And never had he felt himself so cool, with an intelligence so bright, prepared for the defence from head to foot.
"Look!" he resumed; "here is Monsieur Dabadie coming towards us."
In fact, the station-master was returning from the goods train department. As soon as he had run his eye over the telegram, he exclaimed:
"There has been a murder on the line. The inspector at Rouen telegraphs to me to that effect."
"What?" inquired Roubaud; "a murder among our staff?"
"No, no," answered the station-master. "The murder of a passenger in a coupé. The body was thrown out almost at the exit from the tunnel of Malaunay at post 153. And the victim is one of our directors, President Grandmorin."
The assistant station-master immediately exclaimed:
"The President! Ah! my poor wife, what a terrible blow it will be for her!"
The tone was so natural, so pitiful, that it for a moment arrested the attention of M. Dabadie.