When we came out of the cave, the wind on our faces was colder and more forceful, and although the mists had somewhat cleared, dark clouds were massing ominously out over the ocean. Whitecaps also showed in the dark blue-gray water, rising and falling.
The baron grasped Massier’s arm. “Fetch the oarsmen. It will take four to six men to haul those chests out of the cave and get them into the launch. I shall get the other two men from the lighthouse.” He turned away and strode toward the tower.
Holmes, Lupin, and I followed him, and we all trekked up the many winding stairs to the lower lantern floor. Martin stood before the glass pane staring out at the sea through a pair of large black binoculars. He lowered them and turned to us, frowning slightly. “Is that a submarine out there?”
“Yes,” Holmes said.
The baron gestured toward his two bored-looking sailors, who were seated with rifles across their laps. “Come. We’re finished.” They stood.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Martin asked.
Holmes seemed to ponder the question before replying. “We found the three chests.”
Martin scowled. “That treasure does not belong to you. It will bring misfortune to anyone who tries to steal it.”
Holmes gestured with his chin in the direction of the baron. “I am not the one trying to steal it. Tell me, though: I suspect that you and Bernard are the traditional guardians just like the old man left behind at l’Aiguille near Étretat.”
Martin’s brow furrowed even more, but he did not speak. Bernard was seated in an oaken chair by the table, and he was watching us closely.
“It was clever strategy,” Holmes said, “to infiltrate the lighthouse service with three Englishmen of French descent. You could then construct the chamber within a chamber, and eventually move in the treasure. By the way, I’m sorry to tell you that the old guardian left behind at Étretat has died.”
Martin shrugged. “I never met him. Not that it matters.”
“No, I suppose not.”
The baron gestured toward us with his hand. “Come along. We’re finished here.”
We went back down the stairs. Massier was waiting with the four oarsmen. It required six men to awkwardly haul the two chests of gold out to the edge of the dock. The jewels would be more valuable, but they were lighter.
“It’s a good thing they have that folding crane there,” the baron said. Close by, bolted to the concrete of the dock, was a tall metal structure about seven feet high with a folded beam. The crane would be needed to help unload stores or machinery from visiting supply boats. “Especially with the seas so rough, it would be foolhardy to try to lower the chest into the launch from the steps. We certainly don’t want to drop a chest into the sea!” The baron turned to his men. “Pascal, François, have a look in the storage area just inside the tower, there. I saw nets and ropes. Bring the largest rope and the sturdiest net you can find.”
He turned to us and smiled sarcastically. “And now, I fear, it is time for me to bid you adieu, my friends. You have served your purpose, and you may remain behind here at the lighthouse. However, to show I am not ungrateful, you may each choose a gem or piece of jewelry. That includes you, Beautrelet. By the time you return to Paris, Angelique will be long gone and safe from your impertinent overtures. And also—” his smile intensified as he regarded Massier “—that includes you, Louis. I have finished with your services, but you may select a jewel.”
Massier’s mouth tightened, his jaw tensing, even as he slowly inhaled through his nostrils. His dark brown eyes assumed a dangerous gleam. “So this is how you repay me for my years of faithful service? I deserve a real share of the treasure—not a mere trinket!”
“Come, come, Louis—don’t talk to me of faithful service! I am not blind or stupid. I know that you have conspired and plotted on your own against me. First, you tried to drive off Monsieur Holmes with that episode with the falling pot before the hotel, and then later I suspect you attempted to make a deal with him to steal the treasure and cut me out of the picture entirely.” He glanced at Holmes. “That is true, is it not?”
Holmes looked faintly amused. “Yes.”
“No, Louis—you don’t want just a share—you want the whole thing. Well, you have failed. You can go ahead and select a piece from the chest worth a small fortune, and you can be grateful I am letting you off so generously!”
Massier was perhaps half a foot taller than the baron, much more broad-chested, and his hands hung at his sides, his fists clenched. His presence was quite threatening. He had gone very pale. “As God is my witness, Chamerac, if you do this to me—if you abandon me here and steal the treasure for yourself—I will have my vengeance. I swear it. I swear it.”
