The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-05-16
THE
TEETH OF THE TIGER
MAURICE LEBLANC
TRANSLATED BY
ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS

graph. Don Luis had this touched
up and faxed it himself, so that the
project of police should not per-
ceive the substitution Of one set
Of features for another.
He dined at a restaurant and, at
0 o'clock, joined Mazeroux on the
Boulevard Suchet.
Since the Fauville murders the
house had been left in the charge
Of the porter. All the rooms and
all the locks had been sealed up,
except the inner door of the work
room, of which the police kept the
keys for the purposes of the in
quiry.
The big study looked as it did
before, though the papers had
been removed and put away and
there were no books and pamphlets
left on the writing table. A layer
of dust, clearly visible by the cleo
trio light, covered its black leather
and the surrounding mahogany.
"Well, Alexandra, old man."
cried Don Luis, when they had
made themselves comfortable,
"what do you say to this7 It's
rather Impressive, being here
again, whatY But, this time, no
barricading Of doors, no bolts, eh
If anything's going to happen, on
this night Of the 18th Of April, we
will put nothing in our friends
way. They shall have full and en-
tire liberty. It's up to them, this
time"
Though joking, Don Luis was
nevertheless singularly impressed,
as he himself said, by the terrible
recollection Of the two crimes
which he had been unable to pre-
vent and by the haunting vision of
the two dead bodies. And he also
remembered with real emotion the
implacable duel which he had
fought with Nine. Fauville, the
woman's despair and her arrest.
"Tell me about her." he said to
Mazeroux. $50 she tried to kill
herself9"
Eyes" said Mazeroux, ga thor
oughgoing attempt, though she
had to make it in a manner which
she must have hated. She hanged
herself in strips Of linen torn from
her sheets and underclothing and
twisted together. She had to be
restored by artificial respiration.
She is out of danger now, I~bclieve,
but she is never left alone, for she
swore she would do it again"
"She has made no confessionq'
"No. She persists in proclaim
ing her innocence"
"And what do they think at the
public prosecutors At the pre-
fect'sY
"Why should they change their
opinion, chief The inquiries con.
firm every one of the charges
brought against her; and, in par.
ticular, it has. been proved beyond
the possibility of dispute that she
alone can have touched the apple
and that she can have touched ii
only between IL o'clock at night
and 7 o'clock in the morning. Now
the apple bears the undeniable
marks of her teeth. Would you
admit that there are two sets OF
paws in the world that leave the
same identical Imprint"
"No, no." said Don Luis, who
was thinking of Florence Levas-
seur. "No, the argument allows OF
no discussion. We have here q
fact hat is clear as daylight and
the imprint is almost tantamount
to a discovery in the act. But then
how, in the midst of all this, arc
we to explain the presence Of
"Whom, chief"
Nobody. / had an idea worry.
ing me Besides, you see, in all
this there are SO many unnatural
things, such queer condolences
and Inconsistencies, that / dare not
count on a certainty which the
reality Of tomorrow may destroy
They went on talking for some
time, in a low voice, studying the
question in all its bearings.
At midnight they switched of
the electric light in the chandelier
and arranged hat each should &c
to sleep in turn.
And the hours went by as they
had done when the two sat mp be
fore, with the same sound of be
lated carriages and motor cars
the same railway whistles; the
same silence.
The night passed without alarm
or incident Of any kind. At day
break the life out of doors was re
sumed; and Don Luis, during hi!
waking hours, had not heard {
sound in the room except thu