Colonel Picquart.—“Yes; that is why I never understood the attempt to separate them.”
The Judge.—“Do you remember having sent for M. Leblois to call on you at your office?”
Colonel Picquart.—“Yes.”
The Judge.—“Do you remember the date?”
Colonel Picquart.—“He came in the spring of 1896 concerning two matters,—the Boulot case and a carrier-pigeon case, about which I should like to say a word.”
The Judge.—“I was going to ask you. What is this carrier-pigeon file of documents? Is it not a secret file?”
Colonel Picquart.—“There are two. One file is in a pasteboard box, which contains nothing but newspaper articles about pigeons. These matters are not secret, and it was about these that I consulted M. Leblois. There is another file which is absolutely secret, containing information with which M. Leblois had no concern, and about which M. Leblois could not have enlightened me. There has been confusion lately concerning this matter. Recently I asked for the carrier-pigeon file, and by chance the secret file was brought.”
The Judge.—“You had by the side of this carrier-pigeon file another file on which was the letter ‘H’ written with blue pencil?”
Colonel Picquart.—“Your description designates the envelope containing the secret file. That was never on my table when M. Leblois was there, and there is a very simple reason why. The file was in my possession only from the latter part of August to the beginning of November, and M. Leblois left Paris August 5, and did not return until November 7.”
The court here recalled M. Gribelin to confront him with Colonel Picquart. M. Gribelin repeated his testimony as follows: