Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes
By Maurice Leblanc and Otto Penzler
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About this ebook
A mathematics professor is combing through the artifacts in a Parisian secondhand shop when a writing desk catches his eye. He buys it for his daughter in celebration of her impending marriage, but just three days later it has disappeared—stolen by the master thief Arsène Lupin. It would be nothing but an inconvenience for the professor, save for one fact: the desk contained his daughter’s dowry in the form of a winning lottery ticket worth one million francs.
To retrieve his ticket, the professor engages with Lupin in a delicate game of cat and mouse. The desk is but the start of the master thief’s greatest adventure: the affair of the Blonde Lady, which will require the intervention of a world-famous English detective who is nearly as brilliant as Lupin himself.
This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Maurice Leblanc
Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941) was best known for his tales featuring the gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Born in Rouen, France, Leblanc was inspired by the success of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories and invented Lupin as a French adversary for the great detective. Lupin appeared in dozens of novels and short stories and was the basis for several films. Of his great antihero, Leblanc once said, “Lupin follows me everywhere. He is not my shadow. I am his shadow.”
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Reviews for Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5If you've picked up /Arsene Lupin Versus Herlock Sholmes/ (also by Wildside Press) already, this book contains nothing new - the only difference between this one and that one is the translator.Personally, I liked the translation in ALVHS much better; the language used in this translation feels a little old-fashioned and pompous sometimes, and makes for far less comfortable reading (which is - well, I don't read these novels because I have to, so that's a pretty big thing to me. Tastes may vary, though).I gave four stars to the other translation - this one gets two-and-a-half because the stories and the mysteries are still good (or even great); it's just the way they're told that pleases me less.
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Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes - Maurice Leblanc
Arsène Lupin Versus Herlock Sholmes
Maurice Leblanc
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INTRODUCTION
Maurice Leblanc
IF MAURICE LEBLANC (1864–1941) had done nothing except create Arsène Lupin—the rogue who has been wildly popular in France for more than a century—his place in the pantheon of French literature would still have been assured.
Born in Rouen, he was educated in France; Berlin, Germany; and Manchester, England, and studied law before becoming a hack writer and police reporter for French periodicals. His sister Georgette—a famous actress and singer—was the mistress of Maurice Maeterlinck, the noted dramatist, and it is possible that this relationship influenced Leblanc’s work; some critics claim that his plays are his most polished literary productions.
In 1906 Leblanc’s previously undistinguished career skyrocketed when he was asked to write a short story for a new journal and produced the first Lupin adventure. His subsequent success and worldwide fame culminated in his induction into the French Legion of Honor.
Reading his fiction today, one is generally impressed with the fast pace and diversified action, although it borders on burlesque, and the incredible situations and coincidences may be a little difficult to accept.
Arsène Lupin
Unlike Fantômas, the other great criminal in French literature, Arsène Lupin is not violent or evil; his unlawful acts center on theft and clever cons rather than murder or anarchy.
A brilliant rogue, he pursues his career with carefree élan, mocking the law for the sheer joy of it rather than for purely personal gain. Young, handsome, brave, and quick-witted, he has a joie de vivre uniquely and recognizably French. His sense of humor and conceit make life difficult for the police, who attribute most of the major crimes in France to him and his gang of ruffians and urchins.
Like most French criminals and detectives, Lupin is a master of disguise. His skill is attested to by the fact that he once became Lenormand, chief of the Sûreté, and, for four years, conducted official investigations into his own activities. He employs numerous aliases, including Jim Barnett, Prince Renine, le Duc de Charmerace, Don Luis Perenna, and Ralph de Limezy; his myriad names, combined with his brilliant costumes, make it nearly impossible for the police to identify him (the reader of his exploits sometimes encounters a similar difficulty).
After a long criminal career of uninterrupted successes, Lupin begins to shift position and aids the police in their work—usually for his own purposes and without their knowledge. Toward the end of his career, he becomes a full-fledged detective, and although he is as successful in his endeavors as ever before, his heart does not seem to be in it.
