Messengers of Evil: Being a Further Account of the Lures and Devices of FantômasSouvestre, Pierre
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Messengers of Evil: Being a Further Account of the Lures and Devices of Fantômas
Souvestre, Pierre
Detective and mystery stories; Fantômas (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
Fandor felt nervous, anxious, exasperated by this incident; but it would
never do to trouble his young friend to no good purpose. He led her back
to the garden.
"Where were we in our talk, monsieur?" asked Elizabeth.
With a considerable effort, the journalist collected his thoughts.
"We were discussing the mysterious paper found at your brother's,
mademoiselle."
In agreement with Elizabeth, Jerome Fandor determined the approximate
size of this list of addresses. He tore from his note-book a sheet of
white paper.
Elizabeth looked fixedly at the white sheet for a long time, as though,
by concentrated will power, she could force the mysterious names which
she read some days before on the original paper, to rise up in front of
her eyes. Certainly it seemed to her that on this list figured the name
of her brother, that of the Baroness de Vibray, lawyer Gerin's also:
then she remembered a double name, a name not unknown to her, which had
appeared in the list.
"Barbey-Nanteuil!" she suddenly cried. "Yes, I do believe those two
names were on it!"
Fandor smiled. Encouraged by his smile and the results of this
semi-clairvoyant attempt, Elizabeth allowed her thoughts free play.
"I am sure of it: there was even a mistake in spelling: _Nanteuil_ was
spelled _Nauteuil_: the bankers were third or fourth on the list, and I
am certain now that the Baroness de Vibray's name headed the list....
There was also a date, composed of two figures--a 1 ... then--wait a
minute!... a figure with a tail to it ... that is to say, it could only
have been a 5, a 7, or a 9.... I cannot remember which. Then there were
other names I had never heard of."
"Try, mademoiselle, to remember...."
There was a silence. Fandor was puzzling over the figures
he had written down in the order Elizabeth had mentioned
them--fifteen--seventeen--nineteen--but what could he deduce from
them?... Ah!... The mysterious robbery of rue du Quatre Septembre was
committed on May 15th! There may be a clue there! The thread of Fandor's
reflections were abruptly broken by a cry from Elizabeth.
"I have recalled a name--something like ... Thomas!... Does that tell
you anything?"
"Thomas?" repeated Jerome Fandor slowly.... "I don't see...."
But suddenly he saw light!
He jumped up:
"Isn't it Thomery?" cried he, intensely excited. "Are you not
confounding Thomas with Thomery?"
Elizabeth, taken aback, confused, tried hard to remember: she threshed
her memory with knitted brows.
"It may be so," she declared. "I see quite clearly the first letters of
the word--Thom ... written in a large hand,... then the rest is
indistinct ... but I have the impression that the end of the word is
longer than the last syllable of Thomas."
"Perhaps you are right!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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