was no exit of any sort. The blinds were closed, and when we opened them we saw that the windows were barred, and there were heavy shutters outside. Holmes tried the windows, but found that they were nailed shut.
Holmes, who had not spoken since we entered the room, threw himself down in an armchair and laughed. ‘I had hoped that we might get a glimpse of our surroundings, but this room has been pretty thoroughly closed up. I imagine that we are not by any means the first guests to be lodged here.’
‘You have no clue as to where we are?’
‘Well, we are back on the Right Bank – you heard the carriage wheels go over a bridge and the river, of course? And the house tends to suggest that we are in one of the more fashionable quarters.’
‘We seemed to take a long time to get here,’ said I.
‘Oh, that was to put us off the track.’ He frowned. ‘I have to confess that it worked – would to heaven that I knew Paris as well as I know London, for they would never have fooled me there!’
‘I fancy we passed round the Place de l’Etoile, though, Holmes. And I think that it cannot be too far from here, since that was one of the last circular tours that we made before we got here.’
‘Indeed? And what makes you say that?’
‘Well, we paused before going around, as if there were a good deal of traffic there which had to be negotiated. And I thought – I may be deluding myself, of course – but I fancied that some of the street noises were not altogether inconsistent with that area.’
Holmes clapped his hands. ‘Well done, Doctor! I missed that, although I can claim that I was occupied with my own thoughts, which were none too cheerful. Which way did we turn, though? Did you mark that?’
‘I rather fear I did not, Holmes,’ said I, embarrassed. ‘It was so confusing.’
‘Ah, well, no matter. It does agree with our contention that we are in one of the fashionable quarters – towards the Bois, perhaps, or not so far from the Champs-Elysées. So we have done all that we can. It all went off rather well earlier, I thought,’ said Holmes.
‘The whole incident was staged, of course,’ said I. ‘Though I did not immediately realize that you were using blank cartridges.’
‘The two “dead” gendarmes were drafted in from Dubuque’s home town,’ said Holmes. ‘They will return tomorrow, under the most frightful oaths of silence. Dubuque himself – well, I rather think that the newspapers will carry reports that show his injuries in a very dismal light.’
‘I noticed Lefevre making himself a nuisance in the doorway – presumably that was to stop the rascals escaping?’
Holmes nodded. ‘With a little luck, they will all have been arrested, Lefevre along with the rest. They will naturally be kept in separate cells, so none of them will know what may have happened to the others. Lefevre will return to work as his old self, with his old name – whatever that may be. It does, of course, mean that he is lost to us for the time being, although I am certain that he will be as busy as ever on the outside. Dubuque and Lefevre were apparently planning to move against that particular anarchist ring in any event, so it all worked very well.’
‘Two birds with the one stone?’
‘As you say.’ He sat up very straight and grew more serious. ‘But I told you earlier that I was preoccupied with my thoughts, and so I was. Dubuque is a good fellow, and Lefevre too, from what we have seen of him. But they are out there, and we are in here. It does mean, Watson, that we are now really alone, and in the very heart of the enemy camp.’
FIVE
‘But what do you think will happen tomorrow?’ I asked Holmes after he had made his little speech about our being on our own.
He shrugged his shoulders expressively. ‘Whatever happens, it is most unlikely to be dull,’ was all he said. He curled himself up in the armchair, rather in the manner of a cat, and in a moment he was fast asleep.
To
Holmes, who had not spoken since we entered the room, threw himself down in an armchair and laughed. ‘I had hoped that we might get a glimpse of our surroundings, but this room has been pretty thoroughly closed up. I imagine that we are not by any means the first guests to be lodged here.’
‘You have no clue as to where we are?’
‘Well, we are back on the Right Bank – you heard the carriage wheels go over a bridge and the river, of course? And the house tends to suggest that we are in one of the more fashionable quarters.’
‘We seemed to take a long time to get here,’ said I.
‘Oh, that was to put us off the track.’ He frowned. ‘I have to confess that it worked – would to heaven that I knew Paris as well as I know London, for they would never have fooled me there!’
‘I fancy we passed round the Place de l’Etoile, though, Holmes. And I think that it cannot be too far from here, since that was one of the last circular tours that we made before we got here.’
‘Indeed? And what makes you say that?’
‘Well, we paused before going around, as if there were a good deal of traffic there which had to be negotiated. And I thought – I may be deluding myself, of course – but I fancied that some of the street noises were not altogether inconsistent with that area.’
Holmes clapped his hands. ‘Well done, Doctor! I missed that, although I can claim that I was occupied with my own thoughts, which were none too cheerful. Which way did we turn, though? Did you mark that?’
‘I rather fear I did not, Holmes,’ said I, embarrassed. ‘It was so confusing.’
‘Ah, well, no matter. It does agree with our contention that we are in one of the fashionable quarters – towards the Bois, perhaps, or not so far from the Champs-Elysées. So we have done all that we can. It all went off rather well earlier, I thought,’ said Holmes.
‘The whole incident was staged, of course,’ said I. ‘Though I did not immediately realize that you were using blank cartridges.’
‘The two “dead” gendarmes were drafted in from Dubuque’s home town,’ said Holmes. ‘They will return tomorrow, under the most frightful oaths of silence. Dubuque himself – well, I rather think that the newspapers will carry reports that show his injuries in a very dismal light.’
‘I noticed Lefevre making himself a nuisance in the doorway – presumably that was to stop the rascals escaping?’
Holmes nodded. ‘With a little luck, they will all have been arrested, Lefevre along with the rest. They will naturally be kept in separate cells, so none of them will know what may have happened to the others. Lefevre will return to work as his old self, with his old name – whatever that may be. It does, of course, mean that he is lost to us for the time being, although I am certain that he will be as busy as ever on the outside. Dubuque and Lefevre were apparently planning to move against that particular anarchist ring in any event, so it all worked very well.’
‘Two birds with the one stone?’
‘As you say.’ He sat up very straight and grew more serious. ‘But I told you earlier that I was preoccupied with my thoughts, and so I was. Dubuque is a good fellow, and Lefevre too, from what we have seen of him. But they are out there, and we are in here. It does mean, Watson, that we are now really alone, and in the very heart of the enemy camp.’
FIVE
‘But what do you think will happen tomorrow?’ I asked Holmes after he had made his little speech about our being on our own.
He shrugged his shoulders expressively. ‘Whatever happens, it is most unlikely to be dull,’ was all he said. He curled himself up in the armchair, rather in the manner of a cat, and in a moment he was fast asleep.
To
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