"And so," he said, "from five to seven o'clock no one asked for M. Caffie?" "No one. But I left my lodge at a quarter past five to light the gas on the stairs; that took me twenty minutes, because I am stiff in my joints, and during this time some one might have gone up and down the stairs without my seeing them." "Well," the commissioner said, turning to Saniel, "have you found any distinguishing feature?" "No; there is only the wound on the neck." "Will you draw up your medico-legal report while I continue my inquest?" "Willingly." And, without waiting, he seated himself at the clerk's desk, facing the commissioner's secretary, who had arrived a few minutes previous. "I am going to make you take the oath," the commissioner said. After this formality Saniel began his report: "We, the undersigned, Victor Saniel, doctor of medicine of the Paris Faculty, residing in Paris in the Rue Louis-le-Grand, after having taken an oath to fulfil in all honor and conscience the mission confided to us--" All the time that he was writing he paid attention to everything that was said, and did not lose one word of the concierge's deposition. "I am certain," she said, "that from half-past five until now no one has gone up or down the stairs but the people who live in the house." "But before half-past five?" "I have told you that from a quarter past five until half-past I was not in my lodge." "And before a quarter past five o'clock?" "Several persons passed whom I did not know." "Did any one among them ask you for Monsieur Caffie?" "No; that is to say, yes. There was one who asked me if Monsieur Caffie was at home; but I know him well; that is why I answered No." "And who is he?" "One of Monsieur Caffies old clerks." "His name?" "Monsieur Florentin--Monsieur Florentin Cormier." Saniel's hand was arrested at this name, but he did not raise his head. "At what hour did he come?" asked the commissioner. "Near three o'clock, before rather than after." "Did you see him go away?" "Certainly, he spoke to me." "What time was it?" "Half-past three." "Do you think that death could have occurred at this moment?" the commissioner asked, turning to Saniel. "No; I think it must have been between five and six o'clock." "It is wrong for the commissioner to suspect Monsieur Florentin," cried the concierge. "He is a good young man, incapable of harming a fly. And then, there is a good reason why death could not have taken place between three o'clock and half-past; it is that Monsieur Caffie's lamp was lighted, and you know the poor gentleman was not a man to light his lamp in broad daylight, looking as he was--" She stopped abruptly, striking her forehead with her hand.