""MAN HAS ONLY EVER INSPIRED AMBIGUITY" ""AND RIDICULE IN A POLICE OFFICER..."" "ROBERT DORFMANN PRESENTS" "A COP" "At the same time every afternoon, I drive down the Champs-Élysées." "Car number eight on the line." "I'll put him on." "Yes?" "Where?" "We're on our way." "I'll call you afterwards." "My day's work began just before nightfall." "It wasn't until much later, when the city was asleep, that I could really get the work done." "I'm Edouard Coleman." "Take two steps back." "Two steps back." "This is a hold-up." "Nobody move." "You, over there." "Leave the other bag!" "Keep your hats on until we get to the station." "Three, first-class tickets to Paris." "In an hour's time, I'll only have as much blood as a chicken." "In an hour's time, you'll be in a hospital bed." "This will all seem like a bad dream." "If they don't follow the Paris train and we hit a roadblock, stop the car, Mark will get out, we will pass through the roadblock, and then pick him up afterwards." " It's the only way." " OK." " But..." " No, Paul." "We'll do as I say." "Car number eight." "I'll put him on." "Yes?" "Where?" "We're on our way." "I'll call you afterwards." "Move on, will you?" "There's nothing to see here." " Let's see your book." " I haven't transferred his details." " Give me the registration form." " I can't find it." "I don't believe you." "You can explain that to the licensing board." "They have their work cut out." "If you could excuse me, please." "If you could excuse me, madam." "Go back to bed, sir." "Ah, Pacinnelli." "Is there any gambling going on here?" "Just a small poker game, superintendent." "We were just leaving." "No one is to leave, until everyone has spoken to the police." "Car number eight." "I'll put him on." "Yes?" "Where?" "We're on our way." "I'll call you afterwards." "We are singled out as victims." "We're dealing with true professionals." "First they say they're 20 years old and then... they rob us." "Then they show us their ID cards." "And if we report them, we risk being followed and arrested for corrupting our juniors." "It's what we call an habitual offence." "You have to be an habitual offender to be convicted." "Which we all are." "If this man hadn't shouted after you and the caretaker hadn't caught you, this Maillol would be miles away." "I don't want the sinner to die." "How old are you?" " 17 and a half." " Only six months more of this." "That's if the judge decides to let you go." "Have you got your documents?" "Please, sir." " Is this your current address?" " No, I'm staying with a friend." " Well?" " A 50% chance, if he's lucky." "You just missed her." "She's over there." "Let me park." "I'll be right back." " Hi." "Are you OK?" " Hello." "Well?" "It will happen on the Paris to Lisbon train with a customs officer's help." " Day or night?" " I don't know yet." "When roughly?" "When they get the stuff they'll send it straight to Paris." "Are you sure they'll use your guy to transport it?" "Yes, I'm sure." "They pay him enough." "He's been living off it for nearly a year." "Do you know his name?" "Only his first name, and his nickname" " Matthew the Bag." "He's a professional smuggler, an expert." "If this goes well, we'll leave you alone." "Thank you, Edouard." " Do you want to see them, sir?" " Coming." "The Holy Trinity." "The criminal, the thief and the runner." "Where were they working?" "Orly, of course." "This one bumped into a passenger who had just put his wallet away." "He helped him up, and stole his wallet, and passed it to him who made a hasty getaway." "They claim not to understand a word of French." "Well..." "I'll give them 10 seconds to understand French, then I'll try another language." "Wait, wait." "If you speak slowly, we'll understand." "So, did it go well?" " You're not too tired, are you?" " No." "Do you think you'll get the job?" "I hope so." "They're less picky in the country." "A man of 60 isn't considered to be useless there, unlike in Paris." "A HR manager in a big company in Strasbourg is like an assistant branch manager in Paris." "A BLOOD Y HOLD-UP IN ST-JEAN-DE-MONTS" "Hello, superintendent." " Hello, superintendent." " Evening." "Evening, superintendent." "Superintendent, there's a call for you." "Is everything OK?" "Yes, I'm fine." "They'll search all the hospitals and clinics with a fine-tooth comb." "They know that a man was injured." "We have