draught which the doctor had prescribed for him. Dr. Pigache
bled the patient and applied twenty leeches. He returned about
six; Ballet was sinking, and Castaing appeared to be greatly
upset. He told the doctor what an unhappy coincidence it was
that he should have been present at the deathbeds of both
Hippolyte and his brother Auguste; and that the position was the
more distressing for him as he was the sole heir to Auguste's
fortune. To M. Pelletan, a professor of medicine, who had been
sent for to St. Cloud in the early hours of Sunday morning,
Castaing appeared to be in a state of great grief and agitation;
he was shedding tears. Pelletan was from the first impressed by
the suspicious nature of the case, and pointed out to Castaing
the awkwardness of his situation as heir to the dying man.
"You're right," replied Castaing, "my position is dreadful,
horrible. In my great grief I had never thought of it till now,
but now you make me see it clearly. Do you think there will be
an investigation?" Pelletan answered that he should be
compelled to ask for a post-mortem. "Ah! You will be doing me
the greatest service," said Castaing, "I beg you to insist on a
post-mortem. You will be acting as a second father to me in
doing so." The parish priest was sent for to administer extreme
unction to the dying man. To the parish clerk who accompanied
the priest Castaing said, "I am losing a friend of my childhood,"
and both priest and clerk went away greatly edified by the
sincere sorrow and pious demeanour of the young doctor. About
mid-day on Sunday, June 1, Auguste Ballet died.

During the afternoon Castaing left the hotel for some hours, and
that same afternoon a young man about twenty-five years of age,
short and fair, left a letter at the house of Malassis. The