Original subtitles

Stop your childishness, Mademoiselle... I order you to return to my carriage, as

befits a person of your condition. I intend to marry you and married you will be...

Sold, you mean! To a bittern who is just as ugly as he is rich...

And what do you claim to be that gives you the right to balk at my authority?

Clémence de Villerbois de Martens, only daughter of Louis-Charles Étienne de Villerbois,

impecunious marquis and risky speculator in reversal of fortune...

Clémence, come back! Clemence…Come on! Come on ! Faster !

Slowly, slowly... Help! Help !

Well

, Madam, you almost broke your bones….

It doesn't matter if you break your bones, Sir, when you know my fate...

Whatever the seriousness, Madam, nothing shows on your admirable person...

But, and you- same, sir? Who are you ? Lord Giaccomo Petracci, descendant of the

Dukes and the high nobility of Siena... All the same, Madam: riding alone on

such an unsafe road... It's because I'm not

alone: ​​my father follows in a carriage... Stay there, Madam, I fear that you will

take some bad blows... Please?

Your cassette Monsignor. My tape? My jewels ? Never !

So, prepare to appear, my friend... No one is going to appear, my friend...

I'll buy the case from you... You'll buy me back? And otherwise ?

You are dead...

Dead, as you go... Your gold, if I want it, I will take it from your remains...

Are you forgetting that there are more of us?

I never forget anything...

Well, Sir, it seems that I owe you my life...

It seems, in fact...

Just as it seems to require as much panache as

presumption to hear a person arrested such a band all to itself...

See there only the mark of the blood which boils in my veins and those of my lineage...

As well as the ardent desire to oblige a good lady...

My father. .. Where is my father?

Madam, there is an old man in this carriage who is using a cassette against him which he refuses to

let go...Perhaps it is your father...The maraud

comes from Spain, whose language I understand well enough.

Chance is happy, but what does it say in Castilian?

Eh ? He talks about a

criminal, who we would call “the Claw”…

The Claw? The Claw is a bandit who has been raging for several years at the head of a hundred

men... He is said to be as organized as he is cruel, greedy and completely destitute...

We know who the Claw is, Sir!

If I believe what he says, it is indeed this Mr. La Griffe that you would have sent ad patres…

La Griffe, you say? It would seem...

This scoundrel, this thug, this obstinate rascal that all the Police Forces of Europe including

those of perfidious Albion, that is to say, were fighting over!! Fallen on the road to

Pithiviers in the net of my Police... My Police... Mine... My own police...

The King's police...Sir!

Mine...

Testus unus, testus nullus... Single witness, null witness...

I know Latin as well as you young and

bold Jesuit... For me, my religion is made...

No formal proof however... To hell with formalities... Where do your

prejudices come from, Nicolas? Information collected by you from a source that I intend to ignore,

an operation carried out masterfully... Yes, yes, I insist: masterfully...

Yes? Monsieur de

Villerbois! You, of whom we know neither the height of the lineage, nor the disinterestedness,

nor the privileged position that you hold with Monsieur de Saint-Florentin,

Minister of the King, I hope that you give to the action of this young and brilliant policeman

the luster she deserves... The Claw is dead! Besides, was there any reward

attached to his capture? Not that I know of....

So much the better, so much the better... You would have had to pay... Mr. de Villerbois...I'm

counting on your interpersonal skills! This Petracci who came to our

aid...his fortune...is his fortune assured? Nicholas?

If I judge by his appearance, his clothing... the weapons he displays, the horse he rides, the purse

of gold with which he intended to buy back your life... his fortune seems assured indeed...

I would have liked to thank him before going back.

So immediately take Monsieur

de Villerbois to this Petracci... And send for a messenger, so that he

can bring my report to the King without delay... Splendid blade, which you are displaying there...

Would you like some feel? Lord, Lord, thank you

for saving my only treasure in this world: my only daughter, whom I cherish more than anything!

I fear I was there for little...

Little! But as you go!

All the credit goes to Mr. Commissioner le Floch...

Nevertheless, Lord: I intend to have you as a guest this evening,

at my home and that of my daughter... But, I would not know, Sir, in abuse...

But, yes! You will know, Lord: you will know very well...

I do not forget that I am indebted to you for my most precious good: life!

You seem troubled, Nicolas... your mind as if agitated by a curious presentiment...

You have deceived me, Madam...

The opposite would be more satisfactory. When, please?

When you set me on the road to Pithiviers...

And what then? Was the information adulterated?

No point. Didn't the gang

act at the place indicated, at the crossroads known as the Croix de Samois?

Yes... But why on earth did you forget to tell me

that it was La Griffe's gang?

The claw !!!

Did you not know that?

Yes, I didn't know... Had I known, I would have hesitated to give it to you...

Is man so formidable that you seem to fear him even more than I do?

No, no, no, at all... Could he be dead?

It seems... He frequented your house, Madam, didn't he?

No. Had he done so, he would have been immediately rejected... I know my situation is very precarious

in your eyes and do not intend to risk providing assistance to such a criminal...

More than anything, your sense of Timely is worthy

of admiration Madam! Is not it ?

