The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-10-09
THE MISSING CLERK.


1912, one Boissellier, clerk in the Bank
of Orleans, went forth to collect the
amounts due upon certain accepted bills
of exchange, of the value in all of eight
thousand three hundred and ten francs.
Hours passed, night came, and Boissel-
lier had not returned; anxiety and then
alarm prevailed on his account. What
had become of hiInP He was of excel
lent character; his integrity was unques-
toned; his books were in good order.
Inquiry was instituted. 1t was dis
covered that the moneys the missing
clerk should have collected had been re-
ceived by a man who was certainly not
BoisSellier, but who, nevertheless, in his
stead, duly presented the bills for pay
ment. Who was this man? The sus-
picions of the managers of the bank
were naturally aroused. On the morn
ing of Novembr y they placed them
selves in communication with NJ Cha
vannes, Procureur du Roi
Boissellier was 40 years of age; he had
been married nine years; he lived in the
clearinghouse with his wife. She was
questioned on the subject of his mysteri-
Gus absence. Her distress was very
great. She had not seen her husband,
she averred, since the morning of the
2lst. Very early, while he was still in
bed, n message had been brought to him
by Il man wearing blouse. Some one
desired particularly to see him. He left
the house, and was absent about half an
hour. On his return he did not mention
where he had been nor whom he had
seen. He said, simply, 1" Notre affaire
est bonne.' She knew that he had con-
templated leaving the bank, and had
been seeking an appointment in
an insurance company by way of
improving his position. She understood
him to refer to his hopes of this
appointment when he said, % Notre af-
faire est bonne'' She believed that one
Montely, a friend of his, had promised
him the appointment. She had seen
Montely, but only two or three times,
and not very recently. He had dined
once with her husband and herself. She
did not think that Boissellier owed mon
ey to Montely. NJ. Boissellier appeared
to be in good spirits when he left her.
He carried his bills in his pocket-book.
He had some few francs of his own with
him, and silver watch. She lived up
on excellent terms with her husband. A
man named Frimault, keeper of a cof-
fee-house in Orleans, was also a friend
of NJ. Boissellier's.
1t was thought well that Montely
should be looked for by the police, es-
pecially when it appeared that Madame
BoisSellier'S description of him CORE
sponded with the description of the
man who had collected the money in
Boissellier's place. Evidence was forth
coming, also, to the effect that Montely
had been seen in Orleans in the com
pany of Boissellier on the morning OF
the Dist, and that later in the day he had
left Orleans hurriedly in a hired car
riage for Artenay, whence he had
journeyed in n second carriage TO Tours
with a view, it was supposed, of pro-
ceeding by diligence to Paris. A war.
rant for his arrest was forthwith issued
Frimault had been interrogated, and
produced a letter, dated 10 days back,
and furnishing Montely's address at St
Germain-en-Laye, where, it appeared
he carried on business as the agent OF
La Francois Insurance Company. A
commissioner of police started at once
for st. Germain; and instructions wer,
given for the gendarmerie to lose NJ
time in tracing the traveller who had lef
Orleans for Artenay, and Artenay (pre
snmably) for Paris.
Gradually the story of Montely's ca
reer came into the possession of the po
lice.
Montely had served in the army
Boissellier and Frimault had been hi
fellOw-soldiers in Africa He Quilted the
service Sergeant in 1889, and for some
while lived with his father at Bor
deauN, working in Il porcelain factory
He afterward married, and set up a gro
GERS shop in a small way Mt Noranfonte
Pas-de-Calais. He did not prosper
however, and soon resumed his forme
occupation in porcelain factory at lie
Adam. About this time he was sus
pected of the crime of forgery, but wa!
not proceeded against, probably from
insuiliciency of evidence. In 1889 h,
visited Orleans, to rejoin for while hi
old comrades, Boissellier and Frimault
In 1912 he quilted Ile-Adam, leaving hi
rent unpaid, and re-appeared ut Bor
deauN. Having become a widower, h
married again ut Bordeaux, january l
1912; and in the following April, bein.
out of work, with his wife and the chill,
of his first marriage he proceeded to Or
leans, remaining there three week
looking out for employment. The Will
he had lived upon intimate terms wit
Frimault, and also, though perhaps il
less degree, with Boissellier. He wa
not seen at the bank, but he occasional
ly accompanied BOissellier upon hi
rounds when bills were due and paya
BILE.
Late in October Montely obtained hi
situation rs agent of the insurance com
pany. He was by this time in pecunia
ry straits. lie owed considerable sums
and had even been driven TO pawn hi
clothes, He was in Orleans on NeveHi