The tone was so natural, so pitiful, that it for a moment arrested the attention of M. Dabadie. "Ah! true enough!" said he; "you knew him. Such a worthy man, was he not?" Then, turning to the other telegram addressed to the commissary of police, he added: "This must be from the examining-magistrate, no doubt for some formality. And, as it is only 9.25, Monsieur Cauche is not yet here, naturally. Let someone run to the Café du Commerce, on the Cours Napoléon. He will be found there for certain." Five minutes later M. Cauche arrived, brought to the scene by a porter. Formerly an officer, he looked upon the post he occupied as a sinecure, and never put in an appearance at the station before ten o'clock, when he strolled about for a moment or two, and returned to the café. This drama, which had burst upon him between a couple of games at piquet, had first of all astonished him, for the matters that passed through his hands were not, as a rule, very grave. But the telegram came from the examining-magistrate at Rouen; and, if it arrived twelve hours after the discovery of the body, it was because this magistrate had first of all telegraphed to the station-master at Paris, to ascertain under what circumstances the victim had set out on his journey. Having found out the number of the train, and that of the carriage, he had only then sent orders to the commissary of police to examine the coupé in carriage 293 if it still happened to be at Havre. The ill-humour that M. Cauche displayed at having been disturbed needlessly, as he had at first fancied, at once gave place to an attitude of extreme importance, proportionate to the exceptional gravity that the affair began to assume. "But," he exclaimed, suddenly becoming anxious, in fear lest the inquiry might escape him, "the carriage will no longer be here, it must have gone back this morning." It was Roubaud who reassured him in his calm manner. "No, no, excuse me," he broke in. "There was a coupé booked for this evening. The carriage is there in the coach-house." And he led the way to the building, followed by the commissary and the station-master. In the meanwhile, the news must have spread, for the porters, slyly leaving their work, also followed; while clerks made their appearance on the thresholds of the offices of the different departments, and ended by approaching one by one. A small crowd had soon assembled. As they came to the carriage, M. Dabadie remarked: "But the coaches were examined last night. If any traces had remained, it would have been mentioned in the report." "We shall soon see," said M. Cauche. Opening the door, he went up into the coupé. And, forgetting himself, he immediately exclaimed with an oath: "It looks as if they had been bleeding a pig here!"