"A DETECTIVE STORY" "This is how it happened." "Monday was particularly depressing." "I woke up at 9." "I sat on my bed... if you can call this a bed." "In the last couple of hours I wasn't really sleeping," "I was just dozing off and on." "I sleep a lot... or maybe I just doze off a lot." "Actually, it depends." "Eugène Tarpon Investigative Agency." "Private eye, total discretion, reasonable rates." "How long have I been here?" "Almost 3 months... long enough to use up all my savings." "The 4 flights of stairs still kill my legs." "No wonder customers don't come." "Eugène Tarpon Investigative Agency." "May I help you?" "Hi, Foran." "Yes, I think so." "Are you in Paris?" "Yes!" "All right!" "Your stairs are a killer." "Do customers make the climb?" "Do I get a drink?" "I don't have any ice." "I left too, 3 weeks ago." "How's business?" "You're right." "It looks busy that way." "I got a job for you." "If you are free, that is." "Let's talk about it over lunch." " What job?" " There's a good diner close by." " What job?" " Always bitter, always wary." "Snap out of it, Eugène!" "You're doing nothing here." "We both know it." "Maybe 1 or 2 cases since you set up shop..." "We can work it out." "Don't bore me, Foran." "Tell me what you have to say." "We'll eat later, each paying his part." "That's where we stand." "As you wish." "You'll be training and supervising watchmen." "We need several men, and I thought about you." "Supervise watchmen!" "Yes." "A real job." "No daydreaming." "I got in touch with some big companies." " Supervise what?" " Factory watchmen." " Yes!" "I see." " It's the right time." " Get lost!" " What?" "Out!" "Beat it!" "Go to hell!" "I'll leave you my card." "Don't bother!" "You might change your mind." "It's happened before." "It's getting busier and busier." "I have to go to the bank." "With less than a grand left, I have a month's rent to pay." "I'm in trouble." "Hello!" "Mrs. Marthe?" "It's Eugène Tarpon." "Yes." "Listen..." "Can I talk to my mother?" "Thanks." "Hello, Mom?" "It's Eugène." "I wanted to tell you that I'm coming home." "No!" "For good." "Yes." "That's what I'm saying." "No, not right away." "I'm just saying that I'm coming home." "OK!" "Right away." "Maybe tomorrow." "I then called the railway company, and booked a seat on the 7.30 train next morning." "In a letter to my landlord, I told him I was leaving, and asked him if I could get my deposit back, and pay only half of the rent since the month had just begun." "I thought about whom I should tell that I was leaving." "No one, of course." "Too bad I didn't have a TV to watch like everybody else, waiting to fall asleep." "I just looked out of the window to watch the world on display." "As much as I watched, there was nothing to see." "Let me come in." "Please." "It's used for baking." "Sorry, but it's all I have." "And so she's dead." "Who?" "A friend..." "I mean my roommate." "We weren't exactly friends." " Have you called the cops?" " No!" "I came to see you directly." "My lucky day." "Who are you?" "Charlotte Le Dantec." "Why did you come to see me?" "I found your card in my mailbox, yesterday." "Listen, sweetheart... in case of murder, suicide or whatever... you must call the cops." "I can't." "Of course, you can." "And you're going do it right away." "I think I should call them directly from my place." "If you really think I should call them." "Call them from here." "They'll send a car to pick you up." " Mine is just outside." " Call from here!" "Let me explain!" "I'm a perfect villain." "Everyone knows I hated Louise." "Besides, I panicked and left my fingerprints everywhere." "Come on!" "Call the cops!" "OK!" "It's on the other side." "Do you want me to cross?" "No." "That's OK." "How much do I owe you?" "38 f." "That's all." "One can always give a tip." "Well, I don't." "Shit!" "I was going for a walk." "I couldn't sleep." "Going for a walk, eh!" "He got here by taxi, and then walked here." "Wait here!" " Don't lean on it!" " What!" "Going to kick me?" "In my opinion, she's dead." "A looker too, some men will weep." "Cut it out!" "I'll be waiting for your report." "My report will be good." "She inspires me." "So!" "Still claiming you were going for a walk?" " Not anymore." " Police Inspector Coccioli." " Pleased to meet you." " You're welcome." "Shit!" " I told you 4 times already." " Let's make it 5." "Look at it from our side." "We have a dead body, and you show up." "It's natural to wonder why." "I know..." "At first, I didn't believe her