"What do you mean?"

"That would put the guilt on one or the other of those two?"

"Apparently."

"And end the case?"

"Why—er——"

"Yes, it would. A case is ended when the murderer is discovered. Well, this case is not ended, you can be sure of that. The murderer I am looking for is not that kind of a murderer. To begin with, he's not a fool. If he made up his mind to shoot a man in a private room he would know exactly what he was doing and exactly how he was going to escape."

"But the facts are there—I've given them to you," retorted the commissary a little nettled.

Coquenil shook his head.

"My dear Lucien, you have given me some of the facts; before morning I hope we'll have others and—hello!"

He stopped abruptly to look at a comical little man with a very large mouth, the owner of the place, who had been hovering about for some moments as if anxious to say something.