"What evidence!" he asked, frowning. "This romance invented by the
police is very plausible, I don't deny it; but it seems to me that the
truth is quite as probable. You talk to me about a cabman whose vehicle
was hired by two short, fair-haired women: but who can prove that these
women were the same that fled from the Poivriere?"
"The police agent you see here followed the tracks they left across the
snow."
"Ah! at night-time--across fields intersected by ditches, and up a long
street--a fine rain falling all the while, and a thaw already beginning!
Oh, your story is very probable!"
As he spoke, the murderer extended his arm toward Lecoq, and then, in a
tone of crushing scorn, he added: "A man must have great confidence
in himself, or a wild longing for advancement, to try and get a man
guillotined on such evidence as that!"
At these words, Goguet, the smiling clerk, whose pen was rapidly flying
across the paper, could not help remarking to himself: "The arrow has
entered the bull's-eye this time!"
The comment was not without foundation: for Lecoq was evidently cut to
the quick. Indeed, he was so incensed that, forgetful of his subordinate
position, he sprang to his feet, exclaiming: "This circumstance would be
of slight importance if it were not one of a long chain--"
"Be good enough to keep silent," interrupted the magistrate, who,
turning to the prisoner, added: "The court does not utilize the proofs
and testimony collected by the police until it has examined and weighed
them.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190