story..." "Why?" "Because I felt miserable..." "and had drunk a lot." "If you take a blood sample or a breath sample, you'll see." "Why?" " Why what?" " Why did you get drunk?" "Because I was feeling down." "I felt depressed." " Why?" " Jesus!" "Piss off!" "Watch it!" "What you say can turn against you." "Leave it!" "Eugène Tarpon?" "Eugène Tarpon!" "I got it." "I was wondering where I saw that name." "He shot a demonstrator 3 years ago à Saint-Brieuc." "I even saw you on TV." "You killed a man?" "Nasty job." "How did it happen?" "Farmers were demonstrating in Saint-Brieuc, police officer Tarpon panicked and threw a teargas grenade." "He hit some guy at a very short range." "Happy to rehash all this?" " He was blown to pieces." " It must have been nasty." " It was an accident." " Some get to like it." "They get off on it." "Didn't you hear?" "It was an accident." "I told you everything." "That's all I know." "You look tired." "Here's your wallet." "Go home!" "We'll summon you." "They seemed so sure of their case I thought they'd kick me." "But they didn't." "Don't lean on it!" "Get in!" " Why should I?" " I'll give you a ride." " Press!" "Journalist!" " Do you have a press pass?" " It's out of date." " So what?" "This is car out of date, but I can still drive it." "I'm also out of date but I'm still alive." "Eugène Tarpon!" "Tarpon's the name of a fish." "Is there something to drink where we are going?" " Why?" " Because I'm thirsty." "I'm not deaf." "I should still have half a bottle of Kirsch Fantaisie." " Can you drink that?" " Dunno!" "Never tried." "Let's go to my place then." "I got something to drink." "Let me go home." "I just want to sleep." "Do you know we're being followed?" "A black Simca 1500?" "The cops!" "A bunch of amateurs." "Do you want me to lose them?" " With your Aronde?" " Yes!" "With my Aronde." " I don't think it will help." " Still..." "Let me do it as a matter of principle." "So, how do you like my wreck?" "You drive too fast." "A lot of stuff. 35 years of journalism." "The dustbin of the occupation, of the 4th Republic, Gaullism... and advanced liberal society." "Of course, it reeks." "Here!" "More information on tarpon fishing for you." "Beat it, Felix!" "Thanks." "Go!" "I don't even like cats." " Is that a tomcat?" " No!" "You have a female cat and you call her Felix." "So what!" "I'm Jewish and my name is Jean-Baptiste." "Anyway, I was in this police station." "I was teaching them about de Broglie to further their education." "At that moment, the phone rang." " Who was it?" " She didn't say her name." "Was it a woman?" "I'd like to answer your questions but... you said you weren't handling Charlotte Le Dantec's case." "I'm not." "I'm just asking you a question." "The woman on the phone said that 2 women were fighting in a nearby apartment." "At what time did Charlotte Le Dantec arrive at your place?" "I don't know." "I didn't look at my watch." "So... if you are certain." "Listen!" "I've just been through an interrogation." "That's enough!" "Don't be angry!" "I'll try to find out more about Miss Le Dantec." "He wanted to write an article on the case." "He started to get on my nerves." "I left." "Eugène Tarpon Investigative Agency." "May I help you?" "Who is this?" "Sergent?" "Listen Mr. Sergent..." "I'm not involved in this case." "It's a police matter." "Sorry!" "The old journalist still thought I was involved." "Charlotte Le Dantec was wanted for murder." "My name was also in the papers." " Mr. Tarpon?" " Yes." "My friends wanna talk to you." " What friends?" " Just friends." "They're just over there." "Please, follow me!" "No chance!" "Get lost!" "I swear you'll be sorry if you don't come with me!" "What's so important that you have to swear?" "That important?" "It's not worth getting angry." "OK!" "Let's go!" "Do you have a permit for all this?" "It's not a weapon." "It's a tool." " Let us through!" " Go in!" " You broke my nose." " Now you look like a tough guy." " I'll get you..." " You won't live long enough." " What's your name?" " César." " Who're your friends, César?" " Don't know." "I swear." "They're a bunch of thugs." "That's all I know." "I'll meet your friends me, but I don't like being threatened." " Where are they?" " Third floor, on the left, 132." "Spit on you!" "You faggot." "You got me because my mind was elsewhere." "I'll take you on anywhere, anytime." "I hit you, César, because you scared me." "Nothing to be proud of." "Tarpon." " You wanted to see me." " Hello!" "Where is César?" "In the