"Do you think he'll ever wake up?" "As far as comas are concerned, a fair amount of progress has been made." "Some very interesting research is being done." "But on the whole, it has to be said, we're still wading through treacle." "There are still plenty of cases where we have absolutely no idea." "This one, for example." "We don't know why he is in a coma." "We don't know when he'll come round or if he will come round." "Sorry to disappoint you." "If you need his testimony for a trial, don't rely on getting it." "He was my best friend." "Forgive me." " You're a magistrate, so I thought..." " It's all right." "I thought you were here for judicial reasons as he was in prison." "Thanks for your explanation." "I'd like to stay for a while." "Yes, of course." "I'll let the nurse know." "SPIRAL" "Right." "Shall we start?" " Where should I start?" " Wherever you like." "It's hard." "Start from the time when you lodged a complaint." " Are you filming?" " Yes, it's on." "Well..." "Six years ago, I accused someone of rape." "I was a young barrister." "I had been working with V. incent Leroy for one year." "I accused him of raping me." "There was an inquiry followed by a trial." "He was convicted." "He was struck off the Roll and spent four years in jail." "And so it wasn't true?" "He didn't rape you?" "No." "You must spell it out." "It wasn't true." "I lied." "He didn't rape me." "He would never have done anything like that." "Benoit really liked Elina's sister." "He was a bit like an uncle to her." "He showed her around Paris." "He took her to restaurants, cinemas and museums." " They saw the Gustave Moreau Museum." " Where he gave her a book." "They met Arnaud Laborde on that day." "Laborde spends a lot of time in museums." "He likes them." "And he picks up girls there." "He picks up girls in museums?" " It's very effective, apparently." " It wouldn't work with me." "He knows about art." "He's cultured and entertaining." "He knows anecdotes about the artists." "He likes the sound of his own voice but that's OK in a museum." "Anyway, he managed to get to know girls." "He became pompous and smarmy." "Benoit found him ridiculous - tiresome, even." "But he sometimes needed him for work so he said nothing." "Benoit never understood how he managed to seduce Sofia." "Everyone knew Laborde liked very young girls." "Benoit wasn't wary enough." "He didn't see it coming." "He saw him as a grotesque womaniser." "He thought Sofia did, too." "He was mistaken." "Do you want to take a break?" "Do you need to rest?" "I'll leave you in peace." "Don't be long." "We haven't finished yet." "He told me all this when I saw him in prison." "You never said." "No." "What else did he tell you?" "He said Laborde lured Sofia back to his place." "That's where she killed herself." "You didn't tell me that, either." "Because I didn't believe it." "The animal!" "The bastard!" "Clear off!" "Get out of here!" "It's not my fault." "I fell asleep." "She killed herself while I was asleep." "It's not my fault." "You killed her, you bastard!" "Stop it." "Calm down!" "Let's get her out of here." "You can sort this out with him later." "Calm down." "Go on, go home." "It's over for you." " What are you going to do with her?" " You don't need to know." "It's of no interest to you." "Leave it to me." "Now you share his secret." "That's good for you." "Why did he ask me to come?" "Precisely..." "Now you are connected." "I would have preferred not to know." "It was an accident." "He's not like that." "I'm getting to know him." "I've been supplying him with girls for two years and this is a first." "She was Elina's sister." "Elina mustn't find out." "Do you understand?" "She disappears suddenly, without warning, without even saying goodbye, leaving her stuff all over the place, as if I were her maid." ""Big sister, pack my cases, please."" "In fact, she doesn't even bother to say "please"." "And she asks me to send them to her in Romania." "Come and see." " It's in Romanian." " You can read the signature." ""Sofia."" "What's she saying?" ""I'm going home." "Pack my bags for me."" "It's in Romanian, but the Romanian of an illiterate." "Can you imagine?" "But you know what young girls are like." "Are they all like that in France, too?" " That's good." " No." "And there were no witnesses to what he told you?" "No, I was alone with him." "And this was an unofficial meeting, not part of the judicial inquiry?" "This would be enough to take Arnaud Laborde to court." "What do you intend to do?" "What do I intend to do?" "You're in charge of both of these cases." "Well, I'm going to hear Benoit Faye's testimony." " He's in a coma." " Then I'll wait for him to wake up." "What if he doesn't wake up?" "I'll carry on waiting." "I thought you had integrity." "I should take a leaf out of your book." "I will do nothing because I can do nothing." "We could search Laborde's home." "We're bound to find something." "I'm sure we would find Sofia Andrescu's DNA in the grouting