Arsène Lupin Versus Herlock Sholmés

By Jonathan LAMARQUISE

Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès is a collection of two stories written by Maurice Leblanc, about the adventures opposing Arsène Lupin and Herlock Sholmès. It follows Arsène Lupin, a gentleman burglar, notably in the antepenultimate short story, Herlock Sholmes arrives too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan GRAVIER
• Release date: Feb 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393159438

Book preview

Arsène Lupin

Versus

Herlock Sholmés

FIRST EPISODE

The Blond Lady

Chapter I

Number 514 - series 23

On 8 December last year, M. Gerbois, a mathematics teacher at the Lycée de Versailles, found a small mahogany secretary in the clutter of a bric-a-brac shop, which he liked because of its many drawers.

That's what I need for Suzanne's birthday, he thought. And as he was doing his best to please his daughter with his modest resources, he debated the price and paid the sum of sixty-five euros.

francs.

As he was giving his address, a young man, elegantly dressed and already snooping around, saw the piece of furniture and asked:

- How much is it?

- It is sold," replied the dealer.

- Ah! To Monsieur, perhaps?

M. Gerbois saluted and, all the more happy to have this piece of furniture because one of his fellow men coveted it, he withdrew.

But he hadn't taken ten steps in the street when he was joined by the young man, who, hat in hand and in a tone of perfect courtesy, said to him :

- I beg your infinite pardon, sir... I'm going to ask you an indiscreet question... Were you looking for this secretary more specifically than anything else?

- No, I was not. I was looking for a second-hand scale for some physics experiments.

- Therefore, you don't care much for it?

- I care, that's all.

- Because it's old, perhaps?

- Because it's convenient.

- In that case, would you be willing to exchange it for a secretary that is just as convenient, but in better condition?

- This one is in good condition, and I don't think there's any point in exchanging it.

- However...

Mr. Gerbois is an easily irritable man with a shady character. He replied dryly:

- Please, Monsieur, don't insist. The stranger stood in front of him.

- I don't know what price you paid for it, Monsieur... I'll offer you double.

- I offer you double.

–  - The triple?

–  - Oh, let's leave it at that, cried the professor, impatient, what belongs to me is not for sale.

–  The young man stared at him, with an air that M. Gerbois was not to forget, then, without a word, turned on his heels and walked away.

–  An hour later the piece of furniture was brought to the little house that the professor occupied on the road to Viroflay, and he called his daughter.

–  - Here is for you, Suzanne, if it suits you.

–  Suzanne was a pretty, expansive and happy creature. She threw herself around her father's neck and kissed him as joyfully as if he had given her a royal gift.

–  That same evening, having placed it in her room with the help of Hortense, the maid, she cleaned the drawers and carefully tidied up her papers, letter boxes, correspondence, postcard collections, and a few furtive souvenirs she kept in honour of her cousin Philippe.

–  The next day, at half past seven, M. Gerbois went to the school. At ten o'clock, Suzanne, following a daily habit, was waiting for him at the exit, and it was a great pleasure for him to point out, on the pavement opposite the gate, her graceful silhouette and childlike smile.

–  They came back together.

–  - And your secretary?

–  - A pure marvel! Hortense and I did the brass instruments. It looks like gold.

- So you're happy?

- Yes I am happy! That is to say, I don't know how I could have done without it so far.

They crossed the garden in front of the house. M. Gerbois proposed:

- Could we go and see him before lunch?

- Oh yes, that's a good idea.

She went upstairs first, but when she reached the threshold of her room she shouted in fright.

- What's the matter?" stammered M. Gerbois.

He, in turn, entered the room. The secretary was no longer there.

What astonished the examining magistrate was the admirable simplicity of the means employed. In Suzanne's absence, and while the maid was doing her market, a commissioner with her badge - neighbours saw her

- had stopped his cart in front of the garden and rang twice. The neighbours, unaware that the maid was outside, had no suspicion, so that the individual carried out his work in absolute peace.

The following should be noted: no cupboards were broken into, no clocks were disturbed. Moreover, Suzanne's wallet, which she had left on

the marble of the secretary, found itself on the adjoining table with the gold coins it contained. The motive for the theft was thus clearly determined, which made it all the more inexplicable, because, in the end, why run so many risks for such minimal loot?

The only clue the teacher could provide was the incident of the day before.

- Immediately this young man was very annoyed by my refusal, and I had the distinct impression that he was leaving me on a threat.

It was quite vague. The merchant was questioned. He knew neither of these two gentlemen. As for the object, he had bought it for forty francs from Chevreuse, in a sale after his death, and thought he had sold it at its fair value. Further investigation revealed nothing more.

But M. Gerbois remained convinced that he had suffered enormous damage. A fortune had to be hidden in the false bottom of a drawer, and that was the reason why the young man, knowing the hiding place, had acted with such a decision.

- My poor father, what would we have done with that fortune?" Suzanne repeated.

- How! But with such a dowry you could have been eligible for the highest parties.

