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Page 19
"Then your patients are all quite harmless?" asked Muller
thoughtfully, when the doctor came to a pause.
"Yes, all quite harmless. Of course, there is the man who strangely
enough considers himself the reincarnation of the famous French
murderer, the goldsmith Cardillac, who, as you remember, kept all
Paris in a fervour of excitement by his crimes during the reign of
Louis XIV. But in spite of his weird mania this man is the most
good-natured of any. He has been shut up in his room for several
days now. He was a mechanician by trade, living in Budapest, and
an unsuccessful invention turned his mind."
"Is he a large, powerful man?" asked Muller.
Dr. Orszay looked a bit surprised. "Why do you ask that? He does
happen to be a large man of considerable strength, but in spite of
it I have no fear of him. I have an attendant who is invaluable to
me, a man of such strength that even the fiercest of them cannot
overcome him, and yet with a mind and a personal magnetism which
they cannot resist. He can always master our patients mentally and
physically--most of them are afraid of him and they know that they
must do as he says. There is something in his very glance which
has the power to paralyse even healthy nerves, for it shows the
strength of will possessed by this man."
"And what is the name of this invaluable attendant?" asked Muller
with a strange smile which the doctor took to be slightly ironical.
"Gyuri Kovacz. You are amused at my enthusiasm? But consider my
position here. I am an old man and have never been a strong man.
At my age I would not have strength enough to force that little
woman there--she thinks herself possessed and is quite cranky at
times--to go to her own room when she doesn't want to. And do you
see that man over there in the blue blouse? He is an excellent
gardener but he believes himself to be Napoleon, and when he has
his acute attacks I would be helpless to control him were it not
for Gyuri."
"And you are not afraid of Cardillac?" interrupted Muller.
"Not in the least. He is as good-natured as a child and as
confiding. I can let him walk around here as much as he likes. If
it were not for the absurd nonsense that he talks when he has one
of his attacks, and which frightens those who do not understand him,
I could let him go free altogether."
"Then you never let him leave the asylum grounds?
"Oh, yes. I take him out with me very frequently. He is a man of
considerable education and a very clever talker. It is quite a
pleasure to be with him. That was the opinion of my poor friend
also, my poor murdered friend."
"The pastor?"
"The pastor. He often invited Cardillac to come to the rectory
with me."
"Indeed. Then Cardillac knew the inside of the rectory?"
"Yes. The pastor used to lend him books and let him choose them
himself from the library shelves. The people in the village are
very kind to my poor patients here. I have long since had the
habit of taking some of the quieter ones with me down into the
village and letting the people become acquainted with them. It is
good for both parties. It gives the patients some little diversion,
and it takes away the worst of the senseless fear these peasants
had at first of the asylum and its inmates. Cardillac in particular
is always welcome when he comes, for he brings the children all
sorts of toys that he makes in his cell."
The detective had listened attentively and once his eyes flashed
and his lips shut tight as if to keep in the betraying whistle.
Then he asked calmly: "But the patients are only allowed to go out
when you accompany them, I suppose?"
"Oh, no; the attendants take them out sometimes. I prefer, however,
to let them go only with Gyuri, for I can depend upon him more than
upon any of the others."
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