In 1896, the new head of French Intelligence, Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, uncovered the mound of evidence linking Esterhazy to the crime; however, his efforts to investigate were blocked and he was hastily relieved of duty and reposted to Tunisia. That didn’t mean that Picquart stopped calling for justice, and nor did Dreyfus’s family, who made complaints about Esterhazy to the military. Word was starting to creep out and eventually in January 1898, in a bid to avoid total scandal, Esterhazy was put on trial. This was very much for show, as despite the evidence against him, it would
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