THE FATAL NIGHT
Continuing my story, I shall still quote the more important passages
from the evidence I gave to M. André concerning the fatal night of May
30th-31st, 1908, and various facts more or less connected with the
murder. That will enable the reader to see clearly how it all happened,
but also, incidentally, to get some idea of the methods of a French
examining magistrate.
_Question._ "Since your last interrogation, a number of letters have
been handed to us: twenty-four letters from your mother to your brother
Julien, dated from January 4th, 1908, to May 30th, 1908. Those letters,
_on the whole_, tally with your statements, especially as regards your
illness at the beginning of 1908, the plans for your brother's marriage,
and the intention to help him by calling on M. Dennery, and the fact
that you called in Dr. Acheray to see your mother on the morning of May
30th. On the other hand, they contain remarks which contradict certain
of your statements. For instance, on May 19th your mother wrote to your
brother that during her forthcoming stay in Paris she would put up at M.
Herr's, but the following day she mentioned that you had written and
'phoned to her, with the result that she would put up at your house for
one night at least. This proves that your mother only decided to put up
at the house in the Impasse Ronsin after you had pressed her?"
_Answer._ "I can only tell you that when my mother was staying with me,
at the beginning of May, it was agreed between us that she would put up
at my house when she returned to Paris later on. Towards May 20th she
wrote to me that she felt very ill, and at the same time gave me to
understand that, yielding to Mme. Herr's wishes, she would put up at her
house. I told her that if she came to me I would nurse her and that she
would be attended by an excellent doctor--M. Acheray, who lived almost
next door to us. I added that matters would be easier as regarded the
call on M. Dennery if she were staying with me. I very much wanted to
have my mother at home because at my sister's house she would have to
climb five flights of stairs, and, further, because I wished Dr. Acheray
to examine her, as he knew her well, having on other occasions acted as
her doctor."
_Question._ "In any case, there is a most striking coincidence here. It
is just about May 18th--that is, at the time when you settled down at
Bellevue with the young Buissons, who seem to need your permanent
presence at the time when your Paris home is disorganised--that you
compel your mother to promise to stay with you during the forthcoming
visit!"
_Answer._ "The Buisson children were not so ill that I had to be
constantly near them at Vert-Logis. The main object in having them at
Bellevue was that they should enjoy the fresh air of the country; and
when I was away my daughter was perfectly capable of looking after them.
As for my Paris home, how could it be 'disorganised' when my husband, my
daughter and myself were there frequently!"
_In reply to a Question._ "When, on the Saturday, May 30th, I returned
from Bellevue, I stopped, as I have said, at the chemist's to fetch the
various medicines Dr. Acheray had prescribed for my mother. At Potin's I
bought a lobster, a pot of mayonnaise sauce, some cakes and some fruit.
Then I walked straight home. My husband and I ate lobster, but my mother
ate only a bit of it; she preferred coffee and milk and a slice of
buttered toast. At Vert-Logis that evening my daughter Marthe was alone
with the two little Buissons and Mariette, the old cook. The children
usually went to bed at nine, and Mariette, as a rule, retired
afterwards. But that night she had of course to await M. Buisson's
arrival.
"At the Impasse Ronsin we dined that day at 7.30. Before dinner my
mother and I had had a long chat about family affairs and plans, whilst
my husband remained in his studio. The dinner was merry. My husband was
unusually cheerful and content. He talked about various schemes to
improve matters at the Boulogne Ceramics Company, and said he would go
to Italy to copy some old _faience_. My husband drank some wine and
water. After dinner none of us took any liqueurs. I went round the
garden with my husband, and then we joined my mother, who was resting in
the verandah. She suffered more and more in her legs; I took her shoes
and stockings off and rubbed her with some vaseline. Towards 9 P.M. we
all three went upstairs to bed. Before that, my husband had locked the
doors--or rather the door, for he had only to close the verandah door.
The door of the pantry, which it was the valet's duty to close, must, I
suppose, have been closed by Couillard after we had retired. At the time
when we went upstairs Couillard was washing up.
