Landru's Secret

by Landru's Secret- The Deadly Seductions of France's Lonely Hearts Serial Killer (retail) (epub)

  p.117 “the state of the investigation”: Le Gaulois, 13 July 1920.

  p.118 “his shoes all day and night”: Le Journal, 13 July 1920.

  p.118 “47 bits of teeth”: ‘Gambais, Examen des Os: Rapport Médico-Légal’, 19 July 1920, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U771/4898.

  p.118 “in the garden”: ‘Gambais, Examen des Os’, p.2, quoting from Bonin, ‘Ordonnance’ regarding examination of bone debris, 12 May 1919, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U771/unnumbered, directly before 2U771/4877.

  p.118 “(a point that the experts also did not make clear)”: The report did not explicitly mention the discovery of any human bones or other human remains in the oven, which would have been compelling evidence that Landru had burnt some or all of his victims’ corpses. However, the report did not refute the false rumour that part of a human toe bone had been recovered from the oven. Le Figaro, 30 April 1919.

  p.118 “original corpses had been female”: The female pelvis is larger and wider than a male pelvis.

  p.119 “Landru’s ‘mental state’”: ‘Examen de Landru au point de vue mental’, 25 June 1920, Paris Police Archives, reproduced in Landru: 6h 10 Temps Clair, Les Pièces du Dossier (Paris, 2013).

  p.119 “the frontiers of madness”: ‘Examen de Landru au point de vue mental’, pp.4–5.

  p.119 “baby son in 1867”: The loss of this baby boy was probably the reason why Landru’s parents gave him the middle name ‘Désiré’, meaning ‘Desired’.

  p.119 “she was highly strung”: ‘Examen de Landru au point de vue mental’, p.3.

  p.119 “dizzy spells and disturbed vision”: ‘Examen de Landru au point de vue mental’, pp. 6–7.

  p.120 “its richness and variety”: ‘Examen de Landru au point de vue mental’, p.8.

  p.120 “the patriarchal principle”: ‘Examen de Landru au point de vue mental’, p11.

  p.120 “my ugly head”: ‘Examen de Landru au point de vue mental’, p.12.

  p.120 “responsible for his acts”: ‘Examen de Landru au point de vue mental’, p.14.

  p.121 “from the capital to Nancy”: Le Journal, 5 Aug 1920.

  p.121 “the case against Landru”: I have been unable to identify Gazier’s first name.

  p.121 “any suggestion of madness”: Réquisitoire Définitif, p.3, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U772.

  p.121 “‘escapes us’, Gazier noted tersely”: Réquisitoire Définitif, p.162, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U772.

  p.122 “one’s calling card at the préfecture”: Le Gaulois, 3 Feb 1921.

  p.123 “prisoners awaiting execution”: Le Gaulois, 15 June 1921.

  p.123 “he repeatedly adjusted”: L’Ouest-Éclair, 24 Oct 1919.

  p.123 “stronger pair was brought for him”: Le Figaro, 28 Sept 1921.

  p.123 “to keep up his strength”: L’Homme Libre, Le Rappel, 27 Oct 1921, Le Gaulois, 29 Oct 1921, Le Temps, 30, 31 Oct 1921.

  p.123 “leaving the shadow of a trace”: Le Gaulois, 5 Nov 1921.

  p.123 “keep an open mind”: L’Echo d’Alger, 6 Nov 1921.

  p.124 “everything will be resolved”: L’Echo d’Alger, 6 Nov 1921.

  Chapter 13: Chivalry No Longer Exists

  p.127 “direct him to his bench”: Le Petit Parisien, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.127 “concealed in the bales”: Journal des Débats, 9 Nov 1921. The cobbler received a two-year jail sentence.

  p.127 “a profile of Landru”: Colette’s second husband, Henry de Jouvenel, was the editor of Le Matin.

  p.127 “little birds gathered by the door”: L’Excelsior, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.128 “observe him discreetly”: Journal des Débats, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.128 “one reporter noted unkindly”: L’Excelsior, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.128 “as a personal souvenir”: Godefroy’s press cuttings are now held by the departmental archives for Yvelines.

  p.129 “for the overnight editions”: Le Populaire, 8 Nov 1921. The telephones were rented by the newspapers at a rate of 100 francs per day.

  p.129 “his mind seemingly elsewhere”: L’Excelsior, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.129 “to Moro during the trial”: Moro had also brought two assistant lawyers for this first day: Jean Baux, a close friend of Navières, and Marcel Kahn. Baux or Kahn attended most of the trial’s sessions.