Which of your daughters would have collected the information you shared with me?

Amélie... A novice, so to speak... Well come, Madam, you and your novice...

Where then? What does the place matter, Madam, since

we are going there together... Where does this citizen come from?

From the Seine... Found naked at dawn in the nets of the Pont

Marie... Could it be that you know him?

Not to the point of knowing its name... It's because so many people pass through the Dauphin Crowned,

and whose face is not necessarily the main attraction... At this time I have a strong to do in my

house. Could we be taken back? Beautiful classic profile, however, and not

devoid of a certain nobility.

What can you tell me about it, Mademoiselle? I can tell you, Sir,

that you will have been told lies...

Please continue... It is indeed this man who, while

working, was talking with one of his associates about the affair of the Cross of Samois... However,

you have been played, Sir: I do not know who La Griffe is, but I can

assure you that it is not this man, since it is here from one of my practices...

How can you say this since you don't know La Griffe?

It's that I... I know that his name was Gaspard Leviel, known as Tricotin, and claimed to be a

meat wholesaler... but... But?

Is that all…Is that all?

That's all ! The Claw would not be the Claw!

Or at the very least, the one that was

presented to us as such... Some deception?

For which motive ?

Would you doubt Lord Giacomo Petracci?

Something about him rings false, right? His tickets appear to be in order, however...

Precisely, his readiness to justify his condition is in itself suspect... A

Lord does not justify himself, his arrogant manner is enough...

You made fun of me, my beautiful... Have you suddenly gone crazy?

I accepted out of sympathy that you and your brother should appear here... However,

my sympathy has limits. Do you know where to find it? Your brother,

do you know? I know it...

Go get him right now and tell him we need to talk... Right now!!!!

Go quickly ! And me ? And me in all this?

Readjust yourself and get out of here, you won't be a big loss...

It won't be said that my company leaves its customers in a sort of way...

Give, Sir, give that I satisfy you at the same time time that I myself...

Lord... Don't you have the feeling that you are going astray?

On the contrary, my dear... I have the one to get back on the right path...

Between my knees? Your knees? It's been a long

time since their frail defenses were taken away... We are no longer

at our knees, Madam... Ah... Lord.

I fear very much that you will not reach the limits of marriage intact...

It is because, in his incurable stupidity,

Mr. my Father had not stipulated in what state he intended to deliver me there...

What is what you say ?

We will be better off in my room...

I wonder what's stopping me from skewering you outright...

Perhaps the presence of this other blade, against your side...

How did you find me?

The coachman, my friend! The coachman of Monsieur de Villerbois, the one who

with so much complacency showed us his master's route.

The driver is now on our side. Any of your recent conquests?

Conquest yes, that's the word, although it was not achieved by force... However,

the girl impresses, as much by the vigor of her temperament as by her

lack of the slightest decency... And you, what do you want from me?

Me, nothing... Madame, on the other hand, is very furious and intends to see you immediately...

No! I accepted you out of kindness...

Kindness from which you have amply benefited!

It is enough, young insolent... You have satisfied me, just as much as

I have satisfied you, so we are even...

Only the most noble and disinterested sympathy has inclined me to tolerate you in my house...

A house that

we can rightly say is tolerant... You made your pelota there, one

by using its charms and the other, at the pharaoh, by playing and certainly cheating... It doesn't matter ...

Well ?

So, having seen you leave arm in arm with a golden practice

called Petracci, for what seemed to be some fine threesome... What

was my astonishment at the moment, discovering the body of the man,

naked as a hand on the slab of the Châtelet Morgue...

Would we have any suspicion? It doesn't seem so, but someone

else could come and recognize the individual and I don't intend

to be convinced of complicity... For now,

I'm chasing you both away and don't intend to see you reappear in these places...

You are chasing us... Do you even know who you are chasing?

My name is Jacques Torcy, ex-gunner to the King, child of a whore and the Devil...Better

known by the friendly nickname of La Griffe... Here you are brought back to the task,

you vile whore... J I understand that Suzon remains at post, because she has a convenient observatory here...

As for Petracci, have no fear... There, it's him!

Come on, let's go... Stop! Who lives ?

Hey, who goes there! Quickly over here! Guards on the attack

Ah! Gentlemen,

I fear we will have to leave! No doubt we must see in it the

beneficial influence of I don't know what celestial intervention, but Catherine is in a

delicious mood this morning: she gave me two milk rolls and a very creamy chocolate...

If this is Capua, at least it is roughly Byzantium...

About Capua, and please forgive the cock-and-the-ass...

You, whose functions as Royal Prosecutor have very often made it possible to touch the Foreign Affairs

... Do you know, or could you, on occasion,

inquire about a certain Giaccomo Petracci? Petracci? The name is not unknown to me,

in fact... I even seem to be able to give him a face...

And in your memory, did he have a scar above his right eye?

In my memory no, but he was a man at arms and perhaps...

Nicolas! At the Lieutenant General of Police, in a moment...

Sit down! Can we know what state of mind he is in?

