But Almades sniffed: a suspect, alarming odour was tickling his nose.
"Fire," he muttered from the corner of his mouth to his captain.
The latter looked up at the chimney of the house, but could see no plume of smoke rising from it. On the other hand, in the same instant he and the Spaniard caught sight of the first curls of smoke obscuring the windows from within, on the ground floor.
The house was burning.
The assassins realised their secret was discovered and reacted instantly. But Almades was faster still, seizing his pistols, extending his arms, and firing simultaneously to the right and the left. He killed both the man on the doorstep and the other man who had been hanging back with two balls that drilled into the middle of their respective foreheads. The detonations startled his horse, which whinnied and reared, forcing La Fargue's steed to take a step to one side. The last man had meanwhile drawn his pistol and was taking aim at the captain. But his shot missed La Fargue, who, struggling to control his mount, had to twist round in his saddle in order to return fire. He hit his target nevertheless, lodging a ball in the neck of his opponent, who collapsed in a heap.
Silence returned to the scene just as suddenly as the previous violence had been unleashed. With La Fargue removing a second pistol from its holster, he and Almades dismounted, taking cover for a moment behind their horses, observing the house and its surroundings for signs of any other enemies.
"Do you see anyone?"
"No," replied the Spanish master of arms. "I think there were only three in all."
"No doubt they stayed behind to make sure the fire took good hold."
"That means there's something inside that must disappear."
Rapiers in their fists, they rushed into the house.
Fires had been set at several points and thick black smoke attacked their eyes and throats. But the danger was not yet significant, although it was too late for there to be any hope of extinguishing the conflagration. While Almades rushed up the stairs to the floor above, La Fargue rook charge of
inspecting the ground level. He went from room to room without finding anything or anyone, until he spied a small, low door, just as the Spaniard came back down.
"There's a room up there with a chest full of clothing for both a man and a woman. And there are theatre face paints."
"Let's look in the cellar," decided the captain.
They opened the small door, went down some stone stairs, and there, in the dim light, found Castilla half naked and bloody, still suspended by his wrists, having been left to perish in the blaze that was beginning to ravage the entire house. At his feet lay the heavy chain that had served to torture him.
La Fargue supported his weight while Almades cut him down. Then they carried him, hastily crossing the ground floor where flames were already licking at the walls and attacking the ceilings. They stretched the unfortunate wretch out on the grass at a safe distance from the house.
Castilla was agitated, moaning and mumbling in spite of his weakened state. Something urgent was forcing him to call upon his last reserves of strength. La Fargue leaned over him and brought his ear close to the man's swollen lips.
"What, is he saying?" inquired Almades.
"I don't know exactly," answered the captain, straightening up on his knees. "Something like . . . 'garanegra'?"
"Garra negra," murmured the Spaniard, recognising his mother tongue.
La Fargue shot him an intrigued look.
"The Black Claw," Almades translated.
6
It didn't take Saint-Lucq long to spot Ballardieu.
His instinct, initially, had led him to suspect that he was being watched from rue des Moineaux as he left the Gaget Messenger Service. To confirm this, the half-blood entered a bakery nearby. When he reappeared in the street he was nibbling innocently on a little tart, but took the opportunity to survey his surroundings from behind the red lenses of his spectacles. Without seeming to do so, he took careful note of Ballardieu's round, weathered face among the ordinary passersby.
The presence of the old soldier surprised him but was not a cause for worry. Obviously, Ballardieu had latched onto his trail after following Nai's, the servant from the Hotel de l'Epervier. This could only be at Agnes's request. All that remained was to find out why.