Jean Monette

by Eugène François Vidocq


When I first became a police inspector, there was a street in my area which had many alleys going in all directions. The people who lived in them were always ready to take part in riots and violence.

In one of these alleys, there lived at that time a man named Jean Monette, who was quite elderly but still strong. He was a widower and lived with an only daughter. People said he had been in business and grown rich, but never spent his money, which year after year grew and grew, and would make his daughter wealthy at his death. With this advantage, Emma, who was really a handsome girl, had many men interested in her but thought that she could wait till she found someone she could love and not give herself to the first man who asked to marry her. It was one Sunday in June when Emma had, as a treat, got enough money from her father for a day out with some friends to see the fountains at the Palace of Versailles.

It was a beautiful day, and the palace was crowded with thousands of people, their dresses looking like the colours of a rainbow; and when, at four o'clock, the fountain threw up mountains of water, Emma was astonished, as she had never seen anything like it before.

Most of the crowd were used to these sights and, so, Emma’s delight at them attracted the attention of a young man who introduced himself to her. And it was so pleasant for her to find a gentleman who could explain everything and everybody. Besides, he was very agreeable and well-dressed; in fact, it was really polite of him to notice them! And then, towards evening, he insisted they should all go home together in a taxi, and that he should pay, and when he asked her where he might see her again, she thought her feelings were different to what they had ever been before. But how could she give her address, tell so handsome a man that she lived in an alley? No, she could not do that, but she would meet him at the Summer Garden next Sunday evening.

She met him on the Sunday, and again and again, until her father began to suspect that something must be wrong because she went out so often in the evening. The old man loved his money, but he loved his daughter more. She was the only link to the dead wife he had loved so much and when she died, Emma had filled up the hole in his heart. They were everything he had ever loved, except his money. The world had cried out against him as a hard-hearted, greedy man, and he, in return, hated the world.

He was, therefore, very sad at her behaviour and questioned Emma about where she was going, but she only said she did not realise that she had been out so often to upset him. This was just not good enough, and so the old man decided to have his daughter watched.

The old man then asked an old friend of his, a private detective, to follow Emma. He understood his business very well, and watched the young lady so carefully that he immediately discovered she was meeting a man who, after walking some distance with her, managed to disappear, although the detective was a professional and proud that he never lost anyone.

This naturally puzzled him. He tried a second time. He watched them right up to a corner, but, before he could get to it, they were nowhere to be seen. This was very annoying and he wondered if he should call a colleague to help him. But he decided that he must solve the mystery on his own. To the detective’s experienced eye, the young man did not seem a gentleman, but a suspicious character dressed in fine clothes. Something must be wrong, and he must find out. He went to see old Monette – maybe he could suggest something; and thinking about the strangeness of the adventure, he walked towards the old man’s house to discuss the situation.

On the road, a crowd in the street made him forget his adventure for a while. The crowd had gathered to watch a fight between two taxi drivers and, after one of them had driven off, the people began to leave. The detective moved with them but, just as he turned round, he came in contact with Emma Monette, holding the arm of her mysterious lover. The light from a lamp above his head shone directly on the face of Emma and her gentleman, showing them both clearly, so that when he turned from the lady to the gentleman and got a full view of his face, he showed his surprise.

But why? First, he had made a great discovery; secondly, he was no longer puzzled because he could not follow Emma and the man; thirdly, he hurried to reach Jean Monette and tell him about what he had found out.

After a long introduction, telling Monette how lucky he was to have a friend like him, a man who knew everybody and everything, he told him that his daughter was meeting the most dangerous character in Paris - one who was so skilful in all his schemes that the police could not catch him, as he changed his appearance all the time.

The detective promised the unhappy father they would catch him and put him in prison.

When Emma returned, he told her what he had learnt about the gentleman and begged her with tears in his eyes, to promise she would never again see him. Emma was shocked and cried on her father's shoulder and promised never again to see her gentleman and, if possible, to forget him.

"My child," said the old man, "I believe you from my heart - I believe you. I love you, but the world says I am rich - I don’t know why. You know I live in a dangerous neighbourhood, and I need to keep safe my child and the money people say I have. So, to avoid accidents, I will make sure you don’t leave this house for the next six months, and in that time your lover will forget you or you will forget him. It doesn’t matter either way, but I am fairly sure that the man plans to rob me of my money, rather than my child."

The old man kept his word, and Emma was not allowed for several days to leave the rooms on the fourth floor. During that time, she tried to forget her gentleman, and thought if she could just see him once more to say goodbye, she might manage; but, to do that, she must see him again. Making up her mind that she had to see him to do as her father wanted, she asked herself how. There was one great obstacle – "she couldn't get out."

Now women's cleverness never fails when they are determined to do something; and she realised, that although she could not get out, perhaps he could get in; and, afterwards, it was not very difficult to persuade the old woman who helped her in the house, to carry him a short note, saying that her father had been unwell for the last few days and usually went to bed early, and that if her gentleman would come about eleven o'clock the following evening, her father would be asleep, and she would wait for a signal – three knocks on the door.

In his answer, he promised to love her forever and to be at the house the following night at eleven. Of course, it had been his aim for months to get into the house and he decided he would make such good use of his time that a second meeting with Emma would be unnecessary. He immediately told his plans to two of his friends, promising them a good share of the money as a reward for their help.

His plans were cleverly managed, and would have gone well, except for one small accident which happened because of the detective, who, the moment he had discovered who the gentleman was, had taken steps to catch him. He knew that it would not be long before he paid a visit to Monette's rooms, and he read the letters, before they were delivered by the old woman, so that he knew when the visit was going to happen.

I was pleased the detective wanted my help, one evening, to arrest the famous thief, who had planned the robbery. So, about half past ten, I waited with the inspector and four men where I could see the thief pass, and at eleven o'clock, right on time, he and his two friends went up the stairs.

The two friends were to wait some time until he let them in.

After about half an hour the door opened and we entered after them and stood in the hall, so that nobody could see us. In a few minutes we heard a scream from Emma, and old Monette's voice crying "Murder!" and "Thieves!" Entering the rooms, we saw that the poor girl was lying on the ground, while one of the men was trying to cover her mouth.

The old man had been dragged from his bed, and Emma’s ‘gentleman’ stood over him with a knife, promising that unless he showed him the place where his money was kept, it would be the last hour of his life. But, on seeing us, Emma’s ‘gentleman’ gave up, saying he was sorry that we had not come half an hour later.

He was hanged shortly after. Emma soon married a respectable man and old Monette, surprisingly, gave the couple a very expensive wedding present.