A hound, a hound, who has just been shot and who,

since then, has been standing on his high horse... Thank you Catherine!... Can I?

Open, Mademoiselle, open, I intend to speak to you without delay...

Take me! I don't want to stay for another moment in this house where I'm being prostituted...

In the moment, scoundrel... In the moment, or I have it opened by force...

Take me away, I'll tell you beg!

Come ! Open up funny! Open! Come on, be

reasonable, my daughter...

For the last time: open! You will have wanted it like hell!

Ah! Damn it !

Looking forward to it! You were fooling around,

Nicolas, while last night, behind your back, someone broke into our premises...

I didn't know I was the guardian of the Châtelet, Monsieur.

We entered the Lower Jail... A small troop...

A round took place... We left two exempt people there,

but the thieves were forced to retreat, abandoning their loot on the spot...

That damn did we intend to steal it?

A body... A lifeless body just pulled from the water and that the kidnappers intended to

take away in a state of nature... Would that mean anything to you? I wait !

I don't know, La Paulet stopped in front of the body... Her

very evasive speech suggests that she knew him without knowing him...

Which, for a madam, is not

surprising. ... It's him ?

Yes… What can you tell us about it?

The body only shows the marks of old wounds, which betray

a past as a swashbuckler or a man at arms... On the other hand... This canal in the ear...

The wound is discreet but very deep. Awl, strong pin or stylus,

Your man has indeed been murdered...

The point is made... But why did you try to steal the remains?

I cannot tell you more, except that I am going to open

the body, which will certainly confirm this first examination...

Thank you.

Doesn't staying in water risk causing rapid decay of the flesh?

Certainly.

Would it be possible to preserve the appearance

by making a mask? Abducted, you say?

By this lord Petracci whom you yourself recommended...

Myself? Could this be? ... Who, not content with having supped

at my table and drunk more than was reasonable, did not delay in suborning the young lady of Villerbois,

whom he seized this morning by force and led her out

by climbing over the window... By force, devil!!

Sir, the drowned man turns out to be a homicide.

I have to talk to you about another kind of crime, Mr. Commissioner...

Sir, this anonymous victim deserves our full attention.

Mr. Commissioner, your Petracci seems to have acted up...

My Petracci?

A noble and virgin young girl, a person of great lineage, kidnapped this morning... By

your gandin... All affairs ceasing, you will be eager to transport yourself to Monsieur de

Villerbois, in order to carry out the findings in his presence usual... Monsieur de Villerbois,

my policy and my person are entirely yours... My time, alas, is not...

Monsieur... This note is the one that

the man presented to justify his identity and the height of his rank... The Claw...

So, your reluctance was justified...

The man would therefore have entered here through the door as Petracci and left through the

window as The Claw ... The method is very picturesque...

No trace of struggle... nothing that testifies to violence other than love and consent...

If I judge by what I know of this La Griffe, wait for it, that the affair

is costing you dear... Costing me dear?

This cassette that you clutched so tightly to your heart, on the road to Pithiviers...

I can bet that it won't be long before they ask you back for it - if necessary, sword in hand!

A token bearing the image of the Crowned Dauphin... I just found it in

young Clémence's room. I doubt it belongs to her.

The stakes must be high for La Paulet to have dared to defy my wrath...

Let's disguise a few exempt people and place them discreetly around the Crowned Dauphin,

so that neither Lady Paulet nor the novice Amélie can escape our vigilance...

Monsieur le Marquis...A note for you! Your master, the Lieutenant General of Police,

informed me of the place where to find you... Does the person have to be of noble origin,

for Monsieur de Sartine to facilitate their designs...

She is, in effect... Return to Châtelet and take care

of the Crowned Dauphin. As for me, since I am obliged to do so, I am going to appear.

I present to you Madame Countess Olympe de Beauvoisis, early widow by the effect

of nature and very recent Canoness of Meudon, by the grace of our good King...

What can I do for you, Madam? I would like to obtain the informed opinion

of the Marquis de Ranreuil on the fate of a person dear to me...

Who is it, Madam? From a certain Jacques Torcy,

better known as La Griffe, a former student of an institution in Saint-Brieuc,

where he left only regrets for his incredible beauty,

his great piety, when he left through the window, the accuracy and quality of his voice...

In other words, would it be true, according to the rumor which is already spreading in the

Court as well as in the City, that the Claw would have met a romantic death yesterday,

while 'he led the attack on a carriage, at the head of his men, on the road to Pithiviers...

I cannot deny, Madam... Death by your hand, according to what is reported...

It is because I will have hardly been left a choice, Madam...

You know that I am the great organizer of the King's entertainments... It

fell to me in this capacity to organize a private armed assault between the lord Faldoni who

has the qualities of being a talented fencer and famous fencing master and, Joseph Bologne,

Knight of Saint-Georges, the most famous foil fencer in Europe, distinguished athlete...

But also a brilliant musician and mulatto... If the apart from the date, which has perhaps not yet

been decided, nothing about this assault is ignored... The affair must, however, remain

secret: the armed assault is accompanied by bets... very high... amounts...

