“I had it with me while I was traveling, and did not think of leaving it at the hotel any more than I thought of changing my clothes.”

“Where did you purchase it?”

“It was given me by M. Simpson as a souvenir.”

“Confess that this M. Simpson is a very convenient personage,” said the magistrate coldly.  “Still, go on with your story.  Only two chambers of this murderous weapon were discharged, but three men were killed.  You have not told me the end of the affair.”

“What’s the use?” exclaimed the prisoner, in saddened tones.  “Two of my assailants had fallen; the struggle became an equal one.  I seized the remaining man, the soldier, round the body, and threw him down.  He fell against a corner of the table, and did not rise again.”

M. Segmuller had unfolded upon his desk the plan of the Poivriere drawn by Lecoq.  “Come here,” he said, addressing the prisoner, “and show me on this paper the precise spot you and your adversaries occupied.”

May obeyed, and with an assurance of manner a little surprising in a man in his position, he proceeded to explain the drama.  “I entered,” said he, “by this door, marked C; I seated myself at the table, H, to the left of the entrance:  my assailants occupied the table between the fireplace, F, and the window, B.”

“I must admit,” said the magistrate, “that your assertions fully agree with the statements of the physicians, who say that one of the shots must have been fired about a yard off, and the other about two yards off.”

This was a victory for the prisoner, but he only shrugged his shoulders and murmured:  “That proves that the physicians knew their business.”

Lecoq was delighted.  This part of the prisoner’s narrative not merely agreed with the doctor’s statements, but also confirmed his own researches.  The young detective felt that, had he been the examiner, he would have conducted the investigation in precisely the same way.  Accordingly, he thanked heaven that M. Segmuller had supplied the place of M. d’Escorval.

“This admitted,” resumed the magistrate, “it remains for you to explain a sentence you uttered when the agent you see here arrested you.”

“What sentence?”

“You exclaimed:  ‘Ah, it’s the Prussians who are coming; I’m lost!’ What did you mean by that?”

A fleeting crimson tinge suffused the prisoner’s cheek.  It was evident that if he had anticipated the other questions, and had been prepared for them, this one, at least, was unexpected.  “It’s very strange,” said he, with ill-disguised embarrassment, “that I should have said such a thing!”

“Five persons heard you,” insisted the magistrate.

The prisoner did not immediately reply.  He was evidently trying to gain time, ransacking in his mind for a plausible explanation.  “After all,” he ultimately said, “the thing’s quite possible.  When I was with M. Simpson, we had with us an old soldier who had belonged to Napoleon’s body-guard and had fought at Waterloo.  I recollect he was always repeating that phrase.  I must have caught the habit from him.”