human
More fragments! muttered Coquenil, examining them.
gpt
It's in English. Ah, is this part of the photograph?
human
Yes. You see the photographer's name is on it.
gpt
Watts, Regent Street, London, deciphered the detective.
human
That is something. And, turning to the judge:
gpt
Wouldn't it be a good idea to send a man to London with this? You can make out part of a lace skirt and the tip of a slipper. It might be enough.
human
That's true,
gpt
Whoever goes, continued Coquenil,
human
Excellent. I'll see to it at once,
gpt
But why so much trouble, he asked,
human
I _had_ them and I--I lost them,
gpt
Oh, sneered the other,
human
I thought you were a skillful wrestler.
gpt
Come back to the point, put in Hauteville.
human
Had the chambermaid ever seen this lady before?
gpt
Yes, but not recently. It seems that Kittredge moved to the Hôtel des Étrangers about seven months ago, and soon after that the lady came to see him. Rose says she came three times.
human
Did she go to Kittredge's room?
gpt
Yes.
human
Can the chambermaid describe her?
gpt
She says the lady was young and good-looking--that's about all she remembers.
human
Hm! Have you anything else to report?
gpt
I have kept the most important thing for the last. I'm afraid it will annoy my distinguished colleague even more than the loss of the leather fragments.
human
Don't waste your sympathy,
gpt
I certainly won't. I only mean that your début in this case hasn't been exactly--ha, ha!--well, not exactly brilliant.
human
Here, here! reproved the judge.
gpt
Let us have the facts.
human
Well, continued the red-haired man,
gpt
I have found the owner of the pistol that killed Martinez.
human
The owner of the pistol we found in the courtyard?
gpt
Precisely. I should tell you, also, that the balls from that pistol are identical with the ball extracted from the body. The autopsy proves it, so Dr. Joubert says. And this pistol belongs in a leather holster that I found in Mr. Kittredge's room. Dr. Joubert let me take the pistol for verification and--there, you can see for yourselves.
human
Besides, continued Gibelin,
gpt
It looks bad,
human
It _looks_ bad, but it's too easy, it's too simple,
gpt
In the old school, sneered Gibelin,
human
My dear sir, retorted Coquenil angrily,
gpt
Granted,
human
Come, come, gentlemen, interrupted the judge. Then abruptly to Gibelin:
gpt
Did you see about his boots?
human
No, I thought you would send to the prison and get the pair he wore last night.
gpt
How do you know he didn't change his boots when he burned the letters? Go back to his hotel and see if they noticed a muddy pair in his room this morning. Bring me whatever boots of his you find. Also stop at the depot and get the pair he had on when arrested. Be quick!
human
I will,
gpt
Ill-tempered brute! said Hauteville.
human
I will see that he has nothing more to do with this case.
gpt
That American, Kittredge, who was arrested last night? he said to the clerk.
human
Was he put in a cell?
gpt
No, sir, he's in with the other prisoners.
human
Ah! Have him brought over here in about an hour for the preliminary examination. Make out his commitment papers for the Santé. He is to be _au secret_.
gpt
Yes, sir.
human
You really think this young man innocent, do you?
gpt
It's easier to think him innocent than guilty,
human
Easier?
gpt
If he is guilty we must grant him an extraordinary double personality. The amiable lover becomes a desperate criminal able to conceive and carry out the most intricate murder of our time. I don't believe it. If he is guilty he must have had the key to that alleyway door. How did he get it? He must have known, that the 'tall blonde' who had engaged Number Seven would not occupy it. How did he know that? And he must have relations with the man who met me on the Champs Elysées. How could that be? Remember, he's a poor devil of a foreigner living in a Latin-Quarter attic. The thing isn't reasonable.
human
But the pistol?
gpt
The pistol may not really be his. Gibelin's whole story needs looking into.
human
Of course. I leave that to you. Still, I shall feel better satisfied when we have compared the soles of his boots with the plaster casts of those alleyway footprints.
gpt
So shall I, said Coquenil.
human
Suppose I see the workman who is finishing the casts? he suggested;
gpt
Excellent,