St. Paul daily globe., 1889-05-13
HENRI ST. V. DE BEAUssANT, No. 16
RUE DE VIcToIRE, PARIS.

BeauSsant had made his business known
to the sergeant, put on. my hat and
coat and went out. AS | was passing
through the general Office tall, slim
man rose from chair in the corner and,
hat in hand, addressed me:
Monsieur the Chief Inspector
Byrnes?"
ssYes,'' I answered, and turned in
quiringly to one of the attaches.
''This is the gentleman" he said.
smiling significantly, 'who has been
waiting for YOU"
Then looked at the stranger.
81 am De Beassant,' he replied to my
silent inquiry.
five hours?" exclaimed in surprise.
He shrugged his shoulders depre-
catingly.
st IS nothing" he declared, ''now
that / have the honor of speaking to
you. I will come again if it is not
within your convenience or pleasure at
the present."
Ii struck me that the man deserved
an audience for his patience. even ii he
were no more than the crank that |
suspected him to be, and returned
with him to the private office. His face
was dark and thin, and pointed mus
tache and imperial gave him what we
recognize as typically French appear
ance. His manner of speaking was
about as have quoted it above, deliy-
cred with a slight accent, and usually
with good choice of words, but little
stilted and p0mpous.
''What is your busineSs?" asked
when he had taken chair.
Il wish to be employed as detective
OH your staff" he replied.
s.You might have received your an.
swer to. that wish,' said. without
waiting so long to see me-
That is true, but there are circumstances
to be considered. You will pardon my
seeming insistence, for it is not for the
detective to complain of tedious wait
ing. Patience, silence, persistence
that is unobtrusive, these are some of
the qualities that, pardon me for saying
it, are essential in the true detective"
M. de Beaussant amused and inter-
esteG me.
81 presume you have had some expe-
rience,' said, '.what has it been?"
s.Ah, monsieur the chief" he re-
sponded, 'sthat is the question difficult
to answer, but / knew that it must be
asked. and l am prepared to tell you.
1t will be brief"
ssThen he told his story. shall give
it as nearly as can recall i'll his own
words. It. is not necessary that should
say here whether he eventually became
amember of the New York detective
force or not.
.'It is we'll that you should know" he
began. ''that my parents were well-tO-
do, and brought me up as an educated
gentleman of leisure. At thirty dis
aster of business left my little fortune
wreck. and few hundred francs repre-
sented all possessed. l went to work
with friend as a bOOkkeeper. but my
habits were such that could not live
on my salary. Moreover, was deeply
in love wlth-call her Marie. She sung
in one of the opera companies. We
were to be married. Under the cir
cumstances, must make more
money. 1 had no trade-no skill
at anything-but L had read every
thing in French literature about detect
ives, and it occurred to me that the lite
of detective might satisfy my craving
for activity and adventure. and that
there mi ght be prospects of obtaining
high rewards in it. 1t was my only
hope. / felt confident that | knew the
methods to be pursued, and that eXpe-
rience would lead to success. In this
Marie encouraged me, and promised to
marry me, whatever my circumstances,
at the conclusion Of my first successful
effort.
II applied to the chief of the depart
ment. No matter how l gained his in
terest; perhaps / did not, but at all
events he ended our conversation by
showing me a paragraph in newspa-
per. 1t said that M. Lemaitre, wealthy
gentleman, had been found dead in his
fiacrc at an early hour in the morning
by the cabman who had driven him to
the door of his hotel. There was no
evidence of violence, but murder was
suspected because Lemaitre's jewels
and money were missing.
ga post mOrtem,' concluded the
chief, has revealed the presence of
morphine in the deceased's stomach.
derer, but others are ahead of you.
will tell you all they knOw-the cab
mans number
sWith the greatest zeal undertook
the task. l saw the cabman, as had the
others. He had picked up Lemaitre at
a certain street corner at a. III. The
gentleman was, as usual at that hour,
Somewhat under the influence of
liquor. With him was woman heavily
veiled. When they had gone some
distance the lady called upon the cab
man to stop.
81 will get out here,' she said; this
is my house, and you may leave Mr..
Lemaitre at his hotel
ssThat was all he knew. Visited the
hotel and the wOman's house only to
find that several women living in the
neighborhoOd were already under ar
rest. Such information as secured
gave me no assistance. Somewhat nom
plused 1 went to the corner where the
fiacre had been hailed. The regular de-
tectives, / thought, are doubtless search
ing the drug stores to find where the
poison was obtained. ] will try to find
where Lemaitre spent the evening, the
others may have done that already, but
we shall see.
81 knew the neighborho0d well.
There were several cafes in easy reach,
where gentlemen and ladies might
enjoy in quiet an after-opera supper. |
Without going into details, ! will say
that in one, which knew well, / found
a waiter who admitted that Lemaitre,
or a gentleman answering to his de-
scriptiOn, had been there on the even
ing in question with veiled lady. The
waiter did not suspect my errand, for
he had known me as customer.