The Teeth of the Tiger, Maurice Leblanc [top 10 inspirational books TXT] 📗

“You need have no fear, Monsieur le Préfet. We run no risk.”

And M. Desmalions yielded.

A few moments later Don Luis Perenna and Florence Levasseur took their seats in a motor car with Weber and two inspectors. Another car, filled with detectives, followed.

The hospital was literally invested by the police force and Weber neglected none of the precautions of a regular siege.

The Prefect of Police, who arrived in his own car, was shown by the manservant into the waiting-room and then into the parlour, where the mother superior came to him at once. Without delay or preamble of any sort he put his questions to her, in the presence of Don Luis, Weber, and Florence:

“Reverend mother,” he said, “I have a letter here which was brought to me at headquarters and which tells me of the existence of certain documents concerning a legacy. According to my information, this letter, which is unsigned and which is in a disguised hand, was written by you. Is that so?”

The mother superior, a woman with a powerful face and a determined air, replied, without embarrassment:

“That is so, Monsieur le Préfet. As I had the honour to tell you in my letter, I would have preferred, for obvious reasons, that my name should not be mentioned. Besides, the delivery of the documents was all that mattered. However, since you know that I am the writer, I am prepared to answer your questions.”

M. Desmalions continued, with a glance at Florence:

“I will first ask you, Reverend Mother, if you know this young lady?”

“Yes, Monsieur le Préfet. Florence was with us for six months as a nurse, a few years ago. She gave such satisfaction that I was glad to take her back this day fortnight. As I had read her story in the papers, I simply asked her to change her name. We had a new staff at the hospital, and it was therefore a safe refuge for her.”

“But, as you have read the papers, you must be aware of the accusations against her?”

“Those accusations have no weight, Monsieur le Préfet, with anyone who knows Florence. She has one of the noblest characters and one of the strictest consciences that I have ever met with.”

The Prefect continued:

“Let us speak of the documents, Reverend Mother. Where do they come from?”

“Yesterday, Monsieur le Préfet, I found in my room a communication in which the writer proposed to send me some papers that interested Florence Levasseur⁠—”

“How did anyone know that she was here?” asked M. Desmalions, interrupting her.

“I can’t tell you. The letter simply said that the papers would be at Versailles, at the poste restante, in my name, on a certain day⁠—that is to say, this morning. I was also asked not to mention them to anybody and to hand them at three o’clock this afternoon to Florence Levasseur, with instructions to take them to the Prefect of Police at once. I was also requested to have a letter conveyed to Sergeant Mazeroux.”

“To Sergeant Mazeroux! That’s odd.”

“That letter appeared to have to do with the same business. Now, I am very fond of Florence. So I sent the letter, and this morning went to Versailles and found the papers there, as stated. When I got back, Florence was out. I was not able to hand them to her until her return, at about four o’clock.”

“Where were the papers posted?”

“In Paris. The postmark on the envelope was that of the Avenue Niel, which happens to be the nearest office to this.”

“And did not the fact of finding that letter in your room strike you as strange?”

“Certainly, Monsieur le Préfet, but no stranger than all the other incidents in the matter.”

“Nevertheless,” continued M. Desmalions, who was watching Florence’s pale face, “nevertheless, when you saw that the instructions which you received came from this house and that they concerned a person living in this house, did you not entertain the idea that that person⁠—”

“The idea that Florence had entered the room, unknown to me, for such a purpose?” cried the superior. “Oh, Monsieur le Préfet, Florence is incapable of doing such a thing!”

The girl was silent, but her drawn features betrayed the feelings of alarm that upset her.

Don Luis went up to her and said:

“The mystery is clearing, Florence, isn’t it? And you are suffering in consequence. Who put the letter in Mother Superior’s room? You know, don’t you? And you know who is conducting all this plot?”

She did not answer. Then, turning to the deputy chief, the Prefect said:

“Weber, please go and search the room which Mlle. Levasseur occupied.”

And, in reply to the nun’s protest:

“It is indispensable,” he declared, “that we should know the reasons why Mlle. Levasseur preserves such an obstinate silence.”

Florence herself led the way. But, as Weber was leaving the room, Don Luis exclaimed:

“Take care, Deputy Chief!”

“Take care? Why?”

“I don’t know,” said Don Luis, who really could not have said why Florence’s behaviour was making him uneasy. “I don’t know. Still, I warn you⁠—”

Weber shrugged his shoulders and, accompanied by the superior, moved away. In the hall he took two men with him. Florence walked ahead. She went up a flight of stairs and turned down a long corridor, with rooms on either side of it, which, after turning a corner, led to a short and very narrow passage ending in a door.

This was her room. The door opened not inward, into the room, but outward, into the passage. Florence therefore drew it to her, stepping back as she did so, which obliged Weber to do likewise. She took advantage of this to rush in and close the door behind her so quickly that the deputy chief, when he tried to grasp the handle, merely struck the air.

He made an angry gesture:

“The baggage! She means to burn some papers!”

And, turning to the superior:

“Is there another exit to the room?”

“No, Monsieur.”

He tried to open the door, but she had locked and bolted it. Then he stood aside to make way for one of his men,