The King plays and the King loses with equal frenzy, and this time has

committed big; his high stake will not fail to further damage the royal finances in the event

of the defeat of his champion... The scandal, if it became known... Versailles is not safe,

Mr. Lieutenant General of Police and is currently sheltering the one of the most

imposing quantities of gold that it would have ever contained, I would therefore like

you to take... Certain arrangements... Ah, Monsieur de Ranreuil, come and let me

present to you my champion: the very young and talented Joseph Bologne,

Knight of Saint-Georges and recent Squire of my House... I intend that he will do me honor by

winning the assault... I admit to having pledged a very handsome sum on his head and his loss would cost me

more than a line regiment... Is it not, my friend, that you are going to win...

With, the Grace of God, Majesty, the thing is assured...

God? Damn? It's because when it comes to gambling, the Gentleman above doesn't seem

confident to me... Just like me, count on yourself first and leave God to others...

I must treat you... . You have greatly disobligated a great friend of Madame la Reine,

who was herself very disobligated, and she saw fit to open up about it to me...

Who then would I have disobligated? The beautiful Countess Olympe

de Beauvoisis, Canoness of Meudon... How could I have disobeyed?

By bluntly and straightforwardly evoking the painful circumstances of the disappearance of our

new Mandrin, Mr. La Griffe, with whom our Canoness is very strongly and very secretly

infatuated... A little tact, a little restraint, sometimes, does no harm , Mr. Marquis...

Come on, the matter is closed... If I sent for you it is because

I intend to entrust you with a very important mission which must remain secret.

Are you not in bed, Catherine? A man claiming to be the executioner Sanson

dropped off this package for you earlier, arguing that it was urgent...

Ah, Nicolas, if you knew, if you knew... If I knew what, Catherine?

Shortly before supper, Monsieur de Noblecourt went out... At his age... A trip of a few

moments, according to him... And he has not reappeared since... I fear the worst... He we must

help him, Nicolas, we must help him... Help him, but where, please?

Ah, Nicolas… In a place that decorum forbids to name.

It is enough, young Cerberus, it is enough, no mocking face or

discriminating look... Before you were, I was... I was and still am!

I have no doubt of it, if I judge right now, Monsieur...

Flamberge in the wind, my young friend... Champagne??

I am forced to decline... Let someone pour him a drink!

Ah, naughty... Quicksilver... Do you see how I'm getting excited...

Monsieur de Noblecourt showed up to inquire

about a certain Petracci, whom he would have known was very familiar places of pleasure in

general and the Crowned Dauphin in particular... I was unaware, Mr. Commissioner,

that you had others do your dirty work... Perhaps it would have been more expedient

to come yourself- even ask the question... What do you know about this Petracci...

Bambocheur, crook, libertine and supposedly one of the best blades

of the peninsula... Besides that, very rich and prodigal of his gold.. . As for the rest,

you must know, because as for me, I don't know...

Could some new lie put you in the dungeon, Madam...

What I don't know, I can't know... Ah ! Jarnidieu, virtudieu, bellybleu!

As soon as the steed was released, as soon as it took off at full gallop - and immediately fell into the ditch...

Well, my young friend, I very much fear that all that remains for us is to return to our homes,

where our lare gods sit ...

Sir, there's no hurry... Champagne!

Champagne! For everyone ! There is still light up above...

In the name of the lare gods, I fear that some tough harpy is waiting for you...

My head is ringing in anticipation...

If you could find some absolutory circumstance ... A robust bundle of

extenuating circumstances likely to moderate the expectations as well as the sentence...

Alas: I very much fear that we are both embarked in the same cart...

Let's go! It was for reasons of service...

A police mission affecting the security of the kingdom...

His Majesty's person... It was undoubtedly

His Majesty's person who re-buttoned your coat Pierre with Jacques and makes

your shirt stick out from above your breeches... Go to bed, scoundrels, and if you haven't

already done so, remember to ablution yourself: in these houses we take more harm than good. .

Well, Nicholas? So what is this

mysterious object that you are carrying...

I will show you...

Petracci... Lord Petracci... what is he doing there?

Petracci? Yes Petracci! Buena note signore

What is this...

In all likelihood the face of a man that La Griffe would have murdered... The drowned man of Pont

Marie. A man whose identity he then allegedly borrowed, a certain Giaccomo Petracci...

La Griffe is alive?... Do you realize,

Mr. Commissioner? The ridiculousness of my posture, having announced his death to the King...

The thing was obviously premature...

I ask you to make an effort to remember that it is according to my sources, that is to say You,

that I I have come to announce what was not...We will have to give an account.

Giaccomo… mi amico Petracci used to precede me where I had to

fight in order to illuminate the scene for me... Lord Faldoni, famous master of arms.

Along the way, I allowed myself to enlighten our young Diogenes a little about

the matter that concerns us. GOOD. Could it be that having received

some confidence from Lord Petracci before killing him,

Mr. La Griffe was aware of the existence of the duel and the bets that the King was organizing?

The thing has not been proven, but cannot be excluded...

Put an end to the exploits of this La Griffe, Nicolas, put an end to them quickly and

by any means: not so much for his misdeeds, which are altogether ordinary,

as because of the secrets he could very unfortunately hold...

