Place Vendôme is where the military inquiry into Georges Picquart takes on a public and physical form: reporters crowd the headquarters entrance, the questioning continues inside, and Picquart ultimately walks out rather than submit to a process he calls a sham. The square connects the inquiry’s institutional authority to the press and pursuit gathering outside it.

The Headquarters and Its Threshold

The inquiry is held at the headquarters of the military governor of Paris, reached through a huge, worm-eaten door in Place Vendôme. Reporters block the entrance, pressing for news about Alfred Dreyfus, Charles Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, a search, and a veiled woman. Antoine Perrier-Milon forces a way through with Picquart; when he draws his sword, the reporters retreat far enough to let them pass.

Inside, the setting shifts from the press-filled square to a chilly, vaulted chamber that Picquart compares to the nave of an abandoned church. They climb a staircase lined with plaster statues, then wait in silence for fifteen minutes before an aide fetches Picquart. The contrast between the exposed entrance and the hushed, quasi-religious interior makes the inquiry appear at once public spectacle and institutional ritual.

A Press Crowd and Narrow Exits

After a day of repetitive questioning, the inquiry orders Picquart not to communicate with anyone or leave the supervision of its officers. At dusk, Antoine Perrier-Milon checks the crowd from the waiting room and proposes leaving by another route. They descend to the cellar, cross a deserted kitchen, and emerge into a yard. In the rain, they pick their way past rubbish and rats, cross a muddy lawn in the Ministry of Justice garden, and reach Rue Cambon.

Journalists posted as lookouts spot them beside a street lamp. Picquart and Antoine Perrier-Milon sprint two hundred metres to the taxi rank on Rue Saint-Honoré and seize the only cab just as their pursuers catch up. Their escape makes the square more than a backdrop: its press presence shapes how the inquiry’s participants can move, even when they leave by a hidden route.

The Inquiry and Picquart’s Departure

The next morning, Picquart is brought back to the room set aside for the inquiry in Place Vendôme. Pellieux resumes where he left off, asking again how Picquart came into possession of the Petit bleu, then turns to what he disclosed to Madame Monnier. The questioning continues the inquiry’s effort to test Picquart through repetition, while its scope excludes his allegations about the General Staff’s conduct.

Picquart finally tells Pellieux that he believes the inquiry to be a sham and that its conclusions were written before he gave evidence. He withdraws his cooperation, collects his suitcase, and walks out through the headquarters door into Place Vendôme. Most of the journalists initially miss his unexpected exit; when they realize he is leaving, they run after him. On Rue de Rivoli, Picquart flags down a taxi, and the driver’s whip cracks as the reporters’ pursuit falls behind.

Narrative Significance

Place Vendôme gathers the inquiry’s competing forces into one space: military command inside, a questioning press outside, and Picquart moving between them under supervision. The repeated return to the inquiry room turns the square into the setting of an attempted containment; the final walk out reverses that movement. The reporters who first obstruct the entrance later chase Picquart as he leaves, making the square a visible boundary between the inquiry’s authority and his refusal to continue cooperating.