The baron laughed. “Swear all you want.” He went over and opened up the chest with the jewels inside. “Go ahead, gentlemen, choose your trinkets.” His voice was mocking.
Holmes’s amusement was gone, his look serious. “Monsieur le baron, I don’t wish to interfere in your affairs, but in this case, I think perhaps you would be wise to take Monsieur Massier along with you. Abandoning him here may be a mistake.”
“And why would that be, Monsieur Holmes?”
Holmes was silent for a few seconds before he spoke. “I think he means what he says about vengeance.”
Massier gave a convulsive nod of his head. “Yes.”
“Come, come, Monsieur Holmes, you take Louis much too seriously. I do not fear his vengeance. But enough!” He waved his hand at the chest. “Go ahead and choose something.”
Holmes exchanged a look with me, then went to the chest. I followed along with Lupin. The other two seemed to take the first thing that caught their eye, Holmes an emerald necklace set in silver, Lupin a large diamond. He held it up to the light, then passed his other hand behind it. “Oh yes, how very impressive, so very clear. As a connoisseur of gems, I can speak to its superb quality!”
“Spare me your idle chatter,” the baron said.
I selected a blue sapphire bracelet, since I knew Michelle liked those gems.
The baron waved his hand impatiently at Massier. “Hurry up, Louis! We need to load up and get away before the storm arrives.”
Again Massier slowly drew in his breath through his nostrils. He stepped forward and selected a diamond necklace set round with small red rubies.
“Exquisite!” the baron exclaimed. “Whatever your other qualities, you do have good taste.”
Holmes pointed at another chest. “Might we also have a coin or two as a sort of souvenir? They must be gold louis.”
“Go ahead, Monsieur Holmes. Each of you may take two gold coins. As a souvenir.”
“Curse your souvenirs,” Massier muttered.
Holmes raised the lid of the chest, selected a gold coin, and turned it in the light. “Ah, Louis the Fourteenth himself. Even on a coin, one can see from his profile that he was not known for his good looks.” He took another. “And his predecessor, Louis the Thirteenth.”
Lupin dug about and picked out two coins. “I’ll have one of each as well.” He held up one of the coins before his spectacles and glanced closely at it. “Yes, what fine workmanship! Difficult to believe they are over two hundred years old, but then they have, no doubt, been preserved while safely stowed away in this chest.” He was smiling, and Holmes gave a half shake of his head.
I had randomly taken two coins, and I put them in my trouser pocket.
The two sailors came out of the tower, one with a huge coil of rope, the other with a wadded-up net. Quickly, the men set about loading the launch. The beam was unfolded, the net secured to a rope, and soon the first chest was being lowered down into the launch, which rose and fell as waves swept against and round it, splashing up against the dock side. The second and third chest went more quickly, and all three were set in the middle of the boat, which at the end of the process was quite low in the water.
The baron glanced at the vessel. “A good thing the four of you are remaining behind. We can do without the extra weight. And a good thing the launch is large and well built. All the same…” He turned to Holmes. “A man of your abilities could prove useful to me. I mentioned before that you might accompany me in the first voyage of the Nautilus. If you could promise to set aside any inconvenient… scruples, you could still come along.”
Holmes’s mouth twitched in and out of a half-smile. “I think not.”
“Oh well, more’s the pity. And now, once more, gentlemen, I bid you adieu.”
He went down the concrete steps, and one of the oarsmen helped him into the boat. Soon the baron was seated next to the treasure, the four men ready at the oars, another at the tiller. The boat swung out from the dock, made an awkward sort of half circle, bobbing and swaying all the while, then set out in earnest into the open sea. The baron raised his hand in farewell. In his peaked cap and dark jacket, alongside the crew all in blue sailor’s uniforms with tasseled blue berets, he did look the very model of a naval officer.
A light rain had begun to fall, spattering against us as the wind gusted intermittently. Massier stared grimly out at the boat. Beneath the brim of his cap, his face was still very pale, his cheeks contrasting dramatically with his curling, full black beard.
Lupin was smiling as he waved back at the baron. “Well, farewell to our beautiful treasure. Thus are the hopes of men dashed upon the rocks of fate!”
I stared curiously at him. “You are taking this rather well.”
