Voltaire offer his advice to Decroze and speaks of a recently published mémoire which could seriously harm their case against Ancian. Voltaire includes a transcript of a letter sent to him by the procureur general from Dijon, dated 12 January 1761.

Voltaire writes that he is attaching a mémoire written by one of their friends and urges the recipient to examine it that day. He asks that the mémoire is returned to him the following day when they can meet and make their remarks.

Voltaire begins by expressing his gratitude to the reipient’s father for his longstanding kindness. He then turns to an account of a crime in the Pays de Gex. Voltaire writes that the son of a bourgeois from Saconey in the Pays de Gex was assassinated by a priest from a village named Moens, and by several peasant accomplices of the priest. He notes that the crime was committed on 28th January, and that it is currently 3rd January, yet only a weak procedure has been started by the justice of Gex. Voltaire adds that he saw the son of Sr. de Croze wounded and in bed, just waiting for death and that Sr. de Croze gave him a mémoire to send to the attorney general on his behalf as he was too old to pursue the matter himself. Voltaire begs La Marche to have the victim represented to him. He states that the officers of the justice of Gex were very eager to raid the scene two years ago when six walnuts were stolen from Voltaire’s land and a very light saber blow was given to the arm of the thief, hearing fifty-two witnesses in the hopes that Voltaire would pay their expenses (he adds that he did not). However, he writes that today it is a question of public safety, of a proven assassination, of a dying person, and of two wounds, adding that he believes they need La Marche’s authority to encourage the officers of Gex to do all due dilligence as deserves such an extraordinary case.