Vidocq, to everyone's surprise, has become head of the Sûreté Nationale. One of his former chain-mates, Desfossé, is compromised in a murder case.

Vidocq is accused of murdering two men who had denounced him to the police for blackmailing them. Arrested and imprisoned, he manages to escape and discovers a plot hatched by the Baroness de Saint-Gély: the criminal has hired a fake Vidocq to arrest some very wealthy thugs.

Vidocq is tasked with finding the Empress's pink necklace (inherited from François I) before the reception at which the Empress is to wear it.

Vidocq is tasked with arresting a gang of looters operating in northern France. These criminals attack isolated farms, forcing peasants to confess where their savings are hidden by burning their feet.

At the dawn of the Restoration, Mr. Henry, eager to protect Vidocq, sends him to Brittany to investigate the mysterious disappearance of emigrants who have returned to France clandestinely.

In the run-up to the Hundred Days, Vidocq investigates strange events at the Toulon penal colony.