Headquartered in Philadelphia, the Vidocq Society is an organization comprised of experts in various fields related to criminology, law enforcement, and related fields who meet once a month at the stately Union League Club of Philadelphia to have a hot lunch and solve a cold-case murder. The Society is named after Eugène François Vidocq, an 18th century French criminal turned crime fighter who was named the first chief of France's Sûreté Nationale, a pioneering criminal investigation organization that served as the inspiration for Scotland Yard in London, the FBI in the United States, and the Bundeskriminalamt in Germany. Victor Hugo based two characters in Les Misérables on Vidocq: both Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert.
The Vidocq Society was founded in Philadelphia in 1990 by three forensic experts: William Fleisher, a former Philadelphia Police Officer and FBI agent, who at the time was Philadelphia's second-in-command U.S. Customs Special Agent. Frank Bender was a well-known forensic sculptor, and Richard Walter, a renowned criminologist and former prison psychologist whom Scotland Yard has called "The Living Sherlock Holmes".
Richard is a dark, witty, acerbic, brooding, chain-smoking, chardonnay-swilling, cookie-baking genius. I am also very happy and honored to be his friend. I first met Richard at the book signing for The Murder Room, a New York Times best-selling book about the Vidocq Society by author Michael Capuzzo, who happens to be my brother-in-law. After reading an advanced copy of the book, I felt like I knew Richard and knew that I wanted to have a drink with him. In the intervening years, I have had more than a few with him.
When Richard got to know me, he came to realize that my work in spectroscopy could be of value to the cold cases being presented at the Vidocq Society. He nominated me as a special member in 2013 and as a full member in 2016. I am particularly honored to be a full member of the Vidocq Society, as the Society's bylaws only allow 82 Vidocq Society Members (V.S.M.'s), one for each year of Vidocq's life.
Being a member gives me the ability to bring guests to the Society's luncheon's at the Union League Club, so if you are in town on the third Thursday of a month, please give me advanced warning and I will see if I can get you a ticket (I will need to accompany guests). Be forewarned: one must have a strong stomach to make it through the presentations by the visiting detectives. After salad and the main course are consumed and as the dessert is being served, the detectives will give a PowerPoint presentation that usually includes graphic and gruesome crime scene and/or autopsy photos. It can be hard to watch, but the knowledge that the Vidocq Society meetings have solved so many cold cases makes it worth it.