“What you say is very possible, my dear friend; but I shall make you see that it is not for us to raise objections of this kind.  Here is a testimony that may save our client; let us accept this, such as it may be, whence it comes.  It is the business of the prosecution to prove that our witness could not see what she relates that she saw, or that her mental condition does not permit her to know what she saw; and do not be afraid, investigation will not be lacking.  Do not let us even give a hint from our side; that would be stupid.”

This, certainly, was not what Saniel wished; only he believed it a duty, in his quality of physician, to indicate some rocks against which they might strike themselves.

“Our duty,” continued the advocate, “is, therefore, to manage in a way to escape them; and this is how I understand the role of this really providential witness, if it is possible to make her undertake it.  Since it has occurred to you—­you who wish the acquittal of this poor boy—­that the testimony of Madame Dammauville may be vitiated by the simple fact that it comes from a sick woman, it is incontestable, is it not, that this same idea will occur to those who wish for his conviction?  This testimony should be irrefutable; it should be presented in such a way that no one could raise anything against it, so that it would compel the acquittal in the same moment that it is presented.  It was between a quarter past and half past five o’clock that Caffie was assassinated; at exactly a quarter past five, a woman of respectable position, and whose intellectual as well as physical faculties render her worthy of being believed, saw in Caffies office a man, with whom it is materially impossible to confound Florentin Cormier, draw the curtains of the window, and thus prepare for the crime.  She would make her deposition in these conditions, and in these terms, and the affair would be finished.  There would not be a judge, after this confrontation, who would send Florentin Cormier before the assizes, and, assuredly, there would not be two voices in the jury for conviction.  But things will not happen like this.  Without doubt, Madame Dammauville bears a name that is worth something; her husband was an estimable attorney, a brother of the one who was notary at Paris.”

“Have you ever had any business with her?”

“Never.  I tell you what is well known to every one, morally she is irreproachable.  But is she the same physically and mentally?  Not at all, unfortunately.  If a physician can be found who will declare that her paralysis does not give her aberrations or hallucinations, another one will be found who will contest these opinions, and who will come to an opposite conclusion.  So much for the witness herself; now for the testimony.  This testimony does not say that the man who drew the curtains at a quarter past five was built in such a way that it is materially impossible to confound him with Florentin Cormier, because he was small or hunchbacked or bald, or dressed like a workman; while Florentin is tall, straight, with long hair and beard, and dressed like a gentleman.  It says, simply, that the man who drew the curtains was tall, with long hair, and curled blond beard, and dressed like a gentleman.  But this description is exactly Florentin Cormier’s, as it is yours—­”