“Look on the bright side: we no longer have to put up with the baron’s arrogant company.” His shoulders rose in a sort of compulsive shudder. “We had better get inside. The tide is rising, and a real storm is brewing. This whole dock will soon be awash in powerful waves.”
Massier smiled ever so slightly. “It would be best that we remain out here. You will soon see something worth your while.”
“Indeed?” Lupin asked. “Well, I’m freezing. You all are better dressed for this sort of weather. I have only a wool suit on.”
The wind swelled, and Holmes’s hand rose quickly to jam down his hat and keep it from blowing away. “I shall take Monsieur Massier at his word and remain here. I believe you will find this interesting, Isidore. However, if you are cold, you might avail yourself of one of those yellow slickers we saw hanging inside.”
“Bravo, Holmes! So I shall.”
He turned toward the door.
“If we are going to remain outside, I think we could all use one,” I said.
Lupin and I walked across the landing, even as the biggest wave yet splashed spray across the expanse before us. Inside, Lupin and I each put on one of the slickers. I selected another one for Holmes, and Lupin took one as well. “I suppose Massier doesn’t really deserve to be drenched.”
We joined the other two men. Holmes gladly accepted the slicker, put it on, and raised the hood so that it covered the crown and back of his wrinkled woolen walking hat. Beautrelet and I also had our hoods up over our cloth caps.
Massier had taken a jacket, but his eyes were fixed upon the sea. The launch had grown much smaller in the distance, and the waves rising and falling occasionally hid it from our view. The rain began to fall in earnest, the watery gusts wetting our faces, trousers, and shoes below the shiny yellow fabric.
Lupin gave his head a shake. Water droplets covered the lenses of his spectacles. “This seems rather foolish, you know. I may call it quits. It is nice and warm there in the lighthouse.”
I gave a wistful glance at the tower. “He does have a point.”
“I am staying,” Holmes said.
Lupin’s shoulders rose in a movement half shrug, half shudder. “Oh very well. I suppose I don’t want to miss anything.”
We stood at the edge of the dock staring out at the open sea, being buffeted by the growing winds and rain of the incoming storm. At one point a particularly big gust made me turn away and crouch slightly, trying to shelter myself. “This is foolishness,” I murmured.
Lupin’s slight laugh was barely audible. “I agree.”
Holmes and Massier stood, rock-like, staring out at the ocean. After some fifteen minutes had passed, I resolved that I would only wait another five minutes, and then go inside. I could not imagine what worthwhile thing Massier might be referring to. Would another submarine appear? Would the Nautilus come in closer? Would the launch return? Whatever it was—
A great flash of yellow-orange light appeared out at sea, a sort of false dawn, accompanied an instant later by a boom; the sound swept in upon us, and then more flashing bursts of fiery light flamed up, along with great spouts of dark water, accompanied by a blurred series of thunderclaps. All the sounds of the storm and its darkness were drowned out for that brief interval.
“My God!” I exclaimed.
Holmes turned to me. His blue-gray eyes were faintly angry, his lips tightly pressed together.
Massier was smiling triumphantly. “It was worthwhile, was it not?”
An icy fear stabbed at my chest. “That might have happened while we were traveling here. We had a narrow escape!”
Holmes shook his head. “That was not an accident, Henry.”
Lupin gave an appreciative nod. “Ah.”
“But how could such a thing happen?”
Holmes was glaring at Massier. “I suppose the Nautilus had some self-destruct mechanism built into it—probably one which ignited one of the torpedoes, causing all the others to explode as well. You were not so surprised by the baron’s actions as you pretended. You must have thought he was going to betray you. You activated some apparatus before we left, which you could have disengaged if you returned to the Nautilus. If not… How was it set off? Ah, perhaps when the Nautilus submerged and reached a certain depth and pressure…”
Massier laughed. “Oh very good, Holmes. You are a clever devil.”
Holmes was frowning. “The baron cannot have known of this device.”
“He did not. Dombasie, the head engineer, and I had it built. We knew that the baron was unbalanced and, ultimately, quite mad. It was a precaution, one which has just proven its utility.”
“But you killed the entire crew and blew up a technical marvel!” I exclaimed.
Holmes glanced at me and sighed. “His crew did not deserve to die, but the world is surely better off without something like the Nautilus in the hands of a madman.”
