Inspector
Jacques Leveuf sat sipping on his early morning coffee and enjoying his rolled
cigarette as he did at the start of each day, when he heard a knock at his
office door. Miss Valerie Carion walked in with her usual grace and beauty, but
her face had an expression of extreme boredom as she brought a paper to the
inspector’s desk.
“What
is this?” asked the inspector as he examined the paper she handed him.
Valerie
explained; “We received this morning a notification from a citizen named
François Lenoir. He claims that his wife has gone missing last night. She left
home at 7PM as usual, to attend her weekly dance class. She had the habit of
going out with her friends from the class once done, as per the husband’s
explanation, and would usually be home by 10 or 11PM latest, however last
night, she never got home, and until this morning there was no sign of her. He
tried calling her several times on her mobile phone, but without any answer.”
“Hmmm…she
probably ran off with her lover” replied the inspector. “Send a search team.
Check at her dancing school where they saw her last, and who was the last
person to talk to her. Find out if they know in which direction she left. Print
out a picture of her and send it to the main newspapers, let’s see if anybody
will react.”
The
hours passed and days passed; while the search team desperately tried to find
any trace of Madame Lenoir. The investigation at the dance school brought back
an interesting new twist to the case, as it turned out that Madame Lenoir had
not attended any of the classes for the past three months. Where had she been
going? Why did she stay out late? What was she doing? At this point, the
inspector was almost certain that Madame Lenoir had a lover. Could she have
truly run away with him?
*****
After
two weeks of failed attempts to solve the case of the missing wife, Inspector
Leveuf sat at his desk, preparing himself for the confrontation with the
husband; during which he would have to explain to him that his beloved wife
most probably ran away with her lover, and will not be coming back, when
suddenly Valerie ran into his office speaking breathlessly; “Inspector Leveuf,
you have to come with me! It’s horrible!” Inspector Leveuf didn’t bother to ask
for an explanation. He followed Valerie to the car and they drove off to one of
the ghettos of Paris. As they arrived on the main market, they found a huge
crowd gathered within one circle. The inspector and Valerie made their way
walking in between the crowd until they reach the police cars and ambulance
that surrounded an opening of the sewer system. The stench that came out of
that hole was beyond description! The inspector and Valerie had to cover their
noses and mouth to be able to remain standing in the area. Around them, all the
people had expressions of disgust and pain on their faces; some were even
vomiting on the side of the street. As the inspector approached the opening of
the sewer, he laid his eyes on a terrible sight. In the sewers laid the dead
body of a woman; in state of decomposition, surrounded by rats and covered by
worms eating its flesh. Valerie turned around and vomited on the spot. The
inspector ordered that the body be taken out and taken to the forensics
immediately.
As
the forensics examined the body, the inspector and Valerie searched the hand
bag that was found by the side of the woman. In the bag they found her make up
kit, a set of keys, migraine pills, a hand cream, a mobile phone and a purse.
“This mobile phone is dead” said the inspector, “find me a compatible charger,
I want to see what activities were done on it and when.” As Valerie searched
for a charger, the inspector examined the purse and noticed a picture of a man
that seemed vaguely familiar. It was an old picture in black and white of a
young man, not more than 20 years of age, but the features of the face seemed
so familiar to the inspector, he could have sworn he had met the man before. As
he examined the purse further, this familiarity became clear when he found the
ID card of the woman and read the name; Amelie Lenoir. Valerie walked in with
the charger, the inspector looked up to her and said; “Seems that we found the
missing wife.” The inspector handed the ID card to Valerie, “Oh God! It’s
Monsieur Lenoir’s wife!” she said with her eyes wide open. “Call him please”
said the inspector, “and tell him to come to the police station immediately.”
*****
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