Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen

Mira is missing! Shouts resounded throughout the building, and everyone didn't react for a while.Missing? ...how is it possible...it's unbelievable... Half an hour before, Mrs. Rothlich and Marc had been in the room, and Myra was lying on the bed in her travel clothes.She was quiet, breathing evenly, and seemed to be sleeping.Just now, Mark fed her something. After dinner, the doctor and my brother went upstairs to carry her to the car...they found no one in the bed...the room was empty... "Mira!" Mark yelled, throwing himself at the window... The windows were closed, and so were the doors.

Mrs. Rotelich and Captain Haralan came after hearing the news. shouts in the house; "Milla...Mira?..." Mira didn't answer, of course.No one expected her to answer.But she wasn't in the room, how to explain that?She got out of bed... past mother's room, down the stairs, and no one saw her? I was busily loading some small pieces of luggage into the carriage when the shout sounded.I immediately ran up to the second floor. My brother was walking around like a lunatic, distraught, calling repeatedly. "Milla...Mira!..." "Mira?" I asked. "What did you say... What's wrong with you, Mark? . . . "

The doctor told me feebly: "My daughter is missing!" Everyone hurriedly carried the fainted Mrs. Rotelich to the car. Captain Haralan's facial muscles twitched, his eyes frantic, he approached me and said: "It's him...it's him again!" I tried to figure it out. I never left the flower hall door, where the carriage was parked. How could Mira come out of this door, past the garden door, and I didn't see her?William Stolitz, invisible, that makes sense!But she...she? I went downstairs to the flower hall, summoned all the servants, locked the garden door leading to the Via de Kairy, and took the key.Then we searched the whole house: the attic, the basement, the verandah, the bell tower, right down to the balcony, we searched every corner and every corner.After searching the room, I searched the garden...

No one, no one! I go back to Mark.My poor brother burst into tears and wailed loudly! The most important thing is to inform the chief of police as soon as possible, so that the police can spread the net. "I'm going to the city hall... let's go!" I said to Captain Haralan: We went downstairs, the carriage stopped, and we got in.As soon as the gate opened, the carriage sped away, and a few minutes later we arrived at Gulzplatz. Mr. Staplek was in his office and I told him about Mira's disappearance. This person, who was never surprised when things happen, couldn't hide his surprise this time.

"Miss Mira Rotelitch is missing!" he exclaimed. "Yes." I replied, "it seems unbelievable, but it happened! She was kidnapped by William Stolitz! . . . Like!" "What do you know?" Mr. Stapler asked. The words that the director blurted out showed that there was a clue in his brain.Isn't that the only logical, the only real possibility?Didn't William Storitz have the ability to make others invisible too?Have we not always thought that his servant Hylmon was as invisible as his master? "Gentlemen," said Mr. Staplek, "would you like to come back to the house with me?"

"Let's go now." I replied. "Yes, gentlemen... wait a moment, I have something to do." Mr. Staplek summoned a captain of the police, and ordered him to take a detachment of constables to the Routledge house, and guard it day and night.Afterwards, the three of us drove back to the doctor's house. The inside and outside of the house were searched carefully again, but nothing was found, and in fact it was impossible to find anything.But as soon as Mr. Stapler stepped into Mira's room, he felt a little strange. "Mr. Vidal," he said to me, "don't you smell something special? We've smelled it somewhere."

Indeed, there was a faint smell in the air.I remembered, and exclaimed: "It's the smell of the liquid that spills out of a glass bottle that falls to the floor when you reach for it in Storitz's lab." "Yes, Mr. Vidal, this liquid is exactly the 'invisibility agent', Storitz used it to make Mira Rotlich invisible, and then took her away!" We were all dumbfounded!That must be the case, I have no doubt that when we searched the lab, he was in there, and he would rather break the glass bottle of invisibility so it evaporated quickly than let it fall into the hands of the police !

yes!We are now smelling exactly that special smell! ……good!William Storitz was in Mira's room, and he was the one who kidnapped Mira Rotelich! The night is long, I am by my brother's side, the doctor is with my wife, we are anxiously waiting for the day to come! daytime? ... what use is the day to us?Did light exist for William Stolitz?Can it reveal him for what he is?Didn't he let the long night surround him? Mr. Staplek left us only in the morning to go to his apartment.At about eight o'clock, the Governor-General arrived.He comforted the doctor, saying that he would do everything in his power to find his daughter back for him.

What can he do? Early in the morning, the news of Mira's abduction spread throughout the city of Raz; the shock it caused cannot be described in words. Near ten o'clock Lieutenant Almgard arrived at the doctor's house, ready to do his friend's service--God, what were they going to do?But in any case, if Captain Haralan resumes his search, at least he won't be fighting alone. That was his plan, because, as soon as he saw the lieutenant, he simply said.sentence: "Walk!" When the two of them were about to go out, I suddenly had an irresistible urge to follow them.

I told Mark...he's exhausted and will understand me, I don't know.The two officers had already stepped onto the embankment.Passers-by looked at the doctor's house in horror.Was it not from there that the tidal wave of terror that swept through the city was raised? I caught up with them and Captain Haralan gave me a look as if he didn't see me. "You're here too, Mr. Vidal." Lieutenant Almgard asked me. "Yes, where are you going?" There is no answer to this question.where to go ...but try your luck...isn't luck our surest guide? Along the way, we were silent and walked aimlessly.

