“Yes, the criminals have taken great precautions. The General is dead, the servant, too, is dead, and you had been sent away. The wounded man has disappeared, as though buried in the bowels of the earth. And the unknown woman is mocking at our researches.”
Baudoin shook his head.
“So long as attempts are made to find her, she will hide, and nothing will be discovered. If the matter concerned me, I know what I should do.”
M. Mayeur, in his distress, flashed at the valet a look of curiosity. When he, the examining magistrate, so famous for a resourceful imagination, no longer knew what expedient to try, a simple witness pretended to understand the position, and point out the means to be followed. He was on the point of crushing him with official disdain, by telling him to trouble with what concerned him, when he thought that, after all, advice was not to be neglected, and he might despise it afterwards, if necessary. He accordingly asked, in mocking tones, to safeguard his dignity—
“Then, what would you do, M. Baudoin?”
“Please pardon me, sir, if what I say is foolish, but if the affair were in my hand, instead of sending out in every direction, seeking information everywhere, I would not stir a step. I should let it be known that I had given up the pursuit, and was engaged in something else. You must know what takes place in a barn, where there are mice. There is a general rush to the holes as soon as the sound of entering feet are heard. If you remain quiet, after a few moments the mice are seen to be risking out again, and playing about the floor as before. Well, I believe it would be the same in the present case. I beg pardon, if I interfere in the matter, but I, too, am bent on finding the rascals who killed my master, and if I can contribute towards their capture it will be the brightest day of my life.”
M. Mayeur no longer cast a disdainful glance at the General’s valet. He smiled at him in most amiable mood. For, in a flash he had furnished him with the means of taking advantage of the difficulty in this cursed affair. When the Government agent should say to him, that very evening—“Well, my dear Mayeur, where have you got to now? Nothing yet?” instead of replying in a tone of vexation, “Nothing at all,” thus confessing his inability to discover, and even the absence of grounds on which to found his researches, he would be able to reply: “This matter has been badly begun, I undertake to recommence everything ab ovo. We have to deal with rogues who are exceedingly cunning. I intend to change my plans entirely.” This time he would no longer appear incapable, as though he were entrusted with a task too difficult for his capacity. He would secure an honourable retreat, and gain time as well.
Resuming his stiff and formal gravity, he said—
“There will be plenty of time to act as you suggest. But I have still at my disposal many other means of throwing light on the subject.”
His clerk, pen in mouth, could not help laughing outright. When Mayeur was at bay, without a single idea in his head, befooled by the culprits when he had not the slightest idea where to look for them, he still pretended to “throw light on the subject.” Light on the subject! It was enough to make any one laugh! He gave Baudoin a wink, and noisily rattled his desk.