Perhaps it would be good if a price were put on his head...

It's not your place to prompt, Nicolas... A hundred pounds then... A thousand?

We can clearly see that it’s not you who is paying!!

Did you hurt yourself? La Griffe wants to see you...

Leave us...

You see, once a year, the underworld of Paris gathers in a solemn banquet... Thieves,

crooks, looters and murderers, daughters of few or of many, true and false beggars,

stroppies, the food, excellent, abounds there, the best wines are served there, and people

adorn themselves in their finest finery... Too bad my Police duties

prohibit me from going there more often. That's why I'm delighted that we couldn't

resist the spiciness of my invitation! Hold ! Your audacity seems to know no

bounds: kidnapping a police officer of the King is a crime of lèse-majesté.

And I am not unaware of the price: the question and the wheel! A bad time to have! Others

before me experienced the same fate and no one came back to complain!

I have known you, Mademoiselle, with a less immodest bearing and a more chaste demeanor...

But the fact is that you have not known me at all... Only my Lord

has known me from all sides , and iteratively! Were you not promised, Mademoiselle? To a

certain Dubuc, native of Pithiviers? What the hell with the promises of men, Sir,

nature has fulfilled me and wants no other husband than the one she so obligingly gave me...

Why this invitation, La Griffe?

Firstly for pleasure... then, because by killing the infamous Tricotin, you amputated

a second stupid and disobedient one, which I would have had to get rid of myself...

And finally because I intend for you to let the damsel's father know

that she is demanding her dowry, namely the jewels of her late mother, and that failing which La

Griffe will be sure to go get them himself, deep in Monsieur de Villerbois’ trunk!

And now let's have fun! So is my daughter being held captive?!

Alas, yes, sir... and the criminal wants his dowry returned to him...

If you did not consent, you would greatly oblige me, because La Griffe would then be forced

to come and seize it himself. even and would not fail to come and lock himself in

our nets... Is there not also a reward attached to his capture?

Yes Yes Yes ! An award ?

Which could very well come back to you, for having facilitated it...

So I do not consent, I do not consent!!! Very good, sir, very good...

Deceitful, cunning and pimp at heart... He will nevertheless serve us through his faults...

I didn't know that there was a reward attached to the capture of the Claw ...

I want, around the Hôtel de Villerbois,

a trap with meshes so tight that not even a wasp could escape...

Also have Lady Paulet and the “novice” Amélie arrested...

Damn! Would the matter be so serious?

She is...

Yes! Monsieur

Marquis Pierre Henri Beaumont de la Garde, Lord of Saint Charles...

Bring in! Take a seat, Mr. Marquis, take a seat...

What is this honor worth to me? Twelve hundred pounds, Monsieur...

Fichtre... Twelve hundred pounds??? The twelve hundred pounds attached

to the capture of La Griffe... Is it not your name and your position that we read printed here?

In fact, Sir, but it would still be necessary to produce the particular...

In the moment, Sir, in the moment... Come!... Come!

Harpagon, impudent Cry-misery, twelve hundred livres for my person... Me who

is considered the modern Cartouche, or some new Mandrin... Me whose

reputation infinitely exceeds yours, sinister buttock-mathieu...

Bourdeau!!... Bourdeau!!! Send me for Le Floch immediately!! Please

! Bourdeau! You hear me ? Bourdeau!!! Bourdeau!!!!

Bundled and garrotted like a goose ready to roast...So, how can I put it...

You will notice that I do not exceed the prices...

Don't you have some secret chest where you would hide other wonders? …Maybe

there? There ? This way ? Over there ? Hot ? Cold ? Hot ? Cold ? Nothing ? Nothing ? Or

maybe... or maybe this way... Or go here!

This marvel will be enough... Don't move! Don't move, huh?

Suffer, Mr. Lieutenant General of Police, that

we are now parting... Respect kept, good friends, right?

Was the business successful? Fairly enough... The redhead obviously has

less money than we think... and since the old stingy guy hasn't given in to our reasons,

let's now go to Monsieur de Villerbois and continue our tour. ..

The redhead is there... I see men from the watch, accompanied by exempts...

This young commissioner definitely does not lack

stubbornness... However, he will not have taken the exact measure of my popularity .

Monsieur de Sartine?... Monsieur de Sartine?

The Lieutenant General of Police has been locked up for a long time...

The lock is locked... And the key is missing...

And then there were knocks and these... porcine grunts...

In which we are reluctant to recognize the bell and the intonations of Monsieur de Sartine...

Leave me life... at least let me have life... Ah, your life for what it's worth, I'm willing to

leave it to you... Well, it's time to present, as the multitude demands,

to show a little panache. My emeralds, my rubies, my diamonds... he took everything

... I have nothing left... I am nothing anymore... To

the window, to the window! Yes !

