“wild, perverse
...” A French
e and Death Classic
of the 1950s is recalled by
Y JORDAN
Right, Pauline on the cover of a French
detective magazine in October 1953close it behind him and disappear into
the courtyard.
The girl dropped some money on the
table and left the tavern. She crossed
the street, opened the lattice gate and
entered the house behind it. That was
the last anybody saw of her.
Half an hour later a cab pulled up
before the gate and a young man
leaped out and raced into the house.
In a matter of minutes Paris policeheadquarters heard from him.
Phoning in a breathless voice, he
gave his name: Bernard Marsan. That
morning, he said, his friend Felix Bailly
called him on the phone, urging him to
come over right away.
By the time Marsan had dressed,
hunted up a cab and travelled across
town, nearly an hour had passed. He
rang Felix’s bell, pounded on the door,
but got no answer.“I know Felix hadreason to fear someone,’’ Marsan told
the officer at headquarters.
“That was why he wanted me to be
with him. And now I fear something has
happened to him. He doesn’t answer the
door and there’s a strong smell of gas
coming from the apartment.’’
The police sent the fire brigade and
two detectives. The firemen battered
down the door. The gas was thick, and
on the floor of the kitchen, where gas