Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1912 — WORLD’S FAMOUS POLICE MYSTERIES TRUE RECORDS OF EXTRAORDINARY CASES IN ANNALS OF CRIME [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WORLD’S FAMOUS POLICE MYSTERIES TRUE RECORDS OF EXTRAORDINARY CASES IN ANNALS OF CRIME

The Murder in the Rue Mazarin

By H. M. EGBERT

(Copyright, by W. G. Chapman.)

a < HE story of the detection Of the murderer Voirbo ‘-■JI by M. Mace excels any “ ■/II detective story ever imn/$ agined or written. The Jvl analytical and deductive wJE/F powers? of this famous police commissary enabled him, bit by bit, to unravel the facts concerning one of the most shrewdly planned and brutal murders that have ever occurred. The narrative affords ■ a perfect example of the manner in which truth sometimes surpasses fiction. Ringuc, a police constable of Paris, was passing homeward one afternoon along the Rue Prlncesse, when a friend of his, who kept a small cheap restaurant at No. 50, came running out of his establishment and seized him excitedly by the arm. “Do you ’ remember,” he began breathlessly, “how I complained about the bad odor of the water in my well? It had really become undrinkable, and so today I resolved to examine it to find out what was the cause of the trouble. I went to my cellar in the basement, from which a window opens into the brick circumference, of the well, lit a candle and let it down by a thread. My attention was at once drawn toward something floating upon the water.” By this time he had dragged the constable into his shop, and continued, in high excitement: “I took an iron hook with a long handle and tried to fish it up. The fourth attempt succeeded. I found something wrapped in a covering. I undid the wrapping and —Come here!” He led the policeman into an adjoining apartment, where he laid before his eyed' a severed human leg. The constable went immediately to the commissary, M. Mace, a young man who afterward highly distinguished himself in his profession, but was then entirety-unknown. M. Mace hurried to the house in the Rue Prlncesse, examined the ghastly trophy and went to the well, where he soon made out a second object floating upon the water. This was fished Up with some difficulty, and proved to be a parcel like the first. The cover was of black calico, knotted at either end, and sewn in the middle with black thread. There was an inner covering made of a part of the Leg of a trouBers, and within lay a second leg. It was encased in part of a long stocking, made of drab cotton, and a fragment of a stock had been stitched over it, on which was an Initial “B,” with a small cross on either side of it. ' This was the first clue by whose aid M. Mace solved the mystery.

The medical experts who examined these relics offered the opinion that they had teen dismembered by an unprofessional hand, that/they were the limbs of a woman, and that they had been in the well about a month. The well was emptied, but nothing further was found in it During the next few days fragments of human flesh were fished out of the Seine; more fragments were found along the banks of that river, together with a thigh wrapped in a blue knitted shawl. M. Mace in his investigations now came upon another clue. The proprietor of a small riverside laundry stated that about midnight on Decemher 19 he had encountered a short man in a long coat and a tall hat scattering in the river some substance which looked like pieces of flesh, which he took from a basket upon his arm. When interrogated he replied, with an embarrassed laugh: “I am baiting the river for a good day's sport tomorrow.” Then the police officer Rlngue recalled that three nights later he had met a man in the street near the Rue Prlncesse, carrying a parcel and a hamper. He stopped him and asked what he had. The man replied that he was- carrying a couple of hams, which had been dispatched to him, > and Rlngue, satisfied with this statement, allowed him to pass. In his search - for the murdered <rwn»n M. Mace now made a careful investigation Into the cases of all women who had disappeared during the previous six months. There were 84 of these. M. Mace made an examination of the circumstances that had led to each of these disappearances, but this trail led him nowhere, and it seemed probable that the mystery would remain one of those numerous cases for which no solution is ever found. . But now a new aspect was given to the case by the statement by Dr. Targftm, the chief medico-legal expert in France, that, after a full examination of alf the remains, fie was able to pronounce that the victim was a man. “The remains,” he said, “are those of a man advanced in years. The Instrument used in the dismemberment was a cleaver. The cuts were made soon after death, and there Is a recently healed scar running up one leg." ; M. Mace went over the evidence at hand and hit upon another clue. The calico cover, with its knotted ends and black thread stitching, betokened clearly that the wrapping had been done by a tailor. He began to search for a tailor. . . ■ .

