midnight
Michu 's farmhouse , lately built , had , he supposed , a new oven ; the tiles or bricks on which the bread was baked would show their jointed lines on the bottom of the loaves , and thus afford a proof that the bread supplied to him was baked on that particular oven . So with the wine brought in bottles sealed with green wax , which would probably be found identical with other bottles in Michu 's cellar . These shrewd observations , which Malin imparted to the justice of peace , who made the first examination -LRB- taking Marthe with him -RRB- , led to the results foreseen by the senator . Marthe , deceived by the apparent friendliness of Lechesneau and the public prosecutor , who assured her that complete confession could alone save her husband 's life , admitted that the cavern where the senator had been hidden was known only to her husband and the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre , and that she herself had taken provisions to the senator on three separate occasions at midnight . Laurence , questioned about the cavern , was forced to acknowledge that Michu had discovered it and had shown it to her at the time when the four young men evaded the police and were hidden in it . As soon as these preliminary examinations were ended , the jury , lawyers , and audience were notified that the trial would be resumed . At three o'clock the president opened the session by announcing that the case would be continued under a new aspect .