Chapter 10 - The Destination of Truth
At exactly two-thirty in the morning, the heavy steam locomotive of the L'Étoile du Nord let out a long, mourning whistle as its massive iron wheels finally ground to a halt inside the grand, glass-roofed sanctuary of the Brussels Gare du Midi station. The platform was bathed in the harsh, white glare of electric streetlamps, where a dozen federal police officers and a medical team were already waiting, alerted by the emergency telegram Julien had ordered Roger to send from the last signal tower.
Doctor Moreau and Gaston were marched off the train in heavy iron chains, their faces pale and drawn under the white lights of the platform. The stolen steel briefcase was secured in the hands of the police captain, its contents—hundreds of thousands of francs in untraceable international bonds—completely intact.
Monsieur Grimaldi was wheeled out on a comfortable canvas stretcher, sitting up and sipping a warm tea provided by the station staff. He looked tired, but his eyes were clear, and he looked at Julien with a profound, emotional gratitude.
"You saved my life, Inspector," Grimaldi said, his voice a bit raspy from the leftover chloroform. "And you saved the legacy of my family's business. I don't know how you saw through the dark of that car."
"The dark is only an illusion, Monsieur Grimaldi," Julien said, offering a polite, respectful bow as the medical team moved the stretcher toward the station clinic. "The science of crime always leaves a blueprint. We only need to know how to read the ink."
Julien walked to the edge of the platform, pulling his grey trench coat tight against the cold morning wind. The rain had finally stopped, leaving the cobblestones wet and gleaming under the city lights like a field of black diamonds. He drew his silver pocket watch from his vest, checking the time. Two-forty-five.
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He looked back at Sleeping Car 7, the ancient iron box that had held a lifetime of secrets for four hours, now standing quiet and empty on the tracks. The locked room had been opened, the mechanical illusion dismantled by the cold, unyielding laws of logic and truth.
Julien smiled a small, tired smile, slipped his watch back into his pocket, and walked out into the awakening city, ready for the next train, and the next mystery that lay waiting in the shadows of the world.
