Tales of the Shadowmen 1: The Modern Babylon by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Randy Lofficier

Author:Jean-Marc Lofficier & Randy Lofficier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Coat Press
Published: 2013-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

The next day, the eastern skies were greying. So was Ganimard’s hair. He was staring at a business card that had been found on the electrical switchbox when a footman had gone to turn it back on. It said:

With the sincere salutations of

Arsène Lupin,

Gentleman Burglar

It was not the first card of that type he had held. Sadly, he had nearly a drawer-full of them in his office. However, it confirmed his suspicions. The master-thief had paid a visit to Castle Sainte-Geneviève the previous night.

Nearly all of the Count’s guests had to return to their respective homes and hotels. Their identities were double- and triple-checked: Chevalier de **, Marquis de **, Earl **, Viscount **, Duke **. All were not members of the nobility. Some were bankers, high-ranking civil servants, captains of industry–even politicians. They all had to prove that they were not Arsène Lupin.

They were also searched–a rather delicate job. However, they all agreed to submit without making too much of a fuss after the Count and his wife volunteered to be the first “victims” of such an indignity. No stolen jewels were found.

Everyone appeared innocent of the nefarious deeds that had happened the previous night.

But what nefarious deeds exactly, one may ask?

For the policeman in charge of taking down the complaints and the descriptions of the stolen jewels made the following report to Ganimard, who grew very upset:

“Sorry, Chief, but no one has filed a complaint yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just as I said. No one has filed a complaint because nothing was stolen.”

“How could that be? What about the screams? The panic?”

“Nobody I spoke to admitted to being the ones who screamed.”

Ganimard suddenly seemed to age, putting on years in the space of a few heartbeats. His composure crumbled like a sand castle assaulted by the rising tide. Then, after a few seconds, he regained control of himself.

“We’re returning to Paris! Quick, bring the car! And you tell everyone they’re free to go.”

His driver drove at the breakneck speed of 30 miles an hour and, consequently, they reached the Préfecture de Police only an hour later. Ganimard went to his office and began to wait for the bad news he knew was sure to come.

He was not disappointed.

The first man to show up was Herman Mayer, the Count’s father-in-law. He was the kind of man used to giving orders–and having them quickly obeyed. This morning, however, he was just another ordinary poor man.

“He stole my Rembrandt, my Rubens, my David and a few lesser known paintings,” said Mayer. “I also had a reserve of gold in my safe, Napoleons, double-eagles, pesos, taels, ever bars. He took it all. He just left this.”

And he put down a familiar business card on Ganimard’s desk.

He was not the only visitor the Police saw that morning. Taking full advantage of the relative absence of policemen in Paris, Lupin’s gang had been very busy the night before...

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