stairway." "He fell down." " Are you armed?" " No." "Neither are we." " Wanna see!" " No." "Can I check?" " So, let's go!" " Where?" "You'll see." "What do we do now?" "We wait." "Do you know where Charlotte Le Dantec is?" "No." "How do I get back?" "This story is crazy, but what isn't nowadays?" "She was life itself, even in her excesses." "She wanted everything and nothing resisted her." "Louise was the best thing that ever happened in my life." "I want her murderer dead." "I understand, Mr. Sergent, but..." "As I said on the phone, I can't help you." "You must certainly be in touch with Charlotte Le Dantec!" "I'd like to see her, ask her a few questions." "I'm not in touch with her, or anyone else." "My question is stupid because you wouldn't say it anyway." "It's not stupid, but..." "I answered it." "I know that my behavior might seem irrational but..." "I loved her, Mr. Tarpon, despite her excesses." "Do you understand?" "He understands." " So why won't he help me?" " I cannot." " Murder... is a police matter." " Police!" "When I made my deposition this morning, they didn't seem to be very interested." "You know... right now my life is full of grief." "I asked nothing to no one." "I owe nothing to him, you or anyone else." "I don't know where she is." "And deep down, I don't want to know it." "When I met the gentleman at the morgue, he warned me that you were expensive." " Do what you can!" " Take your money!" " Take your money!" " Do what you can!" "Mr. Sergent?" " Do you want a cut?" " Want a knuckle sandwich?" "Where were you earlier today?" "Another case?" " What if I told you?" " You were with her." "I wouldn't have minded but I was in the woods." "I hope you didn't meet the big bad wolf." "Maybe I did!" "You can't teach an old dog like me a new trick." "But the old dog can learn to mind his own business." "But I did that for you." "I met Sergent at the morgue." "He was out of it, believe me!" "He wanted to see you at all cost." "I think he suspected you." "He said he loved her." " Do you call that love?" " It could be." " Not very cheerful." " No one said it was." "Goodbye Haymann." "Give it back to him." "I was going to wait for my summons before going home to a small village of 50 people." "Only an old broken road runs through it." "What's going on?" "Got a problem?" " What do you want?" " Get a few things straight." "And you think I can help you?" "I think he can help." "Get lost!" "You don't insult your opponent." "Don't be so rough!" "You hit too hard." "Can't you cool it?" "It's getting tiresome." "Why did you go to Louise Dupuis' place?" " Good question!" " Thanks!" "That's touching." "I hope your answer will be as good." "I doubt it." "I was given bad cards." "Try anyway!" "I went to see the woman she was sharing the apartment with..." "Charlotte Le Dantec." "Don't ask me where she is because I don't know." "What is she doing here?" "She is hiding." "It's safe here." "She's lucky." "Tarpon." "I don't know whether you realize how serious the situation is." "Your life is at stake." "Why did you go to Louise's place?" "I'm an idiot." "I stick my nose where I shouldn't." "Anyway, when I got there, the cops were already there." "They took me to the police station right away." "You can check." "Kill them!" " Are you crazy?" " I'm perfectly sane." " Wait!" "I'll explain everything." " I don't like being scoffed at." "Listen to me!" "I would have liked to know why I was tied up, and why they wanted to kill me." "I shut my eyes..." "Maybe I'll wake up in my bedroom..." "And my mom will bring me hot cocoa, jam and bread." "What's going on?" "What's going on?" " A big car." "A Range Rover." " What color?" "Tomato red." "I think they're looking for you." " Looking for me?" "Why?" " How do I know?" "Release me!" "Release me!" " Hello!" " How do you answer that?" " Don't move!" " I certainly won't." "Who is she?" "Charlotte Le Dantec?" "I'm going to frisk you." " Tarpon!" "Don't' be a jerk!" " OK!" "Wait!" "Wait for what?" "I'm just asking!" "Stop!" "We must go back to kill them." "We must..." " Calm down!" " Don't touch me!" "You've had a close call, but you're alive." "What do you know?" " Got a cigarette?" " No." "You're so annoying!" "Give me one good reason not to go back." "They've got weapons." "It would be nice to know they're dead." " Who were those guys?" " Louise's friends." "Why?" "I'd like to know who kidnapped, beat and shot at me." "Don't be angry with me." " Did you tell them about me?" " Who else?" "Had you helped me last