Story summary
Samenvatting van De zaak-Lerouge
- 8 min. leestijd
- 10 parts
- Binnenkort te beluisteren
A widow lies dead in the ashes at La Jonchère, and an old amateur detective reads small traces in her cottage.
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De zaak-Lerouge in het kort
Samenvatting: 8 min leestijd
- Leestijd
- Ongeveer 8 h 20 min6 h 35 min fast, 9 h 55 min slow
- Lengte
- 118.800 woorden
- Bibliotheekniveau
- Gemiddeld longer sentences, everyday words
- Voor het eerst verschenen
- 1865by Émile Gaboriau
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Hoelang het duurt om de klassiekers te lezen · Bijgewerkt
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De zaak-Lerouge in short
The Lerouge Case follows one murder from a muddy lane to the highest drawing rooms of Paris. The police read the scene in two ways. Gévrol hunts a rough man in a smock.
What De zaak-Lerouge is about
Two days after Shrove Tuesday in 1862, five women from La Jonchère go to the police in Bougival. Their neighbor, the widow Lerouge, has not been seen for two days. The police find her cottage smashed and the widow dead in the ashes of her hearth. Who killed her, and why was gold left lying in a drawer?
The Lerouge Case, by Émile Gaboriau, gave the detective story much of its working method. Gaboriau puts the police, a magistrate and a young lawyer in one story and lets you watch them think. You meet Gévrol, the stubborn police chief, and Father Tabaret, a retired pawnshop clerk who hunts criminals for the joy of it. You also learn how evidence is read, and how easily it misleads honest people.
Voor wie is het?. This book suits readers who love a puzzle with fair clues, fans of early detective fiction, and anyone curious about how Paris police and magistrates worked under Napoleon the Third.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A quiet village finds a woman dead
On Thursday, March 6, 1862, five women tell the police commissioner in Bougival that the widow Lerouge has not been seen for two days. He resists at first, because serious crime is rare in this river village. They press him until he sends for a gendarme and a locksmith.
A boy finds an enormous key in a ditch, and it fits her door. Inside, the drawers and cabinets are forced open and smashed. The widow lies face down by the fireplace with two wounds in her back.
Questioning neighbors tells little. She came two years earlier with furniture and belongings, but never spoke of her past or family. Nobody knew where her money came from. A boy says a short, fat man with large earrings sent him to a boat with a message, and the village whispers about a tall, dark man in a smock.
A murder scene first asks what is missing from a life, not only what is missing from a room.
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Gévrol and Daburon read the scene differently
The examining magistrate, M. Daburon, arrives with Gévrol, chief of the security police.
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Father Tabaret reads the room like a book
Father Tabaret is about sixty, short, stooped and comically dressed, with a huge gold chain.
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Tabaret's strange past explains his passion
On the train back to Paris, Daburon asks Tabaret how he came to this work.
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A lawyer's secret opens the widow's past
That evening Tabaret finds the Gerdy household shaken.
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The magistrate's old wound makes him a poor judge
Tabaret goes at once to Daburon and names the culprit he believes in, Viscount Albert de Commarin.
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A proud count faces the son he made
Count de Commarin returns from a bad trip abroad.
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The evidence closes round the viscount
Police arrive at half past nine at the Commarin mansion.
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Names, money and love decide who these people are
The book keeps asking what makes a person who he is.
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How the story is told and why it still works
Gaboriau tells the story against a busy Paris of trains, newspapers and telegraphs.
Read all 10 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Father Tabaret Retired pawnshop clerk and rich amateur detective, nicknamed Tirauclair, who reads crime scenes closely and wants to prove his method right.
- M. Daburon Examining magistrate, careful and sad, who wants certainty before accusing anyone but is haunted by an old love.
- Gévrol Proud chief of the security police with a memory for faces, who clings to his first theory of the crime.
- Lecoq Gévrol's sharp young aide, a former convict, who admires old Tabaret and enjoys annoying his chief.
- Noël Gerdy Ambitious young Paris lawyer with a secret claim to a great name and a costly love for Juliette.
- Viscount Albert de Commarin Heir of a great house who loves Claire d'Arlange and is willing to give up his name for justice.
- Count de Commarin Proud old nobleman who values his family name above all and carries a guilty secret from his youth.
- Claire d'Arlange Poor, fierce granddaughter of a marquise, who wants only to marry Albert and will defend him against all.
How it ends (spoiler)
Noël murders Claudine to advance his claim and shows Albert selected letters as a precaution, hoping any investigation will pursue an imaginary villain. Cornered by the police, Noël shoots himself, confesses as he dies and leaves his money to Juliette. Albert is freed, the count recovers some peace, and Albert marries Claire. Daburon, who gave up the case, resigns his post.
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Vragen over De zaak-Lerouge
What is The Lerouge Case about?
It follows the murder of a widow in the village of La Jonchère in 1862 and the investigation by a police chief, an examining magistrate and an amateur detective. The case soon involves a noble family and a lawyer.
Who is Father Tabaret in The Lerouge Case?
He is a retired pawnshop clerk and rich collector of police memoirs who investigates crimes for pleasure. Police call him Tirauclair. He reads small traces closely and works with the magistrate Daburon.
Is The Lerouge Case a true story?
No, it is a novel, though Gaboriau drew on real police methods and Paris life. It was written in the 1860s and is often called one of the first modern detective novels.
Is The Lerouge Case easy to read?
Its short, lively scenes, vivid characters and clear clue-hunting make it approachable. Dialogue drives most chapters, and each section builds a new question that keeps you turning the page.
What is the main message of The Lerouge Case?
It shows that evidence can mislead when people trust a neat theory too early. It also asks how much a name, money and class decide a person's fate, and why a judge must watch his own feelings.
Verwijs naar deze uitgave
Gaboriau, Émile. The Lerouge Case. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lerouge-case.
Gaboriau, É. (2026). The Lerouge case. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lerouge-case (Original work published 1865)
Gaboriau, Émile. The Lerouge Case. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lerouge-case.
@book{gaboriau2026lerouge,
author = {Gaboriau, Émile},
title = {The Lerouge Case},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lerouge-case},
note = {First published 1865}
}
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