Part 4 (1/2)
”But how did Mr. Cosmo Mornington come to mention you in his will, when, at the time when he was making it, you had disappeared from view for eighteen months?”
”Cosmo and I used to correspond.”
”What!”
”Yes; and I had informed him of my approaching escape and my return to Paris.”
”But how did you manage it? Where were you? And how did you find the means? ...”
Don Luis smiled without answering.
”Monte Cristo, this time,” said M. Desmalions. ”The mysterious Monte Cristo.”
”Monte Cristo, if you like, Monsieur le Prefet. In point of fact, the mystery of my captivity and escape is a rather strange one. It may be interesting to throw some light upon it one of these days. Meanwhile, I must ask for a little credit.”
A silence ensued. M. Desmalions once more inspected this curious individual; and he could not refrain from saying, as though in obedience to an a.s.sociation of ideas for which he himself was unable to account:
”One word more, and one only. What were your comrades' reasons for giving you that rather odd nickname of a.r.s.ene Lupin? Was it just an allusion to your pluck, to your physical strength?”
”There was something besides, Monsieur le Prefet: the discovery of a very curious theft, of which certain details, apparently incapable of explanation, had enabled me to name the perpetrator.”
”So you have a gift for that sort of thing?”
”Yes, Monsieur le Prefet, a certain knack which I had the opportunity of employing in Africa on more than one occasion. Hence my nickname of a.r.s.ene Lupin. It was soon after the death of the man himself, you know, and he was much spoken of at the time.”
”Was it a serious theft?”
”It was rather; and it happened to be committed upon Cosmo Mornington, who was then living in the Province of Oran. That was really what started our relations.”
There was a fresh silence; and Don Luis added:
”Poor Cosmo! That incident gave him an unshakable confidence in my little detective talents. He was always saying, 'Perenna, if I die murdered'--he had a fixed notion in his head that he would meet with a violent death--'if I die murdered, swear that you will pursue the culprit,'”
”His presentiment was not justified,” said the Prefect of Police. ”Cosmo Mornington was not murdered.”
”That's where you make a mistake, Monsieur le Prefet,” said Don Luis.
M. Desmalions gave a start.
”What! What's that? Cosmo Mornington--?”
”I say that Cosmo Mornington did not die, as you think, of a carelessly administered injection, but that he died, as he feared he would, by foul play.”
”But, Monsieur, your a.s.sertion is based on no evidence whatever!”
”It is based on fact, Monsieur le Prefet.”
”Were you there? Do you know anything?”
”I was not there. A month ago I was still with the colours. I even admit that, when I arrived in Paris, not having seen the newspapers regularly, I did not know of Cosmo's death. In fact, I learned it from you just now, Monsieur le Prefet.”