The husband of Therese was indeed dead, but the murderer would have liked to have found his body, so as to obtain a certificate of death.

The day following the accident, a fruitless search had been made for the corpse of the drowned man.

It was thought that it had probably gone to the bottom of some hole near the banks of the islands, and men were actively dragging the Seine to get the reward.
In the meantime Laurent imposed on himself the task of passing each morning by the Morgue, on the way to his office.

He had made up his mind to attend to the business himself.

Notwithstanding that his heart rose with repugnance, notwithstanding the shudders that sometimes ran through his frame, for over a week he went and examined the countenance of all the drowned persons extended on the slabs.
When he entered the place an unsavoury odour, an odour of freshly washed flesh, disgusted him and a chill ran over his skin: the dampness of the walls seemed to add weight to his clothing, which hung more heavily on his shoulders.