from home. There was no
time to lose. The next day Gabrielle accosted Gouffe as he was going to
his dejeuner and, after some little conversation agreed to meet him at
eight o'clock that evening.

The afternoon was spent in preparing for the bailiff's reception in the
Rue Tronson-Ducoudray. A lounge-chair was so arranged that it stood with
its back to the alcove, within which the pulley and rope had been
fixed by Eyraud. Gouffe was to sit on the chair, Gabrielle on his knee.
Gabrielle was then playfully to slip round his neck, in the form of a
noose, the cord of her dressing gown and, unseen by him, attach one end
of it to the swivel of the rope held by Eyraud. Her accomplice had only
to give a strong pull and the bailiff's course was run.(17)

(17) One writer on the case has suggested that the story of the murder
by rope and pulley was invented by Eyraud and Bompard to mitigate the
full extent of their guilt, and that the bailiff was strangled while
in bed with the woman. But the purchase of the necessary materials in
London would seem to imply a more practical motive for the use of rope
and pulley.

At six o'clock Eyraud and Bompard dined together, after which Eyraud
returned to the apartment, whilst Bompard went to meet Gouffe near the
Madeline Church. What occurred afterwards at No. 3 Rue Tronson-Ducoudray
is best described in the statement made by Eyraud at his trial.

"At a quarter past eight there was a ring at the bell. I hid myself
behind the curtain. Gouffe came in. 'You've a nice little nest here,' he
said. 'Yes, a fancy of mine,' replied Gabrielle, 'Eyraud knows nothing
about it.' 'Oh, you're tired of him,' asked Gouffe. 'Yes,' she replied,
'that's all over.' Gabrielle drew Gouffe down on to the chair. She
showed him the cord of her dressing-gown and said that a wealthy admirer
had given it to her. 'Very elegant,' said Gouffe, 'but I didn't come
here to see that.'

"She then sat on his knee and, as if in play, slipped the cord round his
neck; then putting her hand behind him, she fixed the end of the cord
into the swivel, and said to him laughingly, 'What a nice necktie it
makes!' That was the signal. Eyraud pulled the cord vigorously and, in
two minutes, Gouffe had ceased to live."

Eyraud took from the dead man his watch and ring, 150 francs and his
keys. With these he hurried to Gouffe's office and made a fevered search
for money. It was fruitless. In his trembling haste the murderer missed