“Wearepersuadedthatpursuithashithertobeenonafalsescent,sofarasithasbeendirectedtotheBarri鑢eduRoule。Itisimpossiblethatapersonsowellknowntothousandsasthisyoungwomanwas,shouldhavepassedthreeblockswithoutsomeonehavingseenher;andanyonewhosawherwouldhaverememberedit,forsheinterestedallwhoknewher。Itwaswhenthestreetswerefullofpeople,whenshewentout……ItisimpossiblethatshecouldhavegonetotheBarri鑢eduRoule,ortotheRuedesDr鬽es,withoutbeingrecognizedbyadozenpersons;yetnoonehascomeforwardwhosawheroutsideofhermother’sdoor,andthereisnoevidence,exceptthetestimonyconcerningherexpressedintentions,thatshedidgooutatall。Hergownwastorn,boundroundher,andtied;andbythatthebodywascarriedasabundle。IfthemurderhadbeencommittedattheBarri鑢eduRoule,therewouldhavebeennonecessityforanysucharrangement。ThefactthatthebodywasfoundfloatingneartheBarri鑢e,isnoproofastowhereitwasthrownintothewater……Apieceofoneoftheunfortunategirl’spetticoats,twofeetlongandonefootwide,wastornoutandtiedunderherchinaroundthebackofherhead,probablytopreventscreams。Thiswasdonebyfellowswhohadnopocket-handkerchief。”
AdayortwobeforethePrefectcalleduponus,however,someimportantinformationreachedthepolice,whichseemedtooverthrow,atleast,thechiefportionofLeCommerciel’sargument。Twosmallboys,sonsofaMadameDeluc,whileroamingamongthewoodsneartheBarri鑢eduRoule,chancedtopenetrateaclosethicket,withinwhichwerethreeorfourlargestones,formingakindofseat,withabackandfootstool。Ontheupperstonelayawhitepetticoat;onthesecondasilkscarf。Aparasol,gloves,andapocket-handkerchiefwerealsoherefound。Thehandkerchiefborethename“MarieRog阾。”
Fragmentsofdresswerediscoveredonthebramblesaround。Theearthwastrampled,thebusheswerebroken,andtherewaseveryevidenceofastruggle。Betweenthethicketandtheriver,thefenceswerefoundtakendown,andthegroundboreevidenceofsomeheavyburthenhavingbeendraggedalongit。
Aweeklypaper,LeSoleil,{*12}hadthefollowingcommentsuponthisdiscoverycommentswhichmerelyechoedthesentimentofthewholeParisianpress:
“Thethingshadallevidentlybeenthereatleastthreeorfourweeks;theywereallmildeweddownhardwiththeactionoftherainandstucktogetherfrommildew。Thegrasshadgrownaroundandoversomeofthem。Thesilkontheparasolwasstrong,butthethreadsofitwereruntogetherwithin。Theupperpart,whereithadbeendoubledandfolded,wasallmildewedandrotten,andtoreonitsbeingopened……Thepiecesofherfrocktornoutbythebusheswereaboutthreeincheswideandsixincheslong。Onepartwasthehemofthefrock,andithadbeenmended;theotherpiecewaspartoftheskirt,notthehem。Theylookedlikestripstornoff,andwereonthethornbush,aboutafootfromtheground……Therecanbenodoubt,therefore,thatthespotofthisappallingoutragehasbeendiscovered。”
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