Selected Tales (Oxford World's Classics) (37 page)

‘But how with a gang? Their number would have inspired them with confidence; if, indeed, confidence is ever wanting in the breast of the arrant blackguard; and of arrant blackguards alone are the supposed
gangs
ever constituted. Their number, I say, would have prevented the bewildering and unreasoning terror which I have imagined to paralyze the single man. Could we suppose an oversight in one, or two, or three, this oversight would have been remedied by a fourth. They would have left nothing behind them; for their number would have enabled them to carry
all
at once. There would have been no need of
return
.

‘Consider now the circumstance that, in the outer garment of the corpse when found, “a slip, about a foot wide, had been torn upward from the bottom hem to the waist, wound three times round the waist, and secured by a sort of hitch in the back.” This was done with the obvious design of affording
a handle
by which to carry the body. But would any
number
of men have dreamed of resorting to such an expedient? To three or four, the limbs of the corpse would have afforded not only a sufficient, but the best possible hold. The device is that of a single individual; and this brings us to the fact that “between the thicket and the river, the rails of the fences were found taken down, and the ground bore evident traces of some heavy burden having been dragged along it!” But would a
number of
men have put themselves to the superfluous trouble of taking down a fence, for the purpose of dragging through it a corpse which they might have
lifted over
any fence in an instant? Would a
number
of men have so
dragged
a corpse at all as to have left evident
traces
of the dragging?

‘And here we must refer to an observation of Le Commerciel; an observation upon which I have already, in some measure, commented. “A piece,” says this journal, “of one of the unfortunate girl’s petticoats was torn out and tied under her chin, and around the back of her head, probably to prevent screams. This was done by fellows who had no pocket-handkerchiefs.”

‘I have before suggested that a genuine blackguard is never
without
a pocket-handkerchief. But it is not to this fact that I now especially advert. That it was not through want of a handkerchief for the purpose imagined by Le Commerciel, that this bandage was employed, is rendered apparent by the handkerchief left in the thicket; and that the object was not “to prevent screams” appears, also, from the bandage having been employed in preference to what would so much better have answered the purpose. But the language of the evidence speaks of the strip in question as “found around the neck, fitting loosely, and secured with a hard knot.” These words are sufficiently vague, but differ materially from those of Le Commerciel. The slip was eighteen inches wide, and therefore, although of muslin, would form a strong band when folded or rumpled longitudinally. And thus rumpled it was discovered. My inference is this. The solitary murderer, having borne the corpse, for some distance, (whether from the thicket or elsewhere) by means of the bandage
hitched
around its middle, found the weight, in this mode of procedure, too much for his strength. He resolved to drag the burthen—the evidence goes to show that it
mas
dragged. With this object in view, it became necessary to attach something like a rope to one of the extremities. It could be best attached about the neck, where the head would prevent its slipping off. And, now, the murderer bethought him, unquestionably, of the bandage about the loins. He would have used this, but for its volution about the corpse, the
hitch
which embarrassed it, and the reflection that it had not been “torn off” from the garment. It was easier to tear a new slip from the petticoat. He tore it, made it fast about the neck, and so
dragged
his victim to the brink of the river. That this “bandage,” only attainable with trouble and delay, and but imperfectly answering its purpose—that this bandage was employed
at all
, demonstrates that the necessity for its employment sprang from circumstances arising at a period when the handkerchief was no longer attainable—that is to say, arising, as we have imagined, after quitting the thicket, (if the thicket it was), and on the road between the thicket and the river.

‘But the evidence, you will say, of Madame Deluc, (!) points especially to the presence of
a gang
, in the vicinity of the thicket, at or about the epoch of the murder. This I grant. I doubt if there were not a
dozen
gangs, such as described by Madame Deluc, in and about the vicinity of the Barrière du Roule at
or about
the period of this tragedy. But the gang which has drawn upon itself the pointed animadversion, although the somewhat tardy and very suspicious evidence of Madame Deluc, is the
only
gang which is represented by that honest and scrupulous old lady as having eaten her cakes and swallowed her brandy, without putting themselves to the trouble of making her payment.
Et hinc illiæ iræ?
^*

‘But what
is
the precise evidence of Madame Deluc? “A gang of miscreants made their appearance, behaved boisterously, ate and drank without making payment, followed in the route of the young man and girl, returned to the inn
about dusk
, and recrossed the river as if in great haste.”

