The Lerouge Case · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Lerouge Case by Émile Gaboriau.
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M. Daburon
major
Also known as Daburon, simple M. Daburon, VII M. Daburon, But M. Daburon, XVI M. Daburon
Daburon belongs to an old Poitou family and moves easily among aristocratic circles, yet his cold, reserved manner hides an almost feminine sensitivity and a wound two years unhealed. Assigned to investigate the Lerouge murder, he finds the case dragging him back toward Albert de Commarin and the private catastrophe that spoiled his youth. His struggle to stay impartial while his sympathies and memories pull him toward the accused gives the middle of the novel its quiet, painful tension.
Noel Gerdy
major
Also known as Noel, M. Noel, mother Gerdy, M. Noel Gerdy, Gerdy, M. Gerdy, worthy M. Gerdy
Noel Gerdy passes in Paris as a talented young lawyer of rigid principle and austere manners, devoted to Madame Gerdy until a revelation shatters that devotion. Convinced he has been robbed of a noble name and a fortune for the benefit of another son, he burns with a fury he can barely contain. His grievance ties him directly to the Lerouge murder and the Commarin inheritance, making him both a possible victim and a dangerous force in the investigation.
Albert de Commarin
major
Also known as M. de Commarin, M. Albert, Albert, young M. de Commarin, de Commarin, Albert de Commarin, Commarin, Mechanically Albert, Viscount Albert de Commarin, the Viscount Albert de Commarin, a Viscount de Commarin, Viscount de Commarin, The Viscount de Commarin
Albert is the only son of the proud Count de Commarin, raised to carry on the family's name and its carefully preserved aristocratic pretensions. When he meets his father at the station, his altered face betrays a trouble he refuses to explain, and his engagement to Claire d'Arlange only sharpens the stakes of whatever weighs on him. Accused of the Lerouge murder, he becomes the pivot on which the investigation, the Commarin inheritance, and Claire's faith all turn.
Widow Lerouge
major
Also known as the Widow Lerouge, Lerouge, Noel, The Widow Lerouge, Widow Lerouge Noel, the murdered Widow Lerouge, Claudine Lerouge, Claudine, Poor Claudine
Claudine Lerouge lived modestly, but her past as a servant to a great lady left her holding the proofs of a clandestine birth and a child raised in secret. Her demands and extravagance, fed by that knowledge, eventually made her a liability to those she could expose. Her violent death in the opening pages sets the whole machinery of the novel in motion, and the question of what she knew and who feared it drives the investigation forward.
Claire d'Arlange
major
Also known as Claire, Mademoiselle d'Arlange, Mademoiselle Claire, Mademoiselle, mademoiselle, Mademoiselle Claire d'Arlange
Claire d'Arlange belongs to the same exclusive aristocratic world as the Comarins, and her engagement to Albert binds her fate to his. When Daburon reveals the charges against Albert, she refuses to waver, insisting that her knowledge of his character outweighs any evidence. Her absolute faith becomes a moral counterweight to the accumulating proofs, and her suffering gives the middle of the novel its emotional center.
M. Tabaret
major
Also known as old Tabaret, Tabaret, dear M. Tabaret, III M. Tabaret, poor old Tabaret, wretched Tabaret, Old Tabaret, XIV Old Tabaret, XVIII Old Tabaret, Cunning old Tabaret
Old Tabaret lives quietly among his tenants, who mistake his abstraction for idiocy and his strange visitors for disreputable vice, never guessing he is a devoted student of crime. He adores Madame Gerdy and treats her son Noel as his own, and has made the young barrister his sole legatee. His passion for deduction, his intimacy with the Gerdy household, and his hunger to outshine the professional police place him at the center of the Lerouge investigation.
Juliette Chaffour
supporting
Also known as Juliette, Madame Juliette, Madame Juliette Chaffour, Madame Chaffour, Madame
Juliette moves through the domestic world of the Lerouge household, privy to the small routines and unguarded moments that outsiders never see. When investigators begin pulling at threads, her knowledge of who came and went becomes both a gift to the prosecution and a danger to herself. She matters because the case turns on intimate detail, and she is one of the few who can supply it.
