can stand--the Almighty's forgotten him."

MOUZON [_writing_] "The Almighty has forgotten him." Excellent. Is this
all you can tell me?

OFFICER. Almost all.

MOUZON. At what date should Etchepare have made the next annual payment
to old Goyetche?

OFFICER. A week after Ascension Day.

MOUZON. That is a week after the crime?

OFFICER. Yes, your worship.

MOUZON [_to Mondoubleau_] Singular coincidence! [_To the officer_] Was
he comfortably off, this Etchepare?

OFFICER. He was pressed for money. Three months ago he borrowed eight
hundred francs from a Mauleon cattle-dealer.

MOUZON. And what do the neighbors say?

OFFICER. They say Etchepare was a sly grasping fellow, and they aren't
surprised to hear that he's the murderer. All the same, they all speak
very highly of the woman Yanetta Etchepare. They say she is a model
mother and housekeeper.

MOUZON. How many children?

OFFICER. Two--Georges and--I can't remember the name of the other now.

MOUZON. And the woman's moral character?

OFFICER. Irreproachable.

MOUZON. Good.

OFFICER. I was forgetting. One of my men, one of those who effected the
arrest, informs me that when Etchepare saw him coming he said to his
wife, "They've got me."

MOUZON. "They've got me." That is rather important.

OFFICER. And then he told his wife, in Basque, "Don't for the world let
out that I left the house last night!"

MOUZON. He said this before the gendarme?

OFFICER. No, your worship--the gendarme was outside--close to an open
window. Etchepare didn't see him.

MOUZON. You will have him cited as witness.

OFFICER. Yes, your worship. Then there's that witness for the defence
too--Bridet.

MOUZON. Ah, yes--I have read the deposition he made in your presence.
It's of no importance. Still, if he's there I'll hear him. Thank you.
Well, draw up a report for me, in full detail, and make them give you
the summonses for the witnesses.

OFFICER. Yes, your worship. [_He salutes and goes out_]

SCENE IV:--_Mouzon and Mondoubleau._

MONDOUBLEAU. Monsieur Delorme is a fool.

MOUZON [_laughing_] Well, I don't say so, my dear deputy.

MONDOUBLEAU. It's wonderful, your faculty of divination.

MOUZON. Wonderful--no, no. I assure you--

MONDOUBLEAU. Now how did you come to suspect this Etchepare?

MOUZON. Well, you know, it is partly a matter of temperament. The
searching for a criminal is an art. I may say that a good examining
magistrate is guided less by the fa