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Show II Tfeura About The Cam Tlve JZxp&rioic&& of M.F Goroa, IZx-CKief o-P fcaris T2tQciWe Police sr- Bdita ir Albert Key 1 Number Ninety -Four (Editor's Note. I made M. Goron's ac- qualatance some years ago. and was at H ones struck with his extraordinary pow-ir pow-ir of observation, his kcon-wittcdiicss, Itnd his devouring energy In the discharge if his difficult duties. For It must bo re-ttemoered re-ttemoered that the chief of the Paris tectlvi police wields enormous power inri In allowed a certain discretion ex-Mpt, ex-Mpt, of courae. when a. crime has bcon committed to save Innocent persons tho disgrace of a. public scandal. A few months apo I waK smoking a pipe In his study, a room liunc with trophies tro-phies a museum of crime. I saw him (Jce up a thick, leather-bound volume, the pages covered with writing, with here And there portraits and curious-looking Jrawlnps. "This Is my diary," lie began, but suddenly stopped when he saw mc ."Yes. It Is my diary." ho repeated; but what's the trouble?" "Tour diary? And you never thought of publishing It?" "N"o," he retorted with a smile: "the fact Is, here are all my Impressions, and I did not even know the end of the sentence. 7 took up the book and began reading at once: and tho more I road the more I marveled. Tho next morning we commenced work, and this scries Is tho If IM HE Belgian government had dc-I dc-I manded tho extradition of the swindler Karstcns, nnd, for purposes pur-poses of identification, T had asked, the people who had dcalinp3 with him to come to my office. Among thoFQ who called upon mc was Charles Vernet, a financier, and, BB while I .listened to the evidence he gave I"" in a clear, concise manner, the conviction convic-tion stole upon me that T had met him before under different circumstances. But whcrel when? Although T have an excellent niemor- for faces, his features fea-tures wore not familiar to me; yet his general appearance, the way ho raised his right hand when he spoke, roused old recollections. "Who is he?' I inquired the next clay of the police commissary in M. Charles Vernet "s district. " vvno is hoi rcpcaiea my iricnu. with a touch of surprise in his voice. "My dear Goron, don't you "really i know Charles Vernet 7" "Well. 3'os. of course T understand h is a financier, with plenty of monev; but J know nothing about him' He shrugged his shoulders. "Look here, Goron, I .never know when yon am making fun ofanybnd.v; but if you put tho question to nie flu-riously, flu-riously, let nie tell von thut Charles Vernot is not only rich, but bears a good reputation on the Bourse, aud ia received everywhere. " "How long" has he been in Paris?" "About ten years. 11c caino here with a large fortuno made at. the Cape, and has doubled it since.' ' "Who is he?" I. again asked myself when 1 went to bed. For da3's and days the man's face seemed to follow inc. T mentally passed in review the various persons J had mot in the course of my career without, with-out, being able to locate him. Yet Tj felt certain I had rcoh him -when .his name was not Charles Vernet. j 1 took out my .journal, looking over! the rases with which had been connected con-nected since I became chief of the detective de-tective police. And still no traco of him. T worked my way back to the da3rs when I was assistant to M. Clemont, at; the prefecture, and police commissary in the Latin Quarter, until I came upon tho murdor of Moulin, the notnrj-'s clerk, by a fellow called Simou. And then I paused; for it suddenly dawned upon mc that Simon was the man 1 must have had iu my mind when I saw Charles Vernet, Moulin livod in the Ttuc des Abbesses, Ab-besses, and the aud Simon were friends. One night a"Jodgcr, occupying a room below Moulin'?, was awakeucd 03 the noise of a scuffle overhead, and, going to the rescue, met a man hurrying past him. Moulin was lying on" his bed tabbed to the heart. When Simon was arrested the next da-, the lodger recognized rec-ognized him as the man ho had seen on tho stairs. Simon who had already been implicated in several unpleasant affairs, never admitted his guilt; and, in tho absence of direct proofs, the jury brought in a verdict by which he' escaped es-caped the guillotine, lint was sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude. I inquired at the Prefecture, where T learned that Simon and a man called Aymard had planned to escapo from fayciuio. Aymard had succeeded in ectting awa3-, while Simon, his face battered in and his body covered with i wounds, was found in a ditch. His identity had boen disclosed by his jacket,' which bore the number "IM." Tho report of Simon 'a death did not remove :ny doubts. But, as in the face of the official statement I could not well apply to tho authorities for assistance, I determined to try to solve tho problem m.vsolf. 