"You will see why I speak of this, and you will understand why I do not drop the subject of Caffie, and of this button, on which the police count to find the criminal. This button belonged to Florentin."
"To your brother?"
"Yes, to Florentin, who, the day of the crime, had been to see Caffie."
"That is true; the concierge told the commissioner of police that he called about three o'clock."
Phillis gave a cry of despair.
"They know he was there? Then it is more serious than we imagined or believed."
"In answering a question as to whom Caffie had received that day, the concierge named your brother. But as this visit took place between three and half-past, and the crime was certainly committed between five and half-past, no one can accuse your brother of being the assassin, since he left before Caffie lighted his lamp. As this lamp could not light itself, it proves that he could not have butchered a man who was living an hour after the concierge saw your brother and talked with him."
"What you say is a great relief; if you could know how alarmed we have been!"
"You were too hasty to alarm yourself."
"Too hasty? But when Florentin read the account to us and came to the button, he exclaimed, 'This button is mine!' and we experienced a shock that made us lose our heads. We saw the police falling on us, questioning Florentin, reproaching him with the past, which would be retailed in all the newspapers, and you must understand how we felt."