Standing in the center of a large room, was a little man, very short,
and very fat, phenomenally fat, a hideous phenomenon.
He had a singular straggling beard, white and yellow, and not a hair on
his head--not a hair!
As he held his candle aloft at arm's length in order to see me, his
cranium appeared to me to resemble a little moon, in that vast chamber
encumbered with old furniture. His features were wrinkled and blown,
and his eyes could not be seen.
I bought three chairs which belonged to myself, and paid at once a
large sum for them, giving him merely the number of my room at the
hotel. They were to be delivered the next day before nine o'clock.
I then started off. He conducted me, with much politeness, as far as
the door.
I immediately repaired to the commissaire's office at the central
police depot, and told the commissaire of the robbery which had been
perpetrated and of the discovery I had just made. He required time to
communicate by telegraph with the authorities who had originally charge
of the case, for information, and he begged me to wait in his office
until an answer came back. An hour later, an answer came back, which
was in accord with my statements.
"I am going to arrest and interrogate this man, at once," he said to
me, "for he may have conceived some sort of suspicion, and smuggled
away out of sight what belongs to you. Will you go and dine and return
in two hours: I shall then have the man here, and I shall subject him
to a fresh interrogation in your presence."
"Most gladly, Monsieur. I thank you with my whole heart."
I went to dine at my hotel and I ate better than I could have believed.
I was quite happy now, thinking that man was in the hands of the police.
Two hours later I returned to the office of the police functionary, who
was waiting for me.
"Well, Monsieur," said he, on perceiving me, "we have not been able to
find your man. My agents cannot put their hands on him."
Ah! I felt my heart sinking.
"But you have at least found his house?" I asked.
"Yes, certainly; and what is more, it is now being watched and guarded
until his return. As for him, he has disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
"Yes, disappeared. He ordinarily passes his evenings at the house of a
female neighbor, who is also a furniture broker, a queer sort of
sorceress, the widow Bidoin. She has not seen him this evening and
cannot give any information in regard to him. We must wait until
to-morrow."
I went away. Ah! how sinister the streets of Rouen seemed to me, now
troubled and haunted!
I slept so badly that I had a fit of nightmare every time I went off to
sleep.
As I did not wish to appear too restless or eager, I waited till ten
o'clock the next day before reporting myself to the police.
The merchant had not reappeared. His shop remained closed.
The commissary said to me:
"I have taken all the necessary steps. The court has been made
acquainted with the affair. We shall go together to that shop and have
it opened, and you shall point out to me all that belongs to you."
We drove there in a cab. Police agents were stationed round the
building; there was a locksmith, too, and the door of the shop was soon
opened.
On entering, I could not discover my wardrobes, my chairs, my tables; I
saw nothing, nothing of that which had furnished my house, no, nothing,
although on the previous evening, I could not take a step without
encountering something that belonged to me.
The chief commissary, much astonished, regarded me at first with
suspicion.
"My God, Monsieur," said I to him, "the disappearance of these articles
of furniture coincides strangely with that of the merchant."
He laughed.
"That is true. You did wrong in buying and paying for the articles
which were your own property, yesterday. It was that which gave him the
cue."
"What seems to me incomprehensible," I replied, "is that all the places
that were occupied by my furniture are now filled by other furniture."
"Oh!" responded the commissary, "he has had all night, and has no doubt
been assisted by accomplices. This house must communicate with its
neighbors. But have no fear, Monsieur; I will have the affair promptly
and thoroughly investigated. The brigand shall not escape us for long,
seeing that we are in charge of the den."
* * * * *
Ah! My heart, my heart, my poor heart, how it beats!
I remained a fortnight at Rouen. The man did not return. Heavens! good
heavens! That man, what was it that could have frightened and surprised
him!
But, on the sixteenth day, early in the morning, I received from my
gardener, now the keeper of my empty and pillaged house, the following
strange letter:
"MONSIEUR:
"I have the honor to inform Monsieur that something happened, the
evening before last, which nobody can understand, and the police no
more than the rest of us. The whole of the furniture has been returned,
not one piece is missing--everything is in its place, up to the very
smallest article. The house is now the same in every respect as it was
before the robbery took place. It is enough to make one lose one's
head. The thing took place during the night Friday--Saturday. The roads
are dug up as though the whole fence had been dragged from its place up
to the door. The same thing was observed the day after the
disappearance of the furniture.
"We are anxiously expecting Monsieur, whose very humble and obedient
servant, I am,