ALBA GHIRELLI, MARGUERITE ROSSELLI AND THE "MATIN"
Judge André's _Instruction_ began in December 1908. But before dealing
with it, I wish to acquaint the reader with a series of amazing and
painful incidents, in which the two prisoners Ghirelli and Rosselli,
Marie Anne Jacq--whose cell I shared for two days and three nights--and
M. Charles Sauerwein of the _Matin_, were the chief actors, whilst, as
usual, alas, I was the powerless central figure, the victim.
Maître Aubin, my counsel, came to me on two or three occasions in a
state of great consternation. His first sentence was: "What have you
done?" and his last sentence, after he had explained to me the new
incident, was "All that is printed in the _Matin_." So, that newspaper,
thinking that it had not made me suffer enough yet, continued its
virulent attacks while I was in prison!
What did those articles in the _Matin_ say? Merely trifles of this kind:
According to one of my fellow prisoners, I had spoken of suicide, had
accused Alexandre Wolff again, declared that before placing the pearl in
Couillard's pocket-book, I had first placed it in that of my "cousin" M.
Chabrier (whom I called cousin though he was no relation of mine, but a
cousin of my husband). I had entrusted a secret mission to the care of
Ghirelli and last but not least I had confessed to having committed the
murder!
These various "statements," only dramatised and adorned by the _Matin_
for the sole purpose of several columns of the most sensational copy,
were published at intervals during January 1909.
I will now quote part of the most damaging and most fantastic "story"
published by _Le Matin_, in its issue of Sunday, January 17th, 1909 (I
was in prison at the time and undergoing my _Instruction i.e._ the
preliminary examination by a magistrate):
THE STEINHEIL AFFAIR
EVERYTHING
EXCEPT THE NAME OF THE ACCOMPLICE.
MADAME STEINHEIL DENOUNCES HERSELF.
"MY MOTHER ... SHE WAS THE ALIBI."
"... We were able to see yesterday a person who has received fresh
confessions from Mme. Steinheil. At a time when, having been already in
prison a few days, entangled in the meshes of proofs which the examining
magistrate was weaving around her slowly but surely, the painter's widow
felt irremediably lost.
"In the course of an evening when despair came upon her, and with tears
and sobs and resentment, and whilst calling upon death with all her
heart, Mme. Steinheil told a new version of the crime, more tragic
still, SINCE THIS TIME, SHE ACCUSED HERSELF NOT ONLY AS AN ACCOMPLICE
BUT AS THE GUILTY PERSON, TOGETHER WITH ANOTHER.
"SHE NAMED HER ACCOMPLICE....
"He is neither Rémy Couillard, nor Alexandre Wolff, nor any one whose
name has so far been mentioned. This accomplice, who is one of her
friends (_familiers_) our interlocutor would not assume the
responsibility of giving his name to public opinion.
"If Mme. Steinheil has once more lied, it is not right that an innocent
person should share with her the heavy burden of that double murder. If
Mme. Steinheil has spoken the truth, _he will recognise himself_.
* * * * *
"All we can do to-day is to tell how, according to the painter's widow's
latest disclosures, the crime was committed.
"In tragic horror, it outdoes everything that one might, so far, have
conceived.
"The double murder was decided upon, planned and premeditated.
"For the past two years, it haunted Mme. Steinheil's mind. For two
years, she had, on various occasions, postponed its carrying out.
"'I WANTED TO BE FREE,' she said.
"When, unable to restrain herself any longer, when resolved to do
anything to get rid of her husband and to marry the rich man she
coveted, she made her final preparations, she thought that, alone, she
would not be able to carry out such a dreadful deed successfully, and
confided her plans to one of her friends (_familiers_).
"'I WANTED AN ASSISTANT, I FOUND HIM!'
"The latter accepted without too many objections. Had she not promised
him a golden future?
"Then, plans were laid.
"To kill only the husband was to give herself away immediately, for
everybody knew how the wife hated her husband. And the public rumour,
implacable and revengeful, would at once have named the guilty person.
"An alibi was necessary.
"And coldly, resolutely, Mme. Steinheil wired to her mother, inviting
her to the Impasse Ronsin.
"'MY MOTHER, SHE WAS THE ALIBI.'
"No one would dare accuse a daughter of having killed her mother, or of
having had her killed.