But no tailor lived in the Rue Prlncesse, nor was there anything to connect any of the Inhabitants Of that street with the crime. But the janltress, a weak-minded old woman, admitted that it was easy for anybody to gain access to the house and well, provided he knew of the existence of a small button in the door, which worked a string latch. It was clear, then, that the murderer had once lived there. “Did any of your lodgers evfer work for a tailor?" asked the commissary. The janitress recalled a young woman named Gaufe, who had formerly worked as a seamstress, but had after* ward gone on the vaudeville stage. “She sings at the case concerts,” babbled the old woman. “She told nre she was tired of making waistcoats for tailors.” “For whom did she work?” “A number of people. There was one man brought her a lot of work; I remember him, because he always used to spill water on my stairs.” “What water?” “The water he carried up from the well.”

An assistant in a drug shop opposite told the commissary "some more about the tailor and Mlle. Gaufe. This man was known as Pierre; he lived in the Rue Mazarin, and often brought waistcoats forlthe seamstress to make up. M. Mace I promptly searched for and found the woman. She was brought to his office for examination and impressed him with the sincerity of her replies. ‘.‘Who was the tailor who carried up water for you from the well?” M. Mace asked. “Monsieur Volrbo.” “Where does he live?” “He used to live in the Rue Mazarin, but he has married and moved away— I don’t know where.” ' Further questioning revealed the fact that he never worked much, yet always seemed to -have plenty of money. He drank a great deal. Friends? He had one in particular, a little ( old man known as Pere Desire, with whom he often drank, “When did you see this old man last?” M. Mace asked. “A couple of months ago at the case with Volrbo. Pere Desire’s aunt was with them, Madame Bodasse. She resides in the Rue des Nesles and is a bandage maker.” > * A detective was immediately sent to find the old woman, and she was brought to the commissary’s office. She was ready to tell all she knew. She had a nephew named Desire Bodasse, who had been a tapestry worker, but he was horribly stingy, and they were not on the best terms. She had not seen him for a month. Sometimes he took her out to concerts, and on the last occasion Pierre Volrbo had accompanied them. “Describe this man Volrbo?* “He was a short man, and sometimes wore a long overcoat and a high hat” And M. Mace remembered the initial B' upon the fragment of a sock. B—that might well stand for the family name of Desire Bodasse. The scent was becoming stronger. The old bandage maker was taken to the morgue, where she promptly identified the fragment of trouser and the sock with the initial, which, she declared, she had marked herself, between two crosses in red cotton. And she had sewn the sock to the stockings, to protect her nephew’s feet against the winter cold. Madame Bodasse could also furnish information as to the scar on the leg, for she remembered that her nephew Had cut himself badly by falling upon the. edge of a broken bottle. / The identity of the murdered man was proved. He was Desire Bodasse, of No. 50 Rue Dauphine. Half the battle was won—but not the greater half!

The commissary now took Madame Bodasse to her nephew’s abode. No. 50 was an old, rambling building, so constructed that the’ porter could not see who came In or passed out. M. Mace inquired for the room of Bodasse, but found that it was closed. He went back to the porter. ‘‘Nevertheless, I believe that Monsieur Bodasse is still there,” that functionary remarked. “He often shuts himself away for days and will not be disturbed. Last night I saw a light in his room and his shadow upon the curtains.” “I know that Monsieur Bodasse is in Paris/’ the porter’s wife added, “for I met him in the street this morning.” M. Mace’s convictions were shaken. He seemed to have been on the wrong track. Hq_ left a letter to be delivered, to Bodasse if he should arrive, and turned his attentions to Voirbo. In the Rue Mazarin he learned that Volrbo now lived in the Rue Lamartine. He had married a girl with a good dowry, the orphaned daughter of a tailor, and a woman of strong religious convictions. But Voirbo and Bodasse had quarreled, and the latter had not been at his wedding. It appeered that Voirbo had begged Bodasse tor the loan of 19,000 francs, and the old man had refused. Here was a motive for the crime! Bodasse had not been seen, the pot-

