100,000 francs? If the statements of Auguste made to other persons
are to be believed, he had paid the 100,000 francs which he had raised
through Prignon to Lebret, his father's former clerk, who would seem to
have acted as legal and financial adviser to his old master's children.
According to Auguste's story, his sister, Mme. Martignon, had offered
Lebret 80,000 francs to preserve a copy of a will made by Hippolyte,
leaving her the bulk of his fortune. Castaing, however, had ascertained
that Lebret would be willing, if Auguste would outbid his sister and pay
100,000 francs, to destroy the will so that, Hippolyte dying intestate,
Auguste would take the greater part of his brother's fortune. Auguste
agreed to accept Lebret's terms, raised the necessary sum, and handed
over the money to Castaing, who, in turn, gave it to Lebret, who had
thereupon destroyed the copy of the will. Castaing, according to the
evidence of Auguste's mistress, an actress of the name of Percillie,
had spoken in her presence of having himself destroyed one copy of
Hippolyte's will before his death, and admitted having arranged with
Lebret after Hippolyte's death for the destruction of the other copy.
How far was the story told by Auguste, and repeated in somewhat
different shape by Castaing to other persons, true? There is no doubt
that after the visit to the Bank of France with Prignon on October
8, Auguste and Castaing drove together to Lebret's office. The negro
servant said that on arriving there one of them got out of the cab and
went up to Lebret's house, but which of the two he would not at first
say positively. Later he swore that it was Auguste Ballet. Whatever
happened on that visit to Lebret's--and it was the theory of the
prosecution that Castaing and not Auguste had gone up to the office--the
same afternoon Auguste Ballet showed his mistress the seals of the copy
of his brother's will which Lebret had destroyed, and told her that
Lebret, all through the business, had refused to deal directly with him,
and would only act through the intermediary of Castaing.
Did Lebret, as a fact, receive the 100,000 francs? A close examination
of his finances showed no trace of such a sum. Castaing, on the other
hand, on October 10, 1822, had given a stockbroker a sum of 66,000
francs to invest in securities; on the 11th of the same month he had
lent his mother 30,000 francs; and on the 14th had given his mistress
4,000 francs. Of how this large sum of money had come to Castaing at
a time when he was practically insolvent he gave various accounts.
His final version was that in the will destroyed by Auguste, Hippolyte
Ballet had left him an income for life equivalent to a capital of
100,000 francs, and that Auguste had given him that sum out of respect
for his brother's wishes. If that explanation were true, it was
certainly strange that shortly after his brother's death Auguste Ballet
should have expressed surprise and suspicion to a friend on hearing that
Castaing had been buying stock to the value of 8,000 francs. If he had
given Castaing 100,000 francs for himself, there was no occasion for
surprise or suspicion at his investing 8,000. That Auguste had paid out
100,000 francs to some one in October the state of his finances at
his death clearly proved. According to the theory of the prosecution,
Auguste believed that he had paid that money to Lebret through the
intermediary of Castaing, and not to Castaing himself. Hence his
surprise at hearing that Castaing, whom he knew to be impecunious, was
investing such a sum as 8,000 francs.
No money had ever reached Lebret. His honesty and good faith were
demonstrated beyond any shadow of a doubt; no copy of any will of
Hippolyte Ballet had ever been in his possession. But Castaing had shown
Auguste Ballet a copy of his brother's will, the seals of which Auguste
had shown to his mistress. In all probability, and possibly at the
instigation of Castaing, Hippolyte Ballet had made a will, leaving the
greater part of his property to his sister. Somehow or other Castaing
had got possession of this will. On his death Castaing had invented the
story of Mme. Martignon's bribe to Lebret, and so persuaded Auguste
to outbid her. He had ingeniously kept Auguste and Lebret apart by
representing Lebret as refusing to deal direct with Auguste, and by
these means had secured to his own use the sum of 100,000 francs, which
Auguste believed was being paid to Lebret as the price of his
alleged destruction of his brother's will. The plot was ingenious and
successful. To Lebret and the Martignons Castaing said that Hippolyte
had made a will in Mme. Martignon's favour, but had destroyed it himself
some days before his death. The Martignons expressed themselves as glad
that Hippolyte had done so, for they feared lest such a will should
have provoked resentment against them on the part of Auguste. By keeping
Auguste and Lebret apart, Castaing prevented awkward explanations. The
only possible danger of discovery lay in Auguste's incautious admissions
to his mistress and friends; but even had the fact of the destruction
of the will come to the ears of the Martignons, it is unlikely that they
would have taken any steps involving the disgrace of Auguste.