Madame Gerdy
supporting
Also known as the defunct Gerdy, Gerdy, Madame, Madame d'Arlange, the worthy Madame Gerdy
Madame Gerdy has spent thirty-three years performing the role of devoted widow and mother, weaving a fiction that gave Noel a name and a future. Her love for him is real, but so is the fraud beneath it, and when Noel uncovers the truth he recoils from her with a bitterness that cuts both ways. Her hidden past with the Commarin family is the buried fault line along which the entire case eventually splits.
Count Rheteau de Commarin
supporting
Also known as Rheteau de Commarin, the Rheteau de Commarin, the Count de Commarin, The Count de Commarin, Count de Commarin, Count
The Count de Commarin moves through Paris with the authority of old nobility, yet his composure cracks the moment he climbs the stairs toward Madame Gerdy's apartment. His name alone silences servants and startles strangers, but it also draws a flash of hatred from an old soldier in the room. His buried connection to the Lerouge affair makes him the quiet engine of the novel's central mystery.
Gevrol
supporting
Also known as the celebrated Gevrol, M. Gevrol, Poor Gevrol
Gevrol commands the early investigation with the swagger of a man who trusts his own reputation, delivering witnesses and theories with theatrical satisfaction. He is cunning in the conventional sense, but his certainty blinds him to the stranger possibilities that others begin to see. His rivalry with amateur reasoning shapes how the case is first framed, and how badly it can be misread.
M. Clergeot
minor
Also known as Clergeot, old Clergeot, old shark Clergeot
A notary involved in the legal affairs of the characters.
Valerie
minor
Also known as Valerie
A woman connected to the Commarin family's past.
Madame Tabaret
minor
Also known as Madame d'Arlange, old Tabaret
Tabaret's housekeeper and a minor figure in his household.
Lecoq
minor
Also known as Lecoq
A young police officer who assists in the investigation.
Constant
minor
Also known as M. Constant
A police officer or assistant to the investigators.
Marchioness d'Arlange
minor
Also known as the Marchioness d'Arlange
Claire's mother, a noblewoman concerned with family honor.
Dr. Herve
minor
Also known as Herve
A doctor who examines the body and provides medical testimony.
M. Lubin
minor
Also known as Lubin
A clerk or official in the legal system.
Germain
minor
Also known as M. Germain
A servant or minor functionary in the story.
Mannette
minor
Also known as Mannette, Manette
A servant or minor character in the Lerouge household.
Countess de Commarin
minor
Also known as the Countess de Commarin, The Countess de Commarin
The late countess, mother of Albert, mentioned in backstory.
Old Tirauclair
minor
Also known as Tirauclair, M. Tirauclair
A minor character, possibly a clerk or associate.
Joseph
minor
Also known as young Joseph
A young servant or messenger in the story.
Charlotte
minor
Also known as Charlotte
A minor female character, possibly a servant.
Denis
minor
Also known as M. Denis
A minor character, possibly a police officer or clerk.
La Jonchere
minor
Also known as La Jonchere
A location or minor character mentioned in passing.
M. Martin
minor
Also known as M. Martin
A minor character, possibly a witness or official.
Captain Gervais
minor
Also known as Gervais
A military man mentioned in the narrative.
M. Balan
minor
Also known as Balan
A minor character, possibly a lawyer or official.
Mademoiselle Schmidt
minor
Also known as Schmidt, mademoiselle
A minor female character, possibly a governess or companion.
Mademoiselle Goello
minor
Also known as Mademoiselle d'Arlange, old Mademoiselle de Goello
An elderly relative of Claire d'Arlange.
Marie Pierre Lerouge
minor
Also known as Pierre Lerouge
The deceased husband of the Widow Lerouge, mentioned in backstory.