“And the great treasure of France—lost forever, alas! All those jewels and gold, all fused and melted and gone to the sea worms!” Lupin seemed somehow more amused rather than disturbed by this loss.
“Better lost if I can’t have my fair share,” Massier said. “Besides, the important thing is the plans for the submarine. Dombasie and I can find investors and build another submarine. Who knows? Perhaps someday we can search out there for the scattered remains of the treasure. Regardless, we don’t even need to build the submarine to become rich—we can hold a secret auction with the world’s powers and sell the plans to the highest bidder. That would be an easy way to make our fortune. And unlike the baron, I have no wish to become emperor of all Europe.”
Holmes eyed him coldly. “I fear it will not be that simple for you, Monsieur Massier. You have just admitted to us all that you blew up the submarine and killed the entire crew.”
“What of it?”
“That is murder, and there are three witnesses here who have heard your confession. I intend to turn you over to the authorities to be tried for your crimes.”
Massier’s laugh was more surprised than amused. “You cannot be serious! Very well, I can pay you for silence, I promise.” He took us all in with a sweeping look. “We can all be wealthy men. I am not so greedy as Chamerac.”
“I will not be an accessory to murder,” Holmes said.
“Nor I!” I exclaimed.
“Oh blast it,” Lupin said. “I suppose I have some silly moral feelings after all.”
Massier took a step back, regarding us all. “I cannot believe this—I cannot believe such foolishness.” He shook his head, backing up to the edge of the landing near the stairs down to the water. Suddenly he reached under both his jacket and the slicker into his trouser pocket and withdrew a small gun, which I recognized as a two-shot derringer. “Stay exactly where you are. If you take one step toward me, I shall surely fire. I have two shots and can kill at least one, and possibly two of you.”
“What is the point of this, Monsieur Massier?” Holmes asked.
“I shall show you. Come over here, closer, and Beautrelet, Vernier—step back.” We all obeyed him. “Turn away from me, Holmes.” Holmes did so, and Massier grasped his arm with his free hand, even while he pressed the derringer against the side of his head. “You two, go fetch the dinghy from the lighthouse. Mr. Holmes and I are going to take a trip ashore.”
“Are you crazy?” I had to almost shout because of all the sound of the wind and the waves. “In this weather?”
“We shall chance it. You have forced my hand. Hurry up, and do as I say.”
Holmes shook his head. “I would just as soon die here as be drowned.”
“Do you want to see a bullet go through his head, Vernier? Do you want to see his blood spatter everywhere? Do as I say—go with him, Beautrelet.”
Lupin stared at him, then his lips curved into an ironic smile, even as he stood straighter. He took off his spectacles and put them into a pocket of slicker. “Don’t call me, Beautrelet, you idiot!”
Even amidst the storm, the transformation was remarkable. Lupin had been inhabiting the role of Beautrelet the whole time he had been around the baron and Massier. Now he had again become Arsène Lupin. The change in his voice, its deeper baritone quality, was evident.
“I am not Beautrelet—I am Lupin, Arsène Lupin. I believe you have heard of me. And I have not the slightest interest whatsoever in what happens to Sherlock Holmes—Holmes be damned! He has been my antagonist, not my friend. If you put a bullet through his head, you will be doing me a great favor. Enough of these silly theatrics. Shoot him if you will, but I’m going indoors.” He turned and resolutely started for the lighthouse.
Massier was absolutely stunned, but finally he shouted. “Stop—come back here! Come back here, or I’ll shoot you, I promise!” He swung the derringer away from Holmes’s head toward Lupin’s back.
That movement was all it took: Holmes’s hands shot out and seized Massier’s wrist, jerking his arm sideways even as the derringer went off, the shot going wide of its mark. Massier wrenched away one of Holmes’s hands, even as a large wave hit the steps, dousing the two figures in the yellow jackets in spray. Massier stumbled, then fell back, teetered at the edge of the landing and seized Holmes’s arm even as he slipped over the side. I rushed forward and grabbed at Holmes. I had hold of him, but with a sort of fearful clarity, I realized Massier was going to pull us over—that all three of us would tumble down the steps and plunge into the icy waters of the Channel.