night, this wouldn't have happened." "They wouldn't have hit me and I wouldn't have mentioned you." "What did they want from me?" "Something you couldn't give them, so I took the rap." " What were they looking for?" " Dunno!" " What did you give these guys?" " Nothing." "Why did you go to Louise's place?" "Will you hand me over to the cops?" "If you got any better idea, now's the time to tell me." "Soon, my life will be over." "Who cares!" "Maybe it was already over." "You shouldn't be afraid, Charlotte." "They're just doing their job." "I'm not afraid of them, but rather of myself." "Actually, I'm not really afraid, of many things." "I shouldn't care." "If you just knew how much I don't care." "Goodbye Tarpon." "See you around, in hell or somewhere else." "Somewhere else would be better." "Charlotte!" " What are you doing?" " Nothing." "I could eat a horse." "From the start everyone thought I knew where Charlotte was." "Now I knew it." "One problem solved, the only one though." "Since she came into my office, I had been kidnapped, beaten and shot at several times, and even prevented from eating for 24 hours." "With her everything was intense." "There was no horse, so I got this instead." "I didn't know whether you smoke regular or light cigarettes." "Thanks." " Want a bite?" " I'm not hungry." "Why don't you throw me out?" "I'll do anything to help you out." "Don't tell me I'm making a mistake." "I know it already." "Look!" "If you want my help, you must tell me everything." "I'll tell you all I know, but I don't know that much." "She shook her head, as if to push back her hair." "She looked like she was trying to keep her head above water." "Hello!" "One room." " Any luggage?" " No." "200 f... paid in advance." "Room 15." "Thanks." "All in the dark, eh!" "I'll prepare something strong." "It has rum and crème de banane." "It was Louise's favorite cocktail." "She said making cocktails turned on men." "Does it turn you on?" "You didn't like her much." "Why?" "Because she was just a bitch." "You know the type of women who makes you suffer, ungenerous, rotten, completely rotten inside." "We were friends..." "and then we weren't anymore." "Now the problem is solved." "And she's were she ought to be." "She's dead, Charlotte." "That's no excuse." "I'm not helping you much!" "You should rest!" "Tarpon!" "Yes?" "Please, come here!" "Do you trust me?" "I don't change my mind every 5 minutes." "See, you were right about the cocktails." "It was good, wasn't it?" "If you were able to trust me with cocktails, you can do the same for everything else." "You're my guardian angel." "I never really liked rum... and crème de banane makes no difference." "Angel face, my ass!" "Where can I go?" "At home, I might have unpleasant encounters." "And if not home, where?" "Asking the question means finding the answer." "Next to me I had the nicest babe I'd ever seen, and I was in for another sleepless night." "And time didn't seem to go by quickly enough." "Yes?" "Hello?" "Keeping this car was probably madness, but it was my only way to stay in contact with them." "I don't know whether it was courage or masochism, but I wanted to see the man who wept, the Wolfman, to find out why he was looking for Charlotte." " Hello!" " Hello!" " Got a phone?" " Are you ordering?" " Yes, but can I use the phone?" " Yes, since you're ordering." " Over there?" " Yes." "If I recall, you said you weren't interested in it, and that you even had started to believe it." "But it was true." "Look Tarpon!" "I'm open-minded but I also have my limits." "Two cognacs." "Do you have something better?" "I only drink the best." " I have Marquis de Poissard." " Oh, shit!" "Not banned yet?" " What can you tell me?" " I need a small favor." "I don't trust small favors." "It's worse than I thought." "I want to hide a car in your garden." "Wait a second!" "Hide it?" "Bury it?" "Only park it." "Is it big?" "Like that one!" "I'm also waiting for a message." "There is a phone in the car." " A message from whom?" " I don't know." " You don't know." " No." "Let me get this!" "You want to stick me with a suspicious car, stolen maybe, that has a phone, to wait for a message from someone unknown." "Right?" "Yes." "Waiter!" "Another." "Are you game or not?" " It depends on your tale." " What for?" " I'm a journalist." " And a real son of a bitch." "And so I told him everything, and let him pay for the drinks." "It was probably the last time he could offer me a drink." "There were way too many nutcases involved in this