"Errington," said Dorothy, who had recovered her coolness more quickly than her companions, "there's no one on the staircase, is there? Dario, surely the window is too small for any one to slip through? Webster and Kourobelef look to the walls of the alcove6."
She stooped and took the dagger7 from the wound. No convulsion stirred the victim's body. It was indeed a corpse. An examination of the dagger and the clothes gave no clue.
Errington and Dario rendered an account of their mission. The staircase? Empty. The window? Too narrow.
They joined the Russian and the American, as did Dorothy also; and all five of them examined and sounded the walls of the alcove with such minuteness that Dorothy expressed the absolute conviction of all of them when she declared in a tone of finality:
"No entrance. It is impossible to admit that any one passed that way."
"Then?" stuttered the notary8, who was sitting on the stool and had not moved for the excellent reason that his legs refused to be of the slightest use to him. "Then?"
He asked the question with a kind of humility9 as if he regretted not having admitted without opposition10 all Dorothy's explanations, and promised to accept all she should consent to give him. Dorothy, who had so clearly announced the peril11 which threatened them, and so clearly elucidated12 all the problems of this obscure affair, suddenly appeared to him to be a woman who makes no mistake, who cannot make any mistake. And owing to that fact he saw in her a powerful protection against the attacks which were about to ensue.
Dorothy for her part felt confusedly that the truth was prowling round her, that she was on the point of perceiving with perfect clearness that which had no form, and that it was a thing which must moreover astonish her infinitely13. Why could she not guess what was hidden in the shadow? It appeared almost as if she was afraid to guess it and that she was deliberately14 turning away from a danger which her intelligence would have pointed15 out to her at once, if her womanly instincts had not suffered her to blind herself for several minutes.
Indeed, those several minutes, she lost them. Like one whom dangers surround and who does not know against which he must first defend himself, she shuffled16 about on one spot. She wasted time on futile17 phrases, keeping herself simply to the actual facts of the situation, in the hope perhaps that one of her words might strike the enlightening spark out of its flint.
"Maître Delarue, there's a death and a crime. We must therefore inform the police. However ... however I think we could put it off for a day or two."
"Put it off?" he protested. "That's a step I won't take. That is a formality which admits of no delay."
"You will never get back to Périac."
"Why not?"
"Because the band which had been able to get rid under our very eyes of a confederate who was in its way, must have taken precautions, and the road which leads to Périac must be guarded."
"You believe that?... You believe that?" stuttered Maître Delarue.
"I believe it."
She answered in a hesitating fashion. At the moment she was suffering bitterly, being one of those creatures to whom uncertainty18 is torture. She had a profound impression that an essential element of the truth was lacking. Protected as she was in that tower, with four resolute19 men beside her, it was not she who directed events. She was under the constraint20 of the law of the enemy who was oppressing and in a way directing her as his fancy took him.
"But it's terrible," lamented21 Maître Delarue. "I cannot stay here forever.... My practice demands my attention.... I have a wife ... children."
"Go, Maître Delarue. But first of all hand over to us the envelope of the codicil22 that I gave back to you. We will open it in your presence."
"Have you the right?"
"Why not? The letter of the Marquis is explicit23: 'In the event of Destiny having betrayed me and your finding no trace of me, you will yourselves open the envelope, and learning their hiding-place, take possession of the diamonds.' That's clear, isn't it? And since we know that the Marquis is dead and quite dead, we have the right to take possession of the four diamonds of which we are the proprietors—all five of us ... all five."
She stopped short. She had uttered words which, as the saying goes, clashed curiously24. The contradiction of the terms she had used—four diamonds, five proprietors—was so flagrant that the young men were struck by them, and that Maître Delarue himself, absorbed as he was in other matters, received a considerable shock.
"As a matter of fact that's true: you are five. How was it we didn't notice that detail? You are five and there are only four diamonds."
Dario explained.
"Doubtless that arises from the fact that there are four men and that we have only paid attention to this number four, four strangers in contrast with you, mademoiselle, who are French."
"But you can't get away from the fact that you are five," said Maître Delarue.
"And what about it?" said Webster.