Suzanne, who limited her claims to her cousin Philip, who was a pitiful party, sighed bitterly. And in the little house of Versailles, life went on, less cheerful, less carefree, overshadowed by regrets and disappointments.

Two months passed. And suddenly, one after the other, the most serious events, an unforeseen series of fortunate opportunities and disasters!... On 1 February, at half past five, M. Gerbois, who had just returned home with an evening newspaper in his hand, sat down, put on his glasses and began to read.

As he was not interested in politics, he turned the page. Immediately an article caught his attention, entitled :

"Third draw of the lottery of the Press Associations.

The number 514 - series 23, wins a million...

The newspaper slipped through his fingers. The walls flickered before his eyes, and his heart stopped beating. The number 514 - series 23 was her number!

He had bought it by chance, as a favour to one of his friends, because he didn't believe in the favours of fate, and now he was winning!

Quickly, he pulled out his notebook. The number 514 - series 23 was well inscribed, for the record, on the front page. But the ticket?

He leapt to his study to look for the box of envelopes among which he had slipped the precious note, and as soon as he entered he stopped dead in his tracks, staggering again and with a contracted heart, the box of envelopes was not there, and, terrifyingly, he suddenly realised that he

She hadn't been there for weeks! For weeks, he hadn't seen her in front of him at the times when he was correcting his students' homework!

A sound of footsteps on the gravel in the garden... He called out:

- Suzanne! Suzanne!

She was coming in a hurry. She ran up in a hurry. He stammered in a strangled voice:

- Suzanne... the box... the box of envelopes?...

- Which box?

- The one from the Louvre... that I had brought back one Thursday... and which was at the end of this table.

- But remember, Father... it was together that we put it away...

- When?

- In the evening... you know... the day before...

- But where? ... answer ... you make me die ...

- Where? ... in the secretary's office.

- In the secretary that was stolen?

- Yes.

- In the stolen secretary!

He repeated these words in a low voice, with a kind of fright. Then he grabbed her hand, and in an even lower tone:

- It contained a million, my daughter...

- Ah, Father, why didn't you tell me? she murmured naively.

- A million!" he resumed, it was the winning number of the press vouchers.

The enormity of the disaster crushed them, and for a long time they kept a silence which they did not have the courage to break.

Finally Suzanne said:

- But, father, we'll pay you anyway.

- Why should they? On what evidence?

- So we need proof?

- Good heavens!

- And you don't have any?

- Yes, I do.

- What do you think?

- It was in the box.

- In the box that's missing?

- Yes. And it's the other one.

- But that would be awful! Come on, Father, will you be able to stop it?

- Do we know! Do we know! This man must be so strong! He has such resources!... Remember... the case of this piece of furniture...

He got up in a burst of energy, and struck with his foot.:

–  - Well, no, no, he won't get it, that million, he won't get it! Why should he get it? After all, no matter how clever he is, he can't do anything either. If he shows up to touch it, we'll bust him! Ah, we'll see, my good man!

–  - Do you have an idea, father?

–  - That of defending our rights, to the end, whatever happens! And we'll succeed! The million is mine, I'll get it!

–  A few minutes later, he sent this dispatch:

–  Governor Crédit Foncier, rue Capucines, Paris

–  "I am the owner of number 514 - series 23, and I shall oppose by all legal means any foreign claim. »

–  "Gerbois. »

–  Almost at the same time, Crédit Foncier received this other telegram:

–  "The number 514 - series 23 is in my possession.

–  "Arsène Lupin. »

–  Every time I set out to recount one of the countless adventures that make up Arsène Lupin's life, I get really confused, so much so that it seems to me that the most banal of these adventures is known to everyone who reads me. In fact, it is not a gesture of our

–  There is no national thief, as it has so beautifully been called, that has not been reported in the most resounding way, not an exploit that has not been studied in all its facets, not an act that has not been commented on with that abundance of detail that is usually reserved for the account of heroic deeds.

–  Who doesn't know, for example, the strange story of The Blonde Lady, with those curious episodes that the reporters entitled in large print: The number 514 - series 23... The crime of the avenue Henri-Martin!... The blue diamond!... What a noise around the intervention of the famous English detective Herlock Sholmès! What effervescence after each of the adventures that marked the struggle of these two great artists! And what a din on the boulevards, the day when the street vendors were shouting

–  "The arrest of Arsène Lupin! »

–  My excuse is that I bring something new: I bring the word of the enigma. There is always a shadow around these adventures: I dissipate it. I reproduce articles that I have read and reread, I copy old interviews: but all this I coordinate, I classify, and I submit it to the exact truth. My collaborator is Arsène Lupin, whose complacency towards me is inexhaustible. And he is also, in this case, the ineffable Wilson, Sholmès' friend and confidant.

–  We remember the tremendous burst of laughter that greeted the publication of the double dispatch. Arsène Lupin's name alone was a token of the unexpected, a

– 

–  promise of entertainment for the gallery. And the gallery was the whole world.