  p.129 “an upright free man”: Article 312, Code d’Instruction Criminelle (1808).

  p.129 “jostling to take his picture”: L’Ouest- Éclair, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.130 “reading his enormous dossier”: Action Française, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.130 “snoring loudly”: Le Figaro, 8 Nov 1921. The newspaper’s cartoonist sketched Colette as she dozed.

  p.130 “he must know by heart”: Le Figaro, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.130 “sententious phrases and melodramatic paragraphs”: Le Journal, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.130 “journalists covering the trial”: On at least one occasion, a juror asked a reporter on a train for his opinion about whether Landru was guilty. Le Siècle, 13 Nov 1921.

  p.130 “tailor’s dummy in a shop window”: Le Matin, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.131 “the hearing to establish it”: Le Gaulois, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.132 “should begin without him”: Le Radical, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.132 “examination of the defendant”: L’Echo de Paris, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.132 “which were always the same”: Le Radical, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.132 “who had a daughter”: Le Petit Parisien, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.133 “easy to get down to business”: Le Gaulois, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.133 “nervously took the oath”: L’Excelsior, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.134 “worthy of her own”: Le Petit Parisien, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.134 “cash them in at a bank”: ‘Réquisitoire Définitif’, pp.13–14, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U772.

  p.134 “‘atoned’ for his ‘error’”: Le Gaulois, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.135 “uproar around the court was intense”: L’Ouest-Éclair, 8 Nov 1921.

  Chapter 14: Philomène’s Dream

  p.137 “the notebook until 1915”: L’Homme Libre, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.137 “the jurors’ common sense”: L’Echo de Paris, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.138 “poor fist of defending himself ”: Le Petit Parisien, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.138 “deep silence around the court”: L’Ouest-Éclair, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.139 “lengthen these exchanges”: L’Ouest-Éclair, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.139 “his mother’s murder”: Requisitoire Définitif, pp.2–3, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U772/unnumbered.

  p.139 “with such eagerness, Landru said severely”: L’Echo de Paris, 10 Nov 1921, Le Temps, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.139 “autumn of 1914”: L’Homme Libre, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.139 “after her husband’s death”: Le Petit Parisien, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.139 “a modest nest egg”: L’Humanité, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.140 “live with her fiancé”: Le Petit Parisien, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.140 “to assure his future”: Le Petit Parisien, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.140 “on account of André”: Réquisitoire Définitif, p.33, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U772.

  p.140 “his stiff white collar”: Le Petit Journal, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.140 “break off her engagement”: “Disparition de Mme Cuchet et de son fils”, Georges Friedman interview, 16 April 1919, Paris Police Archives, Carton JA 28, Dossier Cuchet; Le Journal, 16 April 1919.

  p.141 “2–3 August at the villa”: Statement of Mme Jeanne Hardy, Gouvieux, 1 Aug 1919, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U 769/2659.

  p.141 “from under her bonnet at the court”: Le Petit Parisien, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.141 “Philomène recalled”: Le Petit Journal, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.142 “the impression I had killed your sister”: Le Journal, 10 Nov 1921.

  p.142 “She had a heart, my sister”: Le Gaulois, 10 Nov 1921.

  Chapter 15: Her Private Life Does Not Concern Me

  p.143 “make the murder counts stick”: Le Journal, 10 Nov 1921.


  p.144 “which he quickly stifles”: Le Populaire, 9 Nov 1921. The commentator was the leading barrister Maurice Délépine (1883–1960).

  p.144 “disarms his adversary”: Journal des Débats, 9 Nov 1921.

  p.144 “burst out laughing”: L’Intransigeant, 8 Nov 1921.

  p.144 “red and yellow dossiers”: Le Journal, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.144 “had been wiped out”: Le Populaire, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.144 “might have been my daughters”: Le Gaulois, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.144 “they were made of gold”: Le Gaulois, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.145 “we knew each other”: Le Gaulois, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.145 “probably from engine failure”: “Maxime Henri Morin, classe 1916”, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U769/2621, Dossier Cuchet.

  p.146 “Landru explained”: Le Journal, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.146 “this little lie proves nothing”: Le Journal, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.146 “matters beyond my station”: L’Ouest-Éclair, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.146 “what became of them next”: Le Gaulois, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.146 “in the back garden?”: The neighbour could not identify the two women she saw picking flowers at The Lodge in the summer of 1915. ‘Déposition de Mme Picque’, 15 April 1919, Paris Police Archives, Carton JA 28, Dossier Cuchet.

