Romain Puertola, author of How I Found Javier Dupont de Ligones.

In his new novel. How did I find it? Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès Romain Puertolas revisits the famous case from a new perspective, mixing investigation and fiction, even unbridled fantasy, he exposes very real theories while presenting humor. One fine morning, the famous fugitive materializes on the balcony of the neighbor’s house, which he has rented for some time. Despite the past years, the author The extraordinary journey of a fakir stuck in an Ikea wardrobe confesses to the murder of the quintuplet, but waits to gather some evidence worthy of the name before alerting the gendarmes. Little does he know that this is the beginning of a story that will lead to a murder trial with a butter knife. – from one to another. Interview:

Madame Figaro: What was the starting point of this novel?
Romain Puertolas. First the exam. It all started in April 2011 with the case itself, which immediately fascinated me. I was a young police lieutenant, working for Ocriest, the former Office for Combating Migrant Smuggling, and was responsible for document fraud. So I had extensive knowledge of illegal border crossings and obtaining false IDs. I immediately thought that Ligones could have left the area without drawing attention to himself, and I began to study the avenues. For me, the theory of suicide propagated by the media and public opinion did not stand. I have moved 39 times in thirty years, lived in several countries, learned several languages. this particular trip allowed me to acquire a great ability to adapt and put myself in the head of Javier Dupont de Ligones… But little by little it all became too attractive, too macabre. I spent my days and nights there, it was unhealthy. I decided to give up everything. Until I saw a guy who looks a lot like Ligones in a bathrobe drinking coffee and reading a newspaper on the porch of my neighbor, who sometimes rents out his house on Airbnb. When checked, it wasn’t him, but it made me want to pull my investigation off the shelf and mix it with fiction; and if Ligones appeared thus, one morning, by my side, what would I do?

For me, the thesis of suicide propagated by the media and public opinion did not hold up

Romain Puertolas

Was your experience in the police service useful to you?

In the methodology of the preliminary investigation, and then, as I said, with my knowledge of border crossings and obtaining false papers. I don’t think Ligones got fake papers, but I think he should have crossed the border, that was the best solution for him. And in particular the United States, a country he knows well and which is far enough from France to live in peace. American John List did exactly the same thing as Ligones in the 1990s and mysteriously disappeared. When we found him, thanks to a work colleague who saw a program discussing the case and who recognized him, he was remarried and living 400 kilometers away from where he had killed his entire family. 400 kilometers! Distance between Nantes and Agen. He had lived quietly for more than eighteen years. So it is possible.

You haven’t written a document, but a novel, and a pretty crazy one at that. Why this choice?

Because I am a writer first and foremost, I make up stories. This novel is the first one inspired by a true story. I didn’t want to write an essay or a survey. My task is to imagine scenes, to tell powerful things in the first person, so that the reader also experiences them in the first person. This is what I know how to do. So I did it. As for humor, I was born that way. I see everything through the prism of mockery and self-doubt. Humor is the most dangerous and powerful weapon for me. But be careful, I have no disrespect for the victims at any point, it’s a terrible story.

You put yourself on stage, playing with a fictional version of yourself. What purpose?

Isn’t France a country of autofication? Houellebecq, Tesson, Carrère, Angot are represented in more or less autobiographical works. “Why not me,” I said to myself. This was also the first time. And I really enjoyed projecting myself into the novel and becoming a character. I am not lying, I am sincere in what I said. The autobiographical section is the real part of the book itself, the one where I explore with my mistakes, my false references. I’m not saying, look, I’m the super cop, although I do point out many flaws in the investigation. Nobody is perfect. Me too, I’m having a hard time not finding Mindy’s Ranch. (Ex-girlfriend of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, editor’s note) In Google Earth, I cry, I get depressed, I throw everything away, then I take everything back and get back to work. We are not in a detective series where everything is fiction, we are in the life of a real policeman with his doubts and his flaws.

Can you tell us a few words about Spain, where you live and which can be seen here in the background?

I am of Spanish descent through my maternal grandfather, hence my last name, Puertolas. I studied to become a Spanish university professor. In 2000, I left France and came full circle, going in the opposite direction to my grandfather, who had gone to France from his native country. I lived in Barcelona, ​​Madrid and finally settled in Málaga after success The extraordinary journey of a fakir stuck in an Ikea wardrobe. Spain is my home. Like France. It is wonderful to have two languages, two cultures, to be at home in two countries. Spain plays an important role in this novel because one of my theories is that Ligones fled to Catalonia; a French internet user living there claimed to have seen her during the outbreak. It’s a real destination. There are no land controls on the Franco-Spanish border anymore, and Ligones speaks the language. He could live here next to me. We return to the idea of ​​my novel. And in the first chapter…

How I found Javier Dupont de LigonesRomain Puértolas, Albin Michel, 288 pages, €19.90.