# Prasville — The Crystal Stopper character guide

> Prasville in The Crystal Stopper by Maurice Leblanc.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** M. Prasville, Louis Prasville, Master Prasville, the famous Prasville

**First appearance:** 0000-i-the-arrests

## Snapshot

The police secretary-general, once best man at Clarisse's wedding, whose own name is quietly buried in the Canal scandal he is supposed to be investigating.

## Who they are

Prasville is the respectable face of the pursuit — a former barrister and explorer, now a senior official with the power to move police and press. But his friend Vorenglade, a penniless ex-deputy, holds documents proving Prasville's complicity in the Twenty-Seven affair, and Daubrecq knows it. He is Clarisse's last official hope and, at the same time, a man with everything to lose, which makes him both an ally of convenience and a liability Lupin cannot trust.

## Relationships

### [Alexis Daubrecq](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/alexis_daubrecq)

_rivalry_

Daubrecq and Prasville are antagonists in a political and criminal power struggle, each trying to outmaneuver the other.

### [Clarisse Mergy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/clarisse_mergy)

_professional_

Clarisse interacts with Prasville as a desperate petitioner, seeking his influence to save her son from the guillotine.

### [Arsène Lupin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/arsene_lupin)

_rivalry_

Lupin and Prasville are adversaries, with Prasville representing the law and Lupin the master criminal outwitting him.

### [Gilbert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/gilbert)

_rivalry_

Gilbert is a condemned prisoner facing Prasville, who represents the judicial system seeking his execution.

### [Clarisse Mergy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/clarisse_mergy)

_professional_

Clarisse interacts with Prasville as a desperate petitioner, seeking his influence to save her son from the guillotine.

### [Clarisse Mergy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/clarisse_mergy)

_professional_

Clarisse interacts with Prasville as a desperate petitioner, seeking his influence to save her son from the guillotine.

### [Arsène Lupin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/arsene_lupin)

_rivalry_

Lupin and Prasville are adversaries, with Prasville representing the law and Lupin the master criminal outwitting him.

### [Alexis Daubrecq](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/alexis_daubrecq)

_rivalry_

Daubrecq and Prasville are antagonists in a political and criminal power struggle, each trying to outmaneuver the other.

### [Gilbert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/gilbert)

_rivalry_

Gilbert is a condemned prisoner facing Prasville, who represents the judicial system seeking his execution.

### [Arsène Lupin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/arsene_lupin)

_rivalry_

Lupin and Prasville are adversaries, with Prasville representing the law and Lupin the master criminal outwitting him.

### [Alexis Daubrecq](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/alexis_daubrecq)

_rivalry_

Daubrecq and Prasville are antagonists in a political and criminal power struggle, each trying to outmaneuver the other.

### [Gilbert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/gilbert)

_rivalry_

Gilbert is a condemned prisoner facing Prasville, who represents the judicial system seeking his execution.

## In the story

### [II: Eight from Nine Leaves One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/chapters/ii-eight-from-nine-leaves-one)

Secretary-general of the Prefecture of Police; Daubrecq writes him a letter.

### [V: The Twenty-Seven](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/chapters/v-the-twenty-seven)

Police official who collaborated with Clarisse in her search for the list, motivated by hatred for Daubrecq.

### [VII: The Profile of Napoleon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/chapters/vii-the-profile-of-napoleon)

Investigates Daubrecq's kidnapping and interviews Clarisse and M. Nicole.

### [IX: In the Dark](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/chapters/ix-in-the-dark)

Receives a note from the Growler to watch the Square Lamartine.

### [The Cross of Lorraine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/chapters/xi-the-cross-of-lorraine)

Prasville examines the list of the Twenty-Seven, initially agrees to help, but then changes his mind and cancels his audience at the Élysée, raising suspicions.

### [XII: The Scaffold](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/chapters/xii-the-scaffold)

Oversees the execution and later discovers Lupin's alias and the hidden exit from his flat.

### [The Last Battle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/chapters/xiii-the-last-battle)

Confronts Lupin (as M. Nicole), examines the glass eye, and confirms the list's authenticity; initially holds Lupin at gunpoint.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters/prasville
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crystal_stopper_se/characters