–  Research carried out immediately by Crédit Foncier showed that the number 514 - series 23 had been issued through Crédit Lyonnais, Versailles branch, to artillery commander Bessy. However, the commander had died from a fall from a horse. It was known by comrades to whom he had confided that, some time before his death, he had had to give his ticket to a friend.

–  - This friend is me," said M. Gerbois.

–  - Prove it," objected the governor of Crédit Foncier.

–  - Prove it? Easily. Twenty people will tell you that I had an ongoing relationship with the commander and that we met at the Place d'Armes café. It was there that one day, to oblige him in a moment of embarrassment, I took back his note against the sum of twenty francs.

–  - Do you have any witnesses to this exchange?

–  - No, I do not.

–  - In that case, on what do you base your claim?

–  - On the letter he wrote to me on the subject.

–  - What letter?

–  - A letter that was pinned to the note.

–  - Show it to me.

–  - But it was in the stolen secretary!

–  - Find it.

–  Arsène Lupin communicated it to him. A note inserted by the Echo of France

–  - which has the honour of being his official organ, and of which he is apparently one of the main shareholders - a note announced that he was handing over the letter that Commander Bessy had written to him personally to Mr Detinan, his legal adviser.

–  It was an explosion of joy: Arsène Lupin was getting a lawyer! Arsène Lupin, respecting the established rules, appointed a member of the bar to represent him!

–  All the press rushed to see Maître Detinan, an influential radical member of parliament, a man of high probity as well as a fine mind, a little sceptical, willingly paradoxical.

–  Maître Detinan had never had the pleasure of meeting Arsène Lupin.

–  - and he deeply regretted it - but he had indeed just received his instructions, and, very touched by a choice of which he felt all the honour, he intended to vigorously defend his client's right. He therefore opened the newly constituted file and, without detours, displayed the Commander's letter. The letter was proof of the transfer of the ticket, but did not mention the name of the purchaser. My dear friend... she simply said.

My dear friend is me, added Arsène Lupin in a note attached to the commander's letter. And the best proof is that I have the letter.

The cloud of reporters immediately fell on M. Gerbois who could only repeat:

- My dear friend is none other than me. Arsène Lupin stole the commander's letter with the lottery ticket.

- Let him prove it," Lupin replied to the journalists.

- But since he is the one who stole the secretary! exclaimed M. Gerbois in front of the same journalists.

And Lupin retaliated:

- Let him prove it!

And it was a show of charming fantasy that this public duel between the two owners of the number 514 - series 23, that the comings and goings of the reporters, that Arsène Lupin's composure in the face of the panic of poor M. Gerbois.

The press was filled with his laments! He confided his misfortune with touching ingenuity.

- Understand, gentlemen, it is Suzanne's dowry that this rascal is robbing me! For me personally, I don't care, but for Suzanne! Just think, a million! Ten times a hundred thousand francs! Ah, I knew that the secretary had a treasure!

No matter how many objections were made to him that his opponent, in taking the piece of furniture, was unaware of the presence of a lottery ticket, and that in any case no one could foresee that this ticket would win the jackpot, he moaned:

- Come on, he knew it! Why else would he have bothered to take the wretched piece of furniture?

- For unknown reasons, but certainly not to seize a paper rag which was worth the modest sum of twenty francs.

- The sum of a million! He knew it... He knows everything!... Ah, you don't know him, the bandit!... He didn't frustrate you by a million!

The dialogue could have lasted a long time.  But on the twelfth day,

Mr. Gerbois received a letter from Arsène Lupin, which bore the following words

confidential. He read, with growing concern :

"Sir, the gallery is having fun at our expense. Don't you think the time has come to be serious? I, for my part, am firmly resolved to do so.

"The situation is clear: I have a ticket that I don't have the right to touch, and you have the right to touch a ticket that you don't have. So we can't do anything without each other.

"And neither you would consent to give me YOUR right, nor I to give you MY note.

"What to do?

"I see only one way, let's separate. Half a million for you, half a million for me. Isn't that fair? And doesn't this judgment of Solomon satisfy this need for justice that is in all of us?

"A just solution, but an immediate solution. It is not an offer that you have the time to discuss, but a necessity to which circumstances compel you to submit. I give you three days to think about it. On Friday morning, I like to think that I will read a discreet note in the classified ads of the Echo de France addressed to Mr. Ars. Lup. and containing, in veiled terms, your pure and simple adherence to the pact I am proposing to you. In return for which, you will take immediate possession of the note and receive the million - even if you have to hand over five hundred thousand francs to me by the means I will indicate to you later.

"In the event of refusal, I have arranged for the result to be the same. But, apart from the very serious trouble that such obstinacy would cause you, you would have to pay a deduction of twenty-five thousand francs for additional expenses.

"Please accept, Sir, the expression of my most respectful feelings.

"Arsène Lupin. »

Exasperated, M. Gerbois made the huge mistake of showing this letter and letting a copy be taken. His indignation drove him to all sorts of nonsense.

- Nothing, he will get nothing!" he cried to the assembly of reporters. Share what belongs to me? Never. Let him tear up his ticket, if he