1 If mv theory was right that Charles Vernet and Simon wcro the same person it must havo been Simou who placed tho tclltalo jacket with the number 0-1 011 tho body of Aymard, whom, no doubt, he had murdered to insure his own safet3. This trick had been performed sevoral times and, from my rocolleetion of Simon, ho was not the man to shrink from killing his companion. I took all- the papers relating to tho Simon case with mc, and gathered from them an interesting fact While under remand. Simon probabl3' to curr3' favor with the authorities had denounced a 3011 th named Borgcr. as having been concerned in a burglary in the Hup. des , Saints-Peres, in connection con-nection "with which three men had boon sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. imprison-ment. Bertrcr was arrested, but. as it was proved that ho had thus far borno an excellent, character, and had boen 1 fooled by his companions, ho got off ver3-- liglitly. .1 had reason to suppose tlfat Borger, knowing it was Simon who had bc-tra'cd bc-tra'cd him. would not be sorrj" to got even with his oneni3 and T therefore decided to have a talk with him, without, with-out, of course, letting him know more than was strictly nocessar3r. Tn fact, had to be very careful how I went to work. So far, everything was on- supposition. supposi-tion. The official report, about Simon's death might have been true, and my theory about tho likeness between the two mcu the financier and the convict altogether wrong. In that, case a mistake would have proved disastrous. Twelve 3'oars had elapsed sinco the trial of Simon, and it was possible that Bcrgor had disappeared. Fortunately-I Fortunately-I had a clue. Borger at the time of his arrest w.as courting a woman who kept a tobacco ehop in the Latin Quartor, the. widow of a man called Samson, for winch reason tho students hail christened chris-tened her "Delilah." When J railed at the little shop in tho Tuo S"aint-Andrc-dcs-Arts, J found it had changed hands, and in the placo of tho buxom Madame Dolilah was a thin, good na tared looking little woman, fond of gossip. 1 bought some cigarettes, and she was soon, giving me the biog-rapli3- of every member of her family. Thon I deflected our talk to Madanio Delilah whereupon the ladr tobacconist tobaccon-ist looked severe. "Did 3'qu know that person?" she asked. "No, no," T hurriedly replied, "T have only seen her once or twico, when she was engaged to a man a man I can't remember his name." The lad3" tobacconist continued to look severe and, with scorn in her voice, remarked: "tin gaged, engaged who do you think would have engaged himself to Delilah?" "I, fanc3' 1 heard she wns going to marry somcbod3' called Burger or Bcrgor. Bcr-gor. ' ' "Bcrgcr, vou mean. That; jailbird?" "Yes. What has becomo of him?" "When he was discharged from prison ho took up photography, and migrated to Belleville; but that's several sev-eral 3-cars ago." Tn Belleville, the populous quarter, there are several establishments whero the Paris workmen celebrato their weddingw, and. according t0 cus. torn have themselves photographed on tho important da The restaurant of tho Las Saint-Fnrgoau, at the top of the steep Hue dc Belleville, is the most famous place for this kind of entertainments, enter-tainments, and I decided to go there first. When I reached the establishment, establish-ment, at 2 in the afternoon, several wedding parties had taken possession of the garden, and a photographer was busy with his apparatus, while his assistant as-sistant arranged tho groups. "What is the name of the artist?" I inquired of the proprietor. "Masson," he replied. At that moment the assistant passed us to fetch a chair from the house. I stoppod him and asked whether he knew a photographer named Bcrger. He 03cd mc curiously. "Mv name is Bcrger." 