To the left of the room stood the bed, which had been completely
disarranged and upset. Even the straw of the mattress had been pulled
out and examined.
"Not the slightest imprint," murmured Gevrol disappointed. "He must have
arrived before half-past nine. You can all come in now."
He walked right up to the corpse of the widow, near which he knelt.
"It can not be said," grumbled he, "that the work is not properly done!
the assassin is no apprentice!"
Then looking right and left, he continued: "Oh! oh! the poor devil was
busy with her cooking when he struck her; see her pan of ham and eggs
upon the hearth. The brute hadn't patience enough to wait for the
dinner. The gentleman was in a hurry, he struck the blow fasting;
therefore he can't invoke the gayety of dessert in his defense!"
"It is evident," said the commissary to the investigating magistrate,
"that robbery was the motive of the crime."
"It is probable," answered Gevrol in a sly way; "and that accounts for
the absence of the silver spoons from the table."
"Look here! Some pieces of gold in this drawer!" exclaimed Lecoq, who
had been searching on his own account, "just three hundred and twenty
francs!"
"Well, I never!" cried Gevrol, a little disconcerted.
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