"According to the rule in force whenever we were at home, and which he
had observed the previous night, Couillard was to sleep in his room on
the third floor, near the attic. I supposed that, also according to
custom, he had already handed back the revolver to my husband on the
previous day (May 29th). But, after the drama, during the judicial
investigation, I found that Couillard had not returned the revolver, for
when questioned by M. Hamard (Chief of the Criminal Investigation
Department) about the revolver, he, in my sight, took it from the pocket
of his blue apron. I had told M. Hamard that my husband usually kept his
revolver by him in his room, in the drawer of his bedside table, and it
was because M. Hamard had been unable to find it that he had been led to
ask Couillard some questions about it."
_In reply to a Question._ "I don't know at what time Rémy Couillard went
to bed on the 30th May. That night my husband occupied his own bedroom.
I was in my daughter's room, for I had given my bedroom to my mother so
that she might be more comfortable, my daughter's bed being smaller than
mine and my mother a little stout. Besides, whenever my mother stayed
with us she occupied my bedroom. She slept in my daughter's room only
when I was seriously ill in bed--in 1907 and 1908."
[Illustration: A VIEW OF THE VERANDA OF THE HOUSE IN THE IMPASSE RONSIN]
_In reply to a Question._ "On May 30th, my mother herself placed my
rings, as we went to bed, in her room (my bed-room). I had taken them
off downstairs on the verandah, when I rubbed my mother with vaseline.
Just as we went upstairs, my husband told Couillard to bring up some
'grogs.'"
_Question._ "Was it a habit in your house to take 'grogs' at night?"
_Answer._ "No, it was not a habit. When I was tired, I took some hot
water with rum, and in the evening of May 30th I was very tired. After
dinner, when we chatted on the verandah, I had said I would drink a hot
'grog' before going to bed, and my husband and my mother said they would
do the same. That was why my husband or I told Couillard to bring up
some hot water, sugar, the bottle of rum, and three glasses. Why didn't
we drink the 'grogs' downstairs? Because I wanted my mother to take hers
while in bed. Rémy Couillard came up with a tray which he placed on a
small table in the bath-room, and then he withdrew. When Rémy brought
the tray, I was in the bath-room; my mother was in her room and already
in bed. My husband was in his room, but not yet in bed. I called him. He
put water and sugar in two glasses and I poured out the rum. Then my
husband and I went together to my mother. She drank a little and placed
the glass back on her bedside table. Before taking the 'grog' to my
mother, I tasted the one my husband had prepared for himself. I thought
it was too strong, and my husband added some hot water."
_Question._ "It was you who wanted a 'grog,' and now I find that no
'grog' was prepared for you, and of your husband's grog you only had a
sip!"
(My counsel explained to me afterwards that the judge's idea was that I
had put poison or some sleeping draught in those two grogs!)
_Answer._ "I intended preparing mine a little later, just as I was about
to get into bed, so as to drink it quite hot. As a matter of fact, when
I was in bed, I called my husband and he brought me my grog. He made me
drink, then placed the glass--I don't remember where.
"After my mother had emptied her glass, I had sat down on her bed and we
had chatted for a quarter of an hour. But as she and I were very tired
and sleepy, I went to my room, and I was in bed when my husband brought
me the grog."
_Question._ "Couillard has stated that your husband was already in bed
when he brought up the tray. He saw that through the door of your
husband's room, which was open."
_Answer._ "Couillard made a mistake. Besides, how could he have seen my
husband in bed! There was no light in my husband's room."
_Question._ "There was a light in the bath-room where the valet placed
the tray, and since the door of the bedroom was open, that bedroom must
have been light enough."
_Answer._ "No, for the gas in the bath-room was only half turned on."
_In reply to a Question._ "At the end of my chat with my mother, I
kissed her and said: 'Till to-morrow!' And when my husband brought me
the grog, I bade him good-night and asked him to leave the door open, so
that, if my mother felt ill during the night, she might easily be heard
by us, I was dead tired and went to sleep almost at once."
_Question._ "Describe what you know of the crime."
_Answer._ "I started up out of my sleep, and felt something on my face.
I then heard a man's voice saying: 'Tell us where your parents' money
is....' Now, before I go any further, I would like to say that I cannot
promise you to describe that terrible night in exactly the same words as
I used when I described it on May 31st, a few hours after the crime....
I pulled the cloth off my head and face. There was a light in the room,
and I saw three men and a woman: a dark man standing near me; a dark man
by the door of the boudoir; a red-bearded man on the other side, that
is, near the mantelpiece, and a red-haired woman near my bed.