The first book about him is Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur (1907; US title: The Exploits of Arsène Lupin, 1907; reissued as The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar, 1910; British title: The Seven of Hearts, 1908). One of the stories, Holmlock Shears Arrives Too Late,
is a parody of Sherlock Holmes. The second book in the series, and the worst, is Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmes (1908; British title: The Fair-haired Lady, 1909; reissued as Arsène Lupin versus Holmlock Shears, 1909; reissued again as The Arrest of Arsène Lupin, 1911; US title: The Blonde Lady, 1910; reissued as Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes, 1910). Other short story collections about Lupin are The Confessions of Arsène Lupin (1912), The Eight Strokes of the Clock (1922), and Jim Barnett Intervenes (1928; US title: Arsène Lupin Intervenes). Among the best of the novels are 813 (1910), in which Lupin, accused of murder, heads the police investigation to clear himself by finding the true killer, and The Hollow Needle (1910), in which Lupin is shot by a beautiful girl and falls in love with her, vowing to give up his life of crime. Among the other Lupin novels are The Crystal Stopper (1913), The Teeth of the Tiger (1914), The Golden Triangle (1917), and The Memoirs of Arsène Lupin (1925; British title: The Candlesticks with Seven Branches).
Films
There are many early screen versions of Arsène Lupin’s basic conflicts with the Paris police, both in the United States, starting in 1917, and in Europe. The Teeth of the Tiger (Paramount, with David Powell) of 1919 is an old-dark-horse murder melodrama with sliding panels, secret passageways, and serial-like thrills. Wedgewood Nowell portrays Lupin in 813 (Robertson-Cole, 1920), in which Lupin impersonates a police officer to clear himself of a murder charge. There are several later European Lupins, notably French, in films even until the 1950s. The most important American Lupin films are given below.
Arsène Lupin. MGM, 1932. John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Karen Morley, John Miljan. Directed by Jack Conway. Based on the play by Leblanc and Francis de Croisset. When the silk-hatted Lupin announces that he will steal a famous painting from the Louvre under the nose of the police, and does so, the chief of detectives uses a pretty lady crook to lure him into a trap.
Arsène Lupin Returns. MGM, 1938. Melvyn Douglas, Warren William, Virginia Bruce, Monty Woolley, E. E. Clive. Directed by George Fitzmaurice. The signature of Arsène Lupin, long thought dead, is scrawled across a safe from which a necklace has been stolen; the real Lupin, innocent and now living as a country gentleman, is as perplexed as the police are.
Enter Arsène Lupin. Universal, 1944. Charles Korvin, Ella Raines, J. Carrol Naish, Gale Sondergaard, Miles Mander. Directed by Ford Beebe. International thief Lupin, on a train from Istanbul to Paris, steals an emerald from a young heiress but returns it when he begins to suspect that the girl’s aunt and uncle plan to murder her.
CHAPTER I.
LOTTERY TICKET NO. 514.
ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF last December, Mon. Gerbois, professor of mathematics at the College of Versailles, while rummaging in an old curiosity-shop, unearthed a small mahogany writing-desk which pleased him very much on account of the multiplicity of its drawers.
Just the thing for Suzanne’s birthday present,
thought he. And as he always tried to furnish some simple pleasures for his daughter, consistent with his modest income, he enquired the price, and, after some keen bargaining, purchased it for sixty-five francs. As he was giving his address to the shopkeeper, a young man, dressed with elegance and taste, who had been exploring the stock of antiques, caught sight of the writing-desk, and immediately enquired its price.
It is sold,
replied the shopkeeper.
Ah! To this gentleman, I presume?
Monsieur Gerbois bowed, and left the store, quite proud to be the possessor of an article which had attracted the attention of a gentleman of quality. But he had not taken a dozen steps in the street, when he was overtaken by the young man who, hat in hand and in a tone of perfect courtesy, thus addressed him:
I beg your pardon, monsieur; I am going to ask you a question that you may deem impertinent. It is this: Did you have any special object in view when you bought that writing-desk?
No, I came across it by chance and it struck my fancy.
But you do not care for it particularly?
Oh! I shall keep it—that is all.
Because it is an antique, perhaps?
No; because it is convenient,
declared Mon. Gerbois.
In that case, you would consent to exchange it for another desk that would be quite as convenient and in better condition?
Oh! This one is in good condition, and I see no object in making an exchange.
But—
Mon. Gerbois is a man of irritable disposition and hasty temper. So he replied, testily:
I beg of you, monsieur, do not insist.
But the young man firmly held his ground.
I don’t know how much you paid for it, monsieur, but I offer you double.
No.
Three times the amount.
Oh! That will do,
exclaimed the professor, impatiently; I don’t wish to sell it.
The young man stared at him for a moment in a manner that Mon. Gerbois would not readily forget, then turned and walked rapidly away.
An hour later, the desk was delivered at the professor’s house on the Viroflay road. He called his daughter, and said:
Here is something for you, Suzanne, provided you like it.