1 had reason to congratulate myself on my luck. And, looking. at tho man. 1 detected a likoucss to his portrait I had seen at the Prefecture. T waited till tho rush of work was over, and then beckoned to him. When I told him who 1 was, he frowned. "M Goron," he exclaimed, "I hoped this horrible affair was forgotten. L am earning m3- Jiving honestly. Wh3' am J. again' to be troubled?". " 1'ou have nothing to fear; my good fellow. Your ati'air, as 3'ou ;call it, is dead and buried. All I ask you is to call on mc, tomorrow morning at half-past half-past ten. I have a question 'to put to you." "All right, sir," he sighod.' On my return to the onico L sent a noto to Charles Vernet, with the request re-quest to come to mc tho next morning at 11, as I wanted some more information informa-tion JVora h.im rogarding the Belgian swindler. At half-past ten, punctually, Bcrger was announced. "Borger," .. began, "you need not look so miserable. I give 3'ou my word nobodj- will hurt vou." Ho smiled faintV- "1 want.you to go into the adjoining adjoin-ing room and wait for me.'.' A few minutes past .13 Vernet was introduced. I apologized for troubling him again, and handed him a few documents doc-uments 1 relative to tlfe Karstcns affair. Whilo ho was reading them!' went to Bercrer. The small room where I had left him. and to which nobody had access, opener! into 7113' office. In the door was a little hole. "You see that hole?" I asked. "Yes. sir." "Put your eye to it, and look carefully care-fully at tho gentleman inside. When he is gone J shall call you." My conversation with Charles Vernot did not last many minufccB; nnd the moment he had loft I went to Bcrgcr. He stared at me like one in a dream. "Well. Bcrger?" Ifc remained silent for a while, and thon shook his hoad. "Who is' he?" he said at last. "That is the very question I wanted to put to 3ou." Ho sat. loop in thought, one hand playing with his hat, turning it mechanically me-chanically around. "Who is he, and why did you show him to mc?" he asked again. T remained silent. "M. Goron," he cried excitedly, ' vou have awakcn.cd in me a feeling" 1" 1. ,i , . - 1, . - 1 mi iiimmntju lo amoiner. vou Know my history. You know how T was dragged into tho affair, and you know . the name of the villain who brought the trouble on my head When f was discharged from Gaillon T had but one idea to l)o avenged on Simon. And when T heard his body had been found in Cayenne, J thought ho .still might havo escaped ho is so artful. Then T looked at bvoty man in tho streets. . nnr? f fnnnlnrl T O: A. .' j u...i,jvu X OAIT tJUUUIl. .'11 laSt It became such an obsession that T felt 1 was growing mad under the strain, and T fought hard against It. until Simon's Si-mon's faco ceased to haunt me. And. now, tod ay, this feoling has returned "t all its intensity. Why?" " Yes why?" "It is tho sight of the man that did Ho is not Simon. H0 looks quite dirtoront. i ct, something iu his manner. man-ner. 111 tho way he holds himself, reminds re-minds 1110 of him. Who is he?" 'That is none of your business. iNow. go home and think no more about it. I will give you an introduction introduc-tion to one of my friends who can put a lot of work in vour way," Bergcr's faco brightened. J hank you, M Goron; you don't know the struggle I am having." iou will get on bettor now. Hero is my enrd. And not a word about I this interview." .Bcrger had strengthened my suspicions suspi-cions and tho moment had arrived for WjfwT'f,- T lia11 a dimcult Part to play, but T foil, equal to it. Uiarlos Vernet cntortaiued frequently frequent-ly in his tastefully furnished apartment in the Kuo do la Faisandorie. He also went much into society, and was a constant con-stant guest at tho house ofd5me T tfJe w.e, known sculptor, nt whoso receptions the elite of the artistic artis-tic and htorary world congregated and ono of the most fasc natinn- of women, had often invited me to the? lfc.bffnnPbuL Vovcr fa the tin e to attend them. Now, however. I made up my mind to go to the soiree she 3 TO1? ?l tlle cnd of tl,e motu. and I called on my friend, Camille i-, who, I kncw,Nhclpcd her with 'Camille," I 8aid. "I want v0U to ask me to luncheon with Madame S and also to secure mc an invitation to her reception on tho 28th." -Nothing easier " said Camille. hon