"They repeated: 'Where is your parents' money?' Frightened, trembling,
and seeing that the woman was pointing a revolver at my right temple, I
said 'There'... and pointed to the boudoir; the woman remained near me,
still holding the revolver against my head, and with her other hand she
held my arm tightly.... I was terrified... I heard my mother cry out to
me 'Meg, Meg!'... That gave me a little courage. Then the woman said,
'Come on, girl, be good. Tell us where the jewels are.' I was afraid to
say they were in my mother's room (really my room), in the drawer of the
wardrobe.... I said to them all 'Don't kill me! Say you won't kill any
one....' Then they bound me and put a cloth on my face.... And that is
all. I don't remember anything else...."
_Question._ "Have you really no other recollections?"
_Answer._ "I remember the appearance of those people. They had
lanterns.... The man near the chimney had one, also the man near my bed.
The man near the door of the boudoir held a revolver.... After they had
bound me to the bed, one man climbed on me, stood on my body, and hurt
me terribly. I could not cry because I was already gagged. They bound my
hands.... At a certain moment, I don't remember when, I heard the twelve
strokes of midnight.... I say midnight, but it was perhaps eleven
o'clock. There were many, many strokes, that is all I can say. It was
the big grandfather's clock in the hall... on the ground floor."
_Question._ "And that is all?"
_Answer._ "I can tell you what those people were like. The man near me
had a long black beard. He was very pale, had dark eyes and a big nose.
The man near the boudoir was also very dark, and his eyes were terrible.
The one with the red beard looked rather stupid, bewildered, scared....
As for the red-haired woman, she was fearfully ugly, had black eyes,
frizzy hair and a wicked mouth."
_Question._ "Is that all?"
_Answer._ "That is all I remember now."
_Question._ "What else?"
_Answer._ "Oh! their clothes, of course! They all wore long black gowns,
even the woman. M. Hamard asked me if they wore smocks or ecclesiastical
habits, gaberdines. I said the sleeves were flat, and the gowns were
long, straight, all one piece, as it were. I saw no collars, no hands,
only those black gaberdines... and then, the light of their lanterns
dazzled me, and there were all those looking-glasses in the room,
Marthe's room... and it all went so rapidly... I also received a blow on
my head. It came from the side where the woman stood, but I could not
tell if it was the woman that struck the blow.... I also heard a voice
say: 'Finish her off!' They spoke.... One man said: 'No, leave the girl
(_la petite_) alone. It was the woman who wanted to kill me.'"
_Question._ "Which of the men was it who spared you?"
_Answer._ "I don't know. My head was covered at the time. The man had a
foreign accent. He had spoken before.... It was the man who had said:
'Tell us where your parents' money is.'"
_In reply to a Question._ "I felt them seize both my hands. They
fastened them above and behind my head to the bars of the bed.... They
bound my hands, separately, that is, my arms apart.... I felt a rope
round my neck and there was a cloth on my head. They also bound my feet.
I did not feel them bind me round the body; it was later on that I heard
I had been bound round the body."
_Question._ "Did the ropes with which your hands were tied hurt you?"
_Answer._. "My hands were not tightly bound. They did not hurt me mch."
_Question._ "Did the rope round the neck hurt?"
_Answer._ "No... I don't know. I was terrified. I thought that I had
been blinded, that I was dead, that it was all over...."
_Question._ "Did the ropes round your feet hurt you?"
_Answer._ "Yes, very much. But I did not feel it at the time. It was
only when I came back to my senses several times, and that was
terrible."
[Illustration: THE BED ON WHICH I WAS BOUND DURING THE "FATAL NIGHT."]
_In reply to a Question._ "They gagged me with cottonwool, but I don't
remember at what precise moment. The cottonwool was forced down my
mouth. It nearly choked me and I thought I was dying. When I came back
to my senses, I had an awful sensation of agony. I was stifling... I
moved my arms, but felt that by doing so I was strangling myself; I felt
that when I moved my arms either to the right or to the left, they acted
upon the rope round my neck and I felt then a terrible pressure on my
throat.... But when I did not move at all, the rope round my neck did
not hurt. The cottonwool made breathing almost impossible. So I began to
push it forward with my tongue. It was very difficult to remove the
gag... I moved my tongue; I moved my jaw... I turned and twisted the
cottonwool in my mouth and it was a long time before I could remove it.
