Other People's Money

In the hushed Rue St. Gilles, where cobblestones know every footstep and the neighbors share gossip as readily as coffee, a solitary servant wanders from door to door. He asks the same question of each resident—who is Monsieur Vincent Favoral, the man reputedly trustworthy enough to guard anyone’s savings? The query, oddly specific, hints at a curiosity that feels out of place among the street’s ordinary rhythms.

Favoral is described as a meticulous, almost mechanical figure: tall, thin, forever punctual, and dressed in the same gray coat he has worn for decades. Residents speak of him with a mixture of admiration and unease, noting his role as chief cashier of a powerful credit society and his nickname “Old Punctuality.” As the servant gathers impressions, a subtle tension begins to surface, suggesting that beneath the orderly ledger of his life lies a secret worth uncovering.