"Order, order!" The gavel bangs down on the bench several times before
quiet rules the courtroom once more. Duc von Fersen stares around the
room, then coughes pointedly. "As I was saying! ...The case of the Crown
versus General le Marquis Otto Chabot will now be heard!"
The various parties take their seats, and the Commissioner of Public
Safety stands to present his case:
"Your Honour, my assembled lords, it is with a sense of great sadness that
I bring this case against the Foreign Minister. However, I intend to prove
to you beyond all reasonable doubt that, in addition to being in the
employ of a foreign power, to wit the Kingdom of Sweden, it was none other
than Marquis Chabot who was one of, if not _the_ main instigator of the
treasonous plot against His Majesty which culminated in his embarrassment
at the Ball held in September!"
A gale of whispering sweeps around the room before being quelled by the
Minister of State with his gavel.
"Before calling my first witness I wish submit these documents as
evidence. They relate to the so-called 'Fromage Conspiracy', a plot to
distract French Power sufficiently to allow the Swedish conquest of
northern Germany. Some months ago, thanks to a tipoff from a loyal
innkeeper owning an establishment on the Rue du Fauberg St. Honor�, the
Commission was able to intercept these messages for a time, during which
period our suspicions that the individual referred to as 'Vodcheese' was
in fact Marquis Chabot grew ever stronger. Before we could collect
sufficient evidence for an arrest, the letters suddenly stopped. During
the course of the trial, the Court will learn why."
"I call for my first witness, Jean de Lacey, Captain of the King's
Escort!"
"Captain de Lacey, would you be good enough to give us your view of the
events of the night of the Ball, and the subsequent investigations which
you pursued, most diligently, into the perpetrators of this plot?"
"Certainly my lord," the officer dressed in black and gold replies. "The
first notice I had of the plot was when I saw an egg strike Baron d'Eau in
the chest..."
_____________________________________________________
"...and this led me to believe that the entire plot was based in the
Netherlands, and aimed at sufficiently disturbing our military and
government that we would be unable to make any moves against the country,
giving them the leisure to fortify their border with the Spanish
Netherlands as strongly as they have fortified that with France. However,
there were still several unexplained leads, one of which pointed at the
possible involvement of either...um...Baron Zac Zilvain..."
Yet another ripple of whispering echoes around the courtroom, interspersed
with several chuckles...
"Or Marquis Otto Chabot, the Foreign Minister," de Lacey concludes.
"And so you were tasked with investigating these two men?" asks the
Commissioner.
"No, my lord. The investigation into your own involvement was undertaken
by the Minister of State himself. I was instructed by His Majesty to look
into the affairs of Minister Chabot."
"And what did you discover?" the prosecutor continues, leaning forwards
with interest.
"I instructed several of my men to keep Minister Chabot under
surveillance, and it soon became apparent that he was receiving late-night
visits from a man unknown to me. I...well, I hired the services of a
well-known burglar who assisted me in gaining entry to Minister Chabot's
mansion one evening, and I listened at the door to his study while he was
meeting with the man."
"You hired a burglar? Am I to understand, then, that this is the reason
behind Minister Chabot's missing valuables?"
Captain de Lacey looks profoundly uncomfortable as he replies.
"Uh...yes, sir. While I was listening, the man made off with a quantity
of the Minister's property. He is currently being sought by my
soldiers..."
The Commissioner grunts as muffled laughter is heard from the gallery.
"No matter, continue with your testimony."
"As I listened, it became obvious that the man, identified only as
'Piotor', was a foreigner - not in itself a crime, given the Marquis'
ministerial position, but highly suspect when taken with the other
information which I have already related to you. The talk was
inconsequential at first, but soon turned to money, whereupon the Minister
lost his temper and began to shout at his guest, demanding his 'fee for
the information which allowed the plan to go ahead'. The visitor then
spoke the following words, which I made sure to remember given their
content:"
'Your stupid delivery system with all those cheesy names was compromised
for months before we found out! That's why you're having to use that
bumpkin Maquereau, remember? My Lord Marquis is not yet satisfied that
this current plot will amount to anything more! That Commission lackey is
still at large, when you swore his head would be on the block months ago!
Your money will be forthcoming as soon as the desired result is achieved,
my dear Marquis - and if that doesn't happen soon, more direct action will
have to be taken.'
"I hid myself around the corner as the visitor left, and quickly searched
the Marquis' desk before I retraced my own steps out of the building. In
addition documents which conclusively prove that Marquis Chabot was
definately the 'Vodcheese' in the Fromage messages, others found in the
Minister's house also indicate that he is heavily in debt to the shylocks,
and it was the following morning that I approached yourself with my
evidence."
"Thank you, Captain. That will be all for now." The Commissioner turns
to Duc von Fersen and concludes: "Your Grace, with your permission, I
will submit the documents referred to by the Captain as further evidence.
I would then like to outline to the Court the findings from your
investigations into my own doings."
Duc von Fersen nods curtly, and the Commissioner continues.
"The evidence pointing to myself to which the Captain referred did not
lead to me directly, but to Lt.Colonel le Chevalier Jean-Luc de Frost of
Princess Louisa's Light Dragoons. Indeed, the vast majority of the
evidence found pointed towards the Chevalier - as it was meant to do. That
pointing to le Marquis seemed trivial and circumstantial at the time."
"Once le Chevalier came under observation it quickly became apparent that
he was a frequent after-dark visitor to my house. There was a reason for
this. The Court will be aware that Chevalier de Frost first came to public
attention during the trial of Guillaume Grosscanard, during the course of
which it was revealed that he was a secret operative - or 'ferret' as the
vulgar would have it - of the Commission of Public Safety. His cover was
blown thereafter, of course, and he was officially retired from the
Commission's service. _Un_officially, he has continued to be one of our
most valuable operatives - reporting secretly to Commissioners direct
rather than to the Bastille. It was he who was intercepting the Fromage
messages and copying them for the Commission."
