Fantômas · Chapter
The Hunt for the Man explained
Examining magistrate M.
What happens
Examining magistrate M. de Presles arrives at the château of Beaulieu to investigate the murder of the Marquise de Langrune. He interviews the steward Dollon and the police sergeant, examines the crime scene, and begins his preliminary enquiry, noting the violent nature of the wounds and the forced bolt on the bedroom door. He learns the layout of the château and the sleeping arrangements on the night of the murder, concluding that the killer likely entered by force and that no one in the house appears to be the culprit.
Themes in this chapter
Crime and Justice
The chapter focuses on the initial investigation of a brutal murder, highlighting the magistrate's methods, the collection of evidence, and the search for the perpetrator.
Fear and Terror
The violent nature of the crime—the 'appalling wound' and the 'fury of the murderer'—evokes a sense of horror and fear, amplified by the locked-room mystery.
Characters to notice
- M. de Presles
The examining magistrate in charge of the Court at Brives, arrives at Beaulieu to investigate the murder. He is young, fashionable, and ambitious, eager to prove his skills.
- M. Dollon
The steward of the château, who discovered the Marquise's body and provides detailed information about the household and the crime scene.
- Marquise de Langrune
The victim, found dead in her bedroom with a severe throat wound. The chapter describes the scene of her murder and the condition of her body.
- Thérèse Auvernois
The Marquise's granddaughter, who was in the house at the time of the crime but is too upset to be questioned immediately.
- Charles Rambert
A guest at the château, also too distressed to be examined right away; he had gone to meet his father at the station on the morning of the discovery.
- Etienne Rambert
Arrived at the château after the crime, so he cannot provide useful information about the murder.
Key passages
“The magistrate was a young, fashionable, and rather aristocratic man of the world, whose grievance it was to be tied down to work that was mechanical rather than intellectual.”
M. de Presles is a stylish, upper-class young man who dislikes the routine aspects of his job.
Introduces the magistrate's character and his ambition to escape provincial work.
“The murder certainly was committed with peculiarly horrible violence, sir... The wounds are shocking.”
The police sergeant describes the murder as exceptionally brutal and the injuries as horrifying.
Emphasizes the extreme violence of the crime.
“The bolt inside Mme. de Langrune’s bedroom door has been wrenched away: that means that the murderer made his entrance by that door, and made it by force.”
The forced bolt on the bedroom door indicates the killer broke in through that entrance.
Key clue in the investigation, suggesting forced entry.