At this question Bruno hesitated. He but vaguely knew from hearsay the spot where Savin had fallen. But, as we have seen, neither he nor any one else but Andoche could have said positively where the crime had been committed. Bruno, who had supposed that merely his confession would be sufficient, did not know at first what to reply. But he did not dare to hesitate long.
“About two hundred feet from here,” he said, with affected calmness.
“You must lead us to the spot.”
“Quite true,” assented the magistrate. “Yes, you must conduct us there.”
The officers had not bothered about going to the spot because the dying man had been found on his own doorsteps. And in this respect they had erred. Everybody at first had regarded Firmin as the assassin, but after Bruno’s confession they concluded that they must have been mistaken. Jean’s questions, however, again shifted the evidence from Bruno to Firmin. Among a few the suspicion occurred that L’Ours had asked Bruno to point out the place in the wood in order to save him. Once in the depths of the forest, he might easily find means to free Bruno from his captors and hide him in safety.
Bruno, resolved not to betray any embarrassment or confusion, answered that he would conduct them to the spot. Thereupon he started for the wood, followed by all, and when he had reached the fork in the road he quickly turned down the path to the right. At this juncture Andoche tapped him on the shoulder, saying: “You need go no farther, Bruno: you are not the man who did this deed.”
“Ah, then you are convinced?” said L’Ours.
“What do you mean?” demanded Bruno, with a ferocious scowl.
“This morning, Monsieur Bérard, when you questioned me,” went on the blacksmith, “I told you that I knew nothing. But now I can affirm that Bruno did not kill Monsieur Savin.”
“Why?”