in the bathroom where she killed herself, for example." "But I don't see how I can ask for a search warrant for Laborde based on remarks made by a man in a coma to a childhood friend who put him in prison for the most spurious reasons." "So you don't believe me." "Of course I believe you." "But as the examining magistrate, that's of no use to me." "I can't do anything with it." "The judge is right." "We'll try and collar the Romanian, but it's not going to be easy." "Even if we do catch him, I'm not sure how much we'll get out of him." "For now we can't do anything." "You know that." "Do take a seat, please." "I wasn't expecting you." "I'm afraid I can't tell you anything that you don't already know." "The police suspect a fellow Romanian of involvement in your girls' deaths." "They're looking for him now." "Wait." "I can never remember his name." "That doesn't matter." "We've just come to pay your fees and to thank you." " I haven't done much." " But you've been there." "We don't know how much we should pay you." "But this can wait." "Take what we owe you." " Perhaps it's not enough." " No, I'm sure it's too much." "I don't know what my fees will be until I check my notes." "I can't even find your file." "I promise I'll send you an invoice as soon as I've prepared one." " Can you send it to Romania?" " Are you leaving?" "Our girls are both dead." "We'll give you a phone number, so you can continue with the case." "Of course I'll continue to represent you." "Wait." "Here's the photo." "He's on police records." " Did he kill her?" " I don't know." "We think he was there when Sofia died." "That's why the police are looking for him." "He was our neighbour when Elina was small and she knew him as a student." " Were they friends?" " No." "They were acquaintances." "That's all." "Michel." "Michel, you have to help me." "I'd like to help you but I don't know how." "Your sister has told you she's gone back to Bucharest." "You don't understand." "She never went." "My parents have had no news, either." "That doesn't mean that she's in Paris." "She never flew to Bucharest." "She didn't use her ticket." "The police checked." "The police?" "You have to help me find her." "Your sister?" "I've hardly seen her." "You didn't want me to go near her." "You think I'm a thug so you decided to keep her away from me." "And now you want me to help you." "You want me to look for her." "It's strange that you ask me." "You're not the only one I'm asking." "I'm asking everyone." "I've been to the police and to places that I visited with her in Paris." "I don't know where else to look." "Going to the police wasn't a very good idea." "Family problems should stay within the family." "I know." "Thugs like you don't like the police." "Don't start!" "I don't know why you despise me so much." "I've known you for such a long time." "I watched you grow up." "I've always been impressed by you." "You were so beautiful, so intelligent." "You paid attention to me." "Then you grew up and got prettier and cleverer." "And I no longer existed for you." "With you, I could have been a better man." "Listen to me, Elina." "I don't want to go." "But it's a wonderful opportunity." "It's a great job in one of the world's best labs." "I'm not leaving here until I find Sofia." "That's absurd." "There are dozens of flights a day from Boston to Europe." " I can't do that to her." " Do what to her?" "Doesn't Sofia matter to you?" "How can you say that?" "You don't understand." "Whenever I mention her to you, you get distracted." "It's as if she didn't exist." "She doesn't exist for you." "You're wrong..." "I do care." "And you have no idea how much." "Did you know there was something between you and me?" "I don't understand what you mean." "We made out we were having fun together, that we were happy, just "having a good time"." "And weren't we?" "No, we were in love with one another, you know." "But we never said so." "And so it just ended." " I knew I loved you." " But it's over." "Sofia is all that matters to me now." "I'm going to call a taxi to take me home." " What are you doing here?" " Waiting for you." "I don't want you to wait for me." "I know where your sister is." "Come with me." "Don't you believe me?" "Look." "Her necklace." "Where did you find it?" "She gave it to me to get you to follow me." "Come on." "Michel, what are you doing?" "No!" "Michel!" "You're unrecognisable." "Hurry." "The police are after me." "I thought you'd get out of this without my help." "These precautions are for you, too." "Do you need clothes or money?" "No, just a passport." "You'll have it in two hours." "You look too beautiful." "Elina's father has gone back to Romania." "We let him go." "Did you find anything on the passport?" "Yes, it's a real one." "A real fake, issued by the state." "Laborde." "He'd have the contacts necessary to get hold of one but he's not the only one." "I think it's him, too." "But we haven't got any evidence." "We could never prove it." "I