But we were waiting for it elsewhere... I don't care where you expected it: I

want it! I want it right now! First off right away! On the wheel! The fool... The rascal,

the disgusting funny person, to come here to defy my power... To attack a magistrate

of my authority in this way... Ah, my little ones! The day the thug who desecrated you is broken, I swear that

I will sit in the front row to enjoy at my ease the spectacle of his torture...ahhhhhhh

yes….. What is that? THANKS ! Commissioner...

The notebook... It is not without flavor that the police's gold

contributes to the salvation of those they are chasing... Whip the coachman! And may the devil take us!

We can imagine the delight of Monsieur de Sartine, if it happened that he knew the use made of his gold...

There is no need for him to know...

Did you only recover one? Yes.

Can we trust you?

Of course, Mr. Inspector. Leave us.

Foutriquet, maraud, bas-ditch residue, turd, ass skin, moricaud droppings... Woodlouse, gougnafier, paltoquet, gargouilleux... I didn't know that the French language

included so many words to describe filth with such

perfect ingenuity! I suspected it,

without anyone ever being certain of it... Now, I agree...

Woodlouse! That’s enough Madam!

Mangy dog ​​! donkey compass! Moricaud droppings! Hay beak! Etron!

Is that enough, Madam?

What have you sealed to me about the Claw, that you know and did not reveal to me the previous

time? Nothing...

Ah, Madam, it hardly suits you, not having kept behind you a last cartridge.

Come on, Madam, you are suffocating your sense of smell... It is up to you to soon regain a

decent appearance and your most beautiful finery... Sir, you triumph, but through

disloyalty... A full bucket of piss for all rhetoric...

I didn't know that was such, Madam... But you had a feeling...

Come on...

Indeed, Sir, I had kept one last trump card: I had thrown the

couple into the street, but La Griffe, whose identity I had not known until then,

at gunpoint, ordered to keep the girl among my protégés...

You see clearly...

La Suzon is stationed at my house, but not permanently, and comes and goes as she pleases,

according to very free schedules and interests which are no

less... Le Floch! Please Floch! Please !

La Suzon knows me, you don't... Would you know how to approach her as appropriate...

Uh no, no, no, no... So, urgently send for our friend Semacgus, the fiery Marine surgeon ...

Gentlemen, I have been entrusted with a secret mission, which also requires your

assistance... We must guard a treasure... A large quantity of gold, stored temporarily

in a room in the stables of Versailles...

Reason for his presence?

The game... The King is very infatuated with it and some among the Greats of the Kingdom

have persuaded him to match it with the next armed assault which will

soon pit Lord Faldoni against the Knight of Saint-Georges...

Lord Faldoni? The meeting is not lacking in interest...

The King, who was not born yesterday and knows what to expect in terms of cocange,

would not hate it if his champion came first...

Who is his champion?

The mulatto.

Would His Majesty hear that the dice were loaded...

The sum is tidy and the finances of the kingdom are very dilapidated...

Here is a poultry aspic, which I had prepared for a neighbor of mine who is baptizing

his first born... but it will do your job better... and to wash your mouth,

I'll bring you some cherries, the first of the year, cooked in cinnamon wine!

Mother Morel, another pitcher from Touraine!

What about your neighbor? Ohhh! We will manage !

My role in all this?

The one that a married man cannot decently hold...

Alas! Three times unfortunately!

It would be that, in a place that you no longer ordinarily frequent, you would pass yourself

off with the greatest likelihood to one of the boarders who will be pointed out to you

as some provincial noble, as immensely rich as she is depraved. , and of an unfailing greed...

My faith, I agree: although of composition, the role could fit me like a glove...

You will therefore be a depraved nobleman, come to Paris in order to bet a large sum in

an operation of which you will have been fortuitously informed by a Gentleman of the court...

If you are pressed, the name of the Count de la Borde seems very appropriate to me...

Very good, but the gold of my plausibility?

The most perilous moment: the moment when I will have to persuade the Lieutenant

General of Police that he must still be on his side!!!

Come on ! The asp is ours! Who is it ?

The list that the Police draw up in their infinite appetite for knowledge, of the great

fortunes of the Kingdom and their main establishments... I would like you to see

if in all this any name comes to mind? Suzon! You seem to be in a very bad mood...

Yours seems to be not much better... The animal is very rich, vicious and has a

robust appetite... Get all you can out of it, but I want some half...

Don't worry, your gandin will soon be skinned, roasted, served and scraped to the bone,

or I don't know about that... Oohhh! My little bees!!!

Yes, Mr. Count!

Oh yes, Count!ooooooohhhhh! The crowned dolphin, what a place! But

it's paradise!! There you go, there you go….

Well, well, well… Sir.

Madam

Apparently, there won't be too many of us...

But please! Welcome ! It seems, Mr. Commissioner,

that your fellow didn't take long to put on his clothes of a

depraved rich nobleman - or, rather, to take them off...

Damn... the man seems well and truly cut out for the role !!!

Madame Clémence Louise Honorine, Marquise de Villerbois... Monsieur

Marquis Pierre Henri Beaumont de la Garde, Lord of Saint Charles...

Bring in... Clémence de

Villerbois! Well my friend, this air of contentment! It seems that

the hymen has transformed the ungrateful chrysalis into a celestial butterfly! Move forward, move forward!