to lunch with him and Madame h at Durand'fl. Whon coffeo was served, Camille turned tho conversation to tho soiree. "T suppose," he said, "you will as usual, have an 'All Paris' nimbly,' in! eluding the financial swells?" "Oh, tho financial swnlls " Madame 8-7-7-. "are always eager to meet colebntios." And she mentioned tho names of her guests. Charlea Vernet was anion" them. 0 "Why don't you invite our friend here?" asked Camille. . '.Wh)L,,i8 t,K' d!" pouted the lady. "He never comes." "Try him agnin." "Very well. M. Goron. will vou give mo the pleasure of your compiinvf" It will be an honor to me," mad-amo. mad-amo. " Madame S clapped her hand-- with jo3'. "T am much obliged to you. M, Goron. And J want you to contribute your share to the night's entertainment. Cauuot you tell us something interesting?" interest-ing?" "A lecture?" did Yhy notI Tha' wou,d be lIe"" "1 doubt whether it would amuse your guosts: but possibly r nruy find something else to suit their iaded' pal-a.cs. pal-a.cs. And. if it is not iudiscrcct on my part, will you allow mc to bring vSuy",nK ncp,,cw! -Hc Jfi hcrc on a cd'" aU ,lU?s,n; 1 sl,a" b delight- The enitiiil evenintr arrival, and I drove up to Madam S 'b with a parcel carefully wrapped in brown paper, pa-per, which J loft downstairs in charge of ono of the servants. As to 1113-nephew. 1113-nephew. nobod3' would have guessed that the good-looking, well dressed 3'oung man, with the gardeuia in his buttonhole, was a smart detective in whom 1 placed absolute Tcliancc. When T entered the salons the guests had noarl3' all arrived. I recognized Pailjcron, Lucien March of tho Illustration, Illus-tration, Alphonso Daudct, Meissonier, Puvis de Chavannos, Lamoreanx, Pran.-cisque Pran.-cisque Sarcoy, Benjamin Constant, Sar-dou, Sar-dou, actors and actresses from the leading- theaters, famous scientists a brilliant bril-liant crowd. There was some excellent music, and then a loug--haired gohtleman unfolded tho mysteries of tho cinematograph at that timo quite a novelty. A professor pro-fessor from the Sorbonne showed us a now eieuiromcrer; ana a Hocietaire from the Comedie lVancaise gave some recitations. I wan sitting in a quiet corner watching watch-ing Charles Vernet deep in conversation conversa-tion with three or four stock exchange men, when Madame uame toward me. both hands extended. "Dear M. Goron," she cried, "it is now your turn." And, taking mv arm, she led me to tho center of the room. My friend Camillo asked for silence for the hostess, host-ess, who said: "M. Goron, whom we are all glad to welcome hero has promised to give us some of his experiences. Tt is a surprise sur-prise I kept in store for you." Loud applause followed. A small table with the traditional glass of water wa-ter was brought for me; the ladies sat in a semicircle, the gentlemen formed the background, "Ladies and gentlemen." I began, when silence was restored, "our charming charm-ing hostess has told 3'ou X would relate re-late some of m3' experiences. I have no such intention, for tho simple reason rea-son that you all know more about them than 1, do myself. Newspaper reporting report-ing has become one of the fine arts, and no sooner is a crime committed than the papers bring the fullest details. de-tails. Nay, the up-to-date journalist seems even to have the gift of prophecv; for many a timo T read of burglaries and attempted murders that have not yet: occurrod. 1 therefore. thought that instead of giving you narratives nar-ratives offering but little interest, I would draw your attention to the curious curi-ous evolution Which the detective's profession, like everything nowadays, has undergone. "Years ago, ho man whose duty it is to fight the enemies of sociot3r had his own Dowers to rely upon. Between him aud the criminal it was skill against skill, art against art. Then came the modern inventions rnilwa3-s, steamers, the telegraph, the telophoue and matters grew worso for the detective. de-tective. Alas! it was tho murderers, tho forgers, who had the advantage, inasmuch inas-much as they could steal a long march upon Nemesis, and get their accomplices accom-plices to use the telegraph and tho telephone for their benefit. "The question, therefore, was to discover dis-cover a system bv which society, and nnf its fnos wnlllil roun tint iflvintorru