"As mentioned previously, however, these messages suddenly stopped in
September, and a different method of communication, (of which we now know
Guillaume Maquereau was a part) eventually instituted instead. The only
logical explanation for this is that the Fromage conspirators discovered
that their messages were being copied for later use as evidence and
Chevalier de Frost's cover was somehow compromised. Indeed, all the
evidence we have heard so far points unerringly to the fact that the
egg-throwing incident was staged solely to frame Chevalier de Frost so
that his knowledge would die with him on the scaffold and any evidence which
he had provided become suspect. "
All background chatter in the courtroom suddenly stops.
"Following the report which Captain de Lacey presented, which pointed
towards Maquereau's involvement in the case, I immediately placed him
under observation. Perhaps this was how the Fromage letters were now being
delivered? This indeed proved to be the case - when Maquereau was stopped
and searched at my order he was found to be carrying a sealed letter
relating to this. Monsieur Maquereau was visibly shocked when the
ramifications of his activities were made plain to him, for reasons which
will soon become clear. He volunteered to turn State's evidence and I
hereby call him as my next, and final, witness."
Guillaume Maquereau, accompanied by the faint smell of fish, takes the
stand.
"Monsieur Maquereau, in your own words, please tell the court of the events
which led to your apprehension by my operatives."
"Soon after arriving in Paris a fortnight ago, I was walking along the Rue
Bordelle seeking cheap lodgings when a coach approached, bearing a coat of
arms which I did not recognise. Since it obviously carried a great lord I
doffed my cap and bowed as it passed me. To my great surprise, the coach
stopped and the head of a fine Gentleman appeared at the window. 'You
there!' he called. 'Are you new in Paris?' 'Yes Sir,' I answered, 'and
looking for honest employment.' 'Do you love God, your King and your
Country?' he asked. 'Yes Sir, with all my heart Sir' I answered. 'Then I
may have some honest employment for you. Tell me your name and get into
the coach for a moment.'
"As I got into the coach the Gentleman moved as far away from me as he
could - some folks find the smell of fish offensive. Then the Gentleman
told me that a difficult situation had arisen and the services of a loyal
Frenchman were urgently needed - was I interested? Swearing me to secrecy
he told me that the courier system used to get vital messages to and from
brave Frenchmen in His Majesty's service who are risking their lives by
working abroad undercover had been compromised, and that an alternative
method of delivery to the usual couriers was urgently required. Was I
prepared to help? Given the obvious importance of the gentleman making the
request I agreed immediately. The instructions I was given were that each
day I must visit the Poulet Rouge, on the Rue du Coq near the Louvre, and
ask if there were any messages for Monsieur Roquefort. I was to take such
messages, if any, to the Boule Bleu, just outside the Porte St. Antoine to
await collection by another courier. Here I would also ask for any
messages for Monsieur Brie, delivering these back to the Poulet Rouge in
the same fashion. A hundred crowns was given to me to cover my expenses -
sedan chair hire when the weather was inclement, the Gentleman said, as if
the likes of me was about to use sedan chairs! I was horrified to learn
that, in actual fact, these messages were being passed between agents of a
foreign power. I fully admit my guilt in this matter, but must plead that
I was the unwitting tool of this Gentleman and his cronies, who took my
devotion to His Majesty and twisted it to their own perverted ends. I can
do no other than throw myself upon the mercy of the Court."
"Do you see the 'Gentleman' who engaged you in these treasonous activities
in this Courtroom, Monsieur Maquereau ?"
"Yes Sir, [he points at Marquis Chabot] that's the man there Sir!"
"Thank you Monsieur Maquereau, there will be no further questions. I would
like to submit the document found upon Maquereau's person at the time of his
arrest as further evidence.
"Finally, to sum up all the evidence which has been presented. The
Defendent, together with Dutch merchant Piotr van Kneeckle and person or
persons unknown, one of whom appears to be no less than another Marquis of
France, have conspired over a period of months to direct French Foreign
policy away from the Netherlands and Germany in order that a planned
Swedish conquest of the latter might be effected. When they discovered
that their method of passing messages to and from their Swedish paymasters
had been compromised, they took two parallel actions - they implemented an
alternative method of delivering these messages by using the hapless
Maquereau and took steps to have the greatest theat to their security,
Chevalier de Frost, permanently removed. The method chosen for the latter
was to stage the infamous egg-throwing incident and have the blame lead to
the Chevalier's door. Conspiring with a Foreign Power and Assault on His
Majesty's Person are both treasonous, and carry the penalty of death by
decapitation. Where Marquis Chabot is concerned we therefore beseech the
court to pass the maximum sentence on the accused at the earliest possible
convenience.
The matter of Maquereau will be determined later if the the Court decides
to press charges after the confession of Maquereau.
Here I must rest my case, but in doing so I would like to draw the attention
of the Court to one outstanding fact. Chevalier de Frost disappeared last
month and has yet to be located. We fear that this is due to the 'more
direct action' which Marquis Chabot's nocturnal visitor was heard to
advocate. The Marquis has been questioned repeatedly regarding this, but
refuses to reveal either the whereabouts of Chevalier de Frost... "
Marquis Chabot leaps to his feet and shouts "But I don't know _where_ he
is!"
Duc von Fersen coldly instructs him to be seated and remain silent,
unless he wants contempt of court to be added to his growing list of crimes.
" ...But refuses to reveal either the whereabouts of Chevalier de Frost or
the identity of his confederates in treason. May it please Your Grace, the
prosecution rests."
