Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris (53 page)

  1
“I realized”
Simone de Beauvoir,
The Prime of Life
, translated by Peter Green (London: Penguin Books, 1988), 13.

  2
Sartre’s friend Jean Paulhan joked
Annie Cohen-Solal,
Sartre: A Life
, translated by Anna Cancogni (New York, Pantheon Books, 1987), 187.

  3
“the strongest heterosexual”
Ronald Aronson,
Camus & Sartre: The Story of a Friendship and the Quarrel That Ended It
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2004), 20.

  4
“We were like”
Ibid.

  5
“Imagine what she”
Olivier Todd,
Camus: A Life
, translated by Benjamin Ivry (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1997), 231.

  6
“He has no right”
French police report printed in Pascal Bonafoux,
“Picasso, Français?”: Questions sur la naturalisation de l’artiste
, in Bruno Fuligni, ed.,
Dans les secrets de la police: quatre siècles d’histoire, de crimes et de faits divers dans les archives de la Préfecture de police
(Paris: L’Iconoclaste, 2008), 230–231. See also
Pablo Picasso: dossiers de la préfecture de police, 1901–1940
by Pierre Daix and Armand Israël (Moudon, Switzerland: Editions Acatos, 2003).

  7
“Very illegally”
Maurice Toesca,
Cinq ans de patience 1939–1944
(Paris: É. Paul, 1975), 179.

  8
stacks of manuscripts
Gerhard Heller,
Un allemand à Paris 1940–1944
(Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1981), 26–28.

  9
heart beating with excitement
Ibid., 117–118, his first visit to Picasso, June 1942.

10
the drab palette
Pierre Cabanne,
Pablo Picasso: His Life and Times
(New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1977), 343.

11
a roadside restaurant
Georges Massu,
L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle
(Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 87; time and placement of the stop in police report, March 14, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.

12
“roasted barley”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 88.

13
Maurice Petiot was not there
He is invariably placed in the shop, but the Brigade Criminelle report indicates he was not, March 14, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I. Other reports, along with interviews with Maurice cited below, confirm the fact.

14
thirty-one-year-old
Monique would turn thirty-one in nine days.

15
“the most extraordinary” Le Matin
, March 23, 1944.

16
Albert Neuhausen
Report April 6, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.

17
“We spoke of things”
Report, March 13, 1944; APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.

18
a black skirt Paris-Matin
, March 15, 1944.

19
a few locks Le Petit Parisien
, March 16, 1944.

20
before collapsing
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 90–91.

21
One young man
Ibid.
Le Matin
, March 15, 1944.

22
Maurice, who had been apprehended
Report, March 24, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.

23
“short sobs”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 91, and Report, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.

  1
“the intrusion of”
Georges Massu,
Aveux Quai des Orfèvres. Souvenirs du Commissaire Massu
(Paris: La Tour Pointue, undated/1951), 28–29.

  2
Massu stalled
Georges Massu,
L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle
(Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 94.

  3
two million bicycles
Gilles Perrault and Pierre Azéma,
Paris Under the Occupation
(New York: The Vendome Press, 1989), 41.

  4
“Well, Madame Petiot”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 94.

  5
“I must say”
Georgette Petiot,
Audition
, March 14, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  6
in a low, barely audible
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 94–95.

  7
“old books and antiquities” … one hour and a half later
Georgette Petiot,
Audition
, March 14, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  8
Raymonde Hanss
Report, June 18, 1936, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.

  9
“Pull yourself” … “Perhaps rue des Lombards?”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 96–102;
Le Petit Parisien
, March 16, 1944; Report, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.

10
Wives of criminals … In which category
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 91.

11
“a little chill” … “I have never known”
Maurice Petiot,
Audition
, March 14, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  1
“Paris had been”
Jean-Paul Sartre, “Paris Under the Occupation,” originally published in
La France libre
(1945), and reprinted in
The Aftermath of War
(Situations III), translated by Chris Turner (New York: Seagull Books, 2008), 22. Turner has a slightly different translation.

  2
Potatoes were peeled
Lucie Aubrac,
Outwitting the Gestapo
, translated by Konrad Bieber, with the assistance of Betsy Wing (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993), 19.