story." "He took off with the Range Rover and left me his wreck." "We don't need any more extras." " Mr. Lyssenko, please!" " He's not in." " It's urgent." " Sorry." "He's on location." "It's about Louise Dupuis." "If you tell me where he is, you can spare him a public scandal." "What's going on?" "Shit!" "Nothing." "Some yahoo tripped on the cables." "I have to see Mr. Lyssenko." "Is the chimney in your way?" "I asked for red tulips, not yellow ones." "Now we'll have to shoot with them." "I'm not a cop." " You're working for whom then?" " No one." " What's in it for you?" " Nothing." "I'm missing something..." "Why should I answer your questions?" "Nothing." "You know I'm a very busy man, Mister..." "Tarpon." "That's a fish name!" " I saw your name in the paper." " Yes." "How can you?" "It's the most important scene!" "You don't like the dog?" "I'm scared he'll bite." "Besides, you didn't tell me beforehand." "I told you we had to improvise." "Don't be childish." "Do it!" "Where did they find this one!" "The pooch doesn't make so much fuss." "Louise." "Everyone misses her." "She was a real actress." " Why get me involved in this?" " I just want some information." "I've nothing to reproach myself." "I launched her, I filmed her, I humped her." "I don't want trouble." "OK?" " I feel like calling the cops." " To tell them what?" "To tell them about a funny guy asking funny questions." " You think they care?" " Why not?" "Especially if I tell them I'm getting threats?" "Threats from whom?" " You, for instance!" " Why would I do that?" "If it is not you, maybe you were sent..." "You should tell the police." " Not the police." " Why?" "They can protect you." "I saw the papers." "I'd rather settle this on my own." "I'll make inquiries about you, Mr. Trapon." "What I wanted to know was why Lyssenko received threats." "Were the threats linked to Louise's death?" "My visit just made things more complicated." "Everything led to Charlotte, but she led to nothing." "Sir!" "Your key." " Your lady friend went out." " Thank you." "Louise Dupuis was a stunner." "She probably dreamed about making the front page." "Men could see her photo splashed across the papers." "She got her moment in the sun, a bit too late though." "It was of no use to her." "You can turn on the light." "I'm not sleeping." "I won't ask you about how I look." " Where have you been?" " Shopping and the hairdresser." "I was fed up with my look." " I bought you pajamas." " Pajamas!" "Like it?" "Stripes make you look thinner." "Do you like it?" "It's kind of you but I never wear one." "And... do you think this is the right time for gifts?" "There is no better time to give a striped pajama." "Haven't you heard that you never sleep naked next to a damsel." "I wasn't naked." "I wore boxers." "You'll take the bottom." "I'll take the top." "Unless we don't need them." "I mean, if the cops find me or if we have to find them... a pajama won't be useful." "I feel you don't understand the gravity of the situation." "Actually, I do, but why dwell upon it." "Soon they'll nail me, put me in the slammer... for a long while." "Assuming, that is... that I can hold out." "You can do it." "Just give me some time!" "Until tomorrow, at midnight?" "There are no fairytales anymore." "The cops get Cinderella as prince charming jigs like a pig, like one of the pigs he grew up with." "You won't go to jail, Charlotte." "Yet it would be a good way for you to get rid of me." "Who says I want to get rid of you?" "That's the first kind thing you've told me." "It sounds stupid... but I believe you." "If you lie, you go to hell." "If you aren't lying, you get a kiss." "I think I blew it." "Tarpon!" "Yes?" "Have you ever loved someone?" "You mean a woman?" "Oh!" "Well, I'm open-minded, but yes, a woman?" "Yes." "I hope you just didn't jerk her around." "I tried my best not to." "What happened?" "Nothing." "She wasn't right for me." "That wall's fascinating, isn't it?" "Very modern." "Very clean." "We don't have to put up with concrete all the time." "It's the only think I like about the idea of going to prison:" "four walls all to myself." "Don't think that way, Charlotte." "When it's all over..." "I'd really like to have an affair with you." "An affair?" " You're funny, you know." " I'm sorry." "When, as you say, it's all over, we might all be dead." "I'd like to have the affair with you right now." "Don't worry!" "I won't get pregnant." "Just close your eyes!" "I'll do the same." "You woke me up." "Sorry!" "I think you