Suzanne was a pretty girl, with a gay and affectionate nature. She threw her arms around her father’s neck and kissed him rapturously. To her, the desk had all the semblance of a royal gift. That evening, assisted by Hortense, the servant, she placed the desk in her room; then she dusted it, cleaned the drawers and pigeon-holes, and carefully arranged within it her papers, writing material, correspondence, a collection of post-cards, and some souvenirs of her cousin Philippe that she kept in secret.
Next morning, at half past seven, Mon. Gerbois went to the college. At ten o’clock, in pursuance of her usual custom, Suzanne went to meet him, and it was a great pleasure for him to see her slender figure and childish smile waiting for him at the college gate. They returned home together.
And your writing desk—how is it this morning!
Marvellous! Hortense and I have polished the brass mountings until they look like gold.
So you are pleased with it?
Pleased with it! Why, I don’t see how I managed to get on without it for such a long time.
As they were walking up the pathway to the house, Mon. Gerbois said:
Shall we go and take a look at it before breakfast?
Oh! Yes, that’s a splendid idea!
She ascended the stairs ahead of her father, but, on arriving at the door of her room, she uttered a cry of surprise and dismay.
What’s the matter?
stammered Mon. Gerbois.
The writing-desk is gone!
When the police were called in, they were astonished at the admirable simplicity of the means employed by the thief. During Suzanne’s absence, the servant had gone to market, and while the house was thus left unguarded, a drayman, wearing a badge—some of the neighbors saw it—stopped his cart in front of the house and rang twice. Not knowing that Hortense was absent, the neighbors were not suspicious; consequently, the man carried on his work in peace and tranquility.
Apart from the desk, not a thing in the house had been disturbed. Even Suzanne’s purse, which she had left upon the writing-desk, was found upon an adjacent table with its contents untouched. It was obvious that the thief had come with a set purpose, which rendered the crime even more mysterious; because, why did he assume so great a risk for such a trifling object?
The only clue the professor could furnish was the strange incident of the preceding evening. He declared:
The young man was greatly provoked at my refusal, and I had an idea that he threatened me as he went away.
But the clue was a vague one. The shopkeeper could not throw any light on the affair. He did not know either of the gentlemen. As to the desk itself, he had purchased it for forty francs at an executor’s sale at Chevreuse, and believed he had resold it at its fair value. The police investigation disclosed nothing more.
But Mon. Gerbois entertained the idea that he had suffered an enormous loss. There must have been a fortune concealed in a secret drawer, and that was the reason the young man had resorted to crime.
My poor father, what would we have done with that fortune?
asked Suzanne.
My child! With such a fortune, you could make a most advantageous marriage.
Suzanne sighed bitterly. Her aspirations soared no higher than her cousin Philippe, who was indeed a most deplorable object. And life, in the little house at Versailles, was not so happy and contented as of yore.
Two months passed away. Then came a succession of startling events, a strange blending of good luck and dire misfortune!
On the first day of February, at half-past five, Mon. Gerbois entered the house, carrying an evening paper, took a seat, put on his spectacles, and commenced to read. As politics did not interest him, he turned to the inside of the paper. Immediately his attention was attracted by an article entitled:
Third Drawing of the Press Association Lottery.No. 514, series 23, draws a million.
The newspaper slipped from his fingers. The walls swam before his eyes, and his heart ceased to beat. He held No. 514, series 23. He had purchased it from a friend, to oblige him, without any thought of success, and behold, it was the lucky number!
Quickly, he took out his memorandum-book. Yes, he was quite right. The No. 514, series 23 was written there, on the inside of the cover. But the ticket?
He rushed to his desk to find the envelope-box in which he had placed the precious ticket; but the box was not there, and it suddenly occurred to him that it had not been there for several weeks. He heard footsteps on the gravel walk leading from the street.
He called:
Suzanne! Suzanne!
She was returning from a walk. She entered hastily. He stammered, in a choking voice:
Suzanne … the box … the box of envelopes?
What box?
The one I bought at the Louvre … one Saturday … it was at the end of that table.
Don’t you remember, father, we put all those things away together.
When?
The evening … you know … the same evening …
But where? … Tell me, quick! … Where?
Where? Why, in the writing-desk.
In the writing-desk that was stolen?
Yes.
Oh, mon Dieu! … In the stolen desk!
He uttered the last sentence in a low voice, in a sort of stupor. Then he seized her hand, and in a still lower voice, he said:
It contained a million, my child.
Ah! Father, why didn’t you tell me?
she murmured, naively.
