"Noir..." "It is the name of an ancient fate." "Two maidens who govern death." "To ward the darkness from the nursing babes, their black robes serve as shields." "Mireille..." "Mireille..." "Mireille..." "Mireille..." "Mireille!" "Mireille..." "Uncle?" "Mireille..." "Uncle!" "Uncle Claude!" "It's already been ten years since we left Corsica." "Really, I haven't seen you for so long!" "Yes..." "When did you return to Paris?" "Just recently." "I was beginning to miss all sorts of things, so..." "Brother was a great man." "Laurent Bouquet..." "He led the syndicate and yet he was kind to everyone in his family." "Yes..." "If that hadn't happened to him, neither you nor I would have been driven out of Corsica." "Are you still in business?" "I guess you could say that." "I see." "What about you?" "Me?" "Are you going to work in Paris?" "Yes, I intend to." "When my parents were killed, the Bouquet family and syndicate collapsed." "Corsica fell to the hands of a rival syndicate, and having lost my home, I left the country with Uncle Claude." "Claude Feyder..." "He's my uncle on my mother's side." "He took care of me when I was younger." "He'd play with me and he also taught me my trade." "He was a really strict teacher though." "I'll introduce him to you sometime." "He doesn't know anything about the Soldats?" "Of course not!" "If he knew, he'd tell me." "Yeah, I guess you're right." "Mireille..." "What?" "I'm glad that you saw your uncle again." "So?" "How are things in Marseille?" "Oh, it's coming along." "What about things here?" "Do you remember that lake?" "The lake that you took me to a long time ago?" "Of course I do." "When we first arrived in Paris, I was always in low spirits, so my uncle was constantly trying to cheer me up." "Why don't we go to that lake again?" "What's wrong?" "Don't you want to?" "No, that sounds wonderful!" "Do you know anything about Noir?" "No, I don't." "I see." "By Noir, you're referring to THAT Noir, right?" "Yeah..." "But why?" "Nothing." "It's okay if you don't know." "Damn it!" "There we go." "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "It's nothing." "That's right, it's nothing at all." "Do you know anything about Noir?" "Why?" "Why does Uncle want to know?" "Yes?" "These just arrived." "It's from my uncle." "They must be flowers that my uncle grew." "That's really great." "Yeah..." "Yo, sorry to keep you waiting." "Feyder, I'm glad you could make it." "You're looking good, Dupois." "Well, have a seat." "What'll you have?" "No thanks, I'm fine." "When did you return to Paris?" "Just recently." "What are we, strangers?" "Why didn't you let me know sooner?" "I had a lot of miscellaneous things to take care of." "With your skills, you must get a lot of jobs." "Actually, I called you because I had a favor to ask you too." "What kind?" "You probably know already." "Lately, there's been a string of odd murders." "Yeah, all the hits have been on big shots." "I've had a lot of dealings with those people, so I want you to find out who the hell killed them." "I see." "Will you do it?" "It's simple, I don't even have to check." "Really?" "!" "You have some idea of..." "I'm the one who killed them." "That's a classic!" "I always thought you didn't have a humorous bone in your body, but..." "Such were their orders." "And one more thing..." "Your name was on their list too." "Yes?" "Uncle?" "Thank you for the flowers!" "I was so happy to get them!" "Yes, I love them!" "What, now?" "No, I can make it." "Wow!" "Now, no need for ceremony." "Come on in." "Come on, follow me." "What do you think?" "Aren't they something?" "Raise them with love and the flowers will respond." "Not that I don't fail sometimes." "Uncle, did you invite me here just to show me your flowers?" "If you talk to the flowers, they'll..." "Answer me." "I'm working on a big job right now." "You want me to help you?" "No, I want you to just stand by and watch." "What do you mean?" "That's right, your friend." "You didn't find me by accident, did you?" "You had this in mind all along, didn't you?" "You tricked me." "You lied to me too." "You said you didn't know Noir." "I could have taken care of it without saying anything to you, but I wanted you to know." "The Soldats hired you, didn't they?" "You know about them?" "!" "Uncle, why?" "It's better that you don't know." "It's for both your good and mine." "I absolutely have to finish this job, or they will crush me." "Just as they crushed Brother." "That's right." "Laurent Bouquet was killed for going against the Soldats, together with his wife and son." "You knew?" "Uncle, you knew that all along?" "Uncle!" "You must not try to learn more about the Soldats." "I swore to them that I would always follow their orders without questioning their reasons." "That's why I was able to leave Corsica alive, with you." "Now you know just how terrible the Soldats are." "Oh, this one's no good anymore." "We are far frailer than these flowers." "Once the Soldats get ahold of you, you can never escape." "No one, not ever." "Don't repeat the same mistake Laurent made, Mireille." "Please..." "I understand." "You do..." "I'll bring her with me tonight." "Good." "When it's over, let's go to that lake." "It's the perfect season for it too when the lake will be at its bluest." "I suppose so." "I'm going out for a bit." "Where to?" "Just a little errand." "Don't follow me." "I told you not to follow me." "Go home." "No." "I said, go home." "I'm not going home." "And you're still going?" "Why?" "You're late." "Where's my uncle?" "He's in the greenhouse." "Shall I call for him, Miss?" "No thank you, I'll go to him myself." "Go right ahead." "You bastard!" "Uncle..." "Uncle..." "I can't go to that lake anymore." "You're Laurent Bouquet's daughter, all right."