"THE SAMURAI" "There is no greater solitude than the samurai's, unless perhaps it be that of the tiger in the jungle." "Bushido (Book of the Samurai)" "Saturday, 4th April. 6 p.m." "Jef?" "This evening I came round at 7.15 and stayed 'till 2 a.m." "Can't be done." "Wiener called." "He said he'd be back at two." "All right, until 1.45, then." "I like it when you come round because you need me." "It is your say." "How long will you be here?" "We have the room all night." "Count me in from 2 o'clock." "Bring money, in case you lose." "I never lose." "Never completely." " Who are you?" " It doesn't matter." "What do you want?" "To kill you." "General alert!" "Carry out the usual round-ups and identity checks all night." "The killer is believed to be tall, wearing hat and raincoat." "I want at least 20 likely suspects from each precinct." "So what if it makes 400?" "The population's 10 million." "Hurry it up, or it'll be too late." "Police!" "Open up!" "Identity check." "Your papers, gentlemen." " How long have you been here?" " Since 7 o'clock." "What about you?" "9 or 9.15." " How do you earn your living?" " Full disability pension, war wounds." "When did you get here?" "2 or 2.15." "Come along with us." "Routine check." "If you can show legal means of support, you'll be released." "Quiet please!" "Damolini, Ange Séraphin, 41." "Picked up in a bar, corner of rue Saint-Dominique." "Carrying a gun." "Take off the glasses." "What have you to say?" "Not a thing." "What were you doing with a gun in your pocket?" "Next." "Over here!" "Garcia, Juan, 47, and Delbarre, Jeanne, 51." "Picked up in the street." "The man armed." "Take off your hat." "You aren't married, are you?" "Living together?" "Why the gun?" "The streets aren't safe at night in Paris." "I might have to defend myself." "Consider your record." "1945:" "Sentenced to 6 months for incitement of minors to vice." "1950: 12 months for drug trafficking." "1952:" "Attempted burglary." "1955:" "Sentenced for immoral earnings." "1958:" "Attempted murder." "1960:" "Manslaughter charge, insufficient evidence." "Well?" "Next." "Costello, Jef, 30." "No criminal record, matches description given." "Not carrying a gun." "He wore a hat." "Put your hat on." "It wasn't a hat like that." "It was darker." "No, it was a light colour." "But he had a moustache, I think." "Why did you shave, Costello?" "I've never worn a moustache." "I don't think it was him." "No, definitely not." "Sorry, but I think it is." "I remember exactly how the man looked." "Yes, indeed, it could be him." "Where were you from 12 to 2?" "At my fiancée's." "Name, address and phone number." "Is that necessary?" "Unless you want to be held." "Jane Lagrange, 11 avenue de l'Amiral Bruix." "Telephone?" "Mac-Mahon 91-73." "Mademoiselle Lagrange, please." "Just Mademoiselle Lagrange." "Aside from the gentleman who escorted you here, any other visitor last night?" "Your private life is not our concern." "Entertain whom you wish." "That is your right." "I simply want to know whether, before Monsieur Wiener arrived at two, you had another visitor?" "Until when?" "And who?" "Until 1.45." "A man." "I imagined so." "The same age as Monsieur Wiener?" "No, younger." "Somewhere around thirty?" "Yes, around thirty." "The time?" "From 7 or 7.15 until 1.45." "Sure it was 1.45?" "I made him leave then." "I was expecting Monsieur Wiener at 2." "I understand." "Now, just for verification." "The name of this 30-year old?" "Do I have to say?" "Jef Costello." "Will you wait a moment, please?" "He didn't mention that he knew the victim well?" " Why didn't you tell him?" " Because it's not true." "You'll have to prove that." "I believe you'll have to prove the contrary." "What you won't be able to deny, or not for long anyway, is your regular attendance at that establishment." "I've never set foot in the place." "What is it you want?" "Costello's confession to a crime he didn't commit?" "Optimistic, aren't you?" "I'll make you change your tune in a moment." "Bring Wiener straight in here." "Monsieur Wiener, at 2 or 2.15, you visited Mademoiselle Lagrange?" "That is correct." "Think carefully before you answer this." "Did you get the feeling, when you arrived, that someone had just left?" "Forgive the frankness, but..." "Did you feel that your place was still warm?" " I beg your pardon?" " Please answer." "I'm not very observant." "More's the pity." "I do remember something though." "When I entered the apartment block, someone had pressed the light button." "I noticed a man going past me, on his way out." "Now that I think of it, he wasn't far from her door and could well have just left." "Would you recognise the man?" "I don't think so." "Let's try, shall we?" "Hats and coats on, gentlemen." "Form up in 3 ranks." "You come with me." "Stand over there." "Change coats with him." "And you, your hat." "Please come with me." "Do you recognise the man you passed in the hallway of Mademoiselle Lagrange?" "Do you recognise anyone?" "I have a composite image of the man I passed." "That raincoat." "That hat." "Or that one." "That face." "What would the result have been if you were observant?" "Will you come with me, please?" "That's it." "I'm sorry." "The nature of our work is sometimes inconsistent with courtesy." "May I go if you've finished