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Authors: Douglas Starr
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November.”
Fourquet remembered that the murder of Louise Marcel had taken place in that area in November 1894. He asked about other cities and locations. Vacher mentioned that among other places, he had visited Lourdes.
“Lourdes? By foot? Impossible!”
Vacher proudly responded that not only had he made his way to Lourdes but that he had covered much of the rest of France by foot, as well. The judge led Vacher to a map on the wall. With Vacher’s guidance, he traced his finger over several of the departments and villages that Vacher had visited. As his finger passed over various locales, signals went off in Fourquet’s head about the murders. Casually, so as not to alarm Vacher, he let his finger pass over an area southwest of Lyon where a murder had taken place in the month of September. Vacher had mentioned having taken a couple of dangerous falls in that area. By way of disguising the intent of his inquiry, Fourquet said, “There must have been snow there when you slipped over those cliffs.”
No, Vacher said, there could not have been snow because he had passed through that area in September.
Yes
, thought Fourquet. In November, the suspect said, he had traveled to the Var and then to Varenne.
Yes again!
Fourquet knew of crimes at those times and locations: the murder of Louise Marcel in the Var in November 1894; that of Marie Moussier in September 1896, and that of Rosine Rodier a few weeks later. And so they continued their collegial discussion, Vacher holding forth on the adventures of a vagabond and Fourquet making mental notes for his list. Later, he would construct a series of maps connecting the dots of Vacher’s ragged itinerary and the murders. “Things were lining up in a very interesting way,” he noted.
On October 7, Fourquet brought in a dozen people from Bénonces and paraded them before the suspect, one after the other. Ten of the twelve positively identified him as a vagabond they had seen the day of Portalier’s murder. Two had been too frightened to testify, but they later insisted that he was indeed the man. At one point, Vacher shouted at a woman in an effort to intimidate her.
“You dare say, madame, that you saw me in your area? You are a liar. I’ve never set foot there—not in 1895 or at any other time, understand?”
The woman stood firm. “It is you who are the liar, monsieur. You came to my house around eight o’clock on the morning of the crime and I gave you some soup. I can tell you the very thing that stuck in my mind: When I was serving you the soup, I said, ‘I’m not very rich.’ And you replied, ‘It’s not the rich people who give the most.’ ”
Vacher backed off, snarling threats.
Now came time to spring the trap. Armed with the testimony and the knowledge he had gathered about Vacher’s itinerary, Fourquet ordered the guards to bring the prisoner to his office. He began a speech that he hoped would break the suspect’s resistance.
“When you were first transferred here, I had an instant when I thought that you would not be here for a long stay,” he began. “I imagined, in effect, that the witnesses would not recognize you. But today all that has changed. You are formally recognized by everyone without a doubt … it is henceforth proven without any possible argument that you are the author of the murder of a young shepherd from Bénonces.”
Furthermore, said Fourquet, he knew that Vacher had killed many people in several regions throughout France. “I will prove to you that I know everything you have done.… You were already known to the authorities. It was only a matter of apprehending you.”
Then, in a rapid-fire delivery, Fourquet disgorged everything he knew, or thought he knew, about Vacher’s bloody wanderings. In a portentous voice free of all doubt, Fourquet told how, on November 20, 1894, Vacher had killed thirteen-year-old Louise Marcel and mutilated her corpse in an isolated barn; how, on May 12, 1895, he had killed
Fourquet remembered that the murder of Louise Marcel had taken place in that area in November 1894. He asked about other cities and locations. Vacher mentioned that among other places, he had visited Lourdes.
“Lourdes? By foot? Impossible!”
Vacher proudly responded that not only had he made his way to Lourdes but that he had covered much of the rest of France by foot, as well. The judge led Vacher to a map on the wall. With Vacher’s guidance, he traced his finger over several of the departments and villages that Vacher had visited. As his finger passed over various locales, signals went off in Fourquet’s head about the murders. Casually, so as not to alarm Vacher, he let his finger pass over an area southwest of Lyon where a murder had taken place in the month of September. Vacher had mentioned having taken a couple of dangerous falls in that area. By way of disguising the intent of his inquiry, Fourquet said, “There must have been snow there when you slipped over those cliffs.”
No, Vacher said, there could not have been snow because he had passed through that area in September.
Yes
, thought Fourquet. In November, the suspect said, he had traveled to the Var and then to Varenne.
Yes again!
Fourquet knew of crimes at those times and locations: the murder of Louise Marcel in the Var in November 1894; that of Marie Moussier in September 1896, and that of Rosine Rodier a few weeks later. And so they continued their collegial discussion, Vacher holding forth on the adventures of a vagabond and Fourquet making mental notes for his list. Later, he would construct a series of maps connecting the dots of Vacher’s ragged itinerary and the murders. “Things were lining up in a very interesting way,” he noted.
On October 7, Fourquet brought in a dozen people from Bénonces and paraded them before the suspect, one after the other. Ten of the twelve positively identified him as a vagabond they had seen the day of Portalier’s murder. Two had been too frightened to testify, but they later insisted that he was indeed the man. At one point, Vacher shouted at a woman in an effort to intimidate her.
“You dare say, madame, that you saw me in your area? You are a liar. I’ve never set foot there—not in 1895 or at any other time, understand?”
The woman stood firm. “It is you who are the liar, monsieur. You came to my house around eight o’clock on the morning of the crime and I gave you some soup. I can tell you the very thing that stuck in my mind: When I was serving you the soup, I said, ‘I’m not very rich.’ And you replied, ‘It’s not the rich people who give the most.’ ”
Vacher backed off, snarling threats.
Now came time to spring the trap. Armed with the testimony and the knowledge he had gathered about Vacher’s itinerary, Fourquet ordered the guards to bring the prisoner to his office. He began a speech that he hoped would break the suspect’s resistance.
“When you were first transferred here, I had an instant when I thought that you would not be here for a long stay,” he began. “I imagined, in effect, that the witnesses would not recognize you. But today all that has changed. You are formally recognized by everyone without a doubt … it is henceforth proven without any possible argument that you are the author of the murder of a young shepherd from Bénonces.”
Furthermore, said Fourquet, he knew that Vacher had killed many people in several regions throughout France. “I will prove to you that I know everything you have done.… You were already known to the authorities. It was only a matter of apprehending you.”
Then, in a rapid-fire delivery, Fourquet disgorged everything he knew, or thought he knew, about Vacher’s bloody wanderings. In a portentous voice free of all doubt, Fourquet told how, on November 20, 1894, Vacher had killed thirteen-year-old Louise Marcel and mutilated her corpse in an isolated barn; how, on May 12, 1895, he had killed
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