True Stories of Crime From the District Attorney's Office

red Milli

and the language of the Gironde, he will tell you with a shrug of his broad shoulders that he might have been a Monte Cristo had not le bon Dieu willed it otherwise. For did he not almost have five hundred million dollars-two and a half milliards of francs-in his very hands? Hein? But he did! Does M'sieu' have doubts? Neverthel

straight, green, trellised alleys. A dim haze hangs over the landscape sleeping so quietly in the midsummer afternoon. Down the road comes heavily, creaking and swaying,

where she is superintending dinner. The Tessiers have always lived in Bordeaux and they are connected by marriage with everybody-from the blacksmith up to the Mayor's notary. Once a Tessier was Mayor himself. Year

ane, and stopped before the house to ask if one of the descendants of a certain Jean Tessier did not live hereabouts. He was fat and red-faced, and he perspired,

e himself that he might have credit with Madame, else she might hardly listen to his story, for there had never been a tale like it before since the world was. Let him present himself-M. le Général Pedro Suarez de Moreno, Count de Tinoco and M

shrugs his shoulders as he recalls the scene-the apoplectic General, with the glass of wine in

ft somewhat indefinite, but the Lapierres were not particular. So many distinguished persons had played a part in the drama that the recital left but a vague impression as to individuals. A certain Madame Luchia, widow of one Roquefailaire, whom he had accidentally met, had apparently been the instrument of Providence in disclosing the history of Jean Tessier to the General. She herself had be

re-and no less! Then he once more t

an, also from Bordeaux, who had plotted to rob him of his estate, and the better to accomplish his purpose had entered the millionaire's employ. When Tessier died, in 1884, Lespinasse had seized his papers and the property, destroyed his will, dispersed the clerks, secreta

mocles over their heads, suspended by a single thread, and the General had the knife wherewith to cut it. Lespinasse, among other things, had caused the murder of the husband of Madame Luchia, an

ile the narrative was fresh and he might have had to answer questions about it had he given his listeners opportunity to ask them, he had hastily told of a visit to Tunis. There he had by chance encountered Marie Louise, the daughter of Lespinasse, living with her noble husband in a "handsome Oriental palace," had been invited to dine with them and had afterward seized the occasion while "walking in the garden" with the lady to disclose the fact that he knew all, and had it in his power to ruin them as impostors. Marie Louise had been frightfully angry, but afterward her bette

More than that, they were convinced-persuaded that they were heirs to the richest in

was made out with the share of each in the inheritance carefully computed. Madame Lapierre's was only fifty million dollars-but still that was almost enough to buy up Bordeaux. And they co

the other heirs. There was M. Pettit, the veterinary at Mormand; Tessier, the blacksmith in Bordeaux; M. Pelegue and his wife, M. Rozier, M. Cazenava and his son, and others. One branch of

to the spies of the impostor Lespinasse to fabricate new chains of title or to prepare for a defense of the fortune. The little blacksmith, being addicted to white wine, was the only one who did not keep his head. But even he managed to hold his mouth sufficiently shut. A family council was held;

one can!" cried the blac

as ours already

ier of the Order of Jiminez would die rather than fail in his mission. Besides," she added

sight the General waved encouragi

ghts his pipe, "even you would have believed him.

cross the vineyard, laughing scornfully at good M. Lapierre, a

d come, she explained, from France to take possession of the inheritance Tessier. She was a personal friend of Madame Lapierre, and as the Tessiers had exhausted all their money in paying the expenses connected with securing the fortune, she, being a well-to-do gentlewoman, had come to their assistance, and for the last few months had been financing the enterprise on a fifteen per cent. basis. If Madame Lapierre was to receive ten million dollars, then, to be sure, Madame Reddon would have one million five hundred thouand dollars; but, of course, it was not for the money, but on account of friendship, that she was aiding the

person could this General Moreno be, who could hypnotize a hard-headed, thrifty farmer from the Gironde and a clever little French woman from Bordeaux into believing that five hundred million dollars was waiting for them on the other side of the Atlantic! I expressed my surprise.