  p.147 “Le Populaire remarked unpleasantly”: Le Populaire, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.147 “the judge’s intervention”: L’Ouest-Éclair, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.147 “between her and his wife”: Le Petit Journal, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.147 “reply to his last letter”: ‘Audition de Monsieur Laborde-Line’, 19 May 1919, Paris Police Archives, Carton JA 28, Dossier Laborde-Line.

  p.148 “the hearing ended at 5.25 pm”: Le Rappel, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.148 “delivers a poor speech”: Le Journal, 12 Nov 1921.

  p.148 “to be indulgent”: La Justice, 11 Nov 1921.

  p.148 “more deserving of pity than contempt”: Le Journal, 12 Nov 1921.

  p.149 “just the one head to offer you”: Le Gaulois, 12 Nov 1921.

  p.150 “savings to her fiancé”: Le Journal, 12 Nov 1921.

  p.150 “two or three steps beneath a canopy”: Le Gaulois, 12 Nov 1921.

  p.150 “Landru allegedly killed her”: Le Gaulois, 12 Nov 1921.

  p.151 “Le Gaulois remarked”: Le Gaulois, 13 Nov 1921.

  p.151 “the theatre of his exploits”: Le Journal, 13 Nov 1921.

  p.151 “better sight of the defendant”: Le Journal, 13 Nov 1921.

  p.151 “reasons you will understand”: Le Journal, 13 Nov 1921.

  p.152 “struck by her encounter”: Le Siècle, 14 Nov 1921.

  p.153 “her first communion”: Le Petit Parisien, 13 Nov 1921.

  p.153 “did not worry me at all”: Le Petit Parisien, 13 Nov 1921.

  p.153 “Mme Héon’s furniture, that’s all”: Le Journal, 13 Nov 1921.

  p.154 “an indeterminate shadow”: Le Journal, 13 Nov 1921.

  Chapter 16: You Accuse Me, You Prove It

  p.155 “It would be superb”: Le Siècle, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.155 “dripped into the fire”: Le Journal, 13 Jan 1921.

  p.155 “soon be proclaimed”: Le Petit Journal, 14 Nov 1921.

  p.156 “about the little girl”: ‘Réquisitoire Définitif ’, p.137, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U772; Anna Collomb, ‘Enquête Générale’, undated, Paris Police Archives, Carton JA 28, Dossier Collomb.

  p.156 “the girl’s probable father’: Le Journal, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.156 “lied about her age”: Le Petit Parisien, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.156 “on public holidays”: Le Journal, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.157 “would have been impolite”: Le Journal, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.157 “a singular interpretation”: Le Journal, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.158 “the bank documents”: Godefroy was wrong. Landru drained all of Anna’s savings with her written consent before she disappeared.

  p.158 “obedience to her husband”: La Lanterne, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.158 “from Marie-Angélique’s photograph”: Le Journal, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.158 “messieurs les jurés”: Le Temps, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.159 “fiancées that they can’t find”: Le Journal, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.159 “the picture was deliberately sexual”: Le Petit Parisien, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.159 “under Landru’s influence”: Le Journal, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.159 “tenderest of relations with her”: Le Journal, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.160 “was brought for her”: Le Petit Journal, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.160 “her fiancé owed her money”: Le Journal, 15 Nov 1921. Mme Moreau said “before Christmas” but it is clear from the context that she meant 25 December.

  p.160 “his refugee’s allowance”: Le Figaro, 15 Nov 1921. This was a pointless lie by Landru, who never claimed any refugee’s allowance from Lille.

  p.160 “murdered on 26 or 27 December”: Le Petit Parisien, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.160 “their baby girl Anna”: ‘État-Civil de Mme Collomb’, Paris Police Archives, Carton JA 28, Dossier Collomb.

  p.160 “Mme Leffray shouted”: L’Humanité, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.161 “the correspondent from L’Humanité lamented”: L’Humanité, 15 Nov 1921.

  p.161 “mistake her profession very easily”: Le Journal, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.161 “comfort her with kind words”: Le Journal, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.161 “the countryside delighted her”: Le Petit Parisien, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.162 “own documents to me”: Le Journal, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.162 “gave a start”: Le Petit Journal, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.162 “not unconnected with her disappearance”: Le Journal, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.163 “‘I’m looking forward to it,’”: Le Journal, L’Excelsior, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.163 “thrown herself into the Seine”: Riboulet, Le Matin, 21 May 1933.

  p.163 “my daughter is no more!”: Le Petit Parisien, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.164 “a good heart and deserved pity”: Le Petit Parisien, 16 Nov 1921.

  p.164 “to keep on holding Landru’s eye”: Le Gaulois, 16 Nov 1921.