* * * * *
"Her daughter is sent to Bellevue, Mariette Wolff is sent away, Rémy
Couillard had gone up to his room. Mme. Steinheil, during the evening of
May 30th, remains alone with the two intended victims. She is gay; she
speaks with unusual tenderness to her husband; she is very attentive to
her mother.
"'Would you like a grog, maman?' she asks Mme. Japy. Then caressingly
turning to her husband: 'You will have some too, won't you? It will do
you good.'
"The grog is prepared, Mme. Steinheil adds a narcotic to it.
"With her own hand she gives the grogs.
"Mme. Japy and Mme. Steinheil (_M._ Steinheil is evidently meant, but
the author of this monstrous story had evidently lost all self-control,
and was unable to read it over carefully when he had written it) half an
hour later went to their room (_rooms_ is evidently meant) and soon an
unconquerable drowsiness, a death-like sleep (_sommeil de plomb_), glued
them to their bed.
"Listening keenly, Mme. Steinheil hears the gate swing softly on its
hinges. It is half-past twelve; she goes down quickly, takes the key of
the pantry where Couillard had placed it and half-opens the door.
"A moment later, the accomplice is in the house.
"Stealthily, Mme. Steinheil and her accomplice, who has taken off his
boots, go up to the first-floor, and there in Marthe's room, they
deliberate for two long hours. What was this deliberation? Mme.
Steinheil, overwhelmed with shame and grief, has not yet said....
"At 3 A.M. their resolution was taken. M. Steinheil and Mme. Japy were
going to die.
"'I MYSELF SLIPPED THE CORD AROUND MY HUSBAND'S NECK AND TUGGED,' said
Mme. Steinheil in a hoarse voice.
"'THEN CAME MY MOTHER'S TURN.
"'FOR IT IS I WHO DID EVERYTHING, WHO HAD DETERMINED ON EVERYTHING. MY
ACCOMPLICE MERELY ASSISTED ME IN ORGANISING THE SHAM BURGLARY WHICH
FOLLOWED.
"'IT WAS I WHO STOPPED THE CLOCK AT THE MOMENT WHEN HE CAME IN, IT WAS I
WHO UPSET THE INKSTAND.
"'THIS WHOLE TRAGEDY TOOK PLACE WITHOUT A CRY, WITHOUT A HITCH. LESS
THAN TEN MINUTES SUFFICED TO CARRY OUT THE GHASTLY TASK.
"'Then, after I had gone back to bed, my accomplice bound me.
"'The day was breaking. He left.'
"After finishing the terrifying narrative the painter's widow appeared
relieved of a great burden.
"For a few minutes she seemed deep in thought, and suddenly she realised
what a frightful secret she had just disclosed in a moment of despair
and abandonment.
"She looked her interlocutor straight in the face.
"'_Swear to me_,' she said, '_swear on the head of your children that
you will never say a word of what I have told you to-night._'
"The oath was given, but, last night, thinking of the innocent persons
whom fatal coincidences might ruin, and frightened by the terrible
responsibility of keeping silent, Mme. Steinheil's interlocutor confided
the secret to us.
"We have faithfully repeated the narrative of the interlocutor without
naming the culprit.
"It was our duty.
"Now let the law do its duty."
* * * * *
Can any reader wonder, after this, that public opinion was fearfully
excited against me!
I need hardly add that not one of those statements was true, but the
harm they did me may well be realised! There is unfortunately no Law for
Contempt of Court in France.... And now, for the edification of the
reader, and in accordance with my plan of submitting the actual evidence
given by the witnesses, I will quote from the Dossier the various facts
about this scandalous Ghirelli-Rosselli-Sauerwein affair....
* * * * *
"January 19th, 1909; before us, André, examining magistrate, &c.... has
appeared Mme. Alphonsi, born Alba Ghirelli, thirty-six years of age....
_Question._ "We have summoned you here on account of a letter dated
January 12th, 1909, which reached us two days later, on the 14th, and
_which the day before had appeared in the_ Matin."
_Answer._ "My counsel advised me to send you the letter. Mme. Steinheil
entered our cell (Ghirelli's and Rosselli's) on Thursday, November 26th,
1908, late at night.... She declared 'I am here because I have told
untruths, but it will be nothing. It will all be arranged in a few days'
time.' She went to bed. All night she seemed very restless; she
cried.... The next morning she wrote letters. At 10.30 A.M. she said she
had been maddened by the necessity of finding proof of guilt against
some one, that she had first placed the pearl in her cousin's
pocket-book, that she had then had a violent 'scene' with her cousin's
wife... and that she had afterwards placed the pearl in her valet's
pocket-book.... She also spoke about a M. Bdl. of whom she was fond....
During the following night, she was again very restless and cried. She
sat on her bed and spoke in an incoherent way. She mentioned a certain
Wolff, and I asked her whether she was sure she had recognised him.
'Yes,' she replied, 'I thought I recognised him!'... During the night of
Saturday-Sunday, I heard her wailing.... She said: 'I suffer so much, I
am losing my reason.' She sighed and wept.... On the next morning, she
was very weak. At 11 A.M. she seized my hands and said: 'The only thing
is suicide; that suicide must and shall take place....' In the
afternoon, she was taken to another cell. Before leaving, she said to
me: 'Swear that we two shall meet again.' Her last words were '_à
bientôt_' (so long).... A few days later I met her on the Boulevard of
the Cells and she said: 'I miss you so much. I have asked the Director
to allow us to be in the same cell. He may grant me that favour....'"(!)
_Question._ "We ask the witness about certain newspaper articles
published from January 5th, in which are related declarations attributed
to the witness."
_Answer._ "My statements have often been misinterpreted by the Press....
I remember that the day of my release (Dec. 28th, 1908), Mme. Steinheil
asked me to send her regards to a gentleman friend of hers...."
_Question._ "Tell us his name."
_Answer._ "I tore up his name and address, and I have forgotten
them.... Mme. Steinheil never asked me to take a letter to any one....
According to the newspapers, I took a letter to Mme. Prévost, by
motor-car, in great secrecy. _That is wild romance.... As regards the
confession of her guilt, which according to the_ Matin _of Sunday
January 17th, Madame Steinheil had made since her imprisonment, I know
nothing whatever about it. I have not spoken a word to the Matin about
that.... I have myself read the article in the Matin to which you refer
and have found it fantastic...._"
(_Dossier_ Cote 3010)
* * * * *
Marguerite Rosselli made statements very similar to those of Alba
Ghirelli, but concerning the pearl, she merely said: "She spoke about a
cousin that lived in the house, she said something about that pearl,
either that she had thought of putting it in the cousin's pocket-book or
that she had done so...." She also stated: "On January 15th or 16th,
Marie Jacq, who at night shares Mme. Steinheil's cell... came and told
me that Mme. Steinheil had spent an awful night and that she had written
to the Director so that the latter might send for me and recommend me
not to repeat anything of what she had said in her moments of
frenzy...."
(_Dossier_ Cote 3011)
* * * * *
Marie Anne Jacq (_Dossier_ Cote 3026) made statements to the same
effect, but with fewer details.
And now we come to two curious documents, which will no doubt enlighten
the reader.
On January 23rd, Alba Ghirelli was again summoned before M. André.
"I maintain my previous statements, made on January 19th," she said at
once, after having taken the oath.
_Question._ "There is a contradiction between those statements and the
contents of the facsimile of a letter, which appears to be in your
handwriting, is dated January 19th, and which was published by the
_Matin_ on the 20th--we hand you the facsimile."
_Answer._ "The letter of which this is a facsimile was written by me,
but _was extorted from me_. When, on January 19th, I left this room, I
was literally besieged by journalists, then taken in a motor-car to a
café where numerous newspaper men were gathered who wanted to hear from
me the statements I had made to you. I answered vaguely, declaring that
I considered myself as morally unable to supply them with the requested
information.
"I was then invited to dinner at Maire's by M. Charles Sauerwein, whose
card I hand to you. M. Sauerwein insisted that I should confirm a
fictitious mission--to Mme. Prévost--with which I was supposed to have
been entrusted by Mme. Steinheil, and which I was supposed to have
carried out; he also asked me to confirm the letter from Mme. Steinheil
which I was supposed to have handed to Mme. Prévost. I told him that
there was nothing true in all that.
"In the café and during the dinner at Maire's Mme. Sellier--who lives
with me--was with me.
"After the dinner, M. Sauerwein persuaded that lady to leave me, and he
asked me to come with him to the _Matin_ offices. There, M. Vallier and
M. Bourse joined M. Sauerwein, and I was literally laid siege to. I
wanted to withdraw, but they opposed that.
"These gentlemen then explained to me that since my mission to Mme.
Prévost was going to be contradicted by the whole Press the next
morning, they would find themselves in a false position with their
Director, M. Bunau-Varilla, that they wanted at all costs to put
themselves right with the Director, and that I could easily get them out
of their trouble by handing to them a letter for him. They added that
this would not compromise me in any way, that they would merely show my
letter to their Director--who was in the next room--and that immediately
afterwards they would hand the letter back to me.
"I did not think I could refuse, and, under the dictation of M.
Sauerwein and M. Bourse, I wrote the letter.
"When it was written, M. Sauerwein took it, and walked away, saying that
he was going to show it to M. Bunau-Varilla.
"One hour elapsed without M. Sauerwein reappearing. M. Vallier and M.
Bourse were still with me.
"When M. Sauerwein returned, he held in his hands scraps of paper, and
he said: 'That is all that remains of your letter. We tore it up, you
can feel quite safe.'
"The next day, I was greatly surprised to see in the _Matin_ the
facsimile of the letter which you show me.
"I realised that M. Sauerwein had had the letter photographed during the
hour that he was away.
"In the morning, I went to the _Matin_ offices, where, protesting
against such methods, I made a great scene.
"M. Sauerwein, and then M. Bourse, tried to calm me.
"Previously M. Sauerwein had promised to publish my '_Mémoirs_' in the
_Matin_, and I was to be paid £200 for them; but during the scene at the
_Matin_ offices, on Wednesday January 20th, I demanded that the
manuscript of my memoirs should be handed back to me, and, after raising
some objections, M. Sauerwein returned the manuscript to me.
"Besides, I sent you by an express letter (_pneumatique_), dated January
21st, a denial of the articles published in the _Matin_ about me."
_Question._ "Since we received the _pneumatique_, the _Matin_ in its
issue of January 22nd, has published another letter from you, still
bearing the date of January 19th, 1909, and in its issue of this very
day, the same newspaper speaks of persons who exercise a certain
pressure on you. Give us some explanation about this."
_Answer._ "During the evening of January 19th, at the _Matin_ offices,
M. Sauerwein and M. Bourse, in the presence of M. Vallier, made me write
(still under the pretext of putting themselves right with their
Director, M. Bunau-Varilla)--besides the letter published the next
morning in facsimile--two other letters:
"Firstly: the letter published in the _Matin_ of January 22nd.
"Secondly: a letter declaring that I had, on December 31st, 1908, taken
a letter written by Mme. Steinheil, to M. Leydet, examining magistrate.
"I was made to write those two last letters about one and a half or two
hours after my first letter. It was in any case after M. Sauerwein had
returned with the so-called fragments of my first letter.
"When I had written the two other letters, I was told that as M.
Bunau-Varilla had left the offices of the _Matin_, they would be able to
restore them to me only in the morning, and that, meanwhile, M.
Sauerwein would keep them in his pocket-book.
"The next morning, during the 'scene' I went to make at the _Matin_
office, I claimed from M. Sauerwein the two letters, but he refused to
restore them to me. M. Sauerwein said: 'They won't be published, but I
want to keep them.' I declared to M. Sauerwein that I was going to
demand their restitution through a bailiff. He retorted: 'That will have
no other result than having the two letters authenticated.'
"I assert in the most absolute manner that Mme. Steinheil never
entrusted me with any letter or mission, no more for M. Leydet than for
any one else.
"Besides, at the time of my release--December 28th, 1908--I had not met
Mme. Steinheil, in the corridor, for several days, and when on December
28th, after my acquittal, I had to go back to Saint-Lazare for the
various formalities in connection with my departure from prison, I was
not taken to my cell, but waited downstairs, in the office, where my
belongings were brought to me. It would therefore have been impossible
for Mme. Steinheil to have given me any letter or to have asked me to do
anything for her.
"The letter published by the _Matin_ on January 22nd alludes to a M.
Boune, who takes his meals in the same restaurant as myself. Talking to
me there, he advised me, as a matter of elementary prudence, not to mix
myself up in any way with the Steinheil Affair.... These days, several
journalists and barristers have given me at the restaurant the same
advice as M. Boune. It is probably to this that the _Matin_ of to-day
alludes when it mentions 'pressure.' It is most likely that there are
now reporters of the _Matin_ constantly at that restaurant, and that
they watch everything I do.
"(Signed) GHIRELLI.
REDMOND, Clerk.
ANDRÉ, Judge."
(_Dossier_ Cote 3029)
* * * * *
This retraction was complete, absolute, but the harm had been done,
alas, and the public believed all these dreadful lies published in the
_Matin_ and attributed to Ghirelli. Besides, who heard of the
retraction, except the judge... and I, months afterwards, when the
Dossier was handed to my counsel and me?
And now, for the sake of the truth, I will quote from the evidences
given by "M. Sauerwein, Charles, 32 years old, journalist"... to M.
André, the examining magistrate, on February 4, 1909:
... "I wish to specify the conditions on which we obtained those
interviews (with Alba Ghirelli). At the end of December 1908... we
discovered the address of Ghirelli. She was very annoyed when we called
on her, and said that before making any statements she wished to consult
a few friends. She promised to call on me the next day at the _Matin_. I
received an express letter from her, and joined her at the Restaurant de
la Feria. I was accompanied by another member of the _Matin_ staff. A
first interview took place, which appeared in the _Matin_ dated January
14th. This interview was entirely written under her dictation, and she
signed it.... It concerned the statements made by Mme. Steinheil and
collected by Ghirelli, about the guilt of Alexandra Wolff, the pearl
placed first in M. Chabrier's pocket-book, but taken away from it after
Mme. Chabrier's violent interventions, and about the 'necessary'
suicide.
"The next day we gathered from Ghirelli a few other details about the
visit of Pastor Arboux and plans for the future made by Mme. Steinheil.
This second interview appeared in the _Matin_ on January 16th.
"Between the first and the second interviews, Ghirelli told us that on
the eve of the day when she was to appear before the Court of Appeal,
where she thought she would be acquitted, Mme. Steinheil had given her
two letters, one for Mme. Prévost, the other for a magistrate, and had
asked her to telephone to one of her former friends. We have never
mentioned the last two facts in our articles, but the Prévost story
interested us. Ghirelli begged us not to attribute to her the revelation
of the Prévost affair....
... (On January 19th) "When Ghirelli left your rooms, one of our
reporters accompanied her to the café Ducastaing... where she was joined
by many journalists... thereupon one of our colleagues brought a note
(the source of which I ignore) that Ghirelli had confirmed certain of
the details published by us, but had denied two or three of the other
points, and particularly the letter taken to Mme. Prévost.
"I was there. I told Ghirelli that in the face of those official denials
we were simply going to publish the note brought by the colleague I have
mentioned. She begged me to remain with her and to send for a third
party, whose name I cannot give on account of 'professional secrecy.' I
summoned the third party on the telephone. We were to have dinner at
Maire's, the 'Countess' (Ghirelli), one of her lady friends called 'La
Générale,' and I. The dinner was not altogether pleasant, for I was in
the presence of a person who had just denied what she had stated on the
previous day. The third person arrived.
("Personally, I have no doubt that he was M. Camille Dreyfus, Rosselli's
counsel, to whose 'indiscretion' the Director of Saint-Lazare alluded in
his report of January 21st, 1909 [_Dossier_ Cote 3021]).
"The third person had a long chat with the 'Countess' in the next room.
I was sent for, and the third person told me that the 'Countess' had a
confession to make to me. She then declared: 'All that I have told you
from the very first moment, and that you have published, is false, and
is due to my imagination, except the details I confirmed before the
examining magistrate.' I told the 'Countess' how much I regretted that
she should have so sought her pleasure in lying, and she said that the
_Matin_ would publish the next day the note which I have mentioned to
you.
"I was about to leave, but the 'Countess' detained me. The third person
had just gone, and the 'Countess' said: 'I swear to you on the head of
my children that all of what I have told you from the first to the last,
is the exact truth. If I have denied it, it is because eight or nine
persons whom I didn't know before have influenced me, intimidated me.
People have gone so far as to tell me that they would have me
arrested!'...
"... Whilst the 'Countess' made to me, in private, the statements I have
just repeated, the third person was waiting in the passage. I joined
him, and told him what had happened.... He then left me and went back to
the 'Countess,' whilst I went to the _Matin_ and at once related all
these incidents to the Editor. Five minutes later, the 'Countess' and
the third person arrived at the _Matin_. In the presence of my
colleague, M. Bourse, Ghirelli repeated that she had spoken the truth
and that she hid part of the truth from you only because of the pressure
put upon her. I said to her: 'Your word has no longer any value for me.
You must write down what you say and sign it!' The 'Countess' showed
some hesitation.
"I must tell you that on the very day when she gave us the interview
which we published, I paid her 500 francs (£20) as a reward, and I
promised her further sums of money--thinking of handing her--little by
little, 2000 francs (£80) if the information which she might be able to
supply, seemed interesting to us.
"Besides, I had it in my mind that the £80 were also to represent the
price of her Memoirs....
"To return to our conversation with the 'Countess' on January 19th...
She suggested a document according to her ideas, but written by me, and
merely dated and signed by her. I said I wanted the document to be
written by her.... She consented, and wrote exactly four documents
without being dictated to, but on lines that we suggested. (She thought
them in accordance with the truth.) The first was published in
facsimile in the _Matin_ on January 20th; the second refers to the
letter taken by the 'Countess' to a magistrate; the third tells the fact
that Rosselli was beseeched by Mme. Steinheil not to repeat to the
examining magistrate the revelations she might have made, and the fourth
concerning the intimidations to which 'Countess' Ghirelli was submitted
by various persons. We published this last letter too. When all was
written and signed by her, she asked me for the rest of the £80, and I
told her to come the next morning. She came... and asked me for the
money. I consulted the Director of the _Matin_, and, returning to
Ghirelli, I said to her: 'Madame, so long as you are a witness in the
Affair, the _Matin_ won't pay you anything, for I don't want it to be
said that the _Matin_ gave money to a witness in the Affair, so that she
would confirm what she had said before...'
"Furious, she asked me to return her the manuscript of her Memoirs. The
same evening she telephoned... and asked me to dine with her. I
accepted... M. Bourse and M. Vallier were with me. She remained with one
of the two others till 10.30 P.M., and afterwards went to the offices of
the _Eclair_. And a day or two afterwards she told me that it was there,
in the office of M. Montorgueil... that she wrote to you the letter of
rectification which you must have received from her. Since then,
Ghirelli has often asked me for money.... Last night, she again asked me
for money, and again I told her: 'No, your being a witness makes it
impossible for us to give you money... I only gave evidence in order to
re-establish the reality of the facts _in all its exactness_.
"(Signed) SAUERWEIN.
SIMON.
ANDRÉ."
(_Dossier_ Cote 3035)
* * * * *
Comment is unnecessary.
In regard to the mission to Mme. Prévost with which I was alleged to
have entrusted Ghirelli, who was described in the _Matin_ as having
mysteriously journeyed to Mme. Prévost's by motor-car, several persons
residing in the street where the motor-car was said to have
stopped--who had been mentioned by the newspaper as having made
statements that were quoted, of course--were interrogated on the matter
by the Law:
"Mme. Kaufman, aged 41, doorkeeper at No. 11 Rue du Cher, consulted
about the _Matin_ article... declared: I have not made the statements
attributed to me. I have never noticed an automobile at the corner of
the street, nor did I see Mme. Prévost go and talk to some one hidden in
a motor-car. _I absolutely confute everything that I have been made to
say in the_ Matin. It is not accurate, and, what is more, it is
untrue.'"
"Mlle. Leveque, aged 23... No. 11 Rue du Cher... consulted on the same
matter, declared: I have seen nothing of the facts described in the
_Matin_ article, and have made _no declaration whatever to any one_, for
the simple reason that I know nothing (about the matter), and that at
the time when it is said a motor-car stopped near my shop I was not
there.... I also wish to state that I don't know at all Mme. Prévost,
and I don't like having been mixed up in that affair."
"M. and Mme. Thomas, doorkeepers, 9 Rue du Cher, also consulted,
declared they had not seen the motor-car mentioned in the _Matin_, and
they added that Mme. Prévost, their tenant, had not come down from her
apartment on that day--December 31st--for she was unwell and could not
leave her room.
"Mme. Prévost herself, asked whether she had received any letter from
Mme. Steinheil on that date, and in the circumstances related by the
_Matin_, declared that she had received nothing whatever from her since
the last summer.
"(Signed) INSPECTOR DECHET."
