“And yet,” said the magistrate, “some one rang. If it were not the baron, who was it?”
“The murderer.”
“For what purpose?”
“I do not know. But the fact that he did ring proves that he knew that the bell communicated with the servant’s room. Now, who would know that, except an inmate of the house?”
Ganimard was drawing the meshes of his net closer and tighter. In a few clear and logical sentences, he had unfolded and defined his theory of the crime, so that it seemed quite natural when the magistrate said:
“As I understand it, Ganimard, you suspect the girl Antoinette Bréhat?”
“I do not suspect her; I accuse her.”
“You accuse her of being an accomplice?”
“I accuse her of having killed Baron d’Hautrec.”
“Nonsense! What proof have you?”