‘Now this “great haste” very possibly seemed
greater
haste in the eyes of Madame Deluc, since she dwelt lingeringly and lamentingly upon her violated cakes and ale—cakes and ale for which she might still have entertained a faint hope of compensation. Why, otherwise, since it was
about dusk
, should she make a point of the
haste?
It is no cause for wonder, surely, that even a gang of blackguards should make
haste
to get home, when a wide river is to be crossed in small boats, when storm impends, and when night
approaches
.

‘I say
approaches
; for the night had
not yet arrived
. It was only
about dusk
that the indecent haste of these “miscreants” offended the sober eyes of Madame Deluc. But we are told that it was upon this very evening that Madame Deluc, as well as her eldest son, “heard the screams of a female in the vicinity of the inn.” And in what words does Madame Deluc designate the period of the evening at which these screams were heard? “It was
soon after dark
,” she says. But “soon
after
dark,” is, at least,
dark
; and “
about dusk
” is as certainly daylight. Thus it is abundantly clear that the gang quitted the Barrière du Roule
prior
to the screams overheard (?) by Madame Deluc. And although, in all the many reports of the evidence, the relative expressions in question are distinctly and invariably employed just as I have employed them in this conversation with yourself, no notice whatever of the gross discrepancy has, as yet, been taken by any of the public journals, or by any of the Myrmidons of police.

‘I shall add but one to the arguments against
a gang
; but this
one
has, to my own understanding at least, a weight altogether irresistible. Under the circumstances of large reward offered, and full pardon to any King’s evidence, it is not to be imagined, for a moment, that some member of
a gang
of low ruffians, or of any body of men, would not long ago have betrayed his accomplices. Each one of a gang so placed, is not so much greedy of reward, or anxious for escape, as
fearful of betrayal
. He betrays eagerly and early that
he may not himself be betrayed
. That the secret has not been divulged, is the very best of proof that it is, in fact, a secret. The horrors of this dark deed are known only to
one
, or two, living human beings, and to God.

‘Let us sum up now the meagre yet certain fruits of our long analysis. We have attained the idea either of a fatal accident
^*
under the roof of Madame Deluc, or of a murder perpetrated, in the thicket at the Barrière du Roule, by a lover, or at least by an intimate and secret associate of the deceased. This associate is of swarthy complexion. This complexion, the “hitch” in the bandage, and the “sailor’s knot,” with which the bonnet-ribbon is tied, point to a seaman. His companion-ship with the deceased, a gay, but not an abject young girl, designates him as above the grade of the common sailor. Here the well written and urgent communications to the journals are much in the way of corroboration. The circumstance of the first elopement, as mentioned by Le Mercurie, tends to blend the idea of this seaman with that of the “naval officer” who is first known to have led the unfortunate into crime.

‘And here, most fitly, comes the consideration of the continued absence of him of the dark complexion. Let me pause to observe that the complexion of this man is dark and swarthy; it was no common swarthiness which constituted the
sole
point of remembrance, both as regards Valence and Madame Deluc. But why is this man absent? Was he murdered by the gang? If so, why are there only
traces
of the assassinated
girl?
The scene of the two outrages will naturally be supposed identical. And where is his corpse? The assassins would most probably have disposed of both in the same way. But it may be said that this man lives, and is deterred from making himself known, through dread of being charged with the murder. This consideration might be supposed to operate upon him now—at this late period—since it has been given in evidence that he was seen with Marie—but it would have had no force at the period of the deed. The first impulse of an innocent man would have been to announce the outrage, and to aid in indentifying
the ruffians. This,
policy
would have suggested. He had been seen with the girl. He had crossed the river with her in an open ferry-boat. The denouncing of the assassins would have appeared, even to an idiot, the surest and sole means of relieving himself from suspicion. We cannot suppose him, on the night of the fatal Sunday, both innocent himself and incognizant of an outrage committed. Yet only under such circumstances is it possible to imagine that he would have failed, if alive, in the denouncement of the assassins.