  3
Wartime diets in France
Julian Jackson,
France: The Dark Years 1940–1944
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 233. A possible exception, of course, was Italy. Robert O. Paxton,
Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), 360. Paxton also thinks that France was worse off than “Eastern Europe, Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia.”

  4
the “ballet of buds”
Georges Massu,
L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle
(Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 130.

  5
“Did she confess?”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 103.

  6
“Gentlemen” … “Simple mania”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 131, 103–106.

  7
“Assassins!” Le Petit Parisien
, March 16, 1944.

  8
Georgette Petiot was driven
Report March 20, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.

  9
Georgette’s father
Report, February 6, 1945, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.

10
“humming, whistling, and”
Jean-François Dominique,
L’affaire Petiot: médecin, marron, gestapiste, guillotiné pour au moins vingt-sept assassinats
(Paris: Éditions Ramsay, 1980), 45.

11
“love the people”
Dominique,
L’affaire Petiot
, 58.

12
“Drain Petiot”
John V. Grombach,
The Great Liquidator
(New York: Zebra Books, 1980), 78.

13
“It’s a vile political”
Claude Barret,
L’affaire Petiot
(Paris: Gallimard, 1958), 44.

14
twenty-one residents
Report, March 18, 1944; APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.

15
According to Alicot
Report, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II. The stays, from September 11, 1940, to February 22, 1944, are listed, with room numbers, in a Brigade Criminelle report two days later, also in carton n° II. See also René Kraemer’s interview with Madame Alicot in
Le Matin
, March 28, 1944.

  1
“Dr. Petiot was”
René Piédelièvre,
Souvenirs d’un médecin légiste
(Paris: Flammarion, 1966), 78.

  2
young and beautiful
Sylvie Givaudan, Marseille Police Report, March 28, 1944, APP, Série J, Affaire Petiot, carton n° I. See also
Paris-Soir
, March 20, 1944, and
Le Parisien
of the same day.

  3
Joséphine Aimée Grippay
Grippay is “Josephine G” in Georges Massu,
L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle
(Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 137–143.

  4
“It was good”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 138.

  5
“La Chinoise”
Marseille Police, March 28, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.

  6
By the time
Piereschi police record, forwarded from Marseille, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I. He is “P” in Massu’s memoir.

  7
“sunny farmhouse”
Fabienne Jamet,
One Two Two: [122 rue de Provence]
(Paris: O. Orban, 1975), translated by Derek Coltman as
Palace of Sweet Sin
(London: W.H. Allen, 1977), 10–11.

  8
Petiot had drawn
APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.

  9
“the same reasons”
Report, May 20, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.

10
“nearly all the drug addicts”
Report, June 29, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.

11
“It is through” … “pinch nipples”
Jean-François Dominique,
L’affaire Petiot: médecin, marron, gestapiste, guillotiné pour au moins vingt-sept assassinats
(Paris: Éditions Ramsay, 1980), 31.

12
“All human preoccupations” … “a foul muddle”
Piédelièvre
Souvenirs
, 11, 73–79.

13
clearly after the skin Premier Rapport préliminaire et succinct
, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

14
“The smallest testimony”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 145.

15
“Would you please” … “It is for you to prove”
Maurice Petiot,
Audition
, March 15, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

16
“He told me it” Enquête Auxerre
, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

17
“Have you seen any lime”
Maurice Petiot,
Audition
, March 15, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

18
Maurice hesitated
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 111.

19
“the electrical material” … “I should tell you”
Maurice Petiot,
Nouvelle Audition
, March 15, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

20
“As long as”
Massu
L’enquête Petiot
, 114.

21
Maurice Petiot, protesting Le Petit Parisien
, March 17, 1944.

22
That night, he and Bernard discussed
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 114–116.

  1
a success popularized
Stephen G. Michaud with Roy Hazelwood,
The Evil That Men Do: FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood’s Journey into the Minds of Sexual Predators
(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998), 6.

  2
“homicidal triad”
John Douglas and Mark Olshaker,
Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit
(New York: Pocket Books, 1995), 105.

