"I am innocent! " cried at once Helene Jegado, M. Bidard's cook. "Innocent of what?" asked the magistrate; "no one has accused you of anything." It was necessary, upon this significant re sponse and upon the suspicion, so formally expressed, of the two doctors, to investigate the past life of Helene Jegado. The fol lowing facts were developed by the first researches. On the 7th of November, 1850, one of the domestics of M. Bidard, professor of law at Rennes, died after the most cruel suf ferings. The malady of this girl was accom panied by severe vomitings and terminated in convulsions. The physicians called to at tend her could explain her death only on one of these two theories, — a rupture of the diaphragm or poison. This last supposition did not appear ad missible, and the physicians did not wish even to insinuate the possibility that a crime had been committed. Rose Tessier — that was the name of the poor girl who had succumbed — was replaced by another servant, a girl named Francoise Huriaux. She found herself, as Rose Tessier had done, associated in M. Bidard's house with another domestic, Helene Jegado. Francoise Huriaux had been but a short time in this house when she herself was struck down by a malady, which in its symptoms closely resembled that of Rose Tessier. Fortunately for herself, she imdiately threw up her situation, and once outside of M. Bidard's house she speedily recovered. Rosalie Sarrazin succeeded her in May, 1851; it was this young girl, scarcely nine teen years old, full of health and vigor, who .had just died, on the 1st of July, after sev eral days of atrocious sufferings. The physi cians, struck by the similarity of the symptoms in her case to those to which Rose Tessier had succumbed, did not hesitate this time to assert that these two deaths were the result of poisoning by means of some ir ritating substance, like arsenic; and they
felt it their duty at once to inform the au thorities. Helene had alone cared for these two sick girls, and had prepared their food and medi cine; other circumstances also served to in crease the suspicions of justice, and she was immediately arrested. Scarcely had the report of her arrest and the nature of the crimes attributed to her been noised abroad in the department of Morbihan, where she was born, and where she had been in service for a long time, than sinister reports were circulated on every side. It was recalled that numerous deaths had, so to speak, marked her pas sage in all the houses where she had so journed, and the belief spread that all of these deaths, or at least the greater part of them, the cause of which had hitherto re mained a mystery, might also have been the result of poison. Paying no attention to the energetic de nials of Helene, the authorities entered upon an active and searching investigation. The entire past life of Helene was submitted to a severe scrutiny. A long examination, skil fully directed, followed with the minutest care, led to the discovery of a frightful series of crimes committed with a sang-froid, an audacity, and a perversity, the mere thought of which makes human reason stand aghast with horror. Helene Jegado was born at Plouhinec in 1803. An orphan at the age of seven years, she was received by the Cure of Bubry, M. Riallan, in whose house two of her aunts were servants. After a sojourn of seven teen years in this village, she accompanied one of her aunts to Seglien, where she en tered the service of the Cure, M. Conan. An inclination for evil had already devel oped itself in Helene Jegado; while in the Cure's house grains of hemp were found in a soup prepared by her. In 1833 Helene obtained a situation with M. Le Drogo, a priest, at Guern. In this house, in three months, from the 28th of June to the 3d of October, seven persons