with me?" "Certainly." "So my private life "is not our concern"?" "I'm investigating a crime." "I can't be choosy about my methods." "Time's precious." "May I go too?" "Of course." "Show Mademoiselle out." "I'm going to show you Costello once more." "Try to be categorical." "No maybes or perhapses." "Either: "Yes, it's him" or "No, it's not"." "Show him in." "Do you recognise this man?" "Did you see him leave the door to the offices?" "Definitely not." "Thank you." "Please wait in my office." "Do you still say that this was the man you saw?" "I can answer that categorically." "I'm asking you to." "Yes, it was him." "Please wait in my office." "Do you recognise this man?" "Frankly, I don't think so." "Same question." "I'm not sure." "I'd need to see the other one again." "I don't know." "I'm not sure." "I can't answer categorically." "Mademoiselle, only you got a good look at the man who killed Martey." "I can either hold him and try to break his alibi, as one witness has formally identified him." "Or he'll be set free, depending on your answer." "And that'll be the end of it." "I'm in no doubt whatsoever." "He was definitely not the man." "Thank you." "Not at all." "That's all, gentlemen." "Sunday, 5.45 a.m." "May I go?" "Unfortunately." " How many suspects left?" " 9." "Same routine for them all." "A nice way to spend Sunday." "What do you think about Costello?" "I never think." "1 rue Lord Byron." "1 rue Lord Byron." "He's inside." "I'll drive round the block, then back here to see if he comes out." "Watch it." "There's another entrance on the Champs Elysées:" "116B." "I'm coming to it." "Stay there and report." "I can park." "He's taking the metro." "Follow him." "Or try anyway." "He got away." "What do I do?" "The usual." "Come back here." "It's done." "I know." "You were arrested, though?" "No problem." "Fine." "A deal's a deal." "We can't leave him on the lose like that." "Homicide picked him up and had him in custody." "That he's been freed proves nothing." "He may still be a suspect." "I don't think so." "He set himself up a terrific alibi." "Suppose they break it?" "No way." "It comes in two parts, each one entirely separate." "I can imagine." "He's really good, that's why we used him." "He fulfilled the contract:" "To kill Martey without leaving any trail." "He's a lone wolf." "He's a wounded wolf, now there will be a trail." "He must be disposed of quickly." "The police won't find a culprit, so they'll stay on his trail." "Despite that alibi of his, he's still their number one suspect." "We'll be on his trail, too." "Don't let him slip through your fingers again." "No proof, yet something stinks." "What?" "I don't know." "He's different." "The other suspects I can hold for 48 hours, but not him." " His alibi holds up." " Too well." "Wiener's telling the truth." "But I'm sure the girl's lying." "We have to find a way to break her, so she'll talk." "If we can get her on a perjury charge or whatever, we'll have our Jef Costello, sitting right here." "If you're right, he'll just laugh." "I don't think so." "Have you seen many guys with nothing to say after two days in handcuffs?" "I haven't." "Keep after the girl but don't lose him." "Sunday, 10 p.m." "One could say, if you were the guy the police want, the killer always returns to the scene of the crime." "May I get in?" "Why say you didn't recognise me?" "Why kill Martey?" "I was to be paid." "What had he done to you?" "Not a thing." "I didn't know him." "I met him for the first and last time 24 hours ago." "What sort of man are you?" "You knew Martey and unfortunately, you have no alibi." "I was driving in from Fontainebleau." "With no witnesses to prove it." " Anything?" " No, the snitches seem to be on strike." "God forbid!" " Here's something." " What?" "Costello dumped it, leaving his place." "What's in it?" "Bloody gauze and cotton wool." "He's hurt." " Interesting." "You know where he is?" " Of course." "I haven't much time to find out who wanted Martey dead." "What do you care?" "I got paid off with a bullet." "I don't want them to try again, so I have to find them first." "The blond guy I met on the footbridge didn't give me much time to think." "I need to find him and his boss." "They hired you, didn't they?" "Through an intermediary." "The reason you didn't identify me could be... that you like playing games with the police," "or that you weren't supposed to recognise me." "Under arrest, I became an indirect threat to whoever ordered the killing." "So?" "Perhaps you know where he is." "6.10..." "Call me in 2 hours." "Monday, 7 a.m." "Dreadful, aren't they?" "It's hard to stop them from overdoing things." "Promotion is very important to a policeman." "I was the same when I was younger." " Whereas now you're more fatalistic?" " Exactly." "You like things to run smoothly." "I don't like forcing the pace to extract confessions or get information." "I'm very liberal, a great believer in the liberty of the individual," "in people's right to live as they choose." "Provided that the way of life they choose harms no one else and is contrary to neither law nor public decency." " Don't you agree?" " What are you telling me?" "This:" "On the night Martey was killed, according to your sworn testimony," "Jef Costello was with you at your place from 7 p.m. to 