to get Mark out of there." "And... what if we can't?" "I have a plan." "Rapid fire doesn't obey the same rules as normal fire." "Don't lose sight of the target." "Forget about taking aim." "The first important move is taking the gun from your jacket." "Remember to weigh your pockets down with a bunch of keys or a lighter." "There's a call for you, Mr Coleman." "Yes?" "Never mind." "Tomorrow?" "OK." "We've come to see Mr Schmidt." "What for?" "We want to transfer him to Lariboisière Hospital." "Who signed the papers?" "Schmidt - left lung penetrated by an unrecovered missile, considerable blood loss, pulmonary embolism, on a permanent drip, in a semi-comatose state, so can't be moved." "But it's signed by Dr Durrieux." "He should know you can't move a man in this condition." "It's not for me to tell him." "Dr Durrieux or whoever, I don't care." "We have our orders." "I'm telling you, no one is leaving this clinic." "MORTUARY" "There's little more they can do to find out who this Schmidt was." "If he'd had an identity card..." "Or if he'd got himself arrested, at least once..." "Otherwise there's nothing to be done." "He'll join the hordes of anonymous corpses unless luck is on our side." "A phone call or a letter from a equally anonymous informer." "This job makes you sceptical." "I'm sceptical about scepticism." "The only feelings man has ever inspired in a police officer are ambiguity and ridicule." "Ridicule." "Fast, easy to handle, in excellent condition fully equipped." "It'll take me at least a fortnight to get the hang of it again, so I need it as soon as possible." " How will you pay?" " Cash." "Pick me up from here in two hours." "You're under arrest." " How did you find me?" " It's my job." "A dead man can't arrest anyone." "Do you think Simon suspects anything?" "He doesn't suspect, he knows." " Has he known for a long time?" " He's known all along." "Tonight, we're going to have to drive 800km, without stopping, to go and dig up these notes." " And the serial numbers?" " They weren't recorded." "The money gets there on Thursday, so the companies can pay off all their employees on Friday." "With all the building work going on along the Atlantic coast, they'd need 10 more employees in each bank to record the numbers." "I've decided to take extra precaution." "The success of the next job depends on the success of this first one." "And requires a huge amount of cash." "A tiny amount compared to..." "what it'll bring in." "So, there you have it." "The goods will be entrusted to Matthew the Bag and won't be loaded until the train gets to Bordeaux." "They're getting more and more cautious and suspicious." "So we'll have to make our move between Bordeaux and the border." "It's the oldest electric railway line in France, built in 1923." "For two months, the entire electrical system will be down to make way for a new installation." "Between Lamothe and Morcenx, the line runs in a straight line for 65km." "Over this stretch, the train travels at 150km per hour, when running normally." "But because of the works, the engine won't exceed 60km per hour for 30km." "We should allow 5km after the bend, before we reach our destination, and another 5km this side of Morcenx, as a safety precaution." "So that leaves us 20 minutes." "And once the merchandise is ours, we'll sell it back to the same people we stole it from." "No one will press charges, and the police won't be on our backs." "I'll be right back." "The 2nd." "The Paris to Lisbon train leaves Austerlitz station at 23:59." "It arrives in Bordeaux at 05:43, where they'll hand over the merchandise on the sleeper train." "I'll have him picked up after Bayonne." "At Hendaye." "The customs officer is in on it." "I need the number of his sleeper cabin." "That's easy." "My meeting with the managing director is late." "I'll eat in Strasbourg, and take the sleeper train." "I'll be here in the morning." "Wouldn't you prefer to get some rest and sleep there?" "I don't like travelling by train during the day." "All three of us will be back by 8 o'clock in the morning." " And only you three are in on it?" " No." "Us four." " Have you weighed up all the risks?" " Yes." "All the risks." "Paul and Louis will never say anything." "No one will ever say anything." "Come in." "Am I disturbing you?" "You never disturb me." "Come and have a drink." "You, as well." "Three