know." "You can't stay here all day and all night." "You should get some air." "Elina?" "Elina?" "Where are you?" " Have you got changed?" " It's new." "I've just bought it." "Do you like it?" "It's red." "It's not easy to wear red." "Doesn't it suit me?" "You look great, but it's red." "Shall we ruffle it a bit?" "No, it's brand-new." "Listen." "Listen to me." ""Once upon a time a little girl lived in a village." ""She was the prettiest creature ever." ""Her mother was very fond of her" ""and her grandmother doted on her even more." ""She made a red riding hood for her that suited her so well" ""that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood."" "We have fairy tales for children, too, but they are terrifying horror stories." "Ours is a country of vampires." "Little Red Riding Hood isn't frightening." "The wolf is so kind, so well-mannered." "He's from polite society and is on the lookout for little girls in his living room." "Like your friend Laborde, the ministerial advisor." ""Out of all the wolves," ""the gentle ones are the most dangerous."" "Maybe I'm the dangerous wolf." "You're too beautiful." "It's funny you're looking there." "Haven't you heard?" "There was a body in that skip." "To begin with, they didn't know who it was." "She'd been butchered, lost her face." "Then her photo appeared in the paper." "She was a pretty girl." "Well, the photo was, at least." " Are you a journalist?" " No, I'm not." "There were two of them here the other day, where you are now." "They said they were writing a book." "What sort of book?" "They said it wasn't a true story." "They were just looking for inspiration." "Miss Karlsson." "Sorry, I'm afraid I've stopped doing divorces." "My clients kept changing their minds." "That's not why I'm here." "I want to talk to you about the Andrescu case." "Has something come up?" "Come on." "We can't talk here." "Please sit down." "I'm listening." "Sofia died at Laborde's home." "He then asked Michel to get rid of the body." "One way or another, he's responsible for Elina's death." "And also, he may have supplied Michel with a false passport." "Are you serious?" "Why are you telling me this?" "I want people to know." "And I want him to know that we know." " What's this got to do with me?" " You know lots of journalists." "I don't know any." "No, I can't do it." "He's responsible for several deaths." "This case is close to my heart, but I stick religiously to procedure." "I know what you asked the Andrescu family's solicitor to do." "I didn't ask her to do anything." "You're involving her in a campaign against Laborde." "She's been to the press." "If I know that, you can guarantee Laborde knew it first." "What's more, it won't work." "You could print what you like about Laborde, including the truth." "He wouldn't give a fig." "That's a nice expression!" "He still wouldn't give a fig." "If you go on like this, you're the one who will be in danger." "No more danger than before." "Stop acting the martyr." "You've done your career no real favours but also no real harm." "I understand that you find it unacceptable for Laborde to get away with this and stay in office." "It is shocking and not what we expect in the French Republic." "I've done something that I never do." "I've contacted a friend." "He's a magistrate who prefers to strut about in cabinet offices rather than do his job." " Do you know many like that?" " I know this one." "We were at school together." "He works in the prime minister's office." "I spoke to him about Laborde." "I think that he'll pass on the message and that the prime minister will ask his government to do without Laborde's advice from now on." "I know it's not what you want." "It's not justice..." "but be thankful for small mercies." "I don't care what happens to Laborde." " You mean, you couldn't give a fig." " Not exactly." "Let's just say..." "I've been there before." "Hello." " You wanted to see me?" " Yes." "Thanks for agreeing to meet me." "Your little ploy has failed." "I know who you are." "You went to the press to try to flog them a despicable story which revolves around me." "And they warned you." "They rang me before you had even left the room." "You didn't choose wisely." "I chose journalists to suit my purposes." "Now you know what we have on you." " A drink?" " No." "I'd like to have you on my side." "Why?" "Are you afraid of me?" "No, but you're worth more than this." "I need people like you - lively, intelligent, ambitious." "I won't stay in politics forever." " Do you have a choice?" " Yes, but I lack a vocation." "What's more, no one will ever vote for me." "Either you exploit voters and get elected or you give up politics." "So are you interested?" " In what?" " My plans." "I'm going to become a businessman." "I'll need good solicitors." " I'm a criminal solicitor." " Perfect." "I'll be needing your expertise in my line of business." "I'm sure you'll learn the rest very quickly." "What's in it for me?" "A huge