"
"Is he in custody?" asked Gascoigne, eagerly.
"I tell you it is not your place to question."
"He ought to be. It was he who committed the murder."
"You know there was a murder, then? Curious. When the body was
discovered by the porter there was no one present. How could you know
of the crime unless you had a hand in it?"
"I saw it committed. I tried my best to save the Baron, but Ledantec
stabbed him before I could interpose."
"An ingenious attempt to shift the guilt; but it will not serve. We
know better."
"I am prepared to swear it was Ledantec. Why should I attack the
Baron? I owed him no grudge."
"Why? I will tell you. For some time past, as I have reminded you,
your funds have been running low, fortune has been against you at the
tables, and you could not correct it at the Hotel Paradis as you do
with less clever players--"
"You are taking an unfair advantage of your position, Monsieur le
Juge. Any one else who dared accuse me of cheating--"
"Bah! no heroics. You could not correct fortune, I say; yet money you
must have. The hotel-keeper was pressing for his long-unpaid account.
Madame, your smart wife, was dissatisfied; she made you scenes because
you refused her money; in return, you ill-used her."
"It is false! My wife has always received proper consideration at my
hands.
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