Thank you Count! Looking forward to it, Mr. Count!

Thank you ladies! Well my friend,

these rich finery, the brilliance of your finery, are you so rich? The richness of our interview is only fair. Didn't you

allow yourself to be carried away with generosity and talent? Rich in gold, I mean... Aahh gold! Yes ! I am indeed... And soon, I will be even more... Infinitely

more... Soon richer than Croesus... I don't know who this Croesus is, but how does that happen... Because gold does not grow under the horse's foot...

Think again, beautiful Hermione! Under the foot of a horse you can find treasures ! Imagine a bet, a big bet, that my connections with the King's house assure me

to win... The King's House? Yes, the King’s house… We’ll take it from you!

and besides, we're going to take everything from you... and what is that? It's for me !

Admirable, my friend... I was able to surprise part of the piece...

What fervor, what exaltation, what robust obstinacy in the execution...

Sir: you lack neither breath nor energy. imagination and the organ

itself deserves respect... You have noticed, equal in

the scherzo just as in the obligato... And loose in the moderato...

Prompt and lively in the allegro... To the virtuoso!

Will you be convinced? I believe it... As soon as

the bets and the King's entourage had advanced, having captured the interest, the damsel

never stopped going to warn your Le Griffe Tell me, there are sometimes merchants on

the loose from the Province, and perhaps you could, under cover of anonymity,

give some show intended to stimulate their senses... often, unfortunately,

very faltering! What do you think ? Nicholas? Oh sorry ! Excuse me,

Miss, I’m looking for Commissioner Le Floch…

This way Bourdeau! Ah Commissioner!

Come in ! No, I wouldn't do anything about it...

I'm sorry Commissioner... She escaped from me through one of the doors of Hell, which lead to the

maze of the catacombs and which unfortunately the world below knows much better than us. ..

It's not so serious Bourdeau... It seems that our friend Semacgus had

a lucky hand more than you... Yes, that seems indeed!... Sorry

Come and have a drink It's just that my wife is waiting for me… and I

promised the children to come home before putting them to bed!

This is of great value and interests me! This is all false, abominably false! It

's worthless, you will have been abused... The jewelry stolen from your

father is fake... What do you say? No doubt my father

had already hired them for a long time... I thought the matter was straight... Perhaps

now would be the time to get rid of this bitch as well, who is no longer of any use. ..

Shut up bitch! No one other than me decides here...

Ah! Throw it there! Enjoy the show, maybe it's the

last time... Do you have any idea who I am? Not the least, and the thing doesn't matter to me...

It's strange: neither my watch nor my purse is missing... Are you then a redhead?

Larousse !!! At least you don't lack audacity...

It's a piece of choice that you have there...

Neither audacity, nor insolence... You could be dead in a moment,

milord ... What do you say ? I won't say anything about it, other than that

it is indeed a choice piece... How much would you be willing to buy it back from me?

I don't buy! On occasion, I rent… Well, what do you know about me?

Just what is needed to keep you alive... So, poor simpleton, do you believe in chance

and intend to risk gambling? I don't hear anything at all... I

only know where the purse is and how to approach it...

So what would you say if we

did it together? I'll give it to you, if you want...

I'll give it to you as a commitment...

I'll take it! It's the end of me, isn't it?

Perhaps it would be time to confide in you... Confide what? Mr. Commissioner…

The place where your La Griffe is hiding? Don't count on me...

What being can arouse such love that, when dying, the victim has already forgiven?

It is because there is more in the earth and in the sky than in all our philosophy, Nicolas...

I can bet that our man will not have left you an address either...

No... But I must meet tomorrow,

an emissary will collect me in the Tuileries garden, to take me to Versailles...

So alea jacta est!

Gold, diamonds, some jewels and pearls... No loss that cannot be

repaired... On the other hand... Letters were stolen from La Princesse de Richemont, the

contents of which, if they were to be disclosed , could prove very compromising...

Do we have any idea of ​​the perpetrator? Your La Griffe, who do you want it to be? The braggart made no secret of it...

Just as he made no secret of having the unfortunate Clémence de Villerbois in his power...

His accomplice, do you mean...

As for the assault, it will take place tomorrow

evening. Will you have time before grabbing that pesky La Griffe?

The animal is boastful, presumptuous, and cannot resist the attraction

of a very pretty pile of gold guaranteed by his Majesty in person….

What should I understand Nicolas?

That it is not before, but during, that the operation must take place.

It’s double or nothing!

Think, after all the humiliations suffered by your police, of the glory of a

public arrest... in Versailles! Wouldn't you be a player, Mr. Lieutenant General of Police?

Chess, Mr Commissioner, only

chess, gambling is prohibited! The place, my goodness, does not lack attraction...

Multiple and numerous attractions,

I agree, and not the least of which is the treasure that awaits us...

Have no fear, we are expected and have nothing to fear from anyone... Except

perhaps from your thieving friends, which, you must admit, would not lack spice!!

Please announce Henri Charles Semacgus, Count of Louisville,

as well as my young cousin, the Marquis...

