A man, dressed in a grey overcoat, was waiting at the corner of the street. When Duroyer was less than five metres from him, he extended his arm. Jannin had already opened the front passenger door and bent down. His hand, which he had plunged into his pocket, came out holding something metal. After that, I don’t really know much. Did I hear a detonation right next to me, and another farther away? I saw the painter crumble to the ground, whilst the man in grey turned the corner after giving a mocking gesture with his left hand.
Jannin jumped out of the car and ran to the corner. The sound of a car starting, followed by two detonations. Then the sound of a whistle: Jannin was trying to set up a roadblock.
It all happened so fast that I remained motionless. Maryse’s reaction was better. Opening the car door, she jumped out onto the pavement and ran to kneel beside Duroyer, who was lying face down.
Bob shouted: ‘Shut the door!’ and started off. We turned around in the street, collecting Jannin on the fly, and sped at full throttle in pursuit of the bandit, who had turned into one street and then another. We had to stop to get information, which cost us time. Soon, we had to give up and return to the scene of the crime.
Meanwhile, Maryse had taken charge of operations. Two officers who had rushed to the spot respectfully obeyed Professor Richard’s niece and kept the crowds at bay. We were thus able to operate freely.
It was easy to piece together what had happened. Jannin’s bullet had hit the bandit’s pistol just as he was firing it. The result had been, first of all, to deflect the bullet, so that instead of shooting the victim in the heart, the man in grey had shot him in the head. In addition, the weapon had been knocked out of the would-be killer’s hands. It was lying on the ground, nobody having touched it.
Duroyer was still alive, but the bullet had pierced the cranium above the left ear. He was in a coma.Soon, an ambulance transported him urgently to Laënnec Hospital.
After the victim had left, the young woman stood looking absent-mindedly at the corner of the street, as if trying to reconstruct the scene.
Jannin questioned everyone who had witnessed the events, and all those who had seen the man in grey before he had. We learnt nothing from the former, and almost nothing from the latter. The bandit had arrived by car a few minutes beforehand. He had got out, leaving the engine running and the door open, and had waited on the corner.
Having exhausted all the possibilities at the scene, we returned to the hotel on Rue du Départ. The two inspectors sent by Richard had finally arrived and mounted guard at the door. Vital’s red cabriolet was stationed not far away . Apparently it had ignition trouble.
The painter’s personal effects had been collected in a large trunk and two suitcases, the smaller of which had been forced open. Inside was the kind of empty space an octavo book would leave. Our man had got there before us. Under the pretext of verifying Duroyer’s absence, he had gone upstairs, opened the door, broken open the suitcase, and taken what interested him, before returning downstairs. We weren’t going to find anything. Searching diligently but furiously, Jannin was grumbling and swearing incessantly. Bob, on the other hand, was grinning in amusement.
XVII
THE PROFESSOR’S DEDUCTIONS
Monday, January17
A council of war at the professor’s house had decided, against his wishes, but following Bob’s advice, to keep secret all the elements we possessed concerning the affair. We did, however, agree to limit the period of silence to eight days. If nothing happened in the meantime, the press would be informed about everything on January 16th.
Jannin had three trails to follow: the vehicle used by the bandit; the “leak” of information concerning Duroyer; and a Cook ticket to Cairo, found in the luggage.
Needless to say, the superintendent had noted the licence plate of the car, but a simple verification had shown—to no one’s surprise—that the number was false.
Furthermore, an extra wire was found spliced to Jannin’s line at the exit from the switchboard. It had been cut recently, so there was no way of telling where it led.
Finally, the employees of Thomas Cook could only confirm that Duroyer had requested a ticket for Cairo, to arrive on January 12th. He had not given any explanation, and they hadn’t asked, of course.
Bob, after two or three days of mysterious activity, during which I had hardly seen him, resumed his normal office routine. He said not a word about any results obtained and, despite my familiarity with his expressions, I was unable to say whether he had made any progress or not.
As for Maryse, we didn’t see her at all during the entire period. If her articles had not continued to appear, we would have feared the worst.
On the afternoon of Sunday, January 16th, my wife and I were at Bob’s residence. At around five o’clock, the phone rang. It was the Président du Conseil. Bob handed me a second earpiece.
After asking my friend about the progress of his investigation, Bernès added:
‘It has to end. This business is poisoning the political atmosphere. And everyone comes back from vacation on Tuesday. I’ve decided to hold a press conference tomorrow at the Hôtel de Matignon. I’d be obliged if you would attend. All those who have been following the affair will be present. Can I count on you?’
‘Of course, Monsieur le Président.’ As I gestured to him, he added:
‘I’ll bring Charles Termine as
