The evidence, in fact, suggests that Saunière removed some small object of value from the exposed tomb, and used it for his own monetary purposes.

Building and borrowing

Around 1890-91, Saunière constructed a small building, called Le Reposoir, near the cemetery door, to serve as a temporary altar. During the church restoration, Saunière established an altar within it for services, and later it served at his office and library. He also had a water tank built into its base under the floor, to remedy the appalling lack of a water supply for the village. The water tank was later used to supply various running water features around the church.

In the same period, he had a garden created where the previously open area in front of the church had been. Work continued on the church. The amount spent so far, as ascertained from the original receipts, came to 2,661 francs… and then it stopped. In September of 1891, there was no more money to pay the workmen and buy the materials. Saunière borrowed 500 francs from Madame Matte Barthelmy (a lady in the village) and may have borrowed from others as well. He went to new masons to have the work continued in the middle of October, and in November the pulpit he had ordered from the firm of Giscard of Toulouse arrived and was dedicated. The pulpit’s cost was 750 francs. Saunière’s accounts during the “lean” period have been preserved, and can be viewed on Paul Smith’s website.⁵

It is to be noted, too, that nowhere in Saunière’s extensive diary kept up to 1892 is there any mention of his departing to Paris on a trip. In fact, the farthest he travelled during this time was to Carcassonne, and this clarifies another aspect of the RLC myth, in which it is claimed that Saunière took the manuscripts to Paris to be interpreted (in later versions of the myths, it’s no longer interpretation needed, but decryption). It simply did not happen.⁶

So far, the amounts spent are accounted for as resulting from gifts of money (some documented, and some not) and possibly from the sale of an item robbed from a grave (attested by oft-retold tales in the village that probably have some truth to them).

Gifts and 3-per-day

That substantial moneys were donated to priests is nowhere more powerfully illustrated than in the fortune bequeathed to the Bishop of Carcassonne in 1891. Monseigneur Billard was left 1,200,000 francs in the will of Madame Rose Denise Marguerite Victorine Sabatier in Coursan. What was more – she left it to him as a private bequest, not in his persona as a Bishop. It was quite a scandal in its day, but the Bishop’s position at the time was unassailable. His goodwill towards Saunière was a welcome protection.