"No! You are mistaken! Juve died on the field of honour! When, after a terribly difficult and dangerous investigation, he succeeded (by this time it was no longer the Gurn-Fantomas affair, but that of the boulevard Inkermann at Neuilly) in cornering Fantomas, he was well aware that he risked his life in entering the bandit's abode. What happened was that the villain found means to blow up the house, and to bury Juve underneath the ruins.[3] Fantomas has proved the stronger; but, according to my ideas, Juve has had, none the less, the finest death he could desire--death in the midst of the fight--a useful death!" [Footnote 3: See _The Exploits of Juve_.] "Useful? In what way?..." "My dear fellow," cried Fandor, in a tone of vigorous denial, "in the opinion of all unprejudiced minds, the death of Juve has proved, proved up to the hilt, the existence of Fantomas.... More, it has forced this villain to disappear; it has restored peace, tranquillity to society.... At the cost of his life, Juve has scored a final triumph, he has deprived Fantomas of the power to do harm--pared his claws in fact." "The truth is he is never mentioned now by a soul ... for all that, Fandor, only to see you smile! Why--," and the editorial secretary shook a threatening finger at his colleague: "I'll wager you still believe in Fantomas!... That one fine day you will write us a rattling good article, announcing some fresh Fantomas crime!" Jerome Fandor made no direct reply to this--it was useless to try and convince those who had not closely followed the records of crimes perpetrated during recent years: you could not make them believe in the existence of Fantomas. Fandor _knew_; but, Juve dead, was there another soul who could know the true facts? All he said was: "Well, my dear fellow, this does not tell us what we are to fill up the paper with now!... If the doings connected with Fantomas are frightful, rousing our feelings in the highest degree, I repeat that yesterday's crime bears no resemblance to them: we can put in a paragraph or so--that is all!" "No way, is there, of compromising anyone with our Baroness de Vibray?" "I don't think so! It's a perfectly common-place affair. An elderly woman patronises a young painter, whose mistress she may or may not be, and she ends up by getting herself assassinated when the young man imagines he is mentioned in her will." "Ah! good! Well, I think you will have to fall back on the opening of the artesian well. That suit you?" "Oh, quite all right!... If you like I can give you my copy in half an hour. I know who are going to speak at the inauguration ceremony, and I can add names this evening! You know I am a bit of a specialist as regards reports written beforehand!" Fandor had got well on with his article: at the rate he was going he would have finished that morning, he thought with pleasure, and would have a free afternoon. Just then an office boy appeared: