Seznec writes secretly in secret characters to his wife

He supposedly gives him the key to the secret. As his letter has been seized, we will soon know what to expect, but...

Morlaix, July 21 (from our special env.)

Seznec does not speak, since yesterday, as we know, claiming the absence of his defenders, he refused to respond to the judge; but he writes, which is worse. Returning yesterday evening from the courthouse, he asked for paper and ink and began a long memorandum to his wife, in which he detailed the names and addresses of the people who owe him money. But, under the pretext of this business correspondence, he made another, more confidential one; he did not give it to the head guard, he preferred to slip it under the door of the condemned guard.

She fell into the hands of a man named Férice who should be released soon. The envelope carries the following address Seznec, Traon-ar-Velin sawmill, and below, the precious indication here!

“Please give 100 (one hundred) francs to the bearer,
Signed: SEZNEC.

The Morlaisian merchant is used to business and specifies the amounts in words,

Tempted by the price attached to this letter, Féric hid the missive in the frame of the skylight of his jail between wood and stone, But the head warden of Morlaix prison is definitely a man with an eye. He had seen the trick and made Féric confess. Then, he transmitted his recent discovery to Mr. Campion. The letter - the prisoners really have no discretion - was already unsealed; it contained a sheet of white paper on the front of which the accused had written this:

My dear Jeanne,
I find myself relieved to have seen you again once again. I would be happy to see you again with the children and my mother, if it were possible. There's no point in bothering you to send me anything, except laundry, because I know you have enough hassle and you need your money too much otherwise. I'll do without it.
Kiss for me my dear (sic) little children, and you my poor little Jeanne, I feel that I love you more and more and I will love you until death.
But this touching epistle had a more important sequel. Here it is :
An interesting postscript.
“Pass on the bottom, from the other page which remains blank, a small stamp of Voate (sic), slightly soaked in a liquid half water and half ink and you will know the secret, and you will not forget to do it every time and you will also find a way to write to me; If you receive this note, put as header: dear Mary”

All attempts at clandestine correspondence turn out really badly for the sawmill entrepreneur. What will the bottom, still white, of this letter reveal, when the chemist to whom Mr. Campion will entrust it will have operated with his little “Voate -” stamp? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps Seznec, who seems to delight in false dispatches and false alibis, has imagined a new means of misdirecting justice. But, perhaps, we will also find, in these still invisible characters, the common thread which will lead us to the corpse.

It is probable, in any case, that the accused wants to hide, even from his lawyer, what he has to say to his wife. He has the right, in fact, to speak without witnesses with his defender; he could therefore charge him, at less cost, with any commission for the Traon-ar-Velin sawmill. But, despite an unfortunate precedent, Seznec seems to place more trust in prisoners than in members of the bar.

When questioned, Ms. Seznec claims to be unaware of anything about her husband's travels.

It was Mrs. Seznec’s afternoon. Arrival at the palace: a little before two o'clock, in the company of M° Le Hire, the wife of the accused was authorized to go see her husband in prison, under the condition that the final choice of a Morlaisian lawyer would only be discussed during the interview. Mrs. Seznec therefore informed her husband that Mr. Le Hire, having been approached, accepted, and, twenty minutes later, the President of Morlaix took note of the file.

At 4 o'clock, the accused's wife was again brought to Mr. Campion's house. She didn't come out until 6 o'clock. With tenacious patience, the judge strove to obtain clarification from her on her husband's actions since the fatal trip to Dreux

— My husband came back very tired, she declared; think of the job he had to do to repair this cursed car... He went to bed when he arrived.
"You weren't surprised," continued the judge, "not to have any news from Quémeneur?"

“Oh yes,” replied Mrs. Seznec. I even said to my husband: “You see, he wants to do the thing alone; your commission will blow. »

The judge then questioned him about the trip to Le Havre.

He didn't go there, replied the accused's wife. I'm sure, my husband told me about all his travels and kept me up to date with everything. However, he never mentioned the name of Le Havre in front of me. In vain, Mr. Campion tried to get details on the dates on which the industrialist had been absent. Indeed, if Seznec had been able to give his wife a false indication of the place where he was going, at least he could not hide his absence from her.

I am very tired, Mr. Justice, she replied. Since this sad affair, I no longer eat or sleep. Think what it’s like for me! Everyone here questions me, asks me. So, I mix everything up, I blur everything. Certainly, I wouldn't be able to give you a date.

In fact, the accused's wife seemed exhausted, sweat was beading on her forehead and her hard worker's hands were feverishly tapping the black dress she had put on to attend the magistrate's invitation. However, one question had the gift of restoring his vigor and his combativeness. This was when Mr. Campion asked him how long Seznec had owned the Royal typewriter and when he had relegated it to the attic of his factory.

“Never, Mr. I judge,” replied Madame Seznec, standing up straight from the armchair, “I have never seen this typewriter in our home. I was stunned when the police brought it to me; I don't even know where they found it because, she added, neither the maid nor I were there when these gentlemen got their hands on it, God knows where.

Mr. Campion did not have the cruelty to insist. He took note of the statement, nothing more. The confrontation of Mr. Chonouard and Miss Héronval with Seznec on Wednesday will be enough to shed light on his religion on this capital charge of the accusation. Nor did he want to talk today about the mysterious manuscript or the letter in sympathetic ink. Mrs. Seznec could not have borne it.

After two long hours of interrogation, the prisoner's wife emerged white, but still straight, from the small office where her husband's life would henceforth be at stake. On the steps of the palace, she stopped, took a long breath, resting her burning hand on the cool granite of the porch. His little white cap was shaking.

Cadillac Tar Stains

Let us add that the judge attaches great importance to the report which should reach him from the mobile brigade concerning the tarring of the roads in the Dreux region. We know, in fact, that the Cadillac was all stained with fresh tar when it returned to Morlaix, while the roads along which the accused said he had passed had not yet received the care of the bridges and roads. Mr. Campion thus hopes that the black road will lead him to the grave of the unfortunate Mr. Quémeneur

L.-C. Royer

Mr. Vidal in Morlaix

Mr. Vidal devoted his day yesterday to putting in order the last pieces of the Seznec file. The magistrate will go, at the beginning of next week, to Morlaix, where he will attend the confrontations which will take place between the accused and the main witnesses.