The men expressed anxiety to supply whatever was needed.
‘Do you remember on Thursday week, the 1st instant, unloading a cask labelled for Felix, London, via Rouen and long sea?’
‘But yes, monsieur, we remember it,’ said the men in chorus.
‘You must unload hundreds of casks. How did you come to notice this one so specially?’
‘Ah, monsieur,’ replied one of the men, ‘had monsieur had to lift it himself he also would have noticed it. The weight was remarkable, extraordinary. The shape also was peculiar. In the middle there was no bulge.’
‘At what time did it arrive here?’
‘Just after six in the evening, monsieur, between five and ten minutes past.’
‘It is a good while since then. How do you come to remember the time so exactly?’
‘Because, monsieur,’ the man smiled, ‘we were going off duty at half-past six, and we were watching the time.’
‘Can you tell me who brought it to the yard?’