beautiful friend

Chapter 34

Du Roy greeted him, and then said: "Monsieur Inspector, as I expected, my wife is having dinner with the adulterer in the rented room in the Rue de Martyrs."

The sheriff bowed and said, "Everything is at your disposal, sir."

Du Roy asked: "Your work is restricted before nine o'clock in the evening, right? After nine o'clock, you can't enter private houses, right?"

"Yes, sir. Seven o'clock in winter, and nine o'clock after March 31st. Today is April [-]th, and it can last until nine o'clock."

"Well, Mr. Sheriff. I have a carriage downstairs. Let's go now to pick up the other police officers and go with us, and then wait at the door for a while. The longer we wait, the more likely we are to catch the rape on the spot."

"I am at your command, sir."

The sheriff went out and put on a coat that hid the tricolor belt, and went back into the living room.He turned aside to let Du Roy go first.Du Roy, who was full of thoughts, kept humbly saying: "Please first...please first." The police chief said: "Sir, please go first, this is my house."

Du Roy had no choice but to bow and step out of the threshold.

The two came to the police station and found three plainclothes policemen who had been waiting there for a long time.Du Roy had greeted them during the day, saying that there would be a big action that night.A policeman jumped into the carriage and sat down beside the coachman; the other two also got into the carriage.A group of people went straight to Martyrs Street.

Du Roy said: "I have checked the general situation of the room. They live on the third floor. Once they enter, there is a small living room, then a dining room, and a bedroom. The three rooms are connected, and there is no exit for them Chance of escape. There is a locksmith not far away who is always at your beck and call."

It was just past eight-fifteen when they reached the door of the building.Several people stayed outside without saying a word for more than 20 minutes.At about eight forty-five, Du Roy said: "You can go now." The police rushed forward, paying no attention to the porter; who did not seem to notice their arrival.

A policeman stood by the gate.The other four went up to the third floor.Du Roy first put his ear to the door and listened, then looked in through the keyhole, but found nothing.He rang the doorbell.

The superintendent said to the two constables: "You stay here and wait for orders."

They wait at the door.Two or three minutes later, Du Roy rang the doorbell a few more times.They heard a sound in the room, followed by light footsteps.Someone came to find out.Du Roy then knocked hard on the door.

At this time, a woman's voice came, trying not to let people recognize who she was: "Who is it?"

"Open the door, police station," said the sheriff.

The voice asked again, "Who are you?"

"I'm the sheriff. Open the door, or we'll just break in."

"What do you want to do?" It was still the same voice just now.

Du Roy shouted: "It's me. There's no escape for you."

The slight, apparently barefoot sound faded away, only to return a few seconds later.

Du Roy continued: "If you don't open the door, we will bump into it." After speaking, he held the copper doorknob with his hand, and pushed the door tentatively with his shoulder.Seeing that there was still no reaction inside, he used all his strength to slam into it.The old lock on the door suddenly fell apart, all the screws were uprooted from the wooden grooves, and Du Roy almost hit Madeleine.At this time, Madeleine put on a petticoat and coat, and her hair was messy.She was standing there holding a candle, her legs bare.

"It's her! They've finally been caught!" Du Roy shouted, rushing into the room no matter what.The sheriff took off his hat and followed.A panicked Madeleine walks behind them, holding a candle.

When Du Roy and the others passed the restaurant, they saw a mess on the table: empty champagne bottles, leftover chicken bones, an open bottle of foie gras, and a few pieces of half-eaten bread.Also on the sideboard were two plates piled high with oyster shells.

In the bedroom, there seemed to be a struggle.Madeleine's long dress was thrown on a chair, and a pair of men's shorts draped over the arm of the sofa.Two pairs of shoes, one big and one small, were tilted crookedly towards the side of the bed.

It was an apartment rented together with furniture, and the furnishings were ordinary, and there was a disgusting stale smell similar to that of a hotel.The smell comes from the surrounding curtains, mattresses, walls and seats, as well as from the tenants who used to live here.Some of these guests stay for one day, some for as long as half a year, and their body odor remains in the room.Over time, these smells mixed together, gradually forming a faint, unbearable strange smell.This smell always pervades similar occasions.