1.45 a.m." " Is that correct?" " Yes it is." "Suppose that I discover that Costello wasn't with you during those 6 hours." "You'll be laying yourself open to charges of perjury, contempt of court, obstruction of justice and accessory to murder." "That will mean five years, minimum." "Five years is a long time, especially for a girl of your age." "I'm telling you this because I have a daughter" "just your age, and I would find it distressing." "Really?" "You're wrong not to believe me." "You seem to be a fine young woman." "Very much so, in fact." "Your attitude has shown one thing at least:" "You have courage." "I don't know many who'd do as much for a boyfriend, sorry..." "For a fiancé." "Your behaviour has been immaculate, but I can't say the same for his." " Have you seen him since?" " No." "I thought not..." "The rotten little jerk." "Do you know where he is right now?" "Would you like to know?" "I'll tell you anyway." "He's with that nightclub pianist." "They've suddenly become inseparable." "A very passionate thing, it seems." "You don't seem to mind." "Don't you love him?" "Really?" "I'd have said you did." "Laying yourself on the line for him like that," "I thought you must love him." "You're not the psychologist you imagined." "I suppose not." "I saw him as your..." "How do they put it?" "Your fancy man." "And the respectable gentleman," "Wiener, as the one who pays the bills." "Girls like you are close to being prostitutes." "Have you ever thought about it?" "You should." "Your life could be made very unpleasant, if the Vice Squad chose to." "They don't play games." "You need to be covered..." "No pun intended." "You'd cover for me?" "Better than that." "I'd like to help you out of this spot." "This is your statement." "Tell me, without witnesses, that Costello wasn't here that night, and I'll tear it up." "No more problems about perjury." "And you won't have to make another statement." "What about the Vice Squad?" "You have my word." "They'll keep away." "I knew you were a bright girl." "If I understand you right, if I perjure myself," "I'll have no problems." "If I insist on telling the truth, then I can expect trouble." "Am I right?" "Not quite." "Because the truth isn't what you say." "It's what I say, despite the methods I am obliged to employ to get at it." "So?" "Is it yes?" "It's no." "As you wish." "But we'll meet again." "Put it back." "Come on!" "We made two mistakes." "The first was thinking your release was a police trap." "The second was thinking this made you a threat." "That's why I tried to kill you." "Now we feel we should begin again." "Here's the balance of the money you're owed for Martey's killing." "You guaranteed there'd be no problems." "Imagine how we felt when you were arrested." "We have the same again for you." "Two million old francs." "Payable in advance this time." "It's the same kind of job, another contract." "Nothing to say?" "Not with a gun on me." "Is that a principle?" "It's a habit." "Get up." "Here's my answer:" "Who sent you?" "I can't tell you that." "Yet you could try to kill me." "Look at me." "I'll ask you just once more." "Who?" "Name and address." "You don't know him." "He's not in our league." "Don't keep me waiting." "Olivier Rey." "The address." "73 boulevard de Montmorency." "That's how you became unemployed." "Tell me about the new contract." "He found the bug, so he'll be more on his guards than ever." "Stick to him like glue as soon as he leaves home." "Everything's ready." "He knows the metro like the back of his hand." "We'll shadow him step by step." "And no slip-ups this time." "You're in charge of the cars." "You'll be in the metro, with 50 men and 20 auxiliaries." "Each man carries a transmitter." "When in contact with Costello, he switches it this way." "Losing contact, he switches it that way." "The next contact does the same." "I'll be here, keeping the cars in touch with what's happening below." "Move." " Car 11 checking in." " Car 13 checking in." " Car 38 checking in." " Car 41 checking in." "That's it, contact established." "Contact broken, he got off at Jourdain." "Re-establish contact at all costs." "A car to Place des Fêtes station, to Botzaris, to Pré Saint-Gervais." "Message received." "Car 167 to Botzaris station." "Car 16 to Place des Fêtes." "Car 39 to Pré Saint-Gervais." "Over." "Wrong platform." "What's happened?" " What?" " We lost him." "He shook off an auxiliary." "I'm covering all exits." "I don't think he's left yet." " Enough auxiliaries?" " I'm expecting more." "Some cars aren't here yet." "Let's hope he picks an exit that's already covered." " The platforms?" " They're OK." "I warn you, Jef, this is the last time." "All right." " You heard me?" " I think so." "I had a feeling..." "Maybe I was just hoping you would come." "Trouble?" "Because of me?" "You've never meant trouble for me." "They gave you a hard time?" "What about you?" "Do you need me?" "Yes, you do." "What do you want me to do?" "What do you want me to do, Jef?" "Nothing." "Don't worry." "I'll handle this." "What do you want?" "You got your money?" "You accept the new contract?" "You shouldn't have come here." "I'm just leaving." "Don't stay here." "Why, Jef?" "I've been paid to..." "That was a narrow squeak." "But for us, you'd be dead." "No, you wouldn't."