Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Murder, Theft, and Detection by Dorothy Hoobler, Thomas Hoobler
Authors: Dorothy Hoobler, Thomas Hoobler
Tags: History
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man along the way. Undaunted but wiser, he joined a traveling theater troupe and circus. He later recalled, “I went
about the job, but I didn’t like it. The grease disgusted me and I wasn’t comfortable with the monkeys, which frightened by
an unknown face, made unbelievable efforts to tear out my eyes.” 5 Tiring of this adventure, he returned to Arras and begged his mother’s forgiveness, something she could never resist giving
him. He and his father were reconciled as well.
The uneventful life of a village soon bored him, and Vidocq joined the army. Here he fought fifteen duels in six months, according
to his
Memoirs.
Vidocq saw much of Europe with the French army as it carried the Revolution into neighboring countries, but he learned that
his chief loyalty must always be to himself. Frequently he was accused of crimes, ranging from assaulting an officer to forgery.
Convicted, he usually managed to escape, mastering an ability to disguise himself — at least once in a nun’s habit. Recapture
brought him harsher sentences to the “galleys,” which were prisons for hardened criminals, usually those convicted of capital
crimes. But the galleys could not hold him either, and in the confusion of the times, Vidocq usually managed to enlist in
another regiment — even serving with privateers and naval forces. It was simple enough to assume another name and hence another
identity, for there were no records that could provide definite identification of criminals.
In addition to discarding identities, Vidocq left behind a trail of admiring women wherever he went. One of the conquests
he describes in his
Memoirs:
At dark the evening of our departure, I met a woman from Brussels, named Elisa, with whom I had been intimate. She fell on
my neck, took me to supper, and, overcoming weak resistance, kept me with her till the next morning. I pretended to Francine
[another lover], who had sought me everywhere, that to throw the police off my tracks I had been forced to dash into a house,
and I could not get out until daylight. At first she believed me; but chance led her to discover that I had passed the night
with a woman.… In her excess of rage she swore that she would have me arrested. Having me put in prison was certainly the
safest way to assure herself against my infidelities. As Francine was a woman to do what she said she would, I deemed it prudent
to leave her until her anger had cooled. 6
Vidocq’s many stints in prison, as well as his frequent escapes, had earned him a reputation among criminals. This helped
him to find refuge with lawless elements whenever he was out of prison, but it also meant that his only means of earning a
living was through crime. Wishing to turn his life around, he managed to arrange a meeting with a man named Dubois, the
commissaire
of police in Lyons. Vidocq proposed to give him a list of criminals working in the area in return for his freedom. Dubois,
who knew of Vidocq’s reputation, was hesitant, fearing a trick. To prove his good faith, Vidocq said he would give the slip
to the two gendarmes who were waiting to take him to prison, and voluntarily return to Dubois’s office. Dubois agreed. Not
long after Vidocq left, the door opened and he stood there again — without the guards.
Thus began Vidocq’s double career: as criminal and police informer. He was forced to leave Lyons to save his skin when the
criminals who were being rounded up suspected he had betrayed them. He returned to Arras, where his mother still lived, but
was unable to convince the police there that he had gone straight. His good intentions rebuffed, he returned to crime again
and wound up in Paris, where he developed a relationship with a woman named Annette, whom he later married.
Paris in the early nineteenth century was not the City of Light it would later become. It was a city of narrow, maze-like
streets that were dark and dangerous, twisted alleys and
about the job, but I didn’t like it. The grease disgusted me and I wasn’t comfortable with the monkeys, which frightened by
an unknown face, made unbelievable efforts to tear out my eyes.” 5 Tiring of this adventure, he returned to Arras and begged his mother’s forgiveness, something she could never resist giving
him. He and his father were reconciled as well.
The uneventful life of a village soon bored him, and Vidocq joined the army. Here he fought fifteen duels in six months, according
to his
Memoirs.
Vidocq saw much of Europe with the French army as it carried the Revolution into neighboring countries, but he learned that
his chief loyalty must always be to himself. Frequently he was accused of crimes, ranging from assaulting an officer to forgery.
Convicted, he usually managed to escape, mastering an ability to disguise himself — at least once in a nun’s habit. Recapture
brought him harsher sentences to the “galleys,” which were prisons for hardened criminals, usually those convicted of capital
crimes. But the galleys could not hold him either, and in the confusion of the times, Vidocq usually managed to enlist in
another regiment — even serving with privateers and naval forces. It was simple enough to assume another name and hence another
identity, for there were no records that could provide definite identification of criminals.
In addition to discarding identities, Vidocq left behind a trail of admiring women wherever he went. One of the conquests
he describes in his
Memoirs:
At dark the evening of our departure, I met a woman from Brussels, named Elisa, with whom I had been intimate. She fell on
my neck, took me to supper, and, overcoming weak resistance, kept me with her till the next morning. I pretended to Francine
[another lover], who had sought me everywhere, that to throw the police off my tracks I had been forced to dash into a house,
and I could not get out until daylight. At first she believed me; but chance led her to discover that I had passed the night
with a woman.… In her excess of rage she swore that she would have me arrested. Having me put in prison was certainly the
safest way to assure herself against my infidelities. As Francine was a woman to do what she said she would, I deemed it prudent
to leave her until her anger had cooled. 6
Vidocq’s many stints in prison, as well as his frequent escapes, had earned him a reputation among criminals. This helped
him to find refuge with lawless elements whenever he was out of prison, but it also meant that his only means of earning a
living was through crime. Wishing to turn his life around, he managed to arrange a meeting with a man named Dubois, the
commissaire
of police in Lyons. Vidocq proposed to give him a list of criminals working in the area in return for his freedom. Dubois,
who knew of Vidocq’s reputation, was hesitant, fearing a trick. To prove his good faith, Vidocq said he would give the slip
to the two gendarmes who were waiting to take him to prison, and voluntarily return to Dubois’s office. Dubois agreed. Not
long after Vidocq left, the door opened and he stood there again — without the guards.
Thus began Vidocq’s double career: as criminal and police informer. He was forced to leave Lyons to save his skin when the
criminals who were being rounded up suspected he had betrayed them. He returned to Arras, where his mother still lived, but
was unable to convince the police there that he had gone straight. His good intentions rebuffed, he returned to crime again
and wound up in Paris, where he developed a relationship with a woman named Annette, whom he later married.
Paris in the early nineteenth century was not the City of Light it would later become. It was a city of narrow, maze-like
streets that were dark and dangerous, twisted alleys and
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