and lasted seven or eight seconds. Do you think his antagonist would have permitted him to ring the bell in that leisurely manner?"
"Well, then, it was before the attack."
"Also, quite impossible, since you have told us that the lapse of time between the ringing of the bell and your entrance to the room was not more than three minutes. Therefore, if the baron rang before the attack, we are forced to the conclusion that the struggle, the murder and the flight of the assassin, all occurred within the short space of three minutes. I repeat: that is impossible."
"And yet," said the magistrate, "some one rang. If it were not the baron, who was it?"
"The murderer."
"For what purpose?"
"I do not know. But the fact that he did ring proves that he knew that the bell communicated with the servant's room. Now, who would know that, except an inmate of the house?"
Ganimard was drawing the meshes of his net closer and tighter. In a few clear and logical sentences, he had unfolded and defined his theory of the crime, so that it seemed quite natural when the magistrate said:
"As I understand it, Ganimard, you suspect the girl Antoinette Bréhat?"
"I do not suspect her; I accuse her."
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