Unfortunately for non-French readers, Diabolique is not yet available in English. It’s a fascinating first-hand account from two of Thierry Tilly‘s victims, Ghislaine and Jean Marchand, a wife and husband estranged from each other for eight years, as Tilly had convinced Ghislaine that her aristocratic family was being targeted by secret societies and Jean was part of the plot. Their accounts of the same events alternate as the book progresses.

In a previous post, I wrote about We Were Not Armed, written by Christine de Vedrines, Ghislaine’s sister in law, also victimised by Tilly from 2000 (when he started stealing her inheritance) until 2009, when she escaped, mounting the offensive against Tilly. While it is an excellent book, Christine had limited direct exposure to Tilly during the first years compared to his main target, Ghislaine, whom he started brainwashing in 1997. If you are interested in the details of this case, reading them both is an immersive experience.

Diabolique allows the reader to know exactly what Tilly said at each turn of the narrative. It is both tragic and often comical, to the same degree.

To Ghislaine and family (minus those who were ousted or gradually alienated), Tilly, who ran a commercial cleaning business, “worked at the UN and had connections in many other supra-national institutions”. He was also in charge of protecting a number of families of aristocratic descent, who were meant to “restore the balance” in France. The de Vedrines were one of the chosen, constantly under supervision and surreptitious attack, unbeknownst to them. Every small problem or failure was to be interpreted as caused by their enemies.

“The Jews and the masons are emptying your oil tank at night”

We learn he told Ghislaine that the secretarial school for girls she was running was being targeted by the freemasons. The Germans had apparently used the basement during WWII for ungodly purposes, and the school’s location, across the road from the German embassy, was no coincidence. When the phone line didn’t work, “they had cut it off”. When the oil for heating ran out, they had “emptied the tank at night”. Her most trusted staff members were also in cahoots with the freemasons and had to go.

Before fleeing to England, as he was in legal trouble in France, Tilly had chosen to occupy the groundskeeper’s lodge, “as a favour”. Ghislaine figured his intention must be to protect her school and family, since such an important man was choosing to live so modestly. He certainly wasn’t a failed businessman and crook looking for free accomodation.

“Don’t worry about the bailiffs”

Tilly assured her he was taking care of the school’s legal matters, which of course never happened. By the time it went bankrupt, in 2001, the school was deep into debt. In its final months, Ghislaine, her brother Philippe and his partner, Brigitte, had been instructed by Tilly to live there, in improper conditions, to guard it and reopen it for foreign students. He had arranged for Chinese students to arrive in September, he told them, which would be glorious. They spent the entire autumn there, with no heating or beds to sleep on. In the end, bailiffs arrived instead and seized the furniture.

On their last day there, as they were leaving in Philippe’s car, Tilly called Ghislaine’s mobile, instructing them to return to the school and abandon the car in the yard, as explosives had been placed under it. They did, and ran off home by train. The car was seized by the bailiffs as well. In their minds though, Tilly had saved their lives. On another occasion, when someone tried to carry Tilly’s briefcase, he promptly stopped them, claiming that if anyone but him held the briefcase, it would explode.

One of the astonishing aspects of this con was that these people were losing everything, little by little, and not even realising it. They were always prepared to hand over even more, as soon as it was requested, although their lives had crumbled since meeting Tilly.

Tilly was in charge of paying their taxes and other legal obligations, presumably out of the hundreds of thousands (gradually millions) entrusted to him as investments, sent to a bank in England, to protect the funds from the freemasons. He, of course, never made those payments, instead stealing the money, which is why bailiffs showed up on two occasions at Martel, seizing the harvest and furniture. Not to worry, Tilly had said, my teams are on top of it; we are only deceiving the enemy into thinking we’re weak; everything will be returned to you. That’s how some of them, like Ghislaine, were not bothered by the whole affair; it was all a farce and a disguise organised by Tilly’s teams. Alas, those were in fact real bailiffs and they were taking their stuff. Some of the furniture was later bought at auction by family members, so they could keep some memories.

Years later, a bailiff also showed up at Talade, Philippe’s home, where the adults in the family spent more than 2 years, later joined by their children, minus Guillaume. The same logic was applied, of it all being an artifice, not to cause any worries.

The Blue Light Foundation

“Ran” by fellow crook Jaques Gonzales, Tilly’s so called boss (who later received four years in prison), the foundation was supposedly going to build hospitals in China (none ever materialised). It also had other international connections, apparently. It was actually just a front meant to legitimise the claims and actions of Gonzales and Tilly, who were both syphoning money from the de Vedrines for their personal use.

We learn they had convinced an architect he would be working on projects in China. He joined the three family members at the school during its last months, and by all accounts was an honest person, deceived by these fraudsters, losing other business connections because of this insanity. The failure of the school was, of course, blamed on Jean’s networks.

When Gonzales’ home was searched, many luxury items were found, as well as some of the random objects Tilly would request from Ghislaine on occasion, to keep her busy (like mobile phones).

