Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-05-01


seek to gam possession of the key between
these hours. Now, Monsieur, you have talked
with Mouton the janitor, and with his daugh-
ter Sophie. You have made notes of your
conversation with these persons; have made
none-I never do. / carry them all here"-
NJ Blery tapped his brow-sbut should be
glad to listen to yours. You found the child
Sophie Mouton intelligent, did you nota"
Certainly. She appears to have been some
what agitated during her examination by the
Judge, but she answered my questions most
clearly"
GAS she did mine. And now, Monsieur,
for the notes Of your conversation"
every good; here they are: Sophie Mou-
ton states that about two months ago-th
exact date she cannot remembers man
came to No. Is Passage :, Mazarin desiring
to see Joseph Meissner. It was after six
o'clock; Meissner had gone out as usual So
phie Mouton, who CHANGED to be alone in the
janitor's room, said SO to Meissner's visitor.
THE stranger, Sophie Mouton says, was
evidently a foreigner, both from his appear
ance and accent. He was Of medium height
and slim figure'-"
s'Of medium height and slim fgure-that
is it, said M. Blery
"'Had dark complexion, straight black
hair, and very dark, sunken eyes. She could
not guess to what nation he belonged; he did
not look like either an italian or Spaniard:
seemed more foreign than that-such was the
phrase He must have come from warm
climate"
"A warm climateI' murmured NJ Blery.
'Proceed, Monsieur, proceedp'
Because he shivered constantly, and
complained bitterly in his broken French of
the cold. He was in evening dress, and wore
fur cloak hung loosely over his shoulders.
"'When informed that Meissner had gone
out he seemed annoyed, and asked at what
hour he might be expected to return. The
girl told him at nine o'clock; then the stran-
ger, looking out at the weather, which was
wet, and down at his dress boots, which were
thin, asked Sophie to obige him by fetching
cab, as he had dismissed his on arriving.
Leaving him alone in the room, Sophie ran to
the stand at the corner of the Rue st. Andre
and brought a cab; the stranger thanked her,
gave her five-franc piece, and then drove
off, after saying that he would return THAT
night as he wished to see Meissner par
ticularly'"
Cleft alone in the janitor's room," said M.
Blery, che takes down Meissner's key from
the rack. Proceed, Monsieur, proceed"
"tAbout eight o'clock he came back; he ex-
planned that he had not understood what the
girl had said; thought she had mentioned
eight, not nine, as the hour Of Meissners re-
turn; he found French SO difficult to under
standl 1t mattered little however; he would
wait, if they would allow him. Mouton the
janitor had by this time come back from the
wine shop; with him the stranger sat- talk
ing very affably in his broken French.
Mouton recollects having told the stranger,
in the course of conversation, that he re-
minded him in speech and appearance Of an
other foreigner, a client of Meissner's, who
had been accustomed to visit the usurer fire.
quently, up to about q year before The
stranger remarked that that might possibly
be one of his compatriots, but did not mem
ton to what country he belonged.
"'After talking for about half an hour, the
stranger suggested that the girl should be sent
for bottle of wine. Mouton agreed with
alacrity; the stranger gave Sophie money to
pay for it. During her absence it seems that
he asked Mouton to look out and tell him
whether it still rained; the janitor complied,
going to the outer door, and so leaving the
stranger alone in the room for, perhaps,
minute"
"During which minute" observed NJ.
Blery, "our man replaces Meissner's key on
the rack"
'sNo doubt. Well: Presently Sophie
Mouton returns with the wine; the stranger
sits down, fills glasses for Mouton and him.
self, and chats with the janitor for few
minutes longer. Suddenly he rises, saying
that he wishes to see whether the rain has
stopped. He goes to the outer door-and
never returns.'"
Precisely" said M. Blery; "never re-
turns. No; he has got what he came for.
And now, Monsieur, let me ask you if you
put any question to the janitor Mouton re-
garding that other foreigner of whom he was
reminded by his complaisant v1sitorg'
"Yes; it occurred to me that this was sig
nifcant."
"Admirablel'' murmured M Blery; ''admir-
ablel He neglects nothing-nisses not
single pointl A born detectivet7-Wel, Mon
sieur?'
s'This other foreigner, Mouton informed
me, had been for long time, more than
year, most assiduous in his visits to the old
uslrer. He was one of those unfortunates,
the janitor said, whom Meissner had 'fayed.'
At first he used to drive up to their door in
cabriolet, OF ride with a. groom following him;
but toward the end of his acquaintance with
the old Jew his clothes had become shabby;
and finally Meissner had given the order that
he was to be admitted no more. 1t was more
than year, Mouton told me, since he had last
seen this man."
monsieur attaches an evident Importance
to this other foreigner. he thinks that there
may be some connection between him and
Mouton's mysterious visitor of two months
back?n
eyes. They were very like each other, the
janitor says-the same build, the same cast
of features, the same accent in their speech.
connect them with each other; connect
them also with the weapon used in the COM
mission of the crime. The dagger is of
Japanese workmanship; the two foreigners
may belt is a mere surmise, but there is at
least something in its favor-the two for
eigners may be Japanese"
s'That is more than surmise, Monsieur-it
is an idea; an idea which has also occurred to
myself And now as to the daggers-I take
it we gained precisely the same information
from M. Beauvaiss'
''No doubt, but I shall ask your attention
to one point regarding the daggers, which
think of consequence I take no credit to
myself for this discovery; it was made by
the happiest of chances"
M. Blery paused in his walk through the
room and listened very attentively.
"a Japanese dagger is found beside the
corpse Of Meissner; one exactly like it is
found in the collection of M. de st. Florent.
The chief characteristic Of these daggers is
their rarity; that of the Passage de Mazarin,
before the discovery of the other, was pro-
nounced by connoisseurs to be unique. The
De st. Florent dagger has sheath shaped
like closed fan; presumably, that found in
Meissners room would have a similar sheath.
''Meissner obtained this dagger, which he
subsequently gave to his nephew, from rich
foreigner who was one of his clients The
question we have to deal with Is this-can we
prove that Girard's story is truea Con we
prove that he really sold the weapon given
him by his unclea In word, can vs. show
that there is a third dagger Of this Find in
existencea If SO, can we find it1
"On each Of the daggers now at the nre-
recture there is craven the image Of flower.
On each, beside that flower, there is inscribed
single word. The word on the De st. F1orent
dagger means Evanescence; that on the other
Qlusion.
7nere Is what find written In this book.
The book, may tell you, belongs to NJ.
Beauvais. It is in English, and is called
The Buddhist Belief buddhism I need not
remind NJ Blery is the religion of the |