should tell me something sweet." "When it's all over... we'll go to Jamaica." "Sleep!" "I would have spent my life like this, my head in your hair, but you're also a liar." "Maybe because the truth is too harsh or pathetic, but I don't know why Gérard Sergent came to mind." "I started to understand him, even like him." "How could an ex-cop be of use to a woman like you?" "I had to know." "And I did." "It's me, Charlotte." "I didn't expect you." "You said you would be busy for hours." " I changed my mind." " I went for a coffee." " Was it good?" " It was just a coffee." "Why are you looking at me that way?" "I just want to see if your nose grows." "You're odd sometimes." "Sometimes however, reality is not how it appears." "Are we going out?" "I really wanted to get you out of this mess." " Now you chicken out." " No point discussing it." "Yeah, no point!" "I trusted you." "I thought you were great." "We all make mistakes." "Never trust men." "They all have one thing on their mind, humping." "I should have known." " I'd like to hit you." " Go ahead if it cheers you up." "Feeling better?" "What did I do to you?" "I don't really know what to tell you." "You're really going to hand me over to the cops." "No." "I'm not going to leave from here." "It's true." "I didn't tell you everything." "I killed Louise." "Now you know." "It all began in a café." "I was in the washroom, in front of the mirror..." "I looked up..." "I saw someone else next to me." "She looked like me." "She didn't just look like me..." "We were both 16 and alone in Paris." "In that situation, you grab onto anyone, anyone who looks human and in the same shit as you." "I moved in with her, and then we met some people." "Two cute 16-year-olds do meet people." "Louise quickly figured out what she could get out of it." "I did too." "It was easy." "We just didn't reach the same conclusions." "Louise... slowly went bad, and spoiled everything around her." "Everything she touched." "Several times I tried to break loose but came back every time." "I've been unlucky." "I haven't met prince charming." "The wicked fairy godmother was always there to pick me up, to give me some dough." "In return, I was her mirror." "A mirror that told her... that she was the most beautiful," "and the sluttiest." "Yeah, you'll fuck all of them." "In fact, she fucked all of them." "Many came out of it badly hurt." "Some never even made it." "She tried to drag me into it several times." "On one occasion, she succeeded." "I crossed to the other side of the looking glass." "That's what I'll tell the cops when they interrogate me." "One day..." "Louise... looked too hard into the mirror," "and the mirror bit back." "Bastard!" " You may go." " Where do you want me to go?" "Jamaica!" "To hell, if you want." "Just don't tell me about it." "So you won't have to spin yarns again." "How am I supposed to trust you?" "I swear I didn't do it." "It would be easier if you didn't lie all the time." "When I arrived it was locked and I can't open locked doors." "Do you believe me?" "Tarpon?" "You still trust me, don't you?" "Wait a sec!" "You didn't tell me why you came to see him?" " To kill him." " Charming young lady!" "I don't care what you think." "Let's go!" "There's nothing we can do here." "Yes, there is." "I felt like I had lived with Charlotte for years." "She betrayed me and lied to me several times, and done as much harm as regular people do in a lifetime." "Everything was intense with her." "I wondered who could have killed Alfonsino." "I was asking too many questions and had no answers." " Hello!" " Hello!" "A coffee!" "Next..." "I did what regular people do when they find a body," "I called the police." "Coccioli to be exact." "In my opinion, he's dead." "You could change your script from time to time." "Alas certain things don't change." " When did it happen?" " Since I got here." " When did it happen?" " Ah!" "About 40 hours." "Some days I think I understand murderers." "What an attitude for a cop." " Cops are funny this year." " Not all of them." "I've many questions for you, Tarpon." "It makes my day." "I'm not certain I have all the answers." " We'll see." "Come!" " Let's hope to find them." " Should I believe your story?" " No!" " It's pathetic." " Indeed, full of holes." " Big holes." " I know." "And... either we fill those holes intelligently and plausibly," "or we fill them unintelligently and implausibly." "As big as the Grand Canyon." "Do you know what you risk?" "What did you want from Alfonsino?" "Don't