VII
A REVOLVER SHOT
Doctor Patel's division presented an unusually animated appearance thatafternoon. Not only were the patients allowed to receive visitors, butquite a number of strange doctors had spent the day going from bed tobed, note-books in hand, studying the patients and their temperaturecharts. The nurses hesitated to call these individuals doctors, and thepatients, too, seemed aware of their true status. Whispers were hushed,and all eyes turned toward the far end of the ward.
There, in a bed set slightly apart and near the house staff's quarters,lay Josephine, a prey to a racking fever and breathing with difficulty.
Exactly opposite her was the bed of an old woman who had been admittedthat morning. Her face had almost entirely disappeared under voluminousbandages.
As the ward clock struck a quarter to three, an attendant appeared andannounced:
"In ten minutes visitors will be requested to leave."
Two of the staff who had paced the ward since early in the day exchangeda smile.
"Here's the end of the farce," remarked one; "Loupart isn't coming."
"He said three; there are still thirteen minutes left," replied theother.
"Well, every precaution is taken."
"Precautions are of no use with men like Loupart."
"Eleven minutes left."
"What the devil could happen? There is no longer admission to thehospital; the visitors are leaving."
"Three minutes!"
"Look here, you'll end by making me think..."
"Two minutes."
"Well, own yourself beaten!"
"One minute."
Bang! Bang! Two shots from a revolver suddenly startled the silent ward.
There was a moment's consternation and uproar. The patients leaped fromtheir beds and sought refuge in the corners of the ward, while the twohouse surgeons and the policemen, passing as doctors, rushed in a bodytoward Josephine's bed. Doors slammed. People came hurrying from allquarters.
Above the hubbub rose a calm voice.
"What the devil! Here I am drenched! What does that mean?"
The house surgeon reached the bed where the hopeless Josephine lay,white as a corpse, motionless. A large red blood stain was spreading onher sheet. Quickly the doctor uncovered the wounded woman and examinedher.
"Fainted, she has only fainted!" And, silencing all comments, he called:
"Monsieur Juve! Monsieur Juve!"
The old woman who, a few moments before, had been dozing, now quicklysprang out of bed, and, tearing off her bandages, revealed the placidfeatures of detective Juve.
"I understand everything except that I'm drenched to the bones,"declared Juve, as he crossed to Josephine's bed, oblivious to theamazement his appearance caused.
"That's easily explained," said the house surgeon. "The girl was lyingon a rubber mattress filled with water. One of the bullets puncturedit."
"What damage did she receive?"
"A contusion on the shoulder. The murderer aimed badly owing to herrecumbent position."
Juve beckoned to the officers.
"Your report? You've seen nothing?"
"Nothing."
"That's strange," declared the detective. "I kept an eye on Josephinemyself, thinking that a movement on her part would betray the entranceof Loupart. She made no sign; but, however Loupart may have got in, hecan't get out without falling into a trap. I have fifty men posted roundthe building. Now, the first point to clear up is the exact place fromwhere the shot was fired."
"How can we get at that?"
"Very simply. By drawing an imaginary line between the spot where thebullet struck the mattress and where it went into the floor--extend thisline and we find the quarter from where the shot was fired." A doctorcame forward.
"M. Juve," he said, "that would bring us to the door of the staff'sroom."
"Ah, it's you, Doctor Chaleck! I'm glad to see you! You are quite rightin your surmise. Do you see any objection to my reasoning?"
"I do. I came into the ward barely two seconds before the firing. No onewas behind me and no one was walking before me."
Juve crossed to the door.
"It is from here that the shots were fired!"
And the detective added triumphantly as he stooped and picked up anobject from the floor:
"And this backs up my assertion!"
He held out a revolver, still loaded in four chambers. "A precious bitof evidence!" He turned to the doctor:
"Can a stranger get into the wards by this door?"
"Utterly impossible, M. Juve! Only those thoroughly familiar withLariboisiere can get into the ward through the laboratory. You must passthrough the surgical divisions."
The detective seated himself at the foot of the sick woman's bed andmechanically laid the revolver beside him. But scarcely had he done sowhen he sprang up. Upon the sheet was a tiny red speck left by themuzzle of the weapon.
"Ah!--that's very instructive!" he cried. And as the others crowdedround, puzzled, Juve added: "Don't you see? The murderer ran his fingeralong the barrel to steady his aim, and as the barrel is very short, thebullet grazed the tip of his finger which extended slightly beyond it.If I find anyone in the hospital with a wounded finger, I've got themurderer! Gentlemen, I am going to ask the director to issue orders foreveryone within the hospital gates to pass before me. I reckon that intwo hours at most the culprit will no longer be at large."
* * * * *
The attempted murder happened at three o'clock; about six o'clock, thosewho had first been examined by Juve had received permission to leave thehospital and were beginning to depart.
With a careless step Doctor Chaleck made for the exit by which he issuedevery evening from Lariboisiere. As he was about to pass out, a policeinspector barred his way.
"Excuse me, sir. Have you a pass?"
"A pass?"
"Yes, sir; no one is allowed to leave to-day without a pass from M.Juve."
The doctor looked at his watch.
"The deuce," he said. "I'm late as it is. Where am I to get this pass?"
"You must ask M. Juve himself for it. He is in the director's privateroom."
"All right, I'll go there." And Doctor Chaleck retraced his steps.