THE STORY OF A FRENCH DETECTIVE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7383, 18 July 1885, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE STORY OF A FRENCH DETECTIVE.

Vidocq, the great Parisian detective, wae the prince of all modern detectives. In boyhood a gamin of the docks, he became a dialect performer in the concert-halls of Paris, and gained a livelihood in a hundred different grades of employment before he turned hia attention to the detection of crime. At the time of his greatest fame as a detective, one Moirellet, exercising the duplex function! of sexton and chanter of the fashionable church of Livry, in the suburbs of Paris, was a shrewd and, to all seeming, a very pious man. When those Isorthern pillagers, the Cossacks, were oxpected in Paris, the people of the city and the suburbs bethought themselves to conceal their most valuable effects. The curate of Livry was anxious to remove the church plate and his own to a place of safety, and entrusted his valuables to Moirellet to be secreted. M. Senart, a friend of the cure, and a jeweller of Paris, becoming advised of the curate's action, also entrusted twentylive thousand pounds' value of precious stones to Moirellet, that they might be buried secretly and securely in the Forest of Bondy. A fortnight later Moirellet appeared before the cure, pale and distracted, to announce that the Cossacks had certainly passed through the wood and dug np the precious deposit. So good was the man's reputation, so sorrowful his protestations, and so honest the method of his tale, that the old cure believed it at once ; but M. Senart called to his counting-room Vidocq. " What kiad of a man is this Moirellet ?" asked the detective. "He enjoys a great reputation in all the neighbourhood as a man of great piety, gagacity, and prudence." "Is he married?" "Yes." "Wife handsome—dressy?" "She is very pretty and fond of drees." "A native of Paris ?" "She was born and dwelt in her maidenhood in the suburb of Andrea." " Good. Moirellet shall be called aside from the church to-morrow morning, and qnietly conveyed to prison. I will at once set forth to Andrea and learn what I can of his wife , * family and her early life." "But there is absolutely no proof warranting the arrest of Moirellet." " It is my business to find proof." That afternoon Moirellet was stripped and put to the " pump," that a confession might be extorted from him. The "pump" was a water-tight cell in the yard of the prison, into which a stream of water constantly flowed, which could only be discharged through the pump. The only means by which the unfortunate inmate could prevent drowning was by working incessantly at the pump. For three hours Moirellet endured the forced labour, but when at length the water was turned off, and he was removed from his cell, he still declared his entire innocence. That night a coarsely-dressed German youth, drunk, was thrust into the apartment in which Moirellet was confined. The German dropped into one corner of the cell, and slept soundly all night, only at times muttering, as if in hie dreams, each sentences as : " Vat I care nohow ;" " I got dot gold sure ;" " Vot could dey prove?" "Schmidt, shake hands mit myself ; you vas all right.' In the morning Moirellet gave the turnkey a piece of silver, and requested that he might be furnished with a veal cutlet for breakfast, "done well brown." "Und gif me also a preakfast of veal cadlet dun veil Schmidt," said tiie German, also giving the money. " What do you mean by a veal cutlet dona well Schmidt ?"' demanded the amused tarn* key. "Vas dot not right? Die shentleman, he asked for a veal cudlet veil done brown, and I ask for one veil done Sdhmidt." Moirellet and the turnkey laughed at the German's stupidity. But while eating their food the German said, "You laugh at me. Don't dink I was a fool pecause I vas Dutch. You vas a shentleman, and I vas a tief. I robs a Brussian officer of all hie money. I got it. I go dis very night, get it, go quick avay from Vance." And the German, with a sly wink, removed a neatly-hidden slide in the sole of his heavy shoe, disclosing three skeleton keys and a small phial. " What do you mean, Schmidt? To break prison ?" " You ehall see. I git my gold safe." "Then, if you will aid me away with you, I know of a vast treasure buried in the Forest of Bondy. A third of it shall be yours." At midnight the German began work. Opening the cell door with one of his keys, he peered forth into the dimlylighted corridor. The turnkey was sitting near the door in a doze. Taking the keys that hung at his belt, he went to the maindoor of the prison and opened it, and, wanting till the gendarme had passed, the two men darted from the prison and escaped. The German led the way to the suburbs of Paris, and ere daybreak they had arrived at the Forest of Bondy. It was dark, but Moirellet readily found the spot where the treasure wae buried, and, using sharpened sticks, the men soon unearthed the two large tin boxes containing it, As they did so a rustling in the forest leaves caused them to look up. A I score of gendarmes stood about them. I " Moirellet, you are my prisoner," said the J German. "And you are?" " Vidocq.' ,