A million!
he repeated. It contained the ticket that drew the grand prize in the Press Lottery.
The colossal proportions of the disaster overwhelmed them, and for a long time they maintained a silence that they feared to break. At last, Suzanne said:
But, father, they will pay you just the same.
How? On what proof?
Must you have proof?
Of course.
And you haven’t any?
It was in the box.
In the box that has disappeared.
Yes; and now the thief will get the money.
Oh! That would be terrible, father. You must prevent it.
For a moment he was silent; then, in an outburst of energy, he leaped up, stamped on the floor, and exclaimed:
No, no, he shall not have that million; he shall not have it! Why should he have it? Ah! Clever as he is, he can do nothing. If he goes to claim the money, they will arrest him. Ah! Now, we will see, my fine fellow!
What will you do, father?
Defend our just rights, whatever happens! And we will succeed. The million francs belong to me, and I intend to have them.
A few minutes later, he sent this telegram:
"Governor Crédit Foncier
"rue Capucines, Paris.
"Am holder of No. 514, series 23. Oppose by all legal means any other claimant.
GERBOIS.
Almost at the same moment, the Crédit Foncier received the following telegram:
"No. 514, series 23, is in my possession.
ARSÈNE LUPIN.
Every time I undertake to relate one of the many extraordinary adventures that mark the life of Arsène Lupin, I experience a feeling of embarrassment, as it seems to me that the most commonplace of those adventures is already well known to my readers. In fact, there is not a movement of our national thief,
as he has been so aptly described, that has not been given the widest publicity, not an exploit that has not been studied in all its phases, not an action that has not been discussed with that particularity usually reserved for the recital of heroic deeds.
For instance, who does not know the strange history of The Blonde Lady,
with those curious episodes which were proclaimed by the newspapers with heavy black headlines, as follows: Lottery Ticket No. 514!
… The Crime on the avenue Henri-Martin!
… The Blue Diamond!
… The interest created by the intervention of the celebrated English detective, Herlock Sholmes! The excitement aroused by the various vicissitudes which marked the struggle between those famous artists! And what a commotion on the boulevards, the day on which the newsboys announced: Arrest of Arsène Lupin!
My excuse for repeating these stories at this time is the fact that I produce the key to the enigma. Those adventures have always been enveloped in a certain degree of obscurity, which I now remove. I reproduce old newspaper articles, I relate old-time interviews, I present ancient letters; but I have arranged and classified all that material and reduced it to the exact truth. My collaborators in this work have been Arsène Lupin himself, and also the ineffable Wilson, the friend and confidant of Herlock Sholmes.
Every one will recall the tremendous burst of laughter which greeted the publication of those two telegrams. The name Arsène Lupin
was in itself a stimulus to curiosity, a promise of amusement for the gallery. And, in this case, the gallery means the entire world.
An investigation was immediately commenced by the Crédit Foncier, which established these facts: That ticket No. 514, series 23, had been sold by the Versailles branch office of the Lottery to an artillery officer named Bessy, who was afterward killed by a fall from his horse. Some time before his death, he informed some of his comrades that he had transferred his ticket to a friend.
And I am that friend,
affirmed Mon. Gerbois.
Prove it,
replied the governor of the Crédit Foncier.
"Of course I can prove it. Twenty people can tell you that I was an intimate friend of Monsieur Bessy, and that we frequently met at the Café de la Place-d’Armes. It was there, one day, I purchased the ticket from him for twenty francs—simply as an accommodation to him.
Have you any witnesses to that transaction?
No.
Well, how do you expect to prove it?
By a letter he wrote to me.
What letter?
A letter that was pinned to the ticket.
Produce it.
It was stolen at the same time as the ticket.
Well, you must find it.
It was soon learned that Arsène Lupin had the letter. A short paragraph appeared in the Echo de France—which has the honor to be his official organ, and of which, it is said, he is one of the principal shareholders—the paragraph announced that Arsène Lupin had placed in the hands of Monsieur Detinan, his advocate and legal adviser, the letter that Monsieur Bessy had written to him—to him personally.
This announcement provoked an outburst of laughter. Arsène Lupin had engaged a lawyer! Arsène Lupin, conforming to the rules and customs of modern society, had appointed a legal representative in the person of a well-known member of the Parisian bar!
Mon. Detinan had never enjoyed the pleasure of meeting Arsène Lupin—a fact he deeply regretted—but he had actually been retained by that mysterious gentleman and felt greatly honored by the choice. He was prepared to defend the interests of his client to the best of his ability. He was pleased, even proud, to exhibit the letter of Mon. Bessy, but, although it proved the transfer of the ticket, it did not mention the name of the purchaser. It was simply addressed to My Dear Friend.