The fireplace was overwhelmed: pastry trays, Chartreuse, and two half-empty glasses.A men's top hat hangs from the figure above the brass bell.

The inspector turned sharply and looked directly at Madeleine:

"Are you Mrs. Claire-Madelaine du Roy, the lawful wife of this reporter, M. Prosper-Georges du Roy?"

Madeleine's throat seemed to be choked, and she said word by word:

"Yes, sir."

"What are you doing here?"

Madeleine was silent.

The inspector asked again: "What are you doing here? You're not in your own house, you're in this fully furnished apartment, almost naked. Say, what the hell are you doing here?"

The sheriff waited for a while, and seeing that Madeleine still hadn't spoken, he continued: "Madame, since you don't want to admit it, I have no choice but to find out the truth myself."

There was another person hiding under the quilt on the bed.

The sheriff approached the bed and called out, "Sir."

The man lay motionless on the bed, facing the wall, with his head buried under the pillow.

The sheriff touched the man on the shoulder and repeated: "Please don't make me do it, sir."

The person hiding inside remained motionless, as if dead.

Du Roy rushed forward and pulled off the quilt and pillow.At this moment, La Roche-de-Mathieu's face, pale with fright, appeared from inside.Du Roy bent down, trembling all over, as if wishing to strangle him by the neck.He gritted his teeth and said:
"Since you can do such shameful and scandalous things, at least you should have the courage to stand up."

"Who are you?" asked the sheriff.

The panic-stricken La Rocheur could not speak.The sheriff repeated: "I am the sheriff, and I order you to give your name."

Du Roy, trembling with anger, shouted: "Say it, coward! Do you want me to speak for you?"

The man on the bed finally spoke: "Mr. Sheriff, you shouldn't let this person point fingers here and insult me ​​wantonly. Are you handling the case or is he handling the case? Should I answer you or him?" Short A few words made his throat extremely dry.

The Inspector replied: "Of course you answer me, sir. You only have to answer my question. Now I ask you, who are you?"

The other party was silent.He pulled the quilt tightly to protect his body, his panicked eyes kept turning, and his curled mustache looked even darker against the pale face.

The sheriff continued: "Aren't you willing to answer? Then I have to arrest you. Anyway, please get up first. We will interrogate you one by one after you are dressed."

The person on the bed moved and whispered, "But I can't... in front of you..."

"Why?" asked the sheriff.

The man stammered, "Because I... I... I didn't wear a single piece of clothing."

Du Roy sneered, picked up the shirt on the ground and threw it on the bed, sneered: "Come on...get up...since you can take off your clothes in front of my wife, you can also put them back on in front of me With that said, he turned and walked to the fireplace.

Madeleine had gradually calmed down.When she saw that things were irreversible, she didn't care about anything, and her eyes shone with a fearless light.She rolled up a piece of paper, and calmly lit the candles on the candlestick one by one as if she was receiving guests at home.The candlesticks, scattered around the fireplace, were old and worn out.With her back against the marble, Madeleine stretched out a bare foot towards the dying fire, and the petticoat that had just covered her buttocks was slightly lifted up.She took out a cigarette from the pink carton on the fireplace, lit it, and smoked like no one else was there.While waiting for the gentleman to dress, the sheriff came up to her.

Madeleine asked domineeringly: "Do you often do such things, Monsieur?"

"The less the better, ma'am," replied the sheriff with seriousness.

Madeleine sneered: "Very well, this is not an honorable job after all."

She deliberately did not go to see her husband.

At this time, the gentleman had already put on his trousers and shoes; he came over while arranging his vest.

The sheriff turned to him and asked:
"Sir, can you tell me your name now?"

The man said nothing.

"Then I must arrest you," said the inspector.

The other party suddenly shouted: "Don't touch me! You are not qualified to do this!"

Upon hearing this, Du Roy rushed towards him, as if to throw him to the ground.With his face pressed against La Rochere, he whispered: "You have done such a scandal, I can have them arrest you, as long as I want... Yes, I can do it."

