Coincidentally, one of Marie's defense lawyers, Maître Paillet, was also the lawyer of the renowned toxicologist Mathieu Orfila, who was the acknowledged expert of the Marsh test in France. He realized that as the case hinged largely on the tests made by the Brive doctors, Paillet wrote to Orfila and showed him the test results. Orfila then submitted an affidavit stating that the tests were conducted so ignorantly that they meant nothing. As soon as the Brive doctors testified that arsenic was present in Lafarge's body, Paillet read the affidavit aloud, told the court about the Marsh test, and demanded that Orfila be called.