(_Dossier_ Cote 3017)
* * * * *
There remains one point to elucidate in the Ghirelli-Sauerwein
interviews: the question of the pearl which I was said to have placed in
M. Chabrier's pocket-book, and then to have placed it in Couillard's,
only after a violent scene with Mme. Chabrier.
Here again I will quote from the Dossier, and the reader will have a
further opportunity of looking into the methods of the newspaper which
did so much to ruin me in the eyes of public opinion--as much while I
was in prison as before my arrest:
"This January 21st, 1909, before us, André", &c.... has appeared M.
Chabrier... who states:
"... I have never had any knowledge that Mme. Steinheil tried to put, or
did put in my pocket-book the pearl which was afterwards found in that
of Couillard. I had never seen that pearl, and had never heard of it
until the moment... when at the _Matin_ offices, and before me, M. de
Labruyère opened Couillard's pocket-book and made an inventory of its
contents--which brought about the discovery of the pearl.
"With respect to this discovery--and as _one of the instances of the
methods of intimidation adopted by journalists in November 1908, against
the various inhabitants of No. 6 bis Impasse Ronsin_--I wish to draw
your attention to the following fact:
"On November 24th (the day before the Night of the Confession) M. de
Labruyère came to the house and talked to me about an article in the
_Journal_, which stated that it was he who had opened Rémy Couillard's
pocket-book. He added that since the statement was not correct, he
wanted to prove to M. Bunau-Varilla that he, de Labruyère, had not
opened the pocket-book. He asked me therefore to write a letter in which
I would certify that I (Chabrier) had myself opened the pocket-book.
"Since it was M. de Labruyère who had opened it--as I stated when I gave
evidence on November 21st, 1908--I protested, and so did my wife.
"M. de Labruyère insisted, saying that such an attestation was the more
necessary to them (the _Matin_) and that my intervention as Mme.
Steinheil's representative would be easier to explain than his own, and
he added that if I did not write that letter, I might be ruining Mme.
Steinheil's cause, for then M. Bunau-Varilla would abandon that cause
and _would turn against her_.
"Mme. Steinheil was present. Struck by that argument, she advised me to
write the letter. And I wrote the letter, after submitting a rough copy
of it to M. de Labruyère.
"'To M. de Labruyère, at the _Matin_: In contradiction of a statement
published by a morning newspaper, it was not you who opened Couillard's
pocket-book, but I, acting as Mme. Steinheil's representative.'
"Taking advantage of a moment when my head was turned, my wife seized
the letter and tore it. M. de Labruyère again began to intimidate me,
and I consented to write a second letter absolutely the same as the
first....
"I believe it my duty to add that on November 24th, 1908, it was not
only the argument that I would ruin Mme. Steinheil's cause if I did not
write the letter which made me write it, but also the following threat:
M. de Labruyère said to me: _If you refuse to write the letter I am
asking for, I will publish in the_ Matin, _a semi-official report
declaring that it was you who opened Couillard's pocket-book, and
bearing the signature of M. Lecondimer, who was a witness, and my own.
There will be mentioned your surname and Christian names and your
position as travelling postal sorter_. And he added: You can guess the
effects that will make on your administration....
"(Signed) CHABRIER.
ANDRÉ.
SIMON."
(_Dossier_ Cote 3014)
* * * * *
Needless to say, Mme. Chabrier fully corroborated these statements by
her husband adding this typical remark: "She was so exasperated to hear
M. de Labruyère declaring that he would make trouble for M. Chabrier at
the Post Office, unless he wrote the letter, that she said to him: 'If
my husband gets into trouble, you will have to deal with me. I'll blow
your brains out!'"
(_Dossier_ Cote 3025)
* * * * *
Two other persons were called upon to give evidence concerning the
Ghirelli-Rosselli-Jacq revelations. One was poor Firmin, who, called
before M. André on January 22, 1909, declared:
"I have been Mme. Steinheil's companion first in Cell 11, then in Cell
12, which we still share. All I have noticed is that at night, as a
rule, she does not sleep, but calls for her daughter, and opens the
window at times, saying that her head hurts, that she is stifling.
"During the day she constantly talks to me about her daughter....
"She has several times told me that from the time she returned from
Bellevue her house was invaded by journalists... I have heard her say
how grieved she was to have accused Wolff, and to have hurt her old
Mariette. She constantly repeats that she is innocent... to me... to M.
Desmoulin, to Pastor Arboux...."