whiskies." "Passengers for Lisbon via Bordeaux, Bayonne, Hendaye, Irun," "San Sebastian and Burgos, please board the train now." "Passengers for the Paris to Lisbon train via Bordeaux, Bayonne, Hendaye, Irun," "San Sebastian and Burgos, please board the train now." "Your train is ready to leave." "The next train to arrive is the Paris to Lisbon train." "The departure is in five minutes." "Tell Bayonne the stuff has arrived." "Get him to keep an eye on the passenger in cabin nine, carriage eight." "Follow it up by phone call, and come back as soon as you can." "I'm taking the next train to Paris." "I hate driving in the fog." "Say good night to Superintendent Moüel for me." "The train will pass Morcenx in 10 minutes." " It's not easy to sleep in here." " It certainly isn't." "Shall we bring her in?" "What's going on?" "What's happened?" " What's wrong?" "What have I done?" " Get up." "Get up." "Get up or I'll hit you." "I'm not sure what's stopping me." "What was all that about?" "What are you playing at?" "I don't know what you mean." "You will." "Firstly, you will get a haircut." "You poor guy." "And no more dressing in drag." " What were you playing at?" " I don't understand, Edouard." " Superintendent!" " I don't understand, superintendent." "Matthew had lost a case in Bordeaux and two cases in Paris." "Understand?" "I said, do you understand?" "I'll get you sent down for soliciting in public places." "You'll get six months." "That'll teach you to do your job properly." "Your job as an informer, that is." "Take this thing away." " To a cell?" " No." "Throw it out!" "The Criminal Records Office sent this on the guy from that autopsy." "His name's Mark Albouis." "Isn't he Louis Costa's friend?" " Shouldn't we ask the police?" " What?" "If Mark Albouis took part in the hold-up..." "Is that any of your business?" "No, no, no." "It was just a thought." "You said yourself..." "Worry about your own business." "Is Simon there?" "Coleman." "I'll call back later." "Head of Criminal Records, please." "It's Superintendent Coleman." "Yes, I'll hold." "Hello, I'm Superintendent Coleman." "Can you withhold the identity of Mark Albouis from the press?" "It's too late?" "No, no." "Thank you." "That will be all." "That will be all." "Was this man involved in the Saint-Jean-de-Monts case?" "Jean." "It's for you." "Get the car." "Quickly!" "Get a car ready." "I will need three of you." "Thank you." "Late afternoon, on 23rd December you committed an armed robbery." "What?" "You committed an armed robbery." "You had three accomplices." "What are you talking about?" "I won't ask you about this guy." "It's in the papers." "The guy who died was called Mark Albouis." "You'll have a hard time linking me to a guy I've never met." "Let's not talk about the past." "What I want you to tell me and quickly..." "And quickly..." "are the names of the other two." "That's all." "Are you serious?" "I am." "You will see that I am." "I'm not interested in a confession about the hold-up or the murder." "What I do want, as I said, is for you to tell me right away the names of your two accomplices." "Do you seriously think that if I were guilty of any of this" "I'd tell you who my accomplices were?" "Do you want to bet on it?" "He'll never say anything." "Good evening, superintendent." "Good evening." "Evening, superintendent." "Excuse me." " Good evening." " Evening." "Two whiskies." " Do you know Mark Albouis?" " Who?" "Or Paul Weber?" "No." "A former assistant bank manager affected by staff cuts, made redundant a year ago." "Never heard of him." "What about Louis Costa?" "Costa?" "Let me see, Costa..." "No, I don't know him." "He knows you." "Yes." "Hello?" "Paul, Louis has spoken out." "He can't have done." "Well, he did." "Get out of here right away." "There's no point, Simon." "They're here already." "I'm sorry, Paul." "I truly am." "See you around." "You go." "Yes?" "We're trying." "Yes, everything's ready." "Come and pick me up right away." "But make sure no one follows you." "Simon?" "Don't move, Simon." "Don't move, Simon." "No weapon." "Don't you think you were too quick to shoot?" "I couldn't be sure he'd commit suicide." "What should I do with the case?" "It's a present for Superintendent Moüel." "Take it straight to him." "Car number eight on the line." "I'll put him on." "Yes?" "Where?" "We're on our way." "I'll call you afterwards."