The Head Thief

“Casimir saw the boy dressed in dark clothing climb the scaffold, rush to the basket, push the old executioner into the arms of his son, plunge in both his hands, take the severed head and, holding it against his chest, jump off the platform. He managed to escape, running as fast as his legs could carry him.″

What mysterious motive led someone to steal the head of a victim after his execution at Place de Grève? And above all why would Séraphine, the errand-girl, have committed this unusual crime?

Yet Casimir, a young clerk in the same office, that of the Roquebère twins, lawyers in the Rue Vivienne, recognized her as she fled with the severed head.

A difficult investigation awaits Hyacinthe and Narcisse in the streets of crime-ridden Paris: an inquiry that will lead them to uncover part of the enigma surrounding the origins of Séraphine.