The Mystery of Orcival

[1] A version illustrated by Jules Guerin was published in 1900 by Charles Scribner's Sons.

[2] In Orcival, on 9 July 186..., poachers discover the lifeless body of a woman, the Countess of Tremorel, whose identity is quickly established by the police.

M. Lecoq of the Sûreté, dispatched to the scene by the Prefecture of Police, starts the investigation from scratch, re-establishes the real time of the crime, and finds that neither the Count nor the Countess had slept in the unmade bed that night.

The murderer(s) also multiplied the clues, such as five empty glasses to make it look as if there were many of them, and the traces of a fake fight on the sand, in order to throw off suspicion.

Lecoq thinks of a plan to solve the enigma, but he is well aware that the outcome of the case remains uncertain.