We crossed Magyar Square and walked up Prince Miloch Street.We took a turn under the arcades of the Place Saint-Michel.At times, Captain Haralan stopped, as if with the soles of his feet nailed to the ground, motionless.After a while, he walked slowly again with hesitant steps. I saw the towering cathedral at the end of the square, with its gates closed and its bell tower dull, looking eerie and desolate.Since that turmoil, no believer has dared to go to church to pray. After turning left, we passed behind the rotunda of the church.Captain Haralan hesitated for a moment, then turned into Pierre Street. This aristocratic district in Raz seemed lifeless, and occasionally a few pedestrians hurried past.The doors and windows of most houses are tightly closed, as if the whole country is holding a national funeral. At the end of the street, Dai Kaili Street can be seen all the way to the end, and the street is deserted.No grown-ups have passed by since the Storitz house burned down. Where does Captain Haralan want to go?Do you go up the high slopes of the city and pass through the castle, or do you walk along the Danube towards the Batiani embankment? Suddenly, he blurted out: "There...there..." he repeated, his eyes sparkling, and he pointed at the pile of smoking ruins... Captain Haralan had already stopped in his tracks, his eyes burst out with flames of hatred!The ruins seemed to hold an irresistible attraction for him, and he rushed towards the loose fence. After a while, the three of us were in the courtyard. There were only a few broken walls that were blackened by the fire, and there were scorched wooden beams and twisted iron gate castings lying here and there in disorder under the walls.Smoke was still rising from the piles of ashes, and the remains of furniture.Two letters are still visible on the weathervane on the top wall on the right: WS. Captain Haralan stood quietly, looking at the pile of destroyed objects, ah!Why didn't the damned German and his horrible invention burn down like his house?What misfortune had befallen the Rothlichs! Lieutenant Almgard saw that his friend was in extreme agitation again, he was a little scared and wanted to drag him away. "Let's go," he said. "No!" roared the captain, turning a deaf ear to the lieutenant's persuasion, "No!...I'm going to search through this pile of ruins!...I feel that guy is here...my sister is too! We can't see him, but he is there Here...listen...someone is walking in the garden...it's him, him!" Captain Haralan pricked up his ears... he gestured us to stay still... Could it be an illusion; but I, I seem to have heard rustling footsteps. At this time, Captain Haralan pushed his lieutenant away and threw himself into the rubble.He stood amidst the rubble and ashes, where the laboratory on the edge of the yard used to be.He calls out: "Milla...Mira..." The cries echoed in the ruins... I looked at Almgard, and he silently looked at me with questioning eyes... Captain Haralan rushed through the ruins into the garden, where he jumped down the steps and fell to the weedy lawn. We were about to go up to help him, when he suddenly danced with his hands and feet, as if he had hit an object... He moved forward, backed up, opened his arms, and closed them again, bent down with difficulty, and straightened up again, as if he was in a naked hand-to-hand combat fighter. "I got him!" he yelled. Lieutenant Almgard and I rushed over, and I heard a wheezing sound from my upper arm and chest. "I've got him, the bastard... I've got him..." he kept yelling, "Let me come, Vidal... let me come, Almgard!" Suddenly, I felt an invisible arm push me, and at the same time, a cloudy breath sprayed on my face! No!right! ... This is indeed a hand-to-hand combat!There he is, the invisible man...William Stolitz or someone else! ...whoever he is, we've got it...we'll never let go...we're going to make him tell Mira's whereabouts! As I previously speculated, although he can become invisible, his outer body remains.This is not a ghost, but a living human body, and we are using all our strength to subdue him! ...William Stolitz is alone, because, if his companions had been watching him in the garden, they would have been on us!Yes...he was alone...but why didn't he run away when he saw us coming? ...his capture by Captain Haralan's surprise? ... yes ... it must be so! ... Now, the invisible man's movements became weaker and weaker.I grabbed one of his arms and Lieutenant Almgard grabbed the other. "Where is Mira?...Where is Mira?..." Captain Haralan yelled at him. He did not answer, but was trying to break free, and I felt that I had a strong opponent in front of him. He struggled desperately to escape our siege. Go up the road, if you want to catch him again, it is really hopeless! "Tell me, where is Mira?" Captain Haralan asked him repeatedly. Finally, we heard these words: "Never!...never!..." Yes, it was William Stolitz! ...it was his voice! ... We can't hold on anymore... Although we are three against one, our strength is slowly being exhausted.Just then, Lieutenant Almgard was thrown onto the grass, and the arm I was holding came out of my hand.Before Lieutenant Almgard could stand up, his saber was suddenly pulled out, and the hand that was waving the saber was the hand of William Storitz... Yes, he was furious and never wanted to run away Yes, he wants to kill Captain Haralan! ...the captain also drew his saber, and the two began a duel face to face; one could see, the other invisible! We could not participate in this strange fight, the situation was extremely unfavorable to Captain Haralan, he could only parry but had no power to fight back.He blindly attacked and neglected to defend. Two sabers were fighting fiercely: one knife was held by a visible hand, and the other was held by an invisible hand. Apparently, William Stolitz was pretty good with a knife.In the return attack, Captain Haralan was stabbed in the shoulder.But the point of his knife thrust forward...a scream of pain...an object fell to the lawn. William Stolitz was probably stabbed through the chest... blood gushed out.Just when the spark of life is about to go out, this body is gradually revealed... In the extreme convulsions of dying, he is revealed. Captain Haralan threw himself on William Stolitz and shouted at him: "Mira... my sister, where is Mira?" There was just a zombie in front of him, his face was convulsed, his eyes were wide open, and his eyes were still fierce. This was the body of that monster William Stolitz that could no longer hide!