My Dear Friend! That is I,
added Arsène Lupin, in a note attached to Mon. Bessy’s letter. And the best proof of that fact is that I hold the letter.
The swarm of reporters immediately rushed to see Mon. Gerbois, who could only repeat:
My Dear Friend! That is I … Arsène Lupin stole the letter with the lottery ticket.
Let him prove it!
retorted Lupin to the reporters.
He must have done it, because he stole the writing-desk!
exclaimed Mon. Gerbois before the same reporters.
Let him prove it!
replied Lupin.
Such was the entertaining comedy enacted by the two claimants of ticket No. 514; and the calm demeanor of Arsène Lupin contrasted strangely with the nervous perturbation of poor Mon. Gerbois. The newspapers were filled with the lamentations of that unhappy man. He announced his misfortune with pathetic candor.
Understand, gentlemen, it was Suzanne’s dowry that the rascal stole! Personally, I don’t care a straw for it … but for Suzanne! Just think of it, a whole million! Ten times one hundred thousand francs! Ah! I knew very well that the desk contained a treasure!
It was in vain to tell him that his adversary, when stealing the desk, was unaware that the lottery ticket was in it, and that, in any event, he could not foresee that the ticket would draw the grand prize. He would reply:
Nonsense! of course, he knew it … else why would he take the trouble to steal a poor, miserable desk?
For some unknown reason; but certainly not for a small scrap of paper which was then worth only twenty francs.
A million francs! He knew it; he knows everything! Ah! You do not know him—the scoundrel! … He hasn’t robbed you of a million francs!
The controversy would have lasted for a much longer time, but, on the twelfth day, Mon. Gerbois received from Arsène Lupin a letter marked confidential,
which read as follows:
Monsieur, the gallery is being amused at our expense. Do you not think it is time for us to be serious? The situation is this: I possess a ticket to which I have no legal right, and you have the legal right to a ticket you do not possess. Neither of us can do anything. You will not relinquish your rights to me; I will not deliver the ticket to you. Now, what is to be done?
I see only one way out of the difficulty: Let us divide the spoils. A half-million for you; a half-million for me. Is not that a fair division? In my opinion, it is an equitable solution, and an immediate one. I will give you three days’ time to consider the proposition. On Thursday morning I shall expect to read in the personal column of the Echo de France a discreet message addressed to M. Ars. Lup, expressing in veiled terms your consent to my offer. By so doing you will recover immediate possession of the ticket; then you can collect the money and send me half a million in a manner that I will describe to you later.
"In case of your refusal, I shall resort to other measures to accomplish the same result. But, apart from the very serious annoyances that such obstinacy on your part will cause you, it will cost you twenty-five thousand francs for supplementary expenses.
"Believe me, monsieur, I remain
your devoted servant,
ARSÈNE LUPIN."
In a fit of exasperation Mon. Gerbois committed the grave mistake of showing that letter and allowing a copy of it to be taken. His indignation overcame his discretion.
Nothing! He shall have nothing!
he exclaimed, before a crowd of reporters. To divide my property with him? Never! Let him tear up the ticket if he wishes!
Yet five hundred thousand francs is better than nothing.
That is not the question. It is a question of my just right, and that right I will establish before the courts.
What! Attack Arsène Lupin? That would be amusing.
No; but the Crédit Foncier. They must pay me the million francs.
Without producing the ticket, or, at least, without proving that you bought it?
That proof exists, since Arsène Lupin admits that he stole the writing-desk.
But would the word of Arsène Lupin carry any weight with the court?
No matter; I will fight it out.
The gallery shouted with glee; and wagers were freely made upon the result with the odds in favor of Lupin. On the following Thursday the personal column in the Echo de France was eagerly perused by the expectant public, but it contained nothing addressed to M. Ars. Lup. Mon. Gerbois had not replied to Arsène Lupin’s letter. That was the declaration of war.
That evening the newspapers announced the abduction of Mlle. Suzanne Gerbois.
The most entertaining feature in what might be called the Arsène Lupin dramas is the comic attitude displayed by the Parisian police. Arsène Lupin talks, plans, writes, commands, threatens and executes as if the police did not exist. They never figure in his calculations.
And yet the police do their utmost. But what can they do against such a foe—a foe that scorns and ignores them?
Suzanne had left the house at twenty minutes to ten; such was the testimony of the servant. On leaving