tell me you were getting your picture taken," " I won't believe you." " He had me kidnapped." "Don't give me that BS!" "I want facts..." "with facts we arrest crooks." "With BS, they get off and the death penalty is abolished." "If I wanted to lie to you, I'd done better." "Sure!" "Who indeed would come up with such a lie." "Why didn't you call me?" "What are cops for?" "You're right but I wanted to check first." "And each time you show up, there's a dead body." "Very convenient!" " Why did he kidnap you?" " I was going to ask him that." "Don't mess with me, Tarpon!" "I do a tough job." "I think that he thought, just like you cops did, I knew where Charlotte Le Dantec was." "Look!" "I just do what I'm told." "Which doesn't mean I won't give you a chance." "I know." "If only you could tell me where to find Charlotte Le Dantec." "If only I could..." " But you can't." " No, I can't." "Professional conscience or are you just trying to piss me off?" "Ignorance!" "OK!" "I learned later that he checked my stories and found nothing." "Let's start from the beginning." "Eventually, Coccioli let me go, but had me followed." "I began wondering whether I was thwarting the course of justice." "But truth be told, right now I don't give a fuck about the course of justice." "I didn't want to lose Charlotte." "It wasn't good enough for me to thwart the course of justice," "I also had to cut it loose." "I didn't know I was telling Coccioli the truth when I said I didn't know where Charlotte was." "I shouldn't have told her to go to hell." "Knowing her, she might really have gone to hell." "I also knew I would regret uttering those words." "Living in a dream, because of hunger or sleeplessness, was starting to become my main activity." "I felt sick, really sick." "You can do nothing in such cases, only wait till it goes away." "I couldn't sleep." "So I went to see someone who probably couldn't sleep either." "Jean-Baptiste!" "Stop hitting, jerk!" "It's me, Tarpon." "I know it's you." "I'm not senile." "I'm not responsible for what I do after 10 PM." "By 9 PM, I had only one bottle," "After the second, things started to sour." "At that point, they arrived." " What did they want?" " You... and the young lady." " Not tonight!" " Drink anyway!" "I don't trust people who don't drink." "You'd better run." "They're coming back." "I doubt it." "And if they do, I've got something to tell them." "About what?" "Charlotte..." "You're hooked and now you can't cut loose." "I don't want to get burned." "Don't go then." "Stay, so you can have your face smashed." "Here comes the Wolfman." "I'm happy to see you again, Mr. Tarpon." "I'm not sure it's mutual." "But who cares." "You've already met my secretaries." "What did he do to you?" "I wanted to know where you were and he didn't want to tell me." "He didn't know." "In any case, he said nothing." "I appreciate that." "Tell you secretaries to put away their notebooks!" "Someone could get hurt." " It all depends." " Depends on what?" "The wine, maybe." "Excellent!" "Are you happy?" "Let's get down to business." "You're going to ask me where Charlotte Le Dantec is." "No!" "So, what do you want?" "Take a look!" "That's what I want." "What can a man like me want more?" "I have everything!" "You think I know where it is?" "I really want it." "And I'm willing to destroy several people if need be." "Like Eddie Alfonsino?" "I said I'm willing to destroy." "I haven't destroyed anyone yet." "Sadly, someone got to Alfonsino before I did." "Otherwise I would have destroyed him with pleasure." "He hurt me." "He betrayed me." "Someone like me has no reason to lie to someone like you." "You're the one who found Eddie Alfonsino's body." "Maybe you found what I'm looking for." "Maybe you have some thoughts about my question?" "No, I don't." "Could you come up with some?" "It's really important to me." "I'm not offering you a deal." "I'm giving you some advice." "Or else... one of my secretaries wouldn't mind meeting you in private." "I'll kill you." "You... and you and Charlotte Le Dantec." " Do you know where she is?" " If it reassures you." "Yes!" "Police arrested her a few hours ago." "Thank you for the excellent wine." "Do I arrest him, boss?" "Why?" "Public intoxication, battery, contempt of cop..." "Is that all?" "Let him go!" "He knows a ton of bricks is going to fall on him tomorrow." "Kindly escort him out!" "Mr. Eugène Louis-Marie Tarpon?" " Yes!" " I have a summons for you." "Sign here!" "Here it is!" "Thank you!" "Have a nice day