  Chapter 17: Let Us Not Look for Tragedy

  p.165 “jot down her first impressions”: Mistinguett never filed any copy.

  p.165 “Gilbert told the jurors”: Le Gaulois, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.165 “but you, you surpass him”: L’Echo de Paris, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.166 “I am sure your choice is made”: Le Petit Parisien, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.166 “a return and a single ticket”: Le Petit Parisien, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.166 “Célestine had vanished”: Gilbert initially made an error, saying that Landru had noted the time as 10.15 in the evening. The time noted was 10.15 in the morning. Riboulet, Le Matin, 24 May 1933.

  p.166 “10th or 11th of September”: Le Petit Journal, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.167 “the assets belonged to me”: Le Gaulois, Le Journal, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.167 “a great, big trunk like this one”: Le Journal, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.168 “inside his velvet glove”: Le Petit Journal, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.168 “as she referred to Landru”: L’Echo de Paris, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.168 “My sister was murdered”: La Lanterne, 17 Nov 1921.

  p.169 “a superb pearl necklace”: L’Intransigeant, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.169 “I didn’t say that either!”: Le Siècle, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.169 “submerged like shipwrecks”: Le Gaulois, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.169 “dream of such a success”: L’Intransigeant, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.169 “Gilbert’s muddled pen portrait”: Le Journal, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.169 “any more than the others?”: Le Temps, 19 Nov 1921.

  p.170 “I cannot tell you at all”: Le Journal, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.170 “quietly and sadly”: Le Figaro, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.170 “turning towards the exit”: Le Journal, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.170 “One point, that’s al
l”: Le Journal, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.171 “to notify me in advance”: Le Gaulois, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.171 “caused a sensation”: Le Journal, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.171 “judged in champagne”: Le Populaire, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.171 “puts them in a hangar”: Le Journal, 18 Nov 1921.

  p.172 “double the court’s seating capacity”: L’Ouest-Éclair, 19 Nov 1921.

  p.172 “the Duke and Duchess of Valentinois”: Le Petit Journal, Le Petit Parisien, 19 Nov 1921.

  p.173 “45 Avenue des Ternes”: Le Petit Parisien, 19 Nov 1921.

  p.173 “further investigations immediately”: Le Petit Parisien, L’Homme Libre, 19 Nov 1921.

  p.173 “Landru remarked dismissively”: Le Journal, 19 Nov 1921.

  p.174 “in another hand to read ‘19 April’”: Annette Pascal letter to Louise Fauchet, 5 April 1918 [redated 19 April], Yvelines Archives, Carton 1373W2/569.

  p.174 “fetched a much higher price”: La Lanterne, L’Echo de Paris, 19 Nov 1921.

  p.175 “‘Murderer!’”: Le Petit Journal, Le Journal, 19 Nov 1921.

  p.175 “a loud ‘mezzo-soprano’ voice”: Le Petit Journal, 19 Nov 1921.

  p.175 “his hands around her neck”: “Déclaration de Mme Carbonnel”, 10 Feb 1920, Yvelines Archives, Carton 2U770/3570, Dossier Pascal.

  p.175 “the feminine attraction to horror”: Le Gaulois, 19 Nov 1921. Geley, who was a qualified medical doctor, also believed in reincarnation.

  p.176 “like a compass needle”: Le Journal, 20 Nov 1921.

  p.176 “‘psychological studies’”: Le Gaulois, 20 Nov 1921.

  p.176 “presenting myself to the police?”: Le Gaulois, 20 Nov 1921.

  p.177 “her career as a prostitute”: Le Journal, 20 Jan 1921.

  p.177 “they were open for business”: Le Journal, 20 Jan 1921.

  p.177 “gasps from the audience”: Le Gaulois, 20 Jan 1921.

  p.177 “a nuisance to her”: Le Figaro, 20 Jan 1921.

  p.177 “‘not to betray their sentiments’ about the case”: Le Journal, 20 Nov 1921.