Fantômas

This Dover edition, first published in 2006, is an unabridged republication of the work first published by Brentano's Publishers Inc., New York, in 1915. International Standard Book Number: 0-486-44971-8 Manufactured in the United States of America Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501 Contents Introduction to the Dover Edition v I. The Genius of Crime 1 II. A Tragic Dawn 12 III. The Hunt for the Man 26 IV. "No! I am not Mad!" 34 V. "Arrest Me!" 45 VI. "Fantômas, it is Death!" 52 VII. The Criminal Investigation Department 68 VIII. A Dreadful Confession 82 IX. All for Honour 92 X. Princess Sonia's Bath 104 XI. Magistrate and Detective 117 XII. A Knock-out Blow 125 XIII. Thérèse's Future 133 XIV. Mademoiselle Jeanne 140 XV. The Mad Woman's Plot 146 XVI. Among the Market Porters 156 XVII. At the Saint-Anthony's Pig 163 XVIII. A Prisoner and a Witness 174 XIX. Jérôme Fandor 184 XX. A Cup of Tea 190 XXI. Lord Beltham's Murderer 196 XXII. The Scrap of Paper 205 XXIII. The Wreck of the "Lancaster" 210 XXIV. Under Lock and Key 216 XXV. An Unexpected Accomplice 223 XXVI. A Mysterious Crime 228 XXVII. Three Surprising Incidents 237 XXVIII. The Court of Assize 247 XXIX. Verdict and Sentence 255 XXX. An Assignation 265 XXXI. Fell Treachery 276 XXXII. On the Scaffold 288 I. The Genius of Crime "Fantômas." "What did you say?" "I said: Fantômas." "And what does that mean?" "Nothing.... Everything!" "But what is it?" "Nobody.... And yet, yes, it is somebody!" "And what does the somebody do?" "Spreads terror!" Dinner was just over, and the company were moving into the drawing-room. Hurrying to the fireplace, the Marquise de Langrune took a large log from a basket and flung it on to the glowing embers on the hearth; the log crackled and shed a brilliant light over the whole room; the guests of the Marquise instinctively drew near to the fire. During the ten consecutive months she spent every year at her château of Beaulieu, on the outskirts of Corrèze, that picturesque district bounded by the Dordogne, it had been the immemorial custom of the Marquise de Langrune to entertain a few of her personal friends in the neighbourhood to dinner every Wednesday, thereby obtaining a little pleasant relief from her loneliness and keeping up some contact with the world. On this particular winter evening the…