“Jean’s networks”

As Jean, a journalist, could smell a rat as soon as he had met Tilly at party, in 1999, he quickly became a target, to be ousted and blamed for whatever was happening to the family. Tilly told his son, Francois, that his failed driving test had been caused by “his father’s networks”. Francois had seen the driving instructor take a phone call shortly before the test and believed it. Many times, Tilly would just make things up; many other times, however, he would exploit real situations, like the failed driving test, seizing upon a detail to blame everything on malevolent actors. This must have fed into the grandiosity of family members.

Over the years, Tilly told them Jean had hired Asian people to kill them, making them suspicious of any Asians they met. He ended up telling Ghislaine that Jean and Guillemette’s ex husband, Sebastien, had drugged and raped Guillemette. Jean was also in a sect and had 40 mistresses. It boggles the mind that she believed it all, but she did.

When ousting him from their home in Bordeneuve, Ghislaine turned up with a gardening glove and a bunch of dead flowers found in the garden at their other property. She had been instructed to throw them at Jean’s feet, reciting “Jean, here are the evil signs of your network, that I found in our garden at Fontenay. You have half an hour to pack your bags and leave this house.” She had brought her two brothers as enforcers, also hurling accusations at him.

“I made Strauss-Khan resign”

Before ousting his father from the family, Tilly had found an adept in Francois, by convincing him he led a life comparable to that of a Hollywood spy. He didn’t, “at his level”, give orders to kill people, although he was a general. His missions were more complex, such as making Dominique Strauss-Khan resign. He seemed to be referring to the following:

In 1999, he was accused of corruption in two financial scandals related to Elf Aquitaine and the MNEF Affair, a student mutual health insurance, and decided to resign from his ministerial office to fight these charges, in agreement with the “Balladur jurisprudence“. He was replaced by Christian Sautter. He was acquitted in November 2001, and was reelected in a by-election in the Val-d’Oise.

Wikipedia

During the same encounter at a cafe, Francois Hollande happened to show up. Tilly assured the other Francois, by then fascinated by his stories, that Hollande would lower his eyes when passing them by. He did (perhaps he didn’t like staring at people). The young man instantly understood that Tilly was in possession of heavy secrets and in a position of authority. In hindsight, one can only laugh.

“My agents are stationed in the woods”

When they were sequestering themselves at Martel, the family chateau, one notable person to chase outsiders away was the matriarch, referred to as Mamie (the mother of Ghislaine, her two brothers and their late sister, Anne). Mamie would answer the phone and dissuade people from phoning back. She also chased a friend of Ghislaine’s away from the door with her walking cane. The friend would later recall, paraphrasing: “I saw them; they were all sitting there in the dark”. Mamie developed cataracts, blamed by Tilly on laser beams coming from the woods, originating from their enemies. His agents, however, roamed the same woods, so there was no need to worry, as long as they locked themselves inside the castle and received no visitors.

His agents were in fact everywhere, neutralising threats, which is why Tilly had to know exactly when Ghislaine (the only one allowed to run errands) left the house and returned. When he met members of the family in public, he would point out random strangers reading newspapers or standing around, claiming they were either his agents or working for the enemy. They became paranoid about going out without his permission.

“My teams tell me the fruit is poisoned”

While locking themselves inside Martel, before Christmas in 2002 (the last one they would ever spend there), neighbours had left crates of fruit and vegetables at their front door, as a gesture of good will, given that they wouldn’t open for anyone. Although they had little provisions by then, as instructed by Tilly, they binned them and washed their hands thoroughly.

“You must flee your medical practice”

Charles-Henri, an obstetrician and gynecologist, was told in 2003 that estranged family members had plotted to ruin him by getting some patients to accused him of malpractice. His associate at the clinic was supposedly in on it.

Charles-Henri was told to retrieve his belongings from the clinic in the dead of night, along with Ghislaine and Guillaume, as Tilly’s services were now on high alert. By morning, there should be no trace of him left. During the excursion, Tilly would phone their mobiles alternatively, every 15-20 minutes, asking them to hurry up. Before they got there, he told them there was an operation in place, for the enemies to arrive at the clinic before they did. Guillaume drove at more than 100km per hour. Once they got there, he kept calling, telling them his teams had knowledge they were on the way. When they finally got home, they felt saved.

Tilly was, of course, just messing with them. He would regularly give them such scares, making them think they had just evaded injury or death by the skin of their teeth.

“If the money doesn’t arrive tonight, you’ll make me miss a week of operations”

While living at Talade, Philippe’s home, the family of six (the children were abroad) used Mamie and Philippe’s pensions to support themselves. Even from those pensions, Tilly wanted most of the money, phoning Ghislaine whenever the pensions were due (as his “teams had informed him”). The food was scarce and poor quality, as she remembers; mostly pates and vegetables. They had no money to buy meat or heat the house. Later, most of the children joined them as well.

On one such occasion, Tilly had insisted she jump in a taxi to go collect the pensions immediately, as he could no longer afford their protection. He told her the six of them could live on 400 euros a month. He kept calling to tell her to hurry up, or something was going to happen. He told her it was a matter of minutes, so she would feel relieved when accomplishing the task, otherwise so damaging to her family.

