Little Demon in the City of Light: A True Story of Murder and Mesmerism in Belle Epoque Paris by Steven Levingston
Authors: Steven Levingston
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where he planned to establish a branch of his company.
The couple boarded the Canadian Pacific Railroad and rode across the continent, reaching Vancouver in the latter part of September.There, they met a French adventurer and businessman, Georges Garanger, who was just back from the Far East and who was destined to play a decisive role in their lives. He was tall and blond, with“blue eyes of incomparable softness,” as one report put it. Forty-nine years old, he was still youthful and handsome,“one of those men who didn’t seem to age.” His family had made a fortune in jewelry, particularly diamonds, then lost a substantial portion of it during hard times in the mid-1880s. Garanger then spent time in the Far East and Africa, becoming a wealthy man again thanks to lucrative new businesses he established in Algeria and Burma.
Eyraud boasted to his new acquaintance of his own success in the cognac business and of his plans to establish a distillery in California. He and his daughter, in fact, were on their way to San Francisco. Was Garanger aware of the fortune that could be made by exporting cognac from the Napa Valley to France? Why not join them in San Francisco? Sensing he’d found a potential dupe, Eyraud invited Garanger to invest in his new distillery project. The wealthy adventurer was intrigued but noncommittal, saying he regretted he couldn’t go on to San Francisco just then; he had business to attend to in Vancouver.
This brief encounter ignited an explosion of passions in all parties and set in motion a chain of events that would shape the outcome of the Gouffé case. For his part, Eyraud, reckless and greedy, had designs on Garanger’s fortune, whatever violence was required to get it. By now, Gabrielle had begun to despise Eyraud and longed to escape; in Garanger she saw her savior. And Garanger, unattached and trusting, had an eye for Monsieur Vanaerd’s lovely daughter. He promised to meet up with the family in San Francisco in a few days.
Chapter 13
Étienne Laforge was a twenty-one-year-old coachman who had been jailed for attempted fraud in 1885 and now, to stay in the good graces of the Lyon police, served as an informant. He was a large, dim-witted peasant but also just smart enough to recognize a golden opportunity when it presented itself. Like everyone in town he’d heard the stories of the mysterious body and trunk that turned up on a riverbank in Millery. He also knew that the case baffled police.
Thinking he could help, he went to police headquarters and started talking. He revealed that on the night of July 6 he had picked up three men with a trunk and took them in the direction of Millery. On a deserted road along the river he agreed to wait in his cab while the men carried the trunk off into the distance. He shut down his lanterns, as they demanded, and lazed in the dark for an hour and a half until the men finally reappeared, still carrying the trunk. After they loaded it onto the coach Laforge took them back to Lyon, arriving at about 10:00 p.m. And he hadn’t seen the trio since.
The large peasant obviously hadn’t read the newspapers carefully enough, if he could read them at all. Had he paid attention, he’d have known that the trunk did not come back to Lyon with the murderers but was left in a shattered state on the banks of the Rhône. But he got the story almost right, and Commissioner Ramonencq, whose chief concern was simply to wrap things up as quickly as possible, helpfully nudged Laforge in the right direction. The commissioner suggested a few convincing details to fill out the tale—such as the exact condition of the trunk—and in his corrupt mind justice crept closer to being served.
Soon Laforge had refashioned his story. In its latest telling, he transported the men and their trunk nearly to the spot where the bodywas found; the men still lugged the trunk down the road, and Laforge still waited in the dark, but when the men came back, this time they were
The couple boarded the Canadian Pacific Railroad and rode across the continent, reaching Vancouver in the latter part of September.There, they met a French adventurer and businessman, Georges Garanger, who was just back from the Far East and who was destined to play a decisive role in their lives. He was tall and blond, with“blue eyes of incomparable softness,” as one report put it. Forty-nine years old, he was still youthful and handsome,“one of those men who didn’t seem to age.” His family had made a fortune in jewelry, particularly diamonds, then lost a substantial portion of it during hard times in the mid-1880s. Garanger then spent time in the Far East and Africa, becoming a wealthy man again thanks to lucrative new businesses he established in Algeria and Burma.
Eyraud boasted to his new acquaintance of his own success in the cognac business and of his plans to establish a distillery in California. He and his daughter, in fact, were on their way to San Francisco. Was Garanger aware of the fortune that could be made by exporting cognac from the Napa Valley to France? Why not join them in San Francisco? Sensing he’d found a potential dupe, Eyraud invited Garanger to invest in his new distillery project. The wealthy adventurer was intrigued but noncommittal, saying he regretted he couldn’t go on to San Francisco just then; he had business to attend to in Vancouver.
This brief encounter ignited an explosion of passions in all parties and set in motion a chain of events that would shape the outcome of the Gouffé case. For his part, Eyraud, reckless and greedy, had designs on Garanger’s fortune, whatever violence was required to get it. By now, Gabrielle had begun to despise Eyraud and longed to escape; in Garanger she saw her savior. And Garanger, unattached and trusting, had an eye for Monsieur Vanaerd’s lovely daughter. He promised to meet up with the family in San Francisco in a few days.
Chapter 13
Étienne Laforge was a twenty-one-year-old coachman who had been jailed for attempted fraud in 1885 and now, to stay in the good graces of the Lyon police, served as an informant. He was a large, dim-witted peasant but also just smart enough to recognize a golden opportunity when it presented itself. Like everyone in town he’d heard the stories of the mysterious body and trunk that turned up on a riverbank in Millery. He also knew that the case baffled police.
Thinking he could help, he went to police headquarters and started talking. He revealed that on the night of July 6 he had picked up three men with a trunk and took them in the direction of Millery. On a deserted road along the river he agreed to wait in his cab while the men carried the trunk off into the distance. He shut down his lanterns, as they demanded, and lazed in the dark for an hour and a half until the men finally reappeared, still carrying the trunk. After they loaded it onto the coach Laforge took them back to Lyon, arriving at about 10:00 p.m. And he hadn’t seen the trio since.
The large peasant obviously hadn’t read the newspapers carefully enough, if he could read them at all. Had he paid attention, he’d have known that the trunk did not come back to Lyon with the murderers but was left in a shattered state on the banks of the Rhône. But he got the story almost right, and Commissioner Ramonencq, whose chief concern was simply to wrap things up as quickly as possible, helpfully nudged Laforge in the right direction. The commissioner suggested a few convincing details to fill out the tale—such as the exact condition of the trunk—and in his corrupt mind justice crept closer to being served.
Soon Laforge had refashioned his story. In its latest telling, he transported the men and their trunk nearly to the spot where the bodywas found; the men still lugged the trunk down the road, and Laforge still waited in the dark, but when the men came back, this time they were
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