the man any of them were looking for they paid no
further attention to him, as, indeed, is the custom with our Parisian force. They have eyes
for nothing but what they are sent to look for, and this trait has its drawbacks for their
superiors.
I ran up the boulevard, my whole thought intent on the diamonds and their owner. I knew
my subordinate in command of the men inside the hall would look after the scoundrel
with the pistols. A short distance up I found the stupid fellow I had sent out, standing in a
dazed manner at the corner of the Rue Michodière, gazing alternately down that short
street and towards the Place de l'Opéra. The very fact that he was there furnished proof
that he had failed.

'Where is the American?' I demanded.
'He went down this street, sir.'
'Then why are you standing here like a fool?'
'I followed him this far, when a man came up the Rue Michodière, and without a word
the American handed him the jewel-box, turning instantly down the street up which the
other had come. The other jumped into a cab, and drove towards the Place de l'Opéra.'
'And what did you do? Stood here like a post, I suppose?'
'I didn't know what to do, sir. It all happened in a moment.'
'Why didn't you follow the cab?'
'I didn't know which to follow, sir, and the cab was gone instantly while I watched the
American.'
'What was its number?'
'I don't know, sir.'
'You clod! Why didn't you call one of our men, whoever was nearest, and leave him to
shadow the American while you followed the cab?'
'I did shout to the nearest man, sir, but he said you told him to stay there and watch the
English lord, and even before he had spoken both American and cabman were out of
sight.'
'Was the man to whom he gave the box an American also?'
'No, sir, he was French.'
'How do you know?'
'By his appearance and the words he spoke.'
'I thought you said he didn't speak.'
'He did not speak to the American, sir, but he said to the cabman, "Drive to the Madeleine
as quickly as you can."'
'Describe the man.'
'He was a head shorter than the American, wore a black beard and moustache rather
neatly trimmed, and seemed to be a superior sort of artisan.'
'You did not take the number of the cab. Should you know the cabman if you saw him

again?'
'Yes, sir, I think so.'
Taking this fellow with me I returned to the now nearly empty auction room and there
gathered all my men about me. Each in his notebook took down particulars of the cabman
and his passenger from the lips of my incompetent spy; next I dictated a full description
of the two Americans, then scattered my men to the various railway stations of the lines
leading out of Paris, with orders to make inquiries of the police on duty there, and to
arrest one or more of the four persons described should they be so fortunate as to find any
of them.
I now learned how the rogue with the pistols vanished so completely as he did. My
subordinate in the auction room had speedily solved the mystery. To the left of the main
entrance of the auction room was a door that gave private access to the rear of the
premises. As the attendant in charge confessed when questioned, he had been bribed by
the American earlier in the day to leave this side door open and to allow the man to
escape by the goods entrance. Thus the ruffian did not appear on the boulevard at all, and
so had not been observed by any of my men.
Taking my futile spy with me I returned to my own office, and sent an order throughout
the city that every cabman who had been in the Boulevard des Italiens between half-past
two and half-past three that afternoon, should report immediately to me. The examination
of these men proved a very tedious business indeed, but whatever other countries may
say of us, we French are patient, and if the haystack is searched long enough, the needle
will be found. I did not discover the needle I was looking for, but I came upon one quite
as important, if not more so.
It was nearly ten o'clock at night when a cabman answered my oft-repeated questions in
the affirmative.
'Did you take up a passenger