ter affirmed, when the commissary inquired at his apartment the following day. And bls aunt, the bandage maker, still insisted that the relics at the morgue were those of her nephew. To put an end to all doubt, M, Mace forced the- lock of . the door of Bodasse’s apartment The place was in good order, but there was a fine layer of dust upon the furniture, and the bed had not been slept Jn. On ths floor before the fireplace were the ends of seventeen half-burned matches, and on the mantel were two paper candle boxes —one empty, one containing a single candle. These boxes were of the kind that held eight candles apiece. Fifteen had therefore presumably been burned, and this corresponded with the number of matches used, two having mls’sed fire. The one candle left would burn, it might be calculated, about three hours; then there must have been a light in the room on x fifteen occasions Of three hours apiece. This was corroborated by the jagitor, who had noticed a light from eight o'clock until eleven in the evening on fifteen occasions during the previous six weeks. M, Mace conjectured tliat some person had come to the apartment at regular Intervals .and of some set purpose. Was it Bodasse?' His walking stick lay in one ; corner; his tall hat hung from a nail. His silver watch and chain hung from the wall. M. Mace became convinced that the visitor was not Bodasse , but some one Who had an* Interest in making it apparent that Bodasse was still alive. He had even wound up the 24-hour cuckoo clock!

“Was Monsieur Bodasse well-to-do?” M. Mace asked of the bandage maker, recalling the story of his refusal to lend Volrbo 10,000 francs. *7*--Madame Bodasse emphatically assured the commissary that he was, and that, like many Frenchmen, he preferred to keep his cash and securities near at hand. She pointed out a secret hiding place in an old bureau in which her nephew had been wont to keep his wealth. “If anything happens to me,” he had told “you will find all my papers and valuables in there. I keep them in an old green pocketbook.” The drawer was opened, but the pocketbook was gone. However, M. Mace found a memorandum —a scrap of paper inside the old man’s silver watch, containing the numbers of certain securities, Italian government stock of the issue of 1861, payable to bearer. M. Mace concealed two of his officers in an alcove, with instructions to arrest immediately anyone who appeared. Then he set out again upon the trail of Volrbo. “Had he paid his rent before leaving the Rue Mazarin?” he asked. “Yes.” “In cash?” “No,” replied the landlord. “He paid with a share of Italian worth 500 francs. I cashed it myself at the money changer’s at the corner.” M. Mace hastened to the money 'changer’s shop and found that the man had kept the counterfoil of the share. The number corresponded with one upon the list found in the watch case. The commissary naw felt assured that he had the murderer in his power. Another fact, which ultimately proved to be of the utmost significance, was now brought to light. On the mornlfig of December 17—which approximated the date of the murder — Volrbo’s servant, arriving to clean his room, discovered that he had already done so, himself, and, furthermore, had washed a part of the floor, which was still wet Volrbo had explained to her that an old woman who brought him a pair of trousers to mend had let fall a bottle of oil upon the floor. ' The stench drove him out—he had gone to his friend Bodasse to spend the night ahd had returned early to wash his room and get rid of the odor.