erre had introduced him to her, and she had heard him talk. How beautifully he talked! The stories of his experiences as General of the armies of Spain under Don Carlos and as Brigadier-General in the Philippines were as fascinating as a romance. But it was his letters which had really led her to t

25,

r M. L

tor, who is nothing but a stupid fool, left me helpless almost the entire day.... If ever I should have dreamt what would occur to me in this trip, not for all the gold in the world would I have embarked. But, now that I am here, I shall not retreat before any obstacle, in order to arrive at the fulfillment of my enterprise, and no matt

dev

S. de

nd observe him falling down t

oici une

11,

an La

heritance Tessier. Without a doubt some person who is interested in the case has already advised them

aint Magdalene in Paris. To-day it is the biggest bank in New York. I have visited it from top to bottom, ascending and descending in steel elevators. This is a marvelous palace; it is wort

ing to him, which are worth millions

of Tuxpan, in Mexico, to visit the properties stolen from the heirs. I have come to an understanding with the Reverend Father Van Rensselaer, Father Superior of the Jesuits, and have off

ore than twenty million dollars.... I have great confidence in my success, and I am almost s

nd I expect soon my complete convalescence, but the devil has bestowed upon me a toothache

my regards to your wife and son,

S. DE

million toothaches!" exclaims Lapierre, for

f the house that covered an entire block had caused a veritable sensation. Alas! those wonders are still wonders to them, and they still, I fancy, more than half believe in them. T

ans. "Wonderful coincidence," he writes, "they were all living quietly and I believe had no intention whatever to travel, and two days after my arrival in New York they all disappeared. The most suspicious of it all is that the banker, his wife and children had left for Coney Island for the summer and to spend their holidays, and certainly they disappeared without saying good-by to their intimate friends.... I have the whole history of Tessier's life and how he made his

PERSONAL ESTA

Central Park

k, of the value

the National

-deposited i

million

drew anyth

always deposi

25,000

use on Broad

wenty-five s

ank in New Yo

on Fifth Ave

ral Park, t

otels of Ne

8,000,

fth Avenue, N

rk, to-day

andsomest

e the greate

p--Hotel Netherl

at Folkustung in

um mine in

rontier) 6

silver min

10,00

at Tuxpan an

o 15,

sure home a

Orleans) in

sland 5

which covers

umber becau

is an imm

and garden

scades and

ral Park 12

of houses on

ing on this

as all these

e had put

d houses, th

lock 30,

owner of two

of others in

da 40,00

team and sail

lvania and

names 100,

d a quay of

the Brookl

s 130,00

lues and debt

h had not been co

-----

555,0

n francs 1

per cen

----

francs 1,

as I listen as politely as possible t

nor imagine the expense which I have had to discover that which I have discovered. I cannot live here like a miser, for the part I represent demands much of me. Every moment I change my residence, and that costs money." He adds a little touch of detail. "I must always be dressed pr

M'sieu' care to see the album of the Tessier propert

vered blank book in which are pasted small photographs and woodcut

ordeaux we were on the point of giving up in despair, but the pictures convinced us that it was all true. Moreover, just at that

ced that I am not for sale, not for anything.... To my regret, my very great regret, I shall be forced to

n paper, bound together at the edges by strips of heavier material. This, when unfolded, stretches entirely across th

ES IN

to New Orleans

o Florida ...

n train ....

n Florida ...

Coney Island .

to Florida ..

om Florida to N

y ........

to New York ...

Vera Cruz ...

to Tuxpan ...

Vera Cruz ...

night trip

ia, via B

lls ......

or three months

.,

DINARY

t John, a meer

and pipe ....

hell and silver

r South-Go, a

f shoes ....

agent of confi

ghter, a go

n ........

r himself an

tone for the ne

r-carrier to

ce and not g

should change

o the Consul

ngton hotel ...

ations to caf

Agents .....

to old emplo

o tear fro

ns .......

nses ......

matches, Jul

ges each we

.......

ls to lead as

stors .....