"Well, you're five; and the Marquis, according to his letter, had only four sons to whom he left four gold medals. You understand, four gold medals?"
Webster made the objection:
"He could have bequeathed four ... and left five."
He looked at Dorothy. She was silent. Was she going to find in this unexpected incident the solution of the enigma25 which escaped him? She said thoughtfully:
"Always supposing that a fifth medal has not been fabricated since on the model of the others and then transmitted to us by a process of fraud."
"How are we to know it?"
"Let us compare our medals," she said. "An examination of them will enlighten us perhaps."
Webster was the first to present his medal:
It showed no peculiarity27 which gave them to believe that it was not one of the four original pieces struck by the instructions of the Marquis and controlled by him. An examination of the medals of Dario, Kourobelef, and Errington showed the same. Maître Delarue who had taken all four of them and was examining them minutely, held out his hand for Dorothy's medal.
She had taken out the little leather purse which she had slipped into her bodice. She untied28 the strings29 and stood amazed. The purse was empty.
She shook it, turned it inside out. Nothing.
"It's gone.... It's gone," she said in a hushed voice.
An astonished silence followed her declaration. Then the notary asked:
"You haven't lost it by any chance?"
"No," she said. "I can't have lost it. If I had, I should have lost the little bag at the same time."
"But how do you explain it?" said the notary.
Dario intervened a trifle dryly:
"Mademoiselle has no need to explain. For you don't pretend...."
"Of course none of us supposes that mademoiselle has come here without having the right," said the notary. "In the place of four medals there are five, that's all I meant to say."
Dorothy said again in the most positive tones: "I have not lost it. From the moment it was missing——"
She was on the point of saying:
"From the moment it was missing from this purse it had been stolen from me."
She did not finish that sentence. Her heart was wrung30 by a sudden anguish31, as she suddenly grasped the full meaning of such an accusation32; and the problem presented itself to her in all its simplicity33 and with its only possible and exact solution: "The four pieces of gold are there. One of them has been stolen from me. Then one of these four men is a thief."
And this undeniable fact brought her abruptly34 to such a vision of the facts, to a certainty so unforeseen and so formidable that she needed almost super-human energy to restrain herself. It was needful that no one should be on their guard against her, before she had considered the matter and fully26 taken in the tragic35 aspect of the situation. She accepted therefore the notary's hypothesis and murmured:
"After all ... yes ... that's it. You must be right, Maître Delarue, I've lost that medal.... But how? I can't think in what way I could have lost it ... at what moment."
She spoke36 in a very low voice, an absent-minded voice. The parted curls showed her forehead furrowed37 by anxiety. Maître Delarue and the four strangers were exchanging futile phrases; not one of them seemed worth her consideration. Then they were silent. The silence lengthened38. The lamps were switched off. The light from the little window was concentrated on Dorothy. She was very pale, so pale that she was aware of it and hid her face in her hands in order to prevent them from perceiving the effects of the emotions which were racking her.
Violent emotions, which proceeded from that truth that she had had such difficulty in attaining39 and which was disengaging itself from the shadows. It was not by scraps40 that she was gathering41 up the revealing clues but in a mass so to speak. The clouds had been swept away. In front of her, before her closed eyes, she saw ... she saw.... Ah! What a terrifying fact!
However she stubbornly kept herself silent and motionless, while to her mind there presented themselves in quick succession during the course of a few seconds all the questions and all the answers, all the arguments and all the proofs.
She recalled the fact that the night before at the village of Périac the caravan42 had nearly been destroyed by fire. Who had started that fire? And with what motive43? Might she not suppose that one of those unhoped-for helpers, who had appeared so suddenly in the very nick of time, had taken advantage of the confusion to slip into the caravan, ransack44 her sleeping birth, and open the little leather purse hanging from a nail.