The two detectives who were placed on guard in Bodasse’s room fulfilled their task very badly. When Volrbo appeared, Instead of arresting him, they entered into conversation with him and allowed him to depart It appeared that Voirbo was actually a “stool pigeon” of the police, and, when he arrived, he at once greeted the officers as colleagues of his own, while they, not knowing but that he, too, was at work upon the case, suffered him to take himself off after an amicable chat But he did not fly. He believed himself to be safe against detection. The evidence was strong, but not to the least convincing. For the moment matters seemed to be at a deadlock. M. Mace accordingly summoned the suspected man to appear before him, and at last the two stood face to face. . Volrbo was an undersized and extremely stout man of about thirty years. He expressed anxiety at the disappearance of his old friend, and said that he would have consulted M. Mace about it, but understood that, owing to the latter’s youth and Inexperience, the affair was soon to be taken out of his hands, and he was waiting until he could learn who was to be entrusted with IL This open defiance did not lessen the commissary’s anxiety to clear up the mystery. However, Voirbo tendered an offer of his services, which were accepted, and

It was agreed that M. Mace was to accompany him to a revolutionary meeting which he was t° address in the character of a Republican orator, being really a police spy. M. Mace soon perceived that Volrbo’s cunning was a match for his own astuteness. Volrbo took the commissary to a low haunt and introduced him to a former friend of the murdered man, a drunkard and gambler named Rlfer, who, he hinted, knew a great deal more than he was disposed to tell. Although M- Mace was not to be thrown oft the trail by this attempt of Volrbo’s to incriminate another, he thought it well to set a watch upon this Rlfer and fils friends. It was discovered beyond a doubt that they bad often been in company with Bodasse. On one occasion Rlfer had made use of the expression, “We must get rid of the old man.” He summoned Rlfer to his office and cross-questioned him closely, as well as his friends. These proved a very satisfactory alibi—they had been in prison at the time of the murder. ; 'Volrbo, meanwhile, had been hard at work in his endeavor to incriminate Rlfer, plying him with drink until he was attacked with delirium tremens. Rlfer,. in a fit of insanity, smashed up his furniture and threw it into the street. He was arrested and taken to an asylum, where he died during the night Volrbo, having accomplished ' his end, hoped that he would now be able to shift the guilt effectively from his own shoulders upon those of the dead man. Eager to learn the result of his stratagem, he went boldly to the commissary’s office, and, when M. Mace entered, he found Volrbo standing before him. „ ' The commissary was resolved to arrest the man immediately. But he was alone with him; the man was probably armed. M. Mace handed him the morning paper and excused himself upon the ground that an important letter had arrived which, required an immediate answer. The letter that he wrote, however, was to his secretary, and he took it into the outer office and left it on his secretary’s desk, to be read by him 'upon his entrance. In it he instructed him to close and lock all the doors and wait until he rung the* belt At this summons the office muragpr was to enter the inner room, make up the fire and remove the fire Irons. After that the secretary was to bring; an imaginary letter for signature and afterward place himself with his back to the window. A second summons by the bell was to bring in the two police officers on duty outside, and they were to take up positions ready .for the apprehension of the murderer, .: When all this had been done the commissary turned to Voir bo. “You wished to see me about your friend Bodasse?” he asked." - 1 nail to jnq- foQUSfolg- that Rlfer was the murderer,” answered Volrbo. “But there were accomplices —-I have their addresses.” ‘

