Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1918-03-28

was connected at once and con
tinued:
Who is that speaking9
The butler? All Is Nine. d'Ersin-
gen at homer MOI Or
monsieur9 Not he, either2
-" Never mind, you car tell me
what | want to know. I am M.
Desmalions, the project of police,
and | need certain information. At
what time did Nine. Fauville come
last night! What do you say7
$50 Are you sure? At 2
o clock in the morning? Not
before? And she went away9
In 10 minutes timer
Good. But you're certain you
are not mistaken about the time
when she arrived? / must know
this positively: it is most impor-
tant. You say it was 2 o'clock
in the morning? Two o'clock in
the morning9"*s Very we'll. SIS
Thank you"
When M. Desmalions turned
round, he saw Nine. Fauville
standing beside lin and looking
at him with an expression Of mad
anguish. And one and the same
idea occurred to the mind of all
the onlookers. They were in the
presence either of an absolutely in
nocent woman Or else of an excep-
tional actress whose face lent
itself to the most perfect simu]a-
ton Of innocence.
what do you want?" she
stammered. "What does this
mean? Explain %yourself!"
Then M. Desmalions asked
simply:
"What were you doing last
night between II 80 in the even
ing and 2 o'clock in the morn
ing?"
It was a terrifying question at
the stage which the examination
had reached, a fatal question i'm
plying:
"If you cannot give us an exact
and strict account Of the way in
which you employed your time
while the crime was being COM
mitted, we have the right to con-
clude that you were not alien to
the murder Of your husband and
stepson-"
She understood it in this sense
and staggered on her feet, moan
ing:
cts horrible horrible p
The project repeated:
"What were you doing? The
question must be quite easy to an
swer."
"Oh," she cried, in the same
piteous tone, chow can you be-
%lieve! Oh, no, no, it's not
possible! How ear you believed
II believe nothing yet" he
said. "Besides, you can establish
the truth with a single word"
1t seemed, from the movement
of her lips and the sudden gesture
Of resolution that shook her frame,
as though she were about to
speak that word. But all at once
she appeared stupefied and dun
founded, pronounced a few unin-
telligible syllables, and fell hud-
died into a chair, sobbing concul-
sively and uttering cries of DIES.
pair.
1t was tantamount to a confes.
sion. At the very least, it was a
confession of her inability to sup
ply the plausible explanation
which would have put an end to
the discussion.
The project of police moved
away from her and spoke in a low
voice to the examining magistrate
and the public prosecutor. Per.
emma and Sergeant Mazeroux were
left alone together, side by side.
Mazeroux whispered:
"What did / tell youY l know
you would find out! Oh, what a
man you are! The way you man
aged!"
He was beaming at the thought
that the chief was clear Of the
matter and that he had no more
crows to pluck with his, Mazer.
oux s, superiors, whom he revered
almost as much as he did the chief.
Everybody was nov agreed; they
were friends all round;" and
Mazeroux was choking with de-
light.
They'll lock her up, ehf"
nNo," said Perenna. "There's
not enough hold on her for them
to issye q warrant"
HWhat!' growled Mazeroux
indignantly. "Not enough hold
Ihope, in any case, that you won't
let her 60. She made no bones.
Won know, about attacking you
Come, chief, polish her OFF, 8 she
devil like thatln