as occurred to you--you who wish the acquittal of this poor boy--that
the testimony of Madame Dammauville may be vitiated by the simple fact
that it comes from a sick woman, it is incontestable, is it not, that
this same idea will occur to those who wish for his conviction? This
testimony should be irrefutable; it should be presented in such a way
that no one could raise anything against it, so that it would compel the
acquittal in the same moment that it is presented. It was between a
quarter past and half past five o'clock that Caffie was assassinated; at
exactly a quarter past five, a woman of respectable position, and whose
intellectual as well as physical faculties render her worthy of being
believed, saw in Caffies office a man, with whom it is materially
impossible to confound Florentin Cormier, draw the curtains of the
window, and thus prepare for the crime. She would make her deposition in
these conditions, and in these terms, and the affair would be finished.
There would not be a judge, after this confrontation, who would send
Florentin Cormier before the assizes, and, assuredly, there would not be
two voices in the jury for conviction. But things will not happen like
this. Without doubt, Madame Dammauville bears a name that is worth
something; her husband was an estimable attorney, a brother of the one
who was notary at Paris."

"Have you ever had any business with her?"

"Never. I tell you what is well known to every one, morally she is
irreproachable. But is she the same physically and mentally? Not at all,
unfortunately. If a physician can be found who will declare that her
paralysis does not give her aberrations or hallucinations, another one
will be found who will contest these opinions, and who will come to an
opposite conclusion. So much for the witness herself; now for the
testimony. This testimony does not say that the man who drew the curtains
at a quarter past five was built in such a way that it is materially
impossible to confound him with Florentin Cormier, because he was small
or hunchbacked or bald, or dressed like a workman; while Florentin is
tall, straight, with long hair and beard, and dressed like a gentleman.
It says, simply, that the man who drew the curtains was tall, with long
hair, and curled blond beard, and dressed like a gentleman. But this
description is exactly Florentin Cormier's, as it is yours--"

"Mine!" Saniel exclaimed.

"Yours, as well as that of many others. And it is