Remarkable Rogues / The Careers of Some Notable Criminals of Europe and America; Second Edition

by Charles Kingston

Perhaps Barthélemy's statement was true except in one particular. The mysterious lady may not have been the daughter of the manufacturer, but it is credible that Barthélemy may have planned the whole affair in order to blackmail Mr. Moore. No doubt he induced the girl to pose as the injured daughter, and it is conceivable that he coached her into acting the part of the grief-stricken woman whose mother was betrayed and deserted.

Mr. Moore listened to the demand for a settlement on the girl who said she was his daughter and then curtly declined to pay a penny. Barthélemy threatened him with loss of reputation and its twin, respectability. What would his friends think of him? The older man laughed contemptuously. He was not going to yield to a pair of blackmailers, and he told them to clear out of his house as quickly as possible.

All three by now would be on their feet, Barthélemy and Mr. Moore face to face, the former's eyes flashing, his pose theatrical; and the girl in the background watching, her face hidden by the heavy folds of her veil. The two men would be exchanging angry words, their tempers rising every moment until it would seem that they must be overheard by anybody in the street. But the blackmailer did not wish matters to go as far as that, and he suddenly ended the altercation by smashing Mr. Moore's head in with a blow from a loaded stick.

The unfortunate merchant collapsed in a heap on the floor, but he was by no means unconscious, and he shouted for help until his servant realized that her master was in danger. Throwing open the front door, she screamed in terror until the whole street was roused. A policeman came running towards her, and she gasped out what she knew.

It was obvious that the murderer would not attempt to leave by the front door, and as the only other means of exit was by way of the backyard and over certain walls the officer—Collard by name—who had served in the army and was a very brave man, without thinking of the risk or waiting for assistance, dashed round to the back of the house to intercept the Frenchman and his female companion. A small crowd guarded the front of the building, all of them valiantly prepared to take any risk because there were fifty of them to share it.

Meanwhile Barthélemy, realizing that he had killed Moore, and that the whole neighbourhood was roused, sought desperately for a way of escape. In the crisis he thought only of himself, and, without a word to the girl, he rushed from the room, darted downstairs and into the yard, climbed a wall at the back and jumped over, to find himself in the arms of the policeman.

The two men rolled and struggled in the road, the officer undismayed by Barthélemy's superiority in height and strength. Collard more than held his own, but Barthélemy, as in the case of his duel with Cournet, was not going to fight fairly. He drew his pistol the moment he was able to release one hand, and with the greatest deliberation fired twice into the body of his opponent.

There were several eye-witnesses of the crime, but no one appears to have attempted to detain the murderer, and Barthélemy would have got away if, just as Collard had fallen back with a groan, more police had not arrived on the scene. The Frenchman was speedily overcome by them and disarmed.

It had been a breathlessly exciting time from beginning to end, and it was not until Barthélemy was being taken to prison that it occurred to his captors to search for his female companion. She had not left the house by the front door, for there had been some one on guard there all the time, and now the police entered, expecting to find her hiding in one of the rooms at the top. Every possible exit was closed before the search began, but despite the protracted efforts of the officers of the law to locate her she was not found. In the room where the interview with Mr. Moore had taken place they discovered lying near the body of the murdered man a woman's mantle, the very one which she had worn when admitted by the servant, as the latter confirmed.

How had she escaped? If she had gone by the back way she could not have failed to attract the attention of the crowd which had assembled when Collard had tackled Barthélemy. Besides it was almost impossible for a girl to climb the wall unaided.