# Fanferlot — File No. 113 character guide

> Fanferlot in File No. 113 by Émile Gaboriau.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** M. Fanferlot, Master Fanferlot, poor Fanferlot, Fanferlot the Squirrel, Dubois

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

A police detective who works from a boarding-house closet and a false beard, forever one step behind the truth he is paid to find.

## Who they are

Fanferlot the Squirrel, as his colleagues call him, lodges at the Archangel and turns its corridors into a surveillance post, hiding in cupboards and darting into the street in linen blouses and false whiskers. Vain, excitable, and touchy about his professional dignity, he is outraged when a messenger slips past his watch and a weeping Mme. Gypsy keeps a rendezvous he meant to control. His dogged, bumbling pursuit of the bank thief keeps the investigation moving even as his vanity keeps him from seeing what the reader can.

## Relationships

### [Nina Gypsy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/characters/nina_gypsy)

_professional_

Fanferlot, a detective, uses Nina Gypsy as an informant and occasional accomplice in his investigations.

### [Prosper Bertomy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/characters/prosper_bertomy)

_professional_

Fanferlot initially suspects Prosper but later works to help clear his name as part of the investigation.

### [Nina Gypsy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/characters/nina_gypsy)

_professional_

Fanferlot, a detective, uses Nina Gypsy as an informant and occasional accomplice in his investigations.

### [Prosper Bertomy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/characters/prosper_bertomy)

_professional_

Fanferlot initially suspects Prosper but later works to help clear his name as part of the investigation.

### [Nina Gypsy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/characters/nina_gypsy)

_professional_

Fanferlot, a detective, uses Nina Gypsy as an informant and occasional accomplice in his investigations.

### [Prosper Bertomy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/characters/prosper_bertomy)

_professional_

Fanferlot initially suspects Prosper but later works to help clear his name as part of the investigation.

## In the story

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/chapters/iii)

The detective who secretly theorizes that Fauvel staged the robbery; he notes a scratch on the safe and later orchestrates Nina Gypsy's move to the Archangel.

### [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/chapters/iv)

Reports to the judge on his investigation, concealing information about Madeleine while providing details on Prosper and Nina Gypsy.

### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/chapters/vi)

Intercepts Nina's letter and receives detailed instructions from M. Lecoq to infiltrate Clameran's household as a valet.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/characters/fanferlot
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/file_no_113_se/characters