Castaing had enriched himself considerably by the opportune death of his
friend Hippolyte. It might be made a matter of unfriendly comment that,
on the first day of May preceding that sad event, Castaing had purchased
ten grains of acetate of morphia from a chemist in Paris, and on
September 18, less than a month before Hippolyte's death, he had
purchased another ten grains of acetate of morphia from the same
chemist. The subject of poisons had always been a favourite branch of
Castaing's medical studies, especially vegetable poisons; morphia is a
vegetable poison.
Castaing's position relative to Auguste Ballet was now a strong one.
They were accomplices in the unlawful destruction of Hippolyte's will.
Auguste believed it to be in his friend's power to ruin him at any time
by revealing his dealings with Lebret. But, more than that, to Auguste,
who believed that his 100,000 francs had gone into Lebret's pocket,
Castaing could represent himself as so far unrewarded for his share in
the business; Lebret had taken all the money, while he had received no
recompense of any kind for the trouble he had taken and the risk he was
encountering on his friend's behalf. Whatever the motive, from fear or
gratitude, Auguste Ballet was persuaded to make a will leaving Dr. Edme
Samuel Castaing the whole of his fortune, subject to a few trifling
legacies. But Auguste's feelings towards his sole legatee were no longer
cordial. To one or two of his friends he expressed his growing distaste
for Castaing's society.
Dr. Castaing can hardly have failed to observe this change. He knew
Auguste to be reckless and extravagant with his money; he learnt that he
had realised another 100,000 francs out of his securities, and that he
kept the money locked up in a drawer in his desk. If Auguste's fortune
were dissipated by extravagance, or he revoked his will, Castaing stood
to lose heavily. As time went on Castaing felt less and less sure that
he could place much reliance on the favourable disposition or thrift of
Auguste. The latter had fallen in love with a new mistress; he began to
entertain expensively; even if he should not change his mind and leave
his money away from Castaing, there might very soon be no money to
leave. At the end of May, 1823, Castaing consulted a cousin of his,
Malassis, a notary's clerk, as to the validity of a will made by a sick
man in favour of his medical attendant. He said that he had a patient
gravely ill who, not wishing to leave his money to his sister, whom he
disliked, intended to leave it to him. Malassis reassured him as to the
validity of such a will, and gave him the necessary instructions for
preparing it. On May 29 Castaing sent Malassis the will of Auguste
Ballet with the following note, "I send you the will of M. Ballets
examine it and keep it as his representative." The will was dated
December 1, 1822, and made Castaing sole legatee. On the same day
that the will was deposited with Malassis, Castaing and Auguste Ballet
started to-gether on a little two days' trip into the country. To his
friends Auguste seemed in the best of health and spirits; so much so
that his housekeeper remarked as he left how well he was looking, and
Castaing echoed her remark, saying that he looked like a prince!
During the afternoon the two friends visited Saint Germain, then
returned to Paris, and at seven o'clock in the evening arrived at the
Tete Noire Hotel at Saint Cloud, where they took a double-bedded room,
Castaing paying five francs in advance. They spent the following day,
Friday, May 30, in walking about the neighbourhood, dined at the hotel
at seven, went out again and returned about nine o'clock. Soon after
their return Castaing ordered some warmed wine to be sent up to the
bedroom. It was taken up by one of the maid-servants. Two glasses were
mixed with lemon and sugar which Castaing had brought with him. Both the
young men drank of the beverage. Auguste complained that it was sour,
and thought that he had put too much lemon in it. He gave his glass to
the servant to taste, who also found the drink sour. Shortly after
she left the room and went upstairs to the bedside of one of her
fellow-servants who was ill. Castaing, for no apparent reason, followed
her up and stayed in the room for about five minutes. Auguste spent a
bad night, suffering from internal pains, and in the morning his legs
were so swollen that he could not put on his boots.
Castaing got up at four o'clock that morning and asked one of the
servants to let him out. Two hours later he drove up in a cabriolet to
the door of a chemist in Paris, and asked for twelve grains of tartar
emetic, which he wanted to mix in a wash according to a prescription of
Dr. Castaing. But he did not tell the chemist that he was Dr. Castaing
himself. An hour later Castaing arrived at the shop of another chemist,
Chevalier, with whom he had already some acquaintance; he had bought
acetate of morphia from him some months before, and had discussed with
him then the effects of vegetable poisons. On this particular morning he
bought of his assistant thirty-six grains of acetate of morphia, paying,
as a medical man, three francs fifty centimes for it instead of the
usual price of four francs. Later in the morning Castaing returned to
Saint Cloud, a distance of ten miles from Paris, and said that he had
been out for a long walk. He found Auguste ill in bed. Castaing asked
for some cold milk, which was taken up to the bedroom by one of the
servants. Shortly after this Castaing went out again. During his absence
Auguste was seized with violent pains and sickness. When Castaing
returned he found his friend in the care of the people of the hotel. He
told them to throw away the matter that had been vomited, as the smell
was offensive, and Auguste told them to do as his friend directed.