_Question._ "Have you any knowledge that, when Alba Ghirelli was
released, Mme. Steinheil may have given her a letter or entrusted her
with a mission?"
_Answer._ "I have no knowledge of such a thing. Now, ever since Mme.
Steinheil has been in the same cell with me, I have never left her one
moment alone. Besides, such a thing seems to me the more impossible
since Mme. Steinheil and I have only heard of Alba Ghirelli's release,
several days after the release had taken place.
"(Signed) SIMON.
ANDRÉ.
FIRMIN."
(_Dossier_ Cote 3027)
* * * * *
The other witness was M. Desmoulin, who on January 20 declared before M.
André:
"For many years past I have been visiting the poor, the patients in
hospitals, and also prisoners. About a year ago the Minister of the
Interior gave me permission to visit the prisons of the Seine
Department, allowing me free access to my protégés. One of these, at
Saint-Lazare, is a girl called Firmin. I visited her early in December
1908, and found that she had been placed in Cell 12, and having entered
that cell I saw near Firmin a woman in mourning, and guessed that she
was Mme. Steinheil.... Since then I have seen both several times. Of
Mme. Steinheil I have always asked, 'And you, Madame, do you feel well?'
And she has always replied, 'Oh, yes, Monsieur, my conscience always
keeps me up!' Every time she has emphatically asserted her innocence in
convincing tones. She has always expressed her great grief at being
separated from her daughter. That throughout has seemed to me the most
noticeable point about her mental state. Sometimes, I have seen her cry,
especially when she talked about her daughter.
"(Signed) SIMON.
DESMOULIN.
ANDRÉ."
(_Dossier_ Cote 3014)
* * * * *
There is one side to this "Ghirelli Affair," as it has been called,
which the reader has probably not realised. Not only did those
revelations published by the _Matin_ still further exasperate public
opinion against me, but they added many days, perhaps even weeks, to my
imprisonment. Judge André's investigations into the absurd matter took a
long time to make--they represent 112 pages added to the already
voluminous Dossier; I have read, re-read... and counted them!--and
meanwhile the _Instruction_ was delayed, and therefore my imprisonment
made longer... And I counted the days, the hours, at Saint-Lazare!
To sum up: Ghirelli denied, on oath, all her damaging statements, and
other witnesses proved that they could never have been made; Firmin and
M. Desmoulin gave evidence which fully vindicated me; there remained
Marie Anne Jacq, who spoke against me and clung to her statements.
Well, I will give the end of Jacq's story:
She remained in cell No. 12 for several weeks. One day--the
_Instruction_ was over then--Jacq spontaneously came to me, burst into
tears, and said: "Forgive me, Madame... You are too kind to me. To think
that you know all I have spoken against you, and that you have not
reproached me once. You give me your coffee, the eggs that your daughter
brings... I can't stand it any longer. Listen. Ghirelli and Rosselli
gave me wine, and I love wine, for life is hard here, Madame, and they
told me what to say if I was called before the judge about you. I hated
you, at the time; those two women said you had murdered your mother,
that they knew it... and I promised anything they asked me.... And then,
I thought: If I am called by the judge, it will mean leaving this
wretched prison for a few hours, and that's a change.... It was dreadful
of me to lie as I have done.... Look here, you must let me scrub the
cell for you, in future, I will light your fire, help you in every way,
only, forgive me, Madame...."
Of course, I forgave her.
When she returned from the cell, that day, she looked greatly depressed.
I asked her what had happened: "Ah!" she sighed, "they are sending me to
the prison at Rennes.... Please, please, do something, speak to some
one.... I want to remain near you, I want to stop here...."
But poor Jacq had to go. When she was about to leave the cell, she
looked round, slowly, sadly. Then she came to me and said: "I heard you
say to Sister Léonide, 'It must be nice to see a flower....' Well,
Madame, I picked one up in the chapel, when I swept there to-day." And
she gave me a tiny branch of mimosa.... "You won't think too harshly of
me, will you? Good-bye, Madame...."
We were both weeping, she kissed my hand, and tottered away.
I kept the little branch of mimosa for four months. It became smaller
and smaller, but it still looked like a flower, and the little gold
pearls were the only beautiful things in that horrible cell.
The mimosa stood in an empty penny ink bottle, before a small frame
containing a photograph of my mother, and one of Marthe when she was a
baby.