"Beaten to death. Beaten with an iron statue of Venus. Evidence of a struggle. Twenty wounds on his head."
"Twenty wounds, Sergeant Melot?"
"Twenty. The first, or second, would have been enough to kill him. But there were twenty."
The audience gasped and the Prosecutor smiled. "And where was Mrs. d'Larte?" he asked.
"Locked in her bedroom. Had to break the door down to get to her."
"Did you speak to her?"
"We spoke to her, but she didn't speak to us."
The audience laughed and the judge rapped for silence.
"The iron statue of Venus, the one found near Mr. d'Larte's body, you found fingerprints on it, did you not?" Sergeant Melot nodded. "Whose fingerprints were they, Sergeant Melot?"
"Mrs. d'Larte's."