Ladies and gentlemen, this s'stom has been found, nnd the man to'wliom wo owe it, and whoso name will go down to posterity, is M. Bertillon." T undid the parcel which mv "nephew," at my request, had brouglu upstairs, "This box," T continued, "contains the instruments used in the anthro-ponietrica! anthro-ponietrica! department for the identifi cation of those who, having previously fallen into the hands of the police, expect ex-pect to escape detection by changing their names, or altering, as they think, their appearance." Having explained to the company the practical working of the system, and how the little instruments are applied ap-plied to the head and fingers. 1 said: "With .your kind permission, I will now conclude with n practical demonstration, demon-stration, which will leave to some or you a little souvenir of my lecture. As 1 had already the honor to explain, the measurements of the incriminated person arc put down on a card, to which his photograph is affixed, and thus we possess the infallible means of discovering, discov-ering, at a moment's notice, the identity iden-tity of the person arrested. It is a not through whose meshes nothing can slip. 1 have brought some of these cards witli me. and shall be hapnv to take the measurement of .1113- ladj- or gentleman, and present them" with' the card." I never saw such excitement. Dozens of charming women made a rush for mc. and sweet voices ctfiod: "Measure me, please, M. Goron." "One moment, ladies," I called out, "the mistress of the house fir.st." Madame S came oromoth" forward, for-ward, and. after had attended'to her and a number of ladies, my "nophew" filling up the cards, E raised my hand. "Ami now the gentlemen!" Sarccv was the tirst to present himself. him-self. Then camo Daudct, and other distinguished parsonages. All along T had kept my evo on Charles Vernet, who had remained in tho background, and now slowly moved toward the door. "M. Vernot," 1 snid, "don't go awav. Have your measurements taken." ta-ken." He hesitated a moment, and then said, with whnf BW. forced smilcY PPM VW "No. thank 3-011 i . Ku tiling done before." hi7 measuring y0u!" 1 V.WK counlo ot American S among tho first tnv3M " Please take him t urBW bring him to me" "W Ainid shouts of lnu JsK him and nulled h m &l frX marked'3 awat ' 'Of course. Tl iK t 1 . .Hf Either mv , JJH , U or the man had inmck'A, Bion. HC never movc I J iSft1 bcine measured. R Others were no-?- H'' but on the cite cards. I withdrew tn ill flT whither Vernot U eolSMfi mv detective. Th i(m Vernot a prepared' czt fe&fc lv slipped into mrhaB-had mrhaB-had jst filled np; SL-'US m o a corner to JBS official dpc.uucnt rolatira VR? SWoWi? borro s. Simon, the esca td X,V, dercr. who stood there i;BVK' gar. making an apP n'sr thunderbolt would hav?f5gM J went up to him. Have vou said cood lady of the house !i ' t ..SfflMl. f ' turned shn-ly JtME Monsieur Goron" L t BS Hush I ponHUe?SBS goodbye to tho hosteu;4aaBHE will havo to loave Parii oaSK lle did not move. lBM ''Pot tho second aB,j v-St whispered "T adv,se jiu1 a scone. It 13 not lo ChAkKS T am sponking. it is to Sicd-B sassin of Avmard. Mr 'tttfEa yonder as a detoctiv, and I'knHr' moro nephews ' doirnsfairi itK He thought a moment. jW'tB '1 will go with you; u JBL making a mi3tnko vou rSHF It was the tievcr-varvinejJrHSil criminal a I bay. Yet I cailiaB! admiring the man s none gTnf hands with radanlo S uiK moro people in a RCPminglrngJEji manner, and walked doffaitwBJiic In the hall, where a Hmtfjjfef lnni his overcoat, mv sttu4iK n signal from mo, cleverly iunjB' net's pockets, and withdrew aSK. which he handed to mc. ItTWB1 "Vou were rigid, sir," h'Btbt At the Prcfecturo they tfHl lounded. Mv prisoner icue tH;v stand, and fought (kjpmkh-HVf the uvcrvvhclniing odds; httu like all the other criminal' I UHti he broke down beforo the riH.,!: tillon s-ttm, Bm Yes, he was Simon; but u, IBldli ing to law, he had to bs frMjfej'' enno for having escaped, if4jHp picion of having muraerfd Hj' was at once conveyed toUibEnt' to be sent out to the penil REf ' But, despite my warniiaapto cials at the ilo de Ho priwjjBW keep a careful watch on JB tho da3' before ho iras to "JRlHi put on board the etcaraer, Msf ' to stranglo himself. iK? '(Corrrlfc-ht br I B. LlffjaS IKJ (Noxt week : ' ' Fi ghtin gJjLKte |
