“Be logical, messieurs, I beg of you!” he cried. “The Baroness de Vibray committed suicide. Her letter states her intention. The authenticity of this letter has not been disputed. The disastrous revelations, contained in Messieurs Barbey-Nanteuil’s communication, proved too severe a shock for the poor lady’s unbalanced brain: the news of her ruin, abruptly conveyed, drove her to desperation. The death of the Baroness de Vibray was voluntary and self-inflicted.” There was a dead silence. Then Monsieur Barbey asked a question.

“Well then, Monsieur Fandor, will you explain to us how it happened that the Baroness de Vibray was found dead in the studio of the painter, Jacques Dollon?” Fandor seemed to expect this question from the banker.“There are two hypotheses,” he declared. “The first and, in my humble opinion, the more improbable, is this: Madame de Vibray, at the same time that she decided to put an end to her life, wished to pay her protégé a last visit; all the more so, because he had asked her to come and see his work before it was sent in to the Salon. Perhaps the Baroness intended to perform an act of charity, in this instance, before her supreme hour struck? Perhaps she miscalculated the effect of the poison she had taken and so died in the house of the friend she had come to see and help; her death there could not have been her choice, for she must have known what serious trouble it would involve the artist in, were her dead body found in his studio.

“Here is the second hypothesis, which seems the more plausible. The Baroness de Vibray learns that she is ruined, she decides to die, and by chance or coincidence, which remains to be explained, for I have not the key to it yet, some third parties interested in her fate learn her decision. They let her write to her lawyer; they do not prevent her poisoning herself; but, as soon as she is dead, they straightway take possession of her dead body and hasten to carry it to Jacques Dollon’s studio. To the painter himself they administered – either with his consent or by force – probably by force – a powerful narcotic, so that when the police are called in next day they not only find the Baroness lying dead in the studio, but they also find the painter unconscious, close by his visitor. When Jacques Dollon is restored to consciousness, he is quite unable to give any sort of explanation of the tragedy; naturally enough, the police look upon him as the murderer of the lady who was well known to have been his patroness... How does that strike you?”

It was now Monsieur Fuselier’s turn to hold forth.