Referral to M. de Boville
The mayor acknowledged that misfortune had pursued M. Morrel over the last four or five years through lost vessels and bankruptcies, but stated he could not provide financial information despite being a creditor himself for ten thousand francs. He characterized Morrel as a man of extreme honor who had fulfilled every engagement with punctuality and directed the Englishman to M. de Boville, the inspector of prisons at No. 15, Rue de Nouailles, who had two hundred thousand francs invested with Morrel.
The Inspector of Prisons
When the Englishman arrived at M. de Boville’s private room, De Boville appeared in a state of such despair that his faculties were entirely consumed by his current worries. The Englishman repeated his inquiry about Morrel & Son, prompting De Boville to exclaim that his fears were unfortunately well-founded. He revealed that two hundred thousand francs—the dowry for his daughter’s marriage in a fortnight—were payable in installments, half on the 15th of the current month and half on the 15th of the following month, and that Morrel had just informed him of potential inability to pay should his ship, the Pharaon, not arrive in port.
The Offer of Two Hundred Thousand Francs
When the Englishman suggested this looked like a suspension of payment, De Boville despaired that it appeared more like bankruptcy. The Englishman then proposed to buy the debt for its full amount, offering ready cash from a bundle of bank-notes. De Boville expressed surprise and suggested a discount, but the Englishman declined, explaining that his house did not operate that way. When asked about commission, the Englishman revealed his true motive: he had been educated in Rome by a poor abbé who had disappeared, and he wished to learn particulars about that man’s death.
Request for Prison Registers
The Englishman learned that M. de Boville had been inspector of prisons for fourteen years and kept all registers of entries, departures, and special reports on every prisoner. He then revealed that his former teacher had been the Abbé Faria, who had been confined at Château d’If. De Boville recalled the abbé perfectly, remembering him as crazy—a man who had pretended to know of an immense treasure and offered sums to the government for his liberation.
The Story of Abbé Faria
De Boville recounted that Abbé Faria had died five or six months ago in February, a death he remembered because it was accompanied by a singular incident. The abbé’s dungeon had been forty or fifty feet from that of one of Bonaparte’s dangerous emissaries—a man who had contributed significantly to the usurper’s return in 1815, a very resolute character whom De Boville himself had occasion to see in 1816 or 1817. When Edmond Dantès had discovered the abbé’s dungeon, the prisoners had communicated through a tunnel they had dug or procured tools to create, apparently for escape. When the abbé died from an attack of catalepsy, Dantès saw an opportunity: he conveyed the dead man into his own cell, placed himself in the burial sack, and awaited interment—only to be thrown into the sea with a thirty-six-pound cannonball attached to his feet, since Château d’If had no cemetery.
Edmond Dantès’ Escape
De Boville explained that Dantès had believed prisoners who died at the castle were interred in an ordinary burial-ground, not understanding the grim reality of their disposal. The inspector considered this a fortunate development for the government, as it had been relieved of a dangerous prisoner through his own action. The Englishman absorbed this account with visible interest despite his characteristically phlegmatic countenance.
The Château d’If Records
The Englishman requested to see all documents relating to the Abbé Faria, and De Boville led him into his study, where everything was arranged in perfect order with registers numbered and files in their proper places. The inspector seated the Englishman in an armchair with the register and documents relative to Château d’If, while De Boville took a corner seat to read his newspaper. The Englishman easily found entries for Abbé Faria but, finding the inspector’s story fascinating, continued turning pages until he reached the mortuary deposition for Edmond Dantès.
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