"No, no..." said M. Leydet, "don't speak about that.... We will find the murderers... but not a word about that...."
The door opened, and M. Hamard, head of the Criminal Investigation Department, came in. He had come to the Impasse Ronsin after the murder, but I did not know who he was at the time, so many people had been in my room then. I said to him as I had said to M. Leydet: "I must tell you about my past life, about the President...."
He, too, stopped me there, and said: "Don't speak about that.... We know.... We know.... We promise to find the murderers.... Have courage, we will find them...."
I felt immensely relieved. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off my breast. I felt full confidence in these two men. I thought: They will find the murderers and they will not speak about the documents and the pearls, about my past life; and Marthe will not look down upon her mother.... I felt that they knew everything. M. Leydet was a friend of M. B., the Attorney-General, and it seemed evident to me that M. Hamard, because of his office, knew all about the life of the late President....
M. Leydet said: "Let us lose no time. I must still tell you this: Engage a counsel--it is always wiser.... Take my friend Aubin; he knows all about the case; he will be useful to you...." (I knew Maître Antony Aubin, and he had attended a few of my receptions.)
Thereupon a detective was ushered into the room. He wore a black gaberdine and a large hat with a turned-down brim. The man walked to and fro before me, and I was asked whether his attire was similar to that worn by the murderers. Then he put on a false beard, and again I was asked what remarks this performance suggested to me.
I said there was a great similarity between the detective's attire and that of the murderers, and gave various details about the gowns and hats of those murderers.
After M. Leydet and M. Hamard had gone, my daughter told me that my friend Mme. Darracq (wife of the motor-car manufacturer) wished to see me. I received her, of course, and she said she had come to beg me take Maître Aubin as counsel. As M. Leydet had just told me the same thing, I said I would.
At the same time I was at a loss to understand why I needed a counsel!