and enjoy your meal!" "Now I knew who my visitors were and what they wanted." "I was definitely doing better." "Eugène!" "It's your mother." "I waited for you all day." "You could have called at least." "Why aren't you coming?" "Eugène!" "What's going on!" "Answer me!" "Nothing is going on, Mom!" "Except, I should have stayed home." "I should have never left." "It's easy to find out if an egg is fresh or boiled." "Just spin it fast!" "If it spins fast, it's boiled." "A no-brainer no one cares about." "Now I knew almost everything." "There's one thing I didn't know:" "who killed Alfonsino?" "Eugène Tarpon Investigative Agency." "What appointment?" "I didn't agree to an appointment with you." "This is what they call a ristretto." "Why would someone call Lyssenko, pretend he was me, and arrange a meeting?" "Why would he do that?" "We should ask him." "I think it's to take him out, like Alfonsino." " And maybe for Louise Dupuis." " No." "As far as Louis is concerned, we got an idea." " I know." "Charlotte Le Dantec." " No." "You know nothing." "The police does." "We have an idea." "We have clues... and motives, which lead to some assumptions." "Could you tell me whom you have in mind?" "No." "Not Charlotte Le Dantec!" "No." "So why did you arrest her?" " She turned herself in." " She panicked." "There's nothing better than say she panicked." "People in trouble would come to you if you didn't scare them." "I must be a masochist." "Instead of being at home with a drink and a paper," "I'm in a bistro, doing overtime, being insulted by a bum." "I wonder what's stopping me from throwing you in the slammer, for withholding evidence and obstruction of justice." "There are two kinds of people who fear police, those who've done something bad and those who have an anti-police bias." "Charlotte Le Dantec belongs to this second kind... and eventually to the first one as well." "So, Charlotte was no longer a suspect in Louise's murder." "I wondered what other suspects Coccioli could have in mind." "Next, we waited, to see who'd show up to meet director Théodore Lyssenko." "As we waited, I thought about Charlotte, and the Wolfman's threats." "about Louise and Gérard Sergent." "At that moment I figured out who killed Alfonsino, and who was going to attack Lyssenko and why." "I was angry with myself." "Maybe it was too late." "Wait!" " You're one lucky guy." " More than him anyway." "Don't they teach you to aim at the legs during training?" "This isn't training." "I should have let him shoot you." "You should go back home, Tarpon, and let us do our job." "It would be better for everyone." "Only once in my life did I feel so bad, at Saint-Brieuc... 3 years ago, staring at myself in the mirror in the john." "Hi there!" "How are you?" " Don't tire him!" " Don't worry!" " You're one lucky dog." " It would seem so." "Here!" "Hospitals are ideal places to learn chess." "Like prisons." "And your article?" "Coming along?" "Fast and furiously..." "down the drain." " Hello!" "Slept well?" " So and so." "There are too many holes." "I can accept that Sergent killed Alfonsino, and that he did in the guys he blamed for Louise's death," "but he didn't kill Louise." "Sergent was a guy like you and me." "More like you." "That said, it's no big deal." "My life has been a series of unfinished articles." "The 2 murders were blamed on Gérard Sergent, a crime of passion." "Charlotte was spared." "She came often at the beginning, and then less and less." "I see I'm tiring you." "Then she stopped coming." "Maybe she left for Jamaica." "I never saw her again." "When I left the hospital, the magistrate and the cops severely reprimanded me, but I wasn't charged." "Coccioli thought he would get a promotion." "The Wolfman called me." "He wasn't threatening me anymore." "Instead, he was offering me lots of money to find his object." "I politely told him to take a hike." "Then... a few days ago I got a check for 30,000 francs." "It had a note that said," ""Don't be a yahoo." "Cash it." "Love!"" "Charlotte paid her debt and I did as she said." "I cashed it." "So... without charges against me and 30 grand in front of me," "I can say I'm not doing too badly, which is not something all gunshot victims can say." "My mother asked me what all these people wanted from me." "I told her, "Nothing, Mom!" ""They just wanted to keep me from coming home. "" "So, with pride, she said," ""If people need you there, then you must stay, Eugène!"" "TO BE CONTINUED" "Translation:" "Pierre Rossi TV5 Québec Canada"