"On the Friday, May 29th, as soon as my mother and I reached home, I told Couillard to return the Geoffreys their dog, and scolded him for having borrowed it without permission, and also because the dog, by ruining one of M. Steinheil's drawings, had made the latter lose a whole week's work."
Question. "Why such haste in returning that dog?"
(The judge's idea was quite obvious. Convinced that I was guilty, even before he ever examined me, he thought the fact that I had got rid of the dog a proof of my guilt. I had, "of course," done it in order that the dog might not bark at my accomplices or bark while the murders were being committed!)
Answer. "My husband had told me the day before that the dog would have to go the moment he reached home, and Couillard had not yet returned the dog to its owners."
Question. "What witnesses have you to prove that your husband wished to get rid of the dog at once?"
Answer. "I believe Marthe and Mariette the cook heard my husband make the remark."
Question. "Why deprive your house so soon of a watch-dog when it was deprived of its usual guardian—the dog, Dick?"
Answer. "What importance did it have?... As a matter of fact, Turk hardly barked and was useless; besides, not belonging to the house, the dog was up to all kinds of mischief."
Question. "How can one admit that Couillard, in order to be protected, should borrow a dog that did not bark?"
Answer. "I don't know.... All I can say is that Couillard, just as he was about to take the dog back to the Geoffroys, told me that his idea in having the dog with him was that he would feel less lonely and more safe with 'something living' near him."