But someone grasped at me from behind, even as more water doused us and then Massier screamed as he fell. Holmes and I half-turned, stumbled, and then we and Lupin all collapsed onto the wet concrete. We rose up on our knees, and Holmes was the first on his feet. He glanced over the side. I got up and looked down there, too. Dark gray waves crashed against the stairs, and below, the waters formed a swirling sort of maelstrom. Massier’s hat briefly appeared, spun about, and was gone.
“Where is he?” I cried.
“Lost,” Holmes shouted.
“There were life preservers. Perhaps if we threw one into the water.”
“It’s too late for that, Henry—and too risky. Even standing here we are in danger of being swept away. Let’s get away from here—let’s get inside.” He stared at Lupin who was standing next to him. “I must commend you again on your histrionic abilities, my friend. I trust that it was only theatrics when you said, ‘Holmes be damned’?”
Lupin grinned. “It certainly was, but quite convincing, I thought.”
“You had me worried for a moment,” I said. I turned to Holmes. “He saved us both, you know—I think the three of us would all have gone over if he hadn’t grabbed me.”
“Thank you,” Holmes said.
“You’re quite welcome—and now let’s get out of this storm before we are all swept away!”
And indeed, as we strode toward the iron doorway, another huge wave came crashing in just behind us. Lupin put one hand on the door latch and stared past me at Holmes. “All the same, I think we should have a last look, don’t you?”
Holmes glanced at him, bit briefly at his lip, then nodded. He turned and strode off in the other direction. Lupin and I followed.
“Where on earth…?” I began, but it was obvious enough that he was headed for that other steel door set into the carved white cliff, the entrance to the cave.
I followed, and on the open dock, the wild wet wind swirled all around us, the storm briefly trying to swallow us up.
Holmes opened the door and stepped inside. I stooped to follow him. It was colder inside, but at least dry and out of the tempest. Holmes took some matches from his pocket and relit the bronze bullseye lantern which had been left there.
“What is this all about?” I asked.
“You will see soon enough, Henry.”
Someone had shut the secret door, and Lupin and Holmes again pressed down on the metal hooks on the adjoining wall to open it. We went into the smaller cave, and Holmes immediately focused the beam of light into a corner to his left.
“Ah, yes!” Lupin strode over, knelt down and grasped something, which on closer inspection must be the head of a bolt screwed into the wood. He wiggled his hand. “It’s loose, all right. Move aside, Vernier. You are standing on the plank.”
I glanced down at my feet, then moved to the right. Lupin pried at the blackish board stained with creosote: it was about six inches wide and some ten feet long, running the length of the inner cave. It rose an inch or so. Lupin struggled with it, then managed to get one hand under the end. He stood up, lifting the board as he rose, then he hoisted it up and over, then set it to the side. In the long opening, I could see the white strip of the rocky chalk in the lantern light. Lupin went to the center, then knelt and got his hands under the next plank over. He lifted it and also set it aside. And so it went, until he had pulled up the fourth plank. The light showed the edges of two sort of rough curves, probably the sides of holes or pits deeper into the rock.
“Ah!” Holmes exclaimed. He turned and offered me the light. “Would you hold this, Henry?”
I did so, and Holmes worked with Lupin to get the boards up more quickly. I smiled and shook my head at a sudden realization. “Of course—dessous. Underneath.” Soon two pits were exposed with chests similar to the ones that had been hauled away. Lupin eagerly opened one, and I shined the light onto a heap of golden coins.
Lupin seized one. “Louis again! But this time the genuine article, I’ll wager.”
“No doubt,” Holmes said.
The other chest also had gold coins. Holmes and Lupin continued to remove boards until a third chest in another pit was uncovered. Again, Lupin eagerly raised the lid.
It was filled again with jewelry and gems of every size and shape which caught the glow of the lantern and shimmered in the light: red, green, blue, yellow, some set in gold and silver. Lupin seized a big diamond and came quickly over to me. “Hold the lantern still, Vernier.” He ran the diamond across the curving glass lens. “Yes! Yes! It is scratched! This time it’s real, it’s real.”
Holmes was smiling. “Bravo.”
I frowned. “So the others were fakes?”
