"Yes, Monsieur. No one came out of there. We tried it many times."
"H-m. And you have no theory as to how any one could have escaped from the room under the circumstances?"
"No, Monsieur. It is nothing less than a miracle."
The other witnesses shook their heads in confirmation of the testimony.
"That will do, Monsieur Joubert." And then turning to Horton. "Now, Monsieur Horton, what did you think when you found the body of your brother, when you had positive proof that unless the murderer had jumped from the window to death, he must at that moment have been in the room?"
Horton had courage but he couldn't deceive himself as to the intent of the question. The cord was tightening. He felt it in the looks of those around him, in the frightened breathing of Piquette and in the steady gaze of his questioner, which he met with more and more difficulty. But he managed to answer calmly.
"Think! Why, I couldn't think, Monsieur. I was bewildered, dazed, stupefied with astonishment and horror."
"But you must give me credit for some intelligence," protested the Commissaire. "Since the murderer couldn't have gone out of the door while you say you were breaking in, he must have been in the room all the while."
"There was no one in the room. I searched it."
"That is true," almost screamed Piquette in her excitement. "I was wit' 'im. There was no one."