Castaing proposed to send for a doctor from Paris, but Auguste insisted
that a local doctor should be called in at once.
Accordingly Dr. Pigache of Saint Cloud was summoned. He arrived at the
hotel about eleven o'clock. Before seeing the patient Castaing told the
doctor that he believed him to be suffering from cholera. Pigache asked
to see the matter vomited but was told that it had been thrown away. He
prescribed a careful diet, lemonade and a soothing draught.
Dr. Pigache returned at three o'clock, when he found that the patient
had taken some lemonade, but, according to Castaing, had refused to take
the draught. He called again that afternoon. Ballet was much better;
he said that he would be quite well if he could get some sleep, and
expressed a wish to return to Paris. Dr. Pigache dissuaded him from this
and left, saying that he would come again in the evening. Castaing said
that that would be unnecessary, and it was agreed that Pigache should
see the patient again at eight o'clock the next morning. During the
afternoon Castaing sent a letter to Paris to Jean, Auguste's negro
servant, telling him to take the two keys of his master's desk to his
cousin Malassis. But the negro distrusted Castaing. He knew of the will
which his master had made in the doctor's favour. Rather than compromise
himself by any injudicious act, he brought the keys to Saint Cloud and
there handed them over to Castaing.
When Jean arrived his master complained to him of feeling very ill.
Jean said that he hoped he would be well enough to go back to Paris the
following day, to which Auguste replied, "I don't think so. But if I am
lucky enough to get away to-morrow, I shall leave fifty francs for
the poor here." About eleven o'clock that night Castaing, in Jean's
presence, gave the sick man a spoonful of the draught prescribed by Dr.
Pigache. Four or five minutes later Auguste was seized with terrible
convulsions, followed by unconsciousness. Dr. Pigache was sent for. He
found Ballet lying on his back unconscious, his throat strained, his
mouth shut and his eyes fixed; the pulse was weak, his body covered
with cold sweat; and every now and then he was seized with strong
convulsions. The doctor asked Castaing the cause of the sudden change in
Ballet's condition. Castaing replied that it had commenced shortly after
he had taken a spoonful of the 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 letter was from
Castaing and said, "My dear friend, Ballet has just died, but do nothing
before to-morrow, Monday. I will see you and tell you, yes or no,
whether it is time to act. I expect that his brother-in-law, M.
Martignon, whose face is pock-marked and who carries a decoration, will
call and see you. I have said that I did not know what dispositions
Ballet may have made, but that before his death he had told me to give
you two little keys which I am going to deliver to you myself to-morrow,
Monday. I have not said that we are cousins, but only that I had seen
you once or twice at Ballet's, with whom you were friendly. So say
nothing till I have seen you, but whatever you do, don't say you are
a relative of mine." When he returned to the hotel Castaing found
Martignon, Lebret, and one or two friends of Auguste already assembled.
It was only that morning that Martignon had received from Castaing any
intimation of his brother-in-law's critical condition. From the first
Castaing was regarded with suspicion; the nature of the illness, the
secrecy maintained about it by Castaing, the coincidence of some of
the circumstances with those of the death of Hippolyte, all combined to
excite suspicion. Asked if Auguste had left a will Castaing said no;
but the next day he admitted its existence, and said that it was in the
hands of Malassis.
Monday, June 2, was the day fixed for the post-mortem; it was performed
in the hotel at Saint Cloud. Castaing was still in the hotel under
provisional arrest. While the post-mortem was going on his agitation was
extreme; he kept opening the door of the room in which he was confined,
to hear if possible some news of the result. At last M. Pelletan
obtained permission to inform him of the verdict of the doctors. It was
favourable to Castaing; no trace of death by violence or poison had been
discovered.
The medical men declared death to be due to an inflammation of
the stomach, which could be attributed to natural causes; that the
inflammation had subsided; that it had been succeeded by cerebral
inflammation, which frequently follows inflammation of the stomach,
and may have been aggravated in this case by exposure to the sun or by
over-indulgence of any kind.
II
THE TRIAL OF DR. CASTAING
Castaing expected, as a result of the doctors' report, immediate
release. In this he was disappointed; he was placed under stricter
arrest and taken to Paris, where a preliminary investigation commenced,
lasting five months. During the early part of his imprisonment Castaing
feigned insanity, going to disgusting lengths in the hope of convincing
those about him of the reality of his madness. But after three days of
futile effort he gave up the attempt, and turned his attention to more
practical means of defence. In the prison at Versailles, whither he had
been removed from Paris, he got on friendly terms with a prisoner, one
Goupil, who was awaiting trial for some unimportant offence. To Goupil
Castaing described the cruelty of his position and the causes that had
led to his wrongful arrest. He admitted his unfortunate possession of
the poison, and said that the 100,000 francs which he had invested
he had inherited from an uncle. Through Goupil he succeeded in
communicating with his mother in the hope that she would use her
influence to stifle some of the more serious evidence against him.