‘And what means are ours, of attaining the truth? We shall find these means multiplying and gathering distinctness as we proceed. Let us sift to the bottom this affair of the first elopement. Let us know the full history of “the officer,” with his present circumstances, and his whereabouts at the precise period of the murder. Let us carefully compare with each other the various communications sent to the evening paper, in which the object was to inculpate
a gang
. This done, let us compare these communications, both as regards style and MS., with those sent to the morning paper, at a previous period, and insisting so vehemently upon the guilt of Mennais. And, all this done, let us again compare these various communications with the known MSS. of the officer. Let us endeavor to ascertain, by repeated questionings of Madame Deluc and her boys, as well as of the omnibus-driver, Valence, something more of the personal appearance and bearing of the “man of dark complexion.” Queries, skilfully directed, will not fail to elicit, from some of these parties, information on this particular point (or upon others)—information which the parties themselves may not even be aware of possessing. And let us now trace
the boat
picked up by the bargeman on the morning of Monday the twenty-third of June, and which was removed from the barge-office, without the cognizance of the officer in attendance, and
without the rudder
, at some period prior to the discovery of the corpse. With a proper caution and perseverance we shall infallibly trace this boat; for not only can the bargeman who picked it up identify it, but the
rudder is at hand
. The rudder
of a sail-boat
would not have been abandoned, without inquiry, by one altogether at ease in heart. And here let me pause to insinuate a question. There was no
advertisement
of the picking up of this boat. It was silently taken to the barge-office, and as silently removed. But its owner or employer—how
happened
he, at so early a period as Tuesday morning, to be informed without the agency of advertisement, of the locality of the boat taken up on Monday, unless we imagine some connexion with the
navy
—some personal permanent connexion leading to cognizance of its minute interests—its petty local news?

‘In speaking of the lonely assassin dragging his burden to the shore, I have already suggested the probability of his availing himself
of a boat
. Now we are to understand that Marie Rogêt
was
precipitated from a boat. This would naturally have been the case. The corpse could not have been trusted to the shallow waters of the shore. The peculiar marks on the back and shoulders of the victim tell of the bottom ribs of a boat. That the body was found without weight is also corroborative of the idea. If thrown from the shore a weight would have been attached. We can only account for its absence by supposing the murderer to have neglected the precaution of supplying himself with it before pushing off. In the act of consigning the corpse to the water, he would unquestionably have noticed his oversight; but then no remedy would have been at hand. Any risk would have been preferred to a return to that accursed shore. Having rid himself of his ghastly charge, the murderer would have hastened to the city. There, at some obscure wharf, he would have leaped on land. But the boat—would he have secured it? He would have been in too great haste for such things as securing a boat. Moreover, in fastening it to the wharf, he would have felt as if securing evidence against himself. His natural thought would have been to cast from him, as far as possible, all that had held connection with his crime. He would not only have fled from the wharf, but he would not have permitted
the boat
to remain. Assuredly he would have cast it adrift. Let us pursue our fancies.—In the morning, the wretch is stricken with unutterable horror at finding that the boat has been picked up and detained at a locality which he is in the daily habit of frequenting—at a locality, perhaps, which his duty compels him to frequent. The next night,
without daring to ask for the rudder
, he removes it. Now
where
is that rudderless boat? Let it be one of our first purposes to discover. With the first glimpse we obtain of it, the dawn of our success shall begin. This boat shall guide us, with a rapidity which will surprise even ourselves, to him who employed it in the midnight of the fatal Sabbath. Corroboration will rise upon corroboration, and the murderer will be traced.’