“I, too, am upon! a clue,” M. Mace answered. “But as for thosfe addresses —will you let me have them?” Volrbo took out a pocketbook, and, in doing so, let fall a card. The commissary stooped, picked it up, and returned it, but not without a rapid glance which showed him that it was that of a large steamship company. Volrbo evidently contemplated flight. M. Mace glanced up at his assistants. “Arrest and search him,” he said quietly. Volrbo started, put his hand to his coat pocket, and then, seeing himself surrounded, yielded to his fate. In bis pocket was a receipt for a passage ticket taken in the name o| Saba, for Havre. Inquiry at the offices of thp company showed that Saba corresponded in appearance to Voirbo. M. Mace conducted his prisoner to the prefecture and placed him at the dfaoeal of the presiding judge. Then he'hurrled away to Volrbo’s lodgings. There the commissary found Mme. Voirbo agid broke to her the news of her husband’s arrest. Proofs of his villainy were soon obtained. His wife had brought him a dowry of 15,000 francs in French securities, payable to bearer. These bonds were kept in a small strong box, of which Voirbo retained the key. With Madame Vofrbo’s permission the commissary forced the box. It was empty, for the securities had been removed, as weU as others to the value of 10,000 franca, which Voirbo had brought as his share toward the marriage settlement. “What securities were they?” M. Mace asked. “Italian stock.” But where had Voirbo secreted them, pending his plans for flight? A thorough search of the apartment proved futile. But it did reveal several things of account—clippings from newspapers, for example, some giving accounts of other murder mysteries, and others that followed the whole progress of the murder in the Rue Mazarin. Two pairs of huge shears, recently sharpened, were discovered: of various metals, of the kind used by burglars; a big butcher's cleaver, and a hank of cord similar to that with which the parcels found in the weU had been tied, M. Mace descended to the cellar, Madame Voirbo protesting that it was empty, except for a Couple of casks of wine sent to when they began housekeeping. M. Mace persisted in examining the cellar. He entered ’and discovered the two casks, side by side. Passing a light over them, he saw at once that the bung in one stood out above the head of the cask; closer investigation revealed that a black string was attached to the bung led inside the cask. The commissary pulled out the bung, drew up the cord and with it * small tin cylinder, which, when forced open, disclosed the whole of the Italian securities, less the one which had peen aisposea The only weak point to the chain of'evidence now remaining wan the connection of Vbirbo with the actual

dismemberment of the body, Sndthe commissary hoped to discover evt? dence of this In the house which Volrbo had occupied in the Rue Mazarin. He proceeded there, in company witlfc the accused, who was strongly guarded by two policemen. Volrbo’s former lodgings were now occupied by a young married couple, but with the aid of the janitor the furniture was swiftly rearranged as it had been during Volrbo’s occupancy. Under the window had been the tailor’s bench, with a sewing machine upon its right,' A chest of drawers stood opposite the fireplace, with a stove, chairs and the bed in an alcove formed by two tall cupboards. In the middle of the room was a large, round table. Volrbo was brought in and placed to a chair between the policemen. He looked on with a sneering smile while the furniture, was being rearranged, betraying anxiety. It was clear that he felt convinced that the crime conld not be brought home to him. One peculiarity Jn the room - bad struck M. Mace at the moment of his first entrance. The tiled floor sloped downward from the window toward the bed to the recess. He had Also gathered, from the position of the furin which there was space to move around freely was that occupied by the circular table. The commissary concluded, therefore, that, if the murder had been committed to Volrbo’s room, it must have been near, the table, and that the dismemberment had probably been performed upon it. Taking up a pitcher fun .of -water, he exclaimed* “I perceive a slope in the floor. Now, if a body was cut up.tm this table the flow of blood Would have followed this slope. Any other fluid thrown down here must follow the same direction. I will empty this pitcher upon 'the floor, and we will see what happenk* The water flowed straight toward the bed and collected under it to tWe large pools. The place .indicated was sponged dry and a mason was fetched to take up the tiles of the floor. A quantity Of dried blood, Which had evidently percolated the interstices between the tiles, was found 1 bCtow. Volrbo’s washing of his floor'had hot removed the fatal evidences, ’ Voirbo, completely overcome, then and there made full confession ofi-his crime. He £ad killed Bodnsse, he s*£&. to order to obtain the money which the miser had-refused him. Hejfispatched him with a blow one at the flatirons and then cut his throat, disposing of the body in the mahfler indicated beforehand. “And the bead?” asked M. Mace. . “1 weighted it with molten dropped through the mouth and o eara,; and sunk it in the bottom of the Setae.” mXTa^eV o ifte/hls recaption at Me-', zas, the great prison of Paris: While waiting his turn, to be the prison regftttt he tore open a long loaf which he was carrying under hia. arm, took put a razor blade.and.c»t., Ms throat - ' •

Voirbo’s washing of his floor had not removed the fatal evidences