Pierre Henri Beaumont de la Garde, Lord of Saint Charles...

You see the strength of the prejudices which attach to titles as well

as in the faces... There is no peacock that is not suspected of doing a cartwheel...

The wheel... my cousin... The word repels me just as much as the thing...

Let's see, my friend , no such ceremony... Mr. Marquis...

A note from my hand... In addition to guaranteeing two places in the sovereign's quarters,

it also gives you free access to all the places you would like free

to visit... I think the weapons room of the Grandes Ecuries should interest you.

Is this your accomplice?

Your insight makes me happy. Come, cousin,

come: a solid reconnaissance is always the rule before we attack...

Perhaps it would have been safer to have the thug arrested by a robust band of exempts...

Safer, certainly, but lacking the slightest panache...

The King! So, it's him...

Yes! Majesty,

this is a fencing assault, pitting the two best foilists in Europe against each other...

The foils will be dotted, as is the rule, two fencing masters

will observe the touches, the stroke of two widows naturally count as zero...

Come on, my friend: we know what an assault of arms is...

Let the champions appear and fight it out straight away...

His Majesty seems very impatient...

You have noticed ?

Everything is in place... Come Bourdeau...

Gentlemen... it's up to you!

The youth of one against the dexterity of the other...

Both balance each other... It could well be that the thing drags on...

If I were the musician, ten times already I would have killed the bluestem...

And if I were the bluestem, ten times already I would have skewered the musician...

Very smart who will predict the winner, if we go there?

Gold,

my cousin, gold, what is more admirable than gold? What could be more

likely to satisfy our dearest desires?

Fill those big pockets my cousin. Fill them as much as they will hold.

I doubt that will be enough! However,

it will have to be

... What could be sweeter than the King's gold? And also round! The wheel, my friend, the wheel!!!

The little marquis... I fear that you have nothing left to hope for...

I have already experienced a more delicate situation... I am alone,

of course, but there are not too many of you to handicap yourself ...

Imagine your sword like a bird, if you hold it too tight it dies,

if you hold it too loose it escapes and flies away!

To us, Mr. Commissioner!

Jacques?

They went through the glass roof!

Thirty Louis on Ranreuil! Fifty on the other!

Twenty-five Louis better! I am…

Remember that I owe you my life. Give him back his sword!

Do not expect such kindness from me, Sir.

It's because you don't owe me anything....

In your place, I wouldn't do anything, Sir.

These irons... These fetters... Don't you find

there a kind of redundancy in precaution? A manner of relentlessness,

out of proportion to the danger that my person presents...

It's because you have greatly disobliged my boss...

Ah, the wigs... Mr. Lieutenant

General of Police, don't see it there, please, in place of some malicious desire to harm,

only the mark of a reckless character, volatile and very prone to jokes...

Prime-minded... Volatile... Joking... He's making fun,

my good Nicolas... The thug scoffs... at the question... Right away... At the question...

What is the point of the question, Mr. Lieutenant General of Police,

since I also recognize from now on everything...

I don't care if you recognize... I don't really care... The

question is: to the question... First the question, and then the wheel...

It we will have to postpone... The King, of course, The King...

If I have sent for you, gentlemen, it is because you see, this gold is causing me some concern...

The assault will not has not been given, we can declare neither loser nor winner, except your person,

Mr. Marquis, of course... In this chest is my bet, but also those

of others, who demand restitution... I admit, that without completely opposing it,

if there could be some legal quibble... Some semblance of right... Authorizing,

well, to keep it where it is... If you allow me, Sir ...Mr. Count

de la Borde had entrusted us with the upper hand in monitoring the assault, the event

itself is lawful and highly authorized... But the game, Majesty, the game... The game is prohibited throughout

the entire kingdom, in every place and for everyone... This gold can rightly be considered

as having been used in the commission of the offense, of which it constitutes a non-detachable element...

I therefore declare this object and its contents seized by His Majesty's Police, in order to be placed

under sequestration and returned immediately and in its entirety to the account of the Royal Treasury!!!

Ah, well done!! Well done Mr. Lieutenant General of Police, what a nice gesture that is,

and indeed: legal, to boot!! What, taken out of a pocket, falls back into the

same... Bravo!! You surprise me, Mr. de Sartine, you really surprise me!

You know, Mr. Marquis, the interest I have in the ravishing Canonesse

de Meudon... Interest, alas, that the naughty wheel has never heard of in

return... Finally... This La Griffe, whose opinion according to common she would be very infatuated...

This La Griffe? Great criminal,

right? Certainly...

I charge you to have him write from his pen the detailed confession of his picturesque existence

and the misdeeds which adorned it. A sort of philosophical testament that he took care to

write for the very beautiful and very pious Olympe de Beauvoisis. In return,

I undertake that as soon as his death is over he will be transported in secret under a new identity

to the port of La Rochelle bound for the new France where the extent and

variety of his talents will quickly be found at speak out. To the detriment of our English friends!

“It is from the depths of hell where a contrary fate has thrown me panting, that I write these lines to you,

Madam, intended as much to soothe the torments of my soul as to bear witness to its flame...