At the end of 1997, an advertisement appeared in many Parisian newspapers with the following content:
“Antique dealers turn to antiquity lovers with a warning not to buy a mirror that has recently disappeared from a police warehouse with the inscription on the frame:“Louis Arpo, 1743”. Over the long history of its existence, passing from one owner to another, this rarity caused the death of at least 38 people."
The reason for publishing the ad, which would have been appropriate in medieval Europe, but not at the end of the 20th century, was explained by the president of the Paris Association of Antique Dealers, Emile Freinet:
“The mirror has been kept in a warehouse by the police since it caused the death of several people. However, these days someone entered the warehouse and stole a number of things, including the mentioned mirror. We think the thief will try to sell him. Therefore, we try to spread the information about this mirror as widely as possible so that potential buyers are careful and immediately contact the authorities."
MIRROR MASTER
Very little reliable information has come down to this day about the mirror works of the master Louis Arpo. It is only known that he was an alchemist and a black magician.
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He was saved from the fire of the Inquisition only by a close relationship with the almighty Marquise de Pompadour - the favorite of King Louis XV, who actually ruled the king and all of France. What exactly and for what purpose the master invested in one of his creations is still a mystery, but the fact that this creation has a deadly power leaves no doubt.
Most of the owners of the Louis Arpo mirror died of a stroke or, even more surprising, disappeared without a trace. The mirror itself differs little in appearance from most similar items of that era. The mirrored glass is enclosed in a massive, ornate frame of gilded mahogany, sustained in the Baroque style.
At the top of the frame are two angels blowing into trumpets. In the lower part of it there is an engraved inscription: "Louis Arpo, 1743". Such items can often be found in antique shops in Europe. However, the history of this mirror puts it in a special place not only for antique lovers.
ONE VICTIM, TWO VICTIMS …
Today, several victims of the killer mirror are reliably known. The first of them was a major Parisian banker of Armenian origin Kirakos Gandzaketsi, who acquired it at the exhibition. For several years, the mirror did not give out its devilish essence in any way, until in 1769 Monsieur Gandzaketsi went to his sister's birthday in one of the outskirts of Paris.
As a gift, the banker decided to present the very mirror, which, apparently, did not like this decision very much. The birthday girl and the guests never finished eating a relative that evening. The next day, the gendarmerie received a statement about the disappearance of the banker.
The search continued for several days, and finally in the forest, not far from his house, an empty carriage was found, in which he went to visit. The horses were harnessed, but neither the banker, nor his coachman, nor even their bodies were nearby. Further searches led nowhere.
The investigation was forced to abandon the version of the abduction associated with the robbers, since the expensive carriage, the suitcase with the banker's belongings, and even his wallet remained intact. The ill-fated mirror was also intact. The banker and his coachman disappeared without a trace.
Where the mirror of Louis Arpo was kept for almost a hundred years after the first "murder" is unknown. The following information about him appears only in 1853. A young woman named Laura Noel received it as a gift for her 23rd birthday.
Unfolding the gift, the girl looked in the mirror and, turning pale, collapsed dead in the presence of numerous guests. The cause of death, as it turned out later, was a cerebral hemorrhage. On this, the mirror did not calm down and continued to kill until, in 1910, the gendarmerie hid it under lock and key in the police storage of material evidence.
THE MISSING MARQUIS
It would seem that this is where the story of the bloodthirsty mirror should have ended, but World War II intervened in its fate.
The mirror took its next victim on September 10, 1943. There were many guests that evening at the luxurious villa of the Marquis de Fornaroli. The Marquis, who willingly collaborated with the Nazi invaders and made a good fortune on this, gave a rich reception for senior officers of the Wehrmacht and SS.
A guest orchestra played Wagner, numerous livery footmen handed trays of drinks, and cooks in the kitchen conjured up delicious desserts. The time was approaching midnight. Fireworks were scheduled for this time, so the guests gradually moved from the hall to the garden in anticipation of a spectacular spectacle.
The Marquis, who noticed the absence of his wife, asked the butler where she was now. Having received the answer that the Marquis had gone up to her bedroom, de Fornaroli hurried there to hurry his wife. However, she was not in the bedroom. Two maids confirmed the butler's words that the Marquise had just entered the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Among those invited was SS Standartenführer Wilhelm Fuchs, to whom the Marquis turned for help. The officer immediately made a phone call, and within a few minutes Gestapo agents appeared at the villa. A thorough search of the villa and the surrounding area was unsuccessful. A search of the Marquise's bedroom revealed that she was indeed inside the room, sitting in front of the mirror, putting herself in order. Cosmetics were laid out on the pier.
The chair she was sitting on was overturned, and a pearl necklace and one shoe lay on the floor. Scratches from nails were clearly visible on the polished surface of the pier glass, as if the marquise was desperately trying to hold on, while some force was pulling her back. The bedroom windows were tightly closed from the inside.
The investigation, which was led by Obergruppenführer Rudolf Heine, did not manage to find traces of the missing lady, but the facts that the investigators discovered forced the Gestapo leadership to take this case more than seriously. It turned out that in 1935, a few months before the Marquis acquired this villa, the daughter of the former owners of the house disappeared without a trace in the same room. Her body was never found.
A month after the tragedy, a Gestapo car drove up to the Marquis's villa. Fuchs and Heine emerged from it, accompanied by an unknown gloomy man in a black cloak. The unknown person introduced himself as Franz Schubach, SS Hauptsturmfuehrer and employee of the "Ahnenerbe" - the secret service of the Third Reich, including the study of the paranormal. As soon as he entered the bedroom of the Marquis, Mr. Shubakh saw a mirror on the dressing table and, having changed in his face, ordered to immediately close it with a dense cloth.
Half an hour later, a truck with soldiers drove up to the villa, who, on Shubakh's orders, packed the mirror in a wooden box and drove away in an unknown direction. To the discouraged marquis, Shubach said: "As sad as it is for me to say this to you, Marquis, I am sure that you will never see your spouse again." He also said that the mirror that was confiscated was the infamous Arpo mirror, which had dozens of human victims.
KILLER ON Liberty
After the war, the mirror repeatedly reminded itself of itself, increasing the count of its victims, until in 1990 it was again "behind bars". For several years it lay quietly in the police storage of evidence and did not harm anyone. But in 1997, the warehouse was robbed. Many valuable things were gone, including the ill-fated mirror. This event prompted the Parisian antiquaries, well acquainted with the history of the killer mirror, to issue a warning in print.
To this day, the killer is at large and his whereabouts are unknown. With the modern availability of movement and the absence of intra-European borders, it could well leave the borders of France. So no antiques lover can feel safe as long as the Arpo mirror exists.
Oleg NANCHAYANIY, magazine “Steps. Secrets and Mysteries №14 2016