  3
the third was
The fire and suspicions of Dr. Petiot, Inspector Hernis report, March 22, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.

  4
Detectives searched banks
Report, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  5
staking out the auction houses
Surveillance report, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.

  6
“I have never noticed anything”
Marie Le Roux,
Audition
, March 13, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  7
“nothing suspicious” Transport et Perquisition
, March 15, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  8
to “kill the bugs”
Maurice Petiot,
Nouvelle Audition
, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  9
“Goodbye arrogance”
Georges Massu,
L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle
(Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 118.

10
“My brother did not” … “I wanted to know”
Maurice Petiot,
Nouvelle Audition
, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

11
as Massu soon learned
Report, March 24, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° IV.

12
“I am convinced”
Albert Massui,
Le cas du Dr Petiot
(Brussels: E.D.C., 1944), 56.

  1
Monster of rue Le Sueur
Variants were also used, particularly the
“Vampire de l’Etoile” (Le Petit Parisien
, March 23, 1944) and
“Vampire de la rue le Sueur” (Le Petit Parisien
, March 29, 1944).

  2
the Werewolf of Paris Chicago Daily Tribune
, April 10, 1946.

  3
In the métro Paris-Soir
, March 25, 1944.

  4
scalping Le Cri du Peuple
, March 26, 1944.

  5
The police Le Cri du Peuple
, April 8–10, 1944.

  6
“Satan in person”
A reporter for
Le Matin
heard similar comments, March 18–19, 1944.

  7
A psychic claimed
Letter, March 22, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.

  8
on a country road in Yonne
Or, in a variant form, in the river, though this was proved false, the
New York Times
reported, March 25, 1944.

  9
“If Petiot is still alive”
Georges Massu,
L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle
(Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 238.

10
Fifty thousand concierges
Maurice Toesca,
Cinq ans de patience 1939–1944
(Paris: É. Paul, 1975), entry dated March 12, 1944, 218.

11
A man in Orléans Le Petit Parisien
, March 20, 1944. There is also a police report from Orléans of a sighting about this time in Report, March 17, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

12
“Pity”
Albert Massui,
Le cas du Dr Petiot
(Brussels: E.D.C., 1944), 59.

13
“freemason brothers” Paris-Soir
, April 1, 1944.

14
“It is a myth”
March 29, 1944, Léon Werth,
Déposition: Journal 1940–1944
(Paris: Viviane Hamy, 2000), 594.

15
“Petiot, he runs”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 238.

16
“fatal injections” … “crowded war news” Time
, March 27, 1944. The author of the piece also noted the belief that Petiot was a fabrication.

17
“Madame, your bones”
Jean-Marc Varaut,
L’abominable Dr. Petiot
(Paris: Balland, 1974), 160.

18
“real-life equivalent” St. Petersburg Times
, May 28, 1944.

19
“Will Dr Petiot” Paris-Soir
, March 18, 1944.

20
“Who would have believed”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 75–76.

21
about nine fifteen or nine twenty Verification
, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III; Maria Vic,
Audition
, March 24, 1944, also in n° III.

22
“Burn the papers!”
Report, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

23
purchased about three hundred kilos
Report, March 19, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

24
Redouté would later
Georges Redouté,
Audition
, November 4, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.

25
The concierge
Report, November 4, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.

26
“only went out”
Ibid.

27
If only, he mused … “impatient as a young dog”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 56, 58, 60–61, and 74.

28
“debris of bones” Le Matin
, March 22, 1944.

29
Massu said that he knew
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 152.

30
“field of vision”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 132.

31
“reduced to hypotheses”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 153.

32
“at the level of the neck”
Report, August 31, 1942, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

33
“trace of violence”
Ibid.

34
two human hands
Police report of Courbevoie, August 22, 1942, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

35
“a man of the lecture hall” Le Petit Parisien
, March 22, 1944.

36
“We forensic scientists”
Ibid.

37
four thighs alone
Report, November 19, 1942, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

38
“a storm cloud of mosquitoes”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 154.

39
“Is it tomorrow”
Massu,
L’enquête Petiot
, 156.