Adventure in Criminological Investigation

In 19th-century France, reformed criminal Eugene-François Vidocq recruits other former convicts to create Europe's first modern detective agency.

When Marie Lafarge falls under suspicion for killing her husband with arsenic in 1840, chemist James Marsh's toxicology test helps prove the crime.

In 1892, police clerk Alphonse Bertillon's meticulous criminal identification method ties a French anarchist's new alias to his fugitive past.

After an American banker dies under suspicious circumstances in 1912, Sergeant Joseph Faurot turns to fingerprinting to identify the killer.

During a 1928 murder investigation, British authorities task expert gunmaker Robert Churchill with analyzing the fatal bullet.

In 1902, a German biologist's method for distinguishing human from animal blood plays a pivotal role in solving the murders of three young children.

When a woman dies in a suspicious drowning, Scotland Yard investigators turn to forensic pathologist Bernard Spilsbury to determine exactly how she died.

In the 1930s, a single petty theft leads investigators and forensic experts to an insurance clerk linked to a string of violent crimes.

The distinct handwriting of a 17th-century nobleman becomes key evidence in solving his own murder case — and later in proving he was still alive.

To combat a postwar crime wave in 18th-century London, lawyer Henry Fielding forms an early police force that helps pave the way for Scotland Yard.