I even think I had not got rid of it all when the ropes were cut. The
ropes round my hands were cut by Rémy Couillard, I believe. Whilst I
moved the wadding with my tongue, my mouth was quite dry... I breathed
as best I could.... No, I don't know whether I breathed with my nose
only. I cannot remember things quite clearly. I came back to my senses
several times, but it was only at daybreak, when I recovered a little,
that I was able to remove the gag...."
_Question._ "When you moved your head, you say that those movements
tightened the rope round your neck?"
_Answer._ "I felt I was strangling myself; but I tried to be brave.... I
also tried to free my hands, but found it was impossible, for when I
moved them the ropes tightened round my neck.... I did not know if the
men were still there.... My mind was in a whirl.... But I had courage,
for they had said they would not kill any one."
_Question._ "At what moment?"
_Answer._ "When they asked where the jewels were I had beseeched them to
kill no one."
_Question._ "And they said they would not kill any one?"
_Answer._ "No, they didn't reply; but as they did not kill me I thought
they had spared the lives of the others. I had heard no noise, and I did
not think that either my husband or my mother was dead. I thought they
had been gagged and bound like myself.... I called them I don't know how
many times. They did not answer, and I waited for some one to come, and
I was almost mad.... When did I call them? I don't know.... As soon as
I could breathe, as soon as I began to realise that I was there, that I
was alive... I had no strength left... I called as best I could...."
_Question._ "How did Rémy Couillard come to you in the morning?"
_Answer._ "I don't remember having called him.... When I saw him I was
afraid of him.... When I saw him come near my bed I thought he was going
to strangle me, and I don't remember having talked to him.... All I
remember is that I saw him go to the window and shout '_Au voleur!_'
('Thief, thief!')."
_Question._ "In what way do you suppose people might have entered your
house on the night of May 30th-31st, 1908?"
_Answer._ "I suppose they entered by the gate in the Impasse, perhaps
with the key which Couillard had lost. Then they must have passed
through the pantry door. I suppose so, as I have since been told that
that door had not been locked that night (for when M. Lecoq, a
neighbour, heard Couillard's cries in the morning and came to the
rescue, he had only to push that door to enter the house!); or perhaps
they passed through the little kitchen window, for Couillard stated--and
this also I heard later on--that he merely pulled that window to,
without closing it, a thing he should never have done.... I have also
been struck by the fact that a ladder was seen against the kitchen. None
of us had seen that ladder there on May 30th."
_Question._ "Explain to us why there were hardly any traces of acts of
violence on the bodies of the victims--that is, of your mother and your
husband?"
_Answer._ "I cannot tell... I heard no struggle, no noise, that
night...."
_Question._ "How do you explain that your husband was found with his
legs bent under his thighs, in a kneeling position, and his arms
stretched along his body, and that your mother had her arms resting on
her breast--that is, in an attitude quite contrary to an attitude of
defence?"
_Answer._ "How can I explain all this?... So much the better if they
have not suffered too much...."
_Question._ "How do you explain that you were not made to share the fate
of your mother and your husband?"
_Answer._ "Ah! I cannot understand that. In any case, I regret with all
my heart that I was not killed.... My mother did not suffer much, it
appears.... But I have been through constant agonies; and then there was
that awful night of the tragedy, when I felt I was dying.... And all the
time I was wondering what had happened to my mother and my husband....
Perhaps those people thought I would pull on the ropes and strangle
myself... I don't know...."
_Question._ "How do you explain the fact that they could spare you when
you were a dangerous witness--one who would be the more formidable, more
implacable and relentless because the victims were your own mother and
husband?"
_Answer._ "I don't know that they wanted me to live.... The way they had
bound me meant death to me at the slightest movement. It needed a woman
with my strong will--I was thinking of my Marthe--and also with my good
health, to stand what I went through and live...."
_Question._ "On May 31st, at 6 A.M., Rémy Couillard saw that you were
bound, but the ropes were tied in so indifferent a manner that they left
on your wrists and ankles only superficial marks, marks that were not
lasting. It was also found that the rope round your neck was rather
loose."
_Answer._ "There is nothing extraordinary in the fact, since I did not
move...."
(Quoted from _Dossier_, Cote 3239.)