.,

gly and to have lots of patience. Court proceedings will be useless, as trickery and lies

" interpolates Lapierre.

drawn so that the fish will not be able to escape.... For an office like this one needs money-money to go quickly from one place to another, prosecute the usurpers, not allow th

s he suffers all sorts of terrible bodily afflictions. Whenever the remitta

mith"-arrived to make a bona fide offer of one hundred and fifty million dollars in settlement of the case. The General writes at great length as to exactly

rrival here. Send me my baggage at once with the first steamer, and mark each piece "fragile." Th

S. DE

remely weary of sending him money. Each heir felt that he had contributed enough toward the General's "expenses

ructing Lapierre to repair immediately to Paris. The messenger explained that the presence of Lapierre was desired at the Ministry in connecti

eral's assertions. But, just as the latter had intended, perhaps, the worthy farmer jumped

m recommending that I leave at once. I shall write you from Paris all that I learn to your interest. If this letter should not reach you sealed in

or his wife's share in the Tessier inheritance. This person also claimed that he had a power of attorney from all the other heirs, with the exception of Pettit and Rozier, and asserted that he was on the point of embarking for New York in their interest.

with whom we can only have cause to be satisfied, so that your services

ere not only exerting their influence to prevent the rightful heirs from obtaining their property, but had also in some way secured the cooperation of government officials. It was agreed, on all hands, that the worthy

where they were met on the dock by the General, who, freshly barbered, and with a rose in his buttonhole, invited

he Holland House, the Waldorf-Astoria, the Vanderbilt mansion at Fifty-seventh Street and Fifth Avenue, the Hotel Savoy and the Hotel Netherland, incidentally taking a cross-town trip to the ferry station at East Twenty-third Street, and to Bellevue Hospital. A public omnibus conveyed them around Central Park-also their own. And, i

f a somewhat dilapidated leather trunk, which contained a paper alleged to be the will of Jean Tessier, made in Bellevue Hospital (one of his possessions), and unlawfull

th," was constantly adjourned; the "police agents," whom it had been so necessary to entertain and invite to saloons and cafés, were strangely absent, and so were the counsellors, Jesuit Fathers, bankers, and others who had crowded the General's antechambers. A slatternly Hibernian woman app

reatingly before her, "we have come to seek vengeance upon this misérable! This villai

the money was my own money, which I ha

rmies of the Philippines and of Spain, sat at the bar of the General Sessions, twirling his mustache and uttering lou

the "Prince of Arras," from whom he was descended, and that he was in very truth "General-in-Chief of the Armies of the King of Spain, General Secretary of War, and Custodian of the Royal Seal." He admitted telling the Lapierres that they were the heirs of five hundred million dollars, but he had himself honestly believed it

neral between them. The top tray proved to contain thousands of railroad t

rs' War of '75 and also in Catalonia in '80, I issued these tickets to wounded soldiers for their return home.

n French-not in Spanish. The prisoner seemed greatly surprised and muttered under his breath vaguely about "plo

ared to be the royal seal. These the General asserted that he had the right to confer, by proxy, for his "King Don Carlos." Hund

hom I was the chief, I had the right to put thereon the royal imprint of Don Carlos. I was given all the papers inc

the legitimate arms of Spain and not those of Don Carlos, and as a finale he ing

hese, he asserted, must have been placed there by his enemies. "I am a soldier and a general of honor, an

that the inheritance Tessier did not exist he had conceived the idea of making a novel of the story-a "fantastic history"-to be published "i

n elderly French woman arose in the audience and came to the bar. The General turned first pal

come home to roost. The pointed mustaches drooped with an unmistakable look of dejection, and as he marched back to his seat his shoulders no longer had the air of military distinction

n comfort, and she had borne him eight children. He had never been to any war and was neither a general nor, so far as she had known, a friend of Don Carlos. She had supposed that her husband held some position in connection with the inspection of railroads, but, in 1902, it had come out that he was in the business of selling counterfeit railroad tickets, and had employed a printer named Paul Casignol to print great numbers of third-class tickets for the purpose of selling them to ignorant soldiers and artisans. Moreno had fled to America. She h

*

of. Is one to be blamed that one is fooled? Hein! We are all made fools of once and again, and, as I said before, he would have deceived the devil himself. But perhaps things are better as they are. Money