“O Providence!” growled Dr. Seignebos,—­“Providence!”

But M. Galpin did not even hear the interruption.  Speaking faster and faster, he went on,—­

“Would it at least be possible to plead in behalf of M. de Boiscoran a difference in time?  No.  At what time was he seen to come to this place?  At nightfall.  ‘It was half-past eight,’ says Ribot, ’when M. de Boiscoran crossed the canal at the Seille swamps.’  He might, therefore, have easily reached Valpinson at half-past nine.  At that hour the crime had not yet been committed.  When was he seen returning home?  Gaudry and the woman Courtois have told you the hour,—­after eleven o’clock.  At that time Count Claudieuse had been shot, and Valpinson was on fire.  Do we know any thing of M. de Boiscoran’s temper at that time?  Yes, we do.  When he came this way he was quite cool.  He is very much surprised at meeting Ribot; but he explains to him very fully how he happens to be at that place, and also why he has a gun.

“He says he is on his way to meet somebody at Brechy, and he thought he would shoot some birds.  Is that admissible?  Is it even likely?  However, let us look at him on his way back.  Gaudry says he was walking very fast:  he seemed to be furious, and was pulling handfuls of leaves from the branches.  What does Mrs. Courtois say?  Nothing.  When she calls him, he does not venture to run; that would have been a confession, but he is in a great hurry to help her.  And then?  His way for a quarter of an hour is the same as the woman’s:  does he keep her company?  No.  He leaves her hastily.  He goes ahead, and hurries home; for he thinks Count Claudieuse is dead; he knows Valpinson is in flames; and he fears he will hear the bells ring, and see the fire raging.”

It is not often that magistrates allow themselves such familiarity; for judges, and even lawyers, generally fancy they are too high above common mortals, on such occasions, to explain their views, to state their impressions, and to ask, as it were, for advice.  Still, when the inquiry is only begun, there are, properly speaking, no fixed rules prescribed.  As soon as a crime has been reported to a French magistrate, he is at liberty to do any thing he chooses in order to discover the guilty one.  Absolutely master of the case, responsible only to his conscience, and endowed with extraordinary powers, he proceeds as he thinks best.  But, in this affair at Valpinson, M. Galpin had been carried away by the rapidity of the events themselves.  Since the first question addressed to Cocoleu, up to the present moment, he had not had time to consider.  And his proceedings had been public; thus he felt naturally tempted to explain them.

“And you call this a legal inquiry?” asked Dr. Seignebos.

He had taken off his spectacles, and was wiping them furiously.