Possessor of the medal, the chief of the gang returned in haste to the ruins of Roche-Périac and disposed his men in that peninsula, the innermost recesses45 of which must be known to him, and in which he had everything arranged in view of the fateful day, the 12th of July, 1921. Doubtless he had had a dress rehearsal46 with his confederate cast for the part of the sleeping Marquis. Final instructions. Promises of reward in the event of success. Menaces in the event of failure. And at noon he arrived quietly in front of the clock, like the other strangers, presented the medal, the only certificate of identity required, and was present at the reading of the will. Then came the ascent47 of the tower and the resurrection of the Marquis. In another instant she would have handed over the codicil to him; and he reached his goal. The great plot which d'Estreicher had been so long weaving attained48 its end. And how could she fail to observe that up to the very last minute, there had been in the working out of that plan, in the performance of unforeseen actions, necessitated49 by the chances, the same boldness, the same vigor50, the same methodical decision? There are battles which are only won when the chief is on the battle-field.
He is here, she thought, distracted. He has escaped from prison and he is here. His confederate was going to betray him and join us; he killed him. He is here. Rid of his beard and spectacles, his skull51 shaved, his arm in a sling52, disguised as a Russian soldier, not speaking a word, changing his bearing, he was unrecognizable. But it is certainly d'Estreicher. Now he has his eyes fixed53 on me. He is hesitating. He is asking himself have I penetrated54 his disguise.... Whether he can go on with the comedy ... or whether he should unmask and compel us, revolver in hand, to hand over the codicil, that is to say the diamonds.
Dorothy did not know what to do. In her place a man of her character and temper would have settled the question by throwing himself on the enemy. But a woman?... Already her legs were failing her; she was in the grip of terror—of terror also for the three young men whom d'Estreicher could lay low with three shots.
She withdrew her hands from her face. Without turning she was aware that they were waiting, all four of them. D'Estreicher was one of the group, his eyes fixed on her ... yes, fixed on her.... She felt the savage55 glare which followed her slightest movement and sought to discover her intentions.
She slid a step towards the door. Her plan was to gain that door, bar the enemy's way, face him, and throw herself between him and the three young men. Blockaded against the walls of the room, with escape impossible, there were plenty of chances that he would be forced to yield to the will of three strong and resolute men.
She moved yet another step, imperceptibly ... then another. Ten feet separated her from the door. She saw on her right its heavy mass, studded with nails.
She said, as if the disappearance56 of the medal still filled her mind:
"I must have lost it ... a day or two ago.... I had it on my knee.... I must have forgotten to put it back——"
Suddenly she made her spring.
Too late. At the very moment that she drew herself together, d'Estreicher, foreseeing it, leapt in front of the door, a revolver in either outstretched hand.
This sudden act was masked by no single word. There was no need of words indeed for the three young men to grasp the fact that the murderer of the false Marquis stood before them. Instinctively57 they recoiled58 from the menace; then on the instant pulled themselves together, and ready for the counterstroke, they advanced.
Dorothy stopped them at the moment that d'Estreicher was on the point of shooting. Drawn59 to her full height in front of them, she protected them, certain that the scoundrel would not pull the trigger. But he was aiming straight at her bosom60; and the young men could not stir, while, his right arm outstretched, with his left hand still holding the other revolver, he felt for the lock.
"Leave it to us, mademoiselle!" cried Webster, beside himself.
"A single movement and he kills me," she said.
The scoundrel did not utter a word, he opened the door behind him, flattened61 himself against the wall, then slipped quickly out.
The three young men sprang forward like unleashed62 hounds—only to dash themselves against the obstacle of the heavy door.
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1
sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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3
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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6
alcove
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| n.凹室 | |
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dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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8
notary
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| n.公证人，公证员 | |
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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10
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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12
elucidated
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| v.阐明，解释( elucidate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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14
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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15
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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16
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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17
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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18
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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19
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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20
constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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21
lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
codicil
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| n.遗嘱的附录 | |
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23
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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24
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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enigma
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| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
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26
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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27
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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28
untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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29
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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30
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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31
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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32
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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33
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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34
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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35
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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36
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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37
furrowed
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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40
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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41
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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42
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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43
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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44
ransack
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| v.彻底搜索，洗劫 | |
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45
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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46
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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47
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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48
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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49
necessitated
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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51
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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52
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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53
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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54
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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55
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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56
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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57
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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58
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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59
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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60
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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61
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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62
unleashed
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| v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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