Mathieu arranged a meeting with Armand du Paty de Clam, the commandant who had carried out his brother's arrest. Paty de Clam indicated that the charges against Alfred were overwhelming and he would soon confess. Convinced of his brother's innocence, Mathieu proposed a deal to Paty de Clam: "Let me get close to my brother […] You will listen to our conversation from behind a curtain. If, impossible as it may be, he has done something wrong, he will tell me all and I myself will put the pistol in his hands." Paty de Clam refused.