_In reply to a Question._ "Marthe had wished to send a little present to
Lucie Ch.--on the occasion of her marriage which took place at the
beginning of June (1908) (Lucie was the daughter of M. Ch., who had been
for several years my most intimate friend). During the evening of May
30th (a few hours before the crime) either before or after dinner, I
sent Couillard to M. Cher., with a card of Marthe's and a little Sèvres
vase which I had in the cabinet of the drawing-room. I went upstairs to
my room and packed the vase in some cottonwool. As a rule, I kept
cottonwool in a small cabinet opposite the bed. I used all the
cottonwool, then finding there was not enough to wrap up the vase
properly, I fetched some more which was in a large boxroom on the same
first floor. I had a great deal of cottonwool at home, on account of the
fancy-work I did, especially small cushions...."
_Question._ "What was that cottonwool which on May 31st was found on the
floor in the room where you were in bed?"
_Answer._ "I don't know.... I saw no cottonwool that morning. I only saw
many people around me. In any case, there was no cottonwool in my room
when I went to bed...."
_In reply to a Question._ "On the evening of May 30th, I don't remember
who served out the soup, whether it was Couillard or myself.... Usually
it was Couillard who did so."
_Question._ "In his report, Dr. Balthazard (the Home Office medical
expert) has demonstrated that the gag was taken from the sheet of
cottonwool which was found near the mantelpiece, in the room where you
spent the night!"
_Answer._ "I have nothing to say on that point. It was only long after
the drama that I was told that some cottonwool had been found in the
room."
_Question._ "Dr. Balthazard further demonstrated by 'physical' and
chemical processes, that the gag could not have been in your mouth not
even for a few seconds, for it contained no traces of saliva!"
_Answer._ "Then the gag which Dr. Balthazard examined was not the one
which had been so long in my mouth."
(Quoted from _Dossier_, Cotes 3308-3310.)
* * * * *
(And here I would quote a passage from the speech made by my counsel,
Maître Antony Aubin, at my trial):
"In order to demonstrate that Mme. Steinheil was never gagged at all and
that she lies, this is the argument used: There never was in Mme.
Steinheil's room but one piece of cottonwool that might have been a gag,
the piece that was on the pillow, on the right side of it. Now this gag
was at once put under seal, on the spot, without any possible mistake.
Handed later on to Dr. Balthazard, he found that it had never been
wetted with saliva; therefore, the 'gag' on the pillow had never been in
Mme. Steinheil's mouth.
"But an important question now arises. How many pieces of cottonwool
were placed under seal, on the Sunday morning (May 31st)? Four. There
was cottonwool everywhere, so much so that some one present remarked:
'One seems to walk on cottonwool.'
"Seal number one containing the gag '_which the criminals forced into
Mme. Steinheil's mouth_,' for those were the words written on the label
attached to it--was put together without it being known by whom it (the
gag) was picked up, who handed it to the Police Commissary, without its
identity being ascertained if only by a question asked of Mme.
Steinheil. No precaution was taken, there was no supervision--so that it
is impossible to say whether the piece of cottonwool, placed under the
seal, as '_having been forced into Mme. Steinheil's mouth_,' is really
the one which had been seen on her pillow, and which she herself pointed
out.
"To demonstrate that the piece of cottonwool from the pillow and the one
examined by Dr. Balthazard are not the same one is easy enough.
"The gag, which was seen by one or two witnesses near the pillow, was
also seen by three or four other witnesses in various places--on the
floor, on a chiffonier, on a small table! The gag wanders about. But how
can one wonder that, in the excitement which upset everybody--and
everything--some mistake as to all those pieces of cottonwool occurred?
"There is another point. In what terms do the witnesses describe the
wandering gag? As _a gag made of one single piece (pear-shaped), as big
as the fist_. If then the one examined by the expert contains _one
single piece_ and answers to the description given, one will be able to
admit that this gag, _pear-shaped, and in one piece_, is really the
piece of wadding found on the pillow. But Doctor Balthazard himself
described the piece of cottonwool he examined as follows: 'This gag is
made of two pieces, one _rectangular_, the other _triangular_ and almost
equilateral.'
"How disastrous for the Prosecution.... Besides, gentlemen, if the
whole thing had been a sham, Mme. Steinheil, knowing of course the
difference in appearance between dry cottonwool and moistened
cottonwool, would not have failed to wet it, if only for a few seconds,
especially as it was she who drew attention to the gag!"