Then he said loudly: "This man is La Roche-Mathieu, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs."

The sheriff couldn't help but took a step back, dumbfounded.He asked again in disbelief: “Sir, honestly, who are you?”

The man finally made up his mind and said loudly: "The bastard has not lied today. Yes, I am La Roche-Mathieu, Minister of Foreign Affairs."

Then, pointing to the shining little red dot on Du Roy's chest, he said, "Look, I gave him the Medal of Honor on this shameless man!"

Du Roy's face turned pale with anger, and he tore off the red ribbon from the button with a bang, and threw it into the fireplace:

"See? That's what happens to things you get from bastards like you."

Du Roy and La Roche clenched their fists like this, glaring at each other, in a posture of daggers and swords; they were thin and fat, with one beard drooping down and the other raised like a hook.

The sheriff hurried to the middle of the two and separated them with his hands: "Gentlemen, please don't forget your identities, it would be disgraceful to do so."

The two people in the confrontation didn't say anything, turned and walked away.Madeleine was still standing there, smoking a cigarette and smiling grimly.

The police chief said again: "Mr. Minister, when we came in, we found you alone in the room with Madame du Roy. You were lying on the bed, and Madame du Roy was almost naked; your clothes were thrown everywhere in the room." .All of this constitutes adultery. The evidence is overwhelming and cannot be denied. What else do you have to say?"

La Roche-Mathieu muttered: "I have nothing to say, you can figure it out."

The police chief asked Madeleine: "Madame, do you admit that this gentleman is your lover?"

Madeleine replied generously: "Yes, he is my lover."

"This is enough."

The sheriff made some notes about the general condition of the room.At this time, the minister also got dressed.Holding his coat in one hand and his hat in the other, he asked:
"Is I still needed here, sir? What's next? May I go?"

Du Roy turned to look at him, and said with a sneer, "Why are you leaving? Our business has been finished. You can continue to go to bed, sir. We will leave immediately."

Du Roy touched the sheriff's arm with his hand:
"Come on, Mr. Sheriff, we have nothing to do here."

The sheriff felt a little puzzled and followed him out.When he reached the door, Du Roy stopped to let the sheriff go first, and the sheriff gave way politely.

Du Roy insisted: "You should go first, sir."

The sheriff said: "You go first."

Du Roy bowed and laughed at himself: "Mr. Sheriff, please go first. You can just think this is my house."

Afterwards, he deliberately put on a cautious look, and gently closed the door.

An hour later, Du Roy came to the office of Les Françasses.

Mr. Walter was still busy in the newspaper office at this time.As always, he devoted a great deal of his heart and soul to La Vie.Today, the newspaper's circulation has grown enormously.The development of the newspaper industry also provided many conveniences for Walter's banking business.

As soon as Du Roy entered the office, Walter raised his head and asked: "Ah, you're here! Why do you look so strange? Why didn't you come to my house for dinner tonight? Where are you from?"

Du Roy was very aware of the weight of this sentence, so he answered carefully:

"I just ousted the foreign minister."

Walter thought he was joking.

"Get down? What did you say?"

"I'm going to reshuffle the cabinet, that's how things are. That bastard La Rocher should have stepped down long ago." Old man Walter was stunned when he heard that.Thinking that Du Roy was drunk, he muttered:

"Look, what are you talking about?"

"I'm not talking nonsense. I just caught La Roche-Mathieu having an affair with my wife. The Inspector saw it all. La Roche is over."

Walter was dumbfounded.Pushing his spectacles up to his forehead, he asked:
"Are you kidding me?"

"Absolutely not. I'm going to write a news story on it."

"What do you want?"

"I'm going to kill that scoundrel, scumbag, government liar!"

Du Roy put his hat on the armchair, and continued: "If anyone tries to get in my way, he must be careful. I will not take it lightly."

Walter still didn't understand.He hesitantly asked:
"What about... your wife?"

"To-morrow morning I shall file for a divorce. I shall return her to the dead Forestier."

"You want a divorce?"

