"
"Did you see the murderer running towards the end of the right wing?"
"Yes, as clearly as I saw them afterwards carrying the keeper's
body."
"What became of the murderer?--You were in the courtyard and could
easily have seen.
"I saw nothing of him, Monsieur President. It became quite dark
just then."
"Then Monsieur Rouletabille," said the President, "must explain
how the murderer made his escape."
Rouletabille continued:
"It was impossible for the murderer to escape by the way he had
entered the court without our seeing him; or if we couldn't see him
we must certainly have felt him, since the court is a very narrow
one enclosed in high iron railings."
"Then if the man was hemmed in that narrow square, how is it you
did not find him?--I have been asking you that for the last
half hour."
"Monsieur President," replied Rouletabille, "I cannot answer that
question before half-past six!"
By this time the people in the court-room were beginning to believe
in this new witness. They were amused by his melodramatic action
in thus fixing the hour; but they seemed to have confidence in the
outcome.
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