Through other prisoners he tried to get at the chemists from whom he had
bought acetate of morphia, and persuade them to say that the preparation
of morphia which he had purchased was harmless.
The trial of Castaing commenced before the Paris Assize Court on
November 10, 1823. He was charged with the murder of Hippolyte Ballet,
the destruction of a document containing the final dispositions of
Hippolyte's property, and with the murder of Auguste Ballet. The three
charges were to be tried simultaneously. The Act of Accusation
in Castaing's case is a remarkable document, covering a hundred
closely-printed pages. It is a well-reasoned, graphic and unfair
statement of the case for the prosecution. It tells the whole story
of the crime, and inserts everything that can possibly prejudice the
prisoner in the eyes of the jury. As an example, it quotes against
Castaing a letter of his mistress in which, in the course of some
quarrel, she had written to him saying that his mother had said some
"horrible things" (des horreurs) of him; but what those "horrible
things" were was not revealed, nor were they ever alluded to again
in the course of the trial, nor was his mistress called as a witness,
though payments of money by Castaing to her formed an important part
of the evidence against him. Again, the evidence of Goupil, his fellow
prisoner, as to the incriminating statements made to him by Castaing is
given in the Act of Accusation, but Goupil himself was not called at the
trial.
During the reading of the Act of Accusation by the Clerk of the Court
Castaing listened calmly. Only when some allusion was made to his
mistress and their children did he betray any sign of emotion. As soon
as the actual facts of the case were set out he was all attention,
making notes busily. He is described as rather attractive in appearance,
his face long, his features regular, his forehead high, his hair,
fair in colour, brushed back from the brows; he wore rather large
side-whiskers. One of the witnesses at Saint Cloud said that Castaing
looked more like a priest than a doctor; his downcast eyes, gentle
voice, quiet and unassuming demeanour, lent him an air of patience and
humility.
The interrogatory of Castaing by the presiding judge lasted all the
afternoon of the first day of the trial and the morning of the second.
The opening part of it dealt with the murder of Hippolyte Ballet,
and elicited little or nothing that was fresh. Beyond the purchase
of acetate of morphia previous to Hippolyte's death, which Castaing
reluctantly admitted, there was no serious evidence against him, and
before the end of the trial the prosecution abandoned that part of the
charge.
Questioned by the President as to the destruction of Hippolyte Ballet's
will, Castaing admitted that he had seen a draft of a will executed by
Hippolyte in favour of his sister, but he denied having told Auguste
that Lebret had in his possession a copy which he was prepared to
destroy for 100,000 francs. Asked to explain the assertion of Mlle.
Percillie, Auguste's mistress, that statements to this effect had been
made in her presence by both Auguste Ballet and himself, he said that it
was not true; that he had never been to her house. "What motive," he was
asked, "could Mlle. Percillie have for accusing you?" "She hated me,"
was the reply, "because I had tried to separate Auguste from her."
Castaing denied that he had driven with Auguste to Lebret's office on
October 8. Asked to explain his sudden possession of 100,000 francs at a
moment when he was apparently without a penny, he repeated his statement
that Auguste had given him the capital sum as an equivalent for an
income of 4,000 francs which his brother had intended to leave him.
"Why, when first asked if you had received anything from Auguste, did
you say you had received nothing?" was the question.
"It was a thoughtless statement," was the answer. "Why," pursued the
President, "should you not have admitted at once a fact that went to
prove your own good faith? If, however, this fact be true, it does not
explain the mysterious way in which Auguste asked Prignon to raise for
him 100,000 francs; and unless those 100,000 francs were given to you,
it is impossible to account for them. It is important to your case that
you should give the jury a satisfactory explanation on this point."
Castaing could only repeat his previous explanations.
The interrogatory was then directed to the death of Auguste Ballet.
Castaing said that Auguste Ballet had left him all his fortune on
account of a disagreement with his sister. Asked why, after Auguste's
death, he had at first denied all knowledge of the will made in his
favour and deposited by him with Malassis, he could give no satisfactory
reason. Coming to the facts of the alleged poisoning of Auguste Ballet,
the President asked Castaing why, shortly after the warm wine was
brought up on the night of May 30, he went up to the room where one of
the servants of the hotel was lying sick. Castaing replied that he was
sent for by the wife of the hotel-keeper. This the woman denied; she
said that she did not even know that he was a doctor. "According to
the prosecution," said the judge, "you left the room in order to avoid
drinking your share of the wine." Castaing said that he had drunk half
a cupful of it. The judge reminded him that to one of the witnesses
Castaing had said that he had drunk only a little.