To think that just a few years prior this family was organising a yearly festival at Monflanquin and living with no care for daily expenses; it’s shocking.

“Haven’t you noticed anything strange?”

The de Vedrines were told to scrutinise their environment continually and report back to Tilly. They didn’t lose this habit even in England, while having regular jobs and living in cities.

This is a fragment Ghislaine writes about her time at Talade, which I find representative to the tactic Tilly used in order to make them nervous.

“Once or twice a month, we were authorised to go shopping at Villeneuve-sur-Lot. It’s generally me that goes, after Tilly has alerted his teams so that I won’t be killed on the way or at the supermarket. I therefore have a strict schedule, and I book a taxi to drive me there and take me back. Had I not lived with the fear of being assassinated, leaving that prison could have been a moment of relaxation. And it is, in spite of everything, the pleasure of seeing new faces, of melting into life, outweighing the fear of seeing an armed man come out at the bend of an aisle.

Upon returning, I had to give an oral report to Tilly. I must describe everything in detail, everything I’ve seen, or suspected, he wants to know everything so he can inform his people.

“Everything went well, thank your teams for me; I wasn’t concerned.”

“Are you sure you’re telling me everything?”

“Listen, yes… The taxi waited at the exit, as planned, we rode very peacefully.”

“Haven’t you noticed anything strange while you waited at the till?”

“Uh, no… no… Well, at one point, the man who waited behind me made a phone call.”

“Ah! And you weren’t telling me!”

“I didn’t find that suspicious.”

“Well, you are wrong. Do you want me to tell you the truth? That guy called Jean to tell him where you were; we were tapping his phone. I have all their conversations in front of me and I can assure you that if my teams hadn’t been present, you wouldn’t be there to tell me about your afternoon.”

Rinse and repeat countless times.

“You must cut them off immediately”

Tilly told Ghislaine that her late sister, Anne, who had died of natural causes, had in fact been murdered by her husband. The widower and his children were “naturally” ousted from the family. He also convinced her that Jean’s father was a cult member who had initiated Jean into all kinds of depravities. This prompted Ghislaine to call her in-laws with insane accusations, which she remembers with mortification in the book. They died shortly after, without ever seeing their grandchildren again. Mamie was more fortunate, as she survived past the family’s reunification in 2010.

Towards the end, Tilly managed to turn the entire family against Guillaume, Christine’s son, who had been Tilly’s right hand man and in charge of certain legal and financial matters. He became the scapegoat, with Tilly using him to justify the missing millions of euros. It didn’t occur to anyone that Guillaume was working hard and barely getting by, and that he had never showed indications of having such money. The legal onslaught and isolation could have propelled him to do something extreme, which thankfully did not happen.

“There will be cold meat”

This particular phrase was used to induce fear, and Ghislaine had a strong reaction to it each time, fearing one of her children would be killed. He would use it whenever she showed reluctance to give him more money or sell things, telling her that unless she did what she was told, someone would die.

Differing accounts from Christine’s

Of 2000, when Charles-Henri, Christine’s husband, also became fascinated by Tilly and invited him over for dinner, Ghislaine writes about his entire family (himself, Christine and their children) becoming part of his worshipper club, in unison. Christine, however, does not recount feeling this way at all, or having any particular fondness or admiration towards him at that point. She remained wary of him for years to come.

One notable difference referred to Diane’s false accusation that Christine had molested her, used by Tilly and the family to punish Christine for escaping the cult. While Ghislaine recounts that Tilly had convinced Diane of this, Christine claims it had been Ghislaine’s doing, after Diane had told her Christine had accompanied her to buy a bra. The issue remains puzzling, however, it is certain that by that stage family members were pointing fingers at each other and making false denouncements to the police.

On the issue of the “transmission” (non-existent financial information Christine was tortured for two weeks over, in 2008), Christine writes that the process had not bothered Ghislaine, and that Ghislaine had later said as much. Ghislaine, however, recalls it with mortification, both regarding her actions and the actions of her siblings, who had let it all happen and had participated.

There was obviously remaining tension between them, years after the ordeal had ended.

The second victim of the “transmission”

During the last phase of Tilly’s control, after Christine had escaped, Tilly had the marvelous idea that Mamie, who was by then 96, must have some information about hidden money. He had her children interrogate her for about a day, in the same conditions as Christine, although the poor woman was barely aware. She would fall asleep, which they were trying to prevent, and at time ask where they even were.

Tilly tried to ruin his own family

Just before fleeing to Switzerland, to be arrested at the airport, Tilly had had his then wife, Jessica, arrested on false charges of being violent, knowing his children would remain with her in Oxford and he was probably not returning. Tilly had in fact locked their children in a room, and she had broken the door to get them out. The police took his word for it and drove her away. Tilly carelessly left for Switzerland the same day, and as the psychopath that he presumably was, did not care what he was leaving behind.

There is certainly value in dissecting each quote of this fraudster; however, that would turn into a short story. The book is well worth reading.