"That's right. She put me through a lot of taunting and ridicule. In order to catch the adulterer and adulterer, I had to play crazy every day. But now, I finally have everything under my control."

Walter hadn't fully recovered yet.He looked at Du Roy in astonishment, and thought to himself: "My God! This guy is not easy to deal with!"

Du Roy went on: "I am free at last! And I have some savings. I am going to my hometown to participate in the re-election in October. There, I am a celebrity. I have no reputation with that troublesome woman. Not to mention being respected. She always treats me like a fool and coaxes me into submission with sweet words. But since I saw through her tricks, I have monitored every move of this bitch."

As he spoke, he began to laugh smugly: "Poor Forestier, I wore a cuckold...but I didn't realize it. Now I finally got rid of the crap he left behind, and I feel relieved. Daddy The time has finally come to show off.”

Du Roy spread his legs apart, straddled a chair and muttered, as if he had already figured out how to "show his talents"

All the while old Walter stared at him wide-eyed, his spectacles still on his forehead.He thought to himself, "That's right, that bastard Du Roy can do anything."

Du Roy stood up and said: "I'm going to work. I must think carefully this time. You also know that this article must be a fatal blow to the Minister. He is now at the end of the road. Nobody can help him. Les Zins no longer has to be discreet with him."

Old man Walter considered for a while, and finally made up his mind.

"Go," said he, "La Rocheur is in prison himself, and there is nothing we can do."

Three months passed, and Du Roy and his wife officially divorced.Madeleine reverted to her original surname "Forestier".Since the Walther family planned to go to Trouville for vacation on July 15th, they decided to go to the countryside for a day before departure.

At nine o'clock on Thursday morning they set off in a large coach hired from the posting station.The carriage is drawn by four horses and has six seats.

They were going to lunch at the "Henry IV" restaurant in Saint-Germain.The pretty friend was the only gentleman invited, because he couldn't stand being with the Marquis de Cazelle.But at the last moment it was decided to bring Count de la Tour Yvelines.Du Roy was notified the night before he left.

The carriage "tick-tock" quickly passed the Champs-Elysées Avenue, and then passed through the Boulogne Gardens.

It's a cool summer day, sunny and sunny.Swallows pass by in the blue sky, leaving behind beautiful arcs.

Susan and Rosa surrounded their mother and sat on the inside of the carriage; Du Roy and the count sat around old Walter and sat on the outside of the carriage.

The carriage passed the Seine, rounded the Mont Valerien to Bougigva, and followed a river as far as Péc.

The slightly older Earl Evelyn looked at Rosa affectionately along the way.The two of them just got engaged a month ago.The earl's beard is very long and light, as long as there is a little wind, it will flutter with the wind.Du Roy admired secretly: "His beard is really charming when the wind blows it like this."

Du Roy looked at Susan from time to time, their faces pale.As if they had a heart-to-heart connection, their eyes intertwined, silently communicating the love in their hearts, and after a while, they hurriedly looked away again.Mrs. Walter sat there quietly, with a happy smile on her face.

Lunch lasted a long time.Before returning to Paris, Du Roy proposed to walk on the terrace.

So, everyone began to appreciate the surrounding scenery.The six people lined up along the wall and looked towards the sky, intoxicated by the vast scenery in front of them.Below the endless mountains, flows the Seine River.The river twists and turns and flows towards Maisons-Laffitte; from a distance, it looks like a giant python crawling on the grass.On the hillside on the right, the Marli Aqueduct extending in all directions looks like a gigantic inchworm.The city of Marri is completely shrouded in a dense grove of trees.

They also saw villages scattered in the vast fields and several clear pools of water in the woods of Vezinet. Walter exclaimed: "The scenery here is really unique in the world! It may not be seen even in Switzerland."

Everyone began to move their feet slowly, taking a walk while admiring the beautiful scenery in front of them.

Du Roy and Susan walked behind.When he distanced himself from the crowd, Du Roy lowered his voice and said, "Susan, I love you! I'm fascinated by you!"

Susan whispered back, "Me too, pretty friend!"

Du Roy went on to say: "If I can't marry you in this life, I will leave Paris and France."

(End of this chapter)