amount, and with no risk attached." "You're just expanding your clientele." "My clientele being you?" "Yes, plus all those I bring to you myself." " Do you want to buy me?" " Yes." "But after what you told the press you must be wary of me." "I'm too old for you." "I see you know me well." "You're right." "Your age will protect you." "But you have retained something from your youth, a toughness." "You are extremely tough." "Leave the bodies of the Romanian sisters and their mother to rot." "Give my proposal some thought." "A son?" "I've got a son?" "He's called Rémy." " How old is he?" " Five." "Elise?" "That means... she was pregnant by me when she took out a lawsuit against me?" "She tried to tell you after the trial but you screened her calls." "Is that right?" " Have you seen Elise?" " She died." "She was very ill." "Your son is living with his grandmother." "He must think highly of me!" "She hates me." "You saw her at the trial..." "Your son has lost his mother." "His grandmother thinks he needs a father." " She's expecting you." " But..." "Did you engineer all this?" "Lift your arm up, OK?" "Ready?" " Is that him?" " Yes." "I suppose..." "I should go and speak to him." "It's up to you." "Try again." " Hello." " Hello." "Go on." "He's pretending not to see you... but he's desperate to meet you." "Thank you." "Hello, Rémy." "Your kite's flying well." "I'll have to buy a car, now that I have a family." "I've decided to stop working with you." "Yes, I know." "I thought as much." "We don't need each other any more." "I spoke to my sister about it." "You can stay on in chambers." "Thank you." "You're going to be very successful." "I'll be able to put the rent up." "That's the way we landlords think." "When you told me Elise had died," "I wondered if she'd left any papers, anything to warrant a case review." "It's tough but if we have what we need, we'd have grounds for a review, as you know." "I wasn't guilty." "I didn't rape her." " I know you didn't." " Well?" "No, she didn't leave anything." "Perhaps she didn't have time." "There was an inquiry followed by a trial." "He was convicted." "He was struck off the Roll and spent four years in jail." "And so it wasn't true?" "He didn't rape you?" "No." "You must spell it out." "It wasn't true." "I lied." "He didn't rape me." "He would never have done anything like that." "This testimony is to go with the documents" "I've given to Miss Karlsson with a view to reviewing the case." "Mr Leroy was accused on the basis... of my accusations which were false." "I regret what I did." "Good." "Thank you." "Do you have what you need?" "Yes." "To begin with, when I came here," "I saw the nurses and doctors, and I asked them how he was." "I couldn't help it." "It's only natural." "Yet you've never asked them." "When there's no answer, it's best not to ask the question." "We don't know where he is now." "You didn't know where he was before, either." "You thought he had stayed the same but he had changed." "I don't think so." "He hadn't changed that much." "He lied to you." "He used you." "He had no choice." "He was protecting himself." "My best friend is lying unconscious in a hospital bed, my wife has left me," "my father-in-law may wind up in prison because I tried to do my job, which I don't even believe in now." "I've lost everything." "You've got me." "You've seen me mess things up." "You can't still like me." "I do." "Who killed Elina?" "Have you seen the photo?" "Which photo?" "This one." "She was the corpse I saw." "Remember?" "I didn't know what she looked like." " How come?" " Her murderers disfigured her." "No, worse still, they ripped her face off." "You never told me you knew her." "I don't hunt any more but I've kept all of the kit." "I'm glad I'm here with you." "There is something I've wanted to talk to you about for some time." "This is as good a time as any." "I'm much better now, you know." "That's not what I wanted to talk about." "I was married once, you know?" "I've been divorced for a long time." "It wasn't a loveless marriage, though I wasn't loved." "I have a son." "He's younger than you, much younger..." "No, that's not what I wanted to say." "People see me as a hard-hearted man." "I know what people say about me, that I'm harsh, ruthless, that I never miss a trick." "You've always been patient with me." "So you noticed that?" "That's just what I mean." "That's what I've come to realise." "I don't behave in the same way towards you as I do towards the other magistrates I'm used to working with." "That's what I wanted to tell you." "It's been preying on my mind." "I don't know if it was a good idea to tell you." "I'm not asking anything of you." "I just wanted you to know." "Chief Inspector!" "Something's happening." "Have you found something?" "Yes, just now." "Both of them?" "No, we haven't found the little girl yet." "It was the father..." "Have you seen him?" "It's not pretty." "I'm fine." "Good day, Your Honour." "Let me show you the way, sir."