Holmes nodded. “Doubtlessly. Mere paste. And probably the gold as well. I shall have the coins analyzed—perhaps there were a few real ones—but the other three chests were an elaborate decoy, meant to deceive thieves, who, unlike the guardians, would not know any better.”
Lupin had put his spectacles back on earlier, and behind the lenses his eyes still had a look of wild ecstasy. “I cannot believe it. We’re rich—we’re rich.”
Holmes gave his head a slight shake. “Come, now. The treasure does not belong to us. It belongs to the people of France. We really cannot steal it.”
A faint smile pulled at Lupin’s lips. “No?”
“No.”
Lupin sighed. “Oh, I suppose you are right. Look where being greedy got Massier and the baron!”
“Now that we know what is here, let us put the boards back. We don’t want the lighthouse keepers to know what we have found.”
Lupin shrugged. “Oh, all right, but first… might I take a few trinkets, by way of… commission, for my assistance in this endeavor?”
Holmes stared sternly at him.
“Come now, you could not have done it without me. And I did save your life, after all.”
Holmes’s mouth pulled wryly to one side. “Oh, very well. I suppose you have earned a reward. Take a few things.”
Lupin withdrew a diamond necklace, an emerald bracelet, and then selected some jewels: mostly diamonds, but a few rubies and emeralds. “This will allow me to marry and live happily ever after, you know. I can retire from the trade of gentleman-cambrioleur.”
Holmes’s dark eyebrows came together, but he said nothing.
“You will certainly be rich,” I murmured.
“Indeed I will, Dr. Vernier. Indeed I will!”
Holmes and Lupin carefully set all the boards back in place, finishing with the one which had the bolt sticking out one end.
“Very good,” Holmes said. “No one would ever know we had been under there.”
“What are you going to do about the treasure?” I asked.
“It has been hidden away long enough, and it does not belong to kings or would-be kings, but to the people of France. I have certain contacts in the Foreign Office. I shall arrange to return here in a British warship, remove the treasure, then see that it is returned to the French Republic.”
Lupin had a wary look. “But are you sure that the British government will not want to keep it for themselves, especially since it is technically on English territory? After all, thievery is not unique to the lower classes—it thrives in governing bodies.”
Holmes stroked his chin thoughtfully. “You may be right, Isidore, but I shall let the diplomats squabble over it.” He smiled. “You don’t mind if I continue to call you Isidore?”
Lupin laughed. “Not in the least. Call me whatever you wish.”
“I have contacts in the French embassy. I shall let them know about the treasure.”
Lupin shrugged. “I suppose that will have to do.” He glanced down at the blackish wooden planks forming the floor. “Pity, though. Through the ages, the conspirators were certainly good at puzzles and hiding things.”
We went through the secret door and back into the larger cave. The main door was still ajar, and we could hear the howling and raging of the winds and the rains outside. When I pulled open the door inward, the storm appeared clearly worse than before. A huge wave crashed up onto the landing, then receded, leaving an inch or two of water swirling about. The doorway opening began about six inches above ground, or water would have come into the cave.
“I don’t like that,” I said. “After all we’ve been through, I wouldn’t want to be swept out to sea.”
Holmes stepped into the doorway, shielding me from the wind. “We shall have to make a run for it when there is a lull. Wait until I give the word.”
But the winds and crashing waves seemed to grow worse still until, finally, it was briefly almost quiet.
“Now!” Holmes cried.
He leaped out onto the landing and ran toward the lighthouse. Lupin and I followed. It was only some twenty feet or so, but seemed much more distant, and indeed as we reached the door, icy water splashed about us, drenching my legs and feet. Holmes quickly lifted the latch, and we stepped inside to escape the cold gray water swirling all about. Holmes closed and secured the watertight outer door, and we stepped through the other portal with its wooden door, into the storage room. We removed our yellow slickers, shook them to get the water off them, and hung them back up. I hoped that the keepers could lend me a pair of dry socks.
Lupin stared at us through his droplet-covered spectacles and smiled. “Well, gentlemen, that is that, I suppose. I must say, it has been quite an adventure and great fun, indeed!” He had spoken in English, rather than the usual French.
Holmes was amused. “Yes, it has.”