Black as midnight on a moonless night (by Omar Kamal)...Part.4

Three days passed without a sign of the girl. A new week began, a new Monday early start, but she appeared nowhere and there was no way to gather any further information about her. Without a name or at least an address, it was impossible to know who she is, and so impossible to stop her before she strikes again. And so it was; as the inspector walked into the office that Monday, Valerie was waiting for him with worried eyes. The inspector needed no explanation, he understood; the killer had struck again.

Inspector Leveuf made a sign to Valerie to come with him, they left the office directly to the scene of the crime in a small street called Tiquetonne. The inspector went immediately to ask the restaurants around if they knew the victim and if they had seen him with a girl that fits the portrait he had in his hand. Rapidly the inspector gathered the information from the Pizzeria in the street where the victim was used to go, in the meantime, Valerie gathered information from the database on his identity. The time was running and they needed to take action before the trail got cold and another victim fell. As they walked back into the office, they had successfully gathered enough information about their new victim with one additional information that could dramatically change the course of the case.

Valerie briefed the inspector on her findings saying; “the victim, Benjamin Cohen, 29 years old, was from an upper middle class Jewish French family. He graduated from journalism and found a job in a local Parisian newspaper. Although the income was modest, he did enjoy the work very much, and managed his life mostly from his share of the family business; a kosher restaurant where his father, mother and brother worked. He lived in an apartment on his own, and is praised by his colleagues, friends and family for being a lively, friendly and energetic person. He is single and never married but has had several serious relationships that just did not survive the daily difficulties.”

“Very well Valerie” said the inspector. “I have asked in the area, the crime seems to have been done in exactly the same way. The waitress in the Pizzeria confirmed having seen Benjamin enter the place with the young girl, she even recognized her from the sketch. They entered around six in the evening, had their food and drinks, left again around ten. We will probably find that the autopsy will confirm that the death took place between 11PM and 1AM, and that the cause of death was arterial air embolism. However, this time she made one mistake; they left with a taxi. I need you to find out which taxis had a shift in that area at that time, get me the drivers and let’s find out where they went after the Pizzeria.”

About two hours later, Valerie entered the inspector’s office. “Sir, we found the driver, a 50 years old man of Algerian origins, known as Hajj Taha. He recognized the girl from the sketch and recognized the body. He picked them up last night from Tiquetonne Street at about ten in the evening and drove them to Rivolli Street; they got off in front of the optician shop there, which is at number 114 in that street.”

“Excellent!” screamed the inspector with joy. “Now I want you to check each and every single person living on that block, track her down and find out who she is.”

Valerie and her team worked on tracking down the identities of those living on that block on Rivolli Street. In the meantime, the autopsy came about to confirm that Benjamin Cohen was the third victim of this serial killer.

The night kicked in and the clock was ticking when Valerie finally found the person she was looking for. She ran into the inspector’s office screaming; “we found her! We found her!”

“Excellent! Who is she tell me?”

Valerie started explaining; “her name is Elisabeth Dupon. She is 27 years old; her picture fits the sketch we have perfectly. She studied pharmacology and graduated only a year ago. She currently works part time in a family pharmacy business. She is single and never married. Her father is Lionel Dupon who was convicted 16 years ago with rape. Her mother, Isabelle Dupon, filed for a divorce once her husband was convicted. The man entered into a deep depression and committed suicide while in prison. Isabelle Dupon had to then take jobs as a housemaid to finance her daughter’s studies. Apparently the woman suffered a lot of abuse and harassment in her work, which culminated in a rape case 8 years ago. She didn’t succeed in proving her case; it seems the rapist was a wealthy and powerful employer who managed somehow to get himself out of it and then left the country after the scandal. Isabelle on the other hand, couldn’t handle the pressure and the looks in people’s eyes; she also fell into depression and committed suicide 5 years ago. Ever since, Elisabeth has been on her own, with no families or friends.”

“Valerie” said the inspector; “I can now confirm we have our killer. Her life experience shows a psychological traumatism caused by the extreme lack of trust in men. She has seen the closest man to her, her father, be convicted of rape, and the closest woman to her, her mother, becoming a victim of rape, and not getting justice. She obviously has a need for vengeance against men, especially young men who are full of confidence and think they can get all the girls they want. It is now five o’clock, we need to go to her building immediately; she might be planning another murder tonight.”

Inspector Leveuf, Valerie and two private officers arrived at the building at about half past five, however when they asked around, they found out that Elisabeth had already left her home. “We will have to wait here, hoping that she comes back to her place” said the inspector.

The hours passed as an eternity as the four waited in the car for Elisabeth to appear. Then just as the clocked ticked half past ten, a car approached the building and two people came out of it; a young handsome man, and Elisabeth. Valerie reacted with the intention to jump out of the car to arrest her, but the inspector stopped her saying; “we need to catch her red handed.”

*****

In the building Elisabeth was seducing her new victim, Rachid Benzema. A handsome brown man of Tunisian origins, well-built and well dressed; he had met Elisabeth by coincidence three days before while shopping in a supermarket, and couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She had noticed him, and right away started smiling at him, until she eventually got him to ask her out.

While in the elevator going up to her apartment, Elisabeth kissed Rachid passionately as she glided her fingers over his fit body. She whispered in his ear gently and he caressed her feminine curves with his strong hands. As they approached the door of the apartment, Rachid could envision the night that would be ahead of him; a beauty, a goddess would lay by his side and he would worship her deliciously curvaceous body. Elisabeth too envisioned how her night would be as she put the key into the door; another demon will be brought down, she thought. As she opened the door, Rachid grabbed her from behind; “I can’t wait any longer to have you” he told her. “Please Rachid my sweetheart; be patient, good things come to those who wait. I will show you a night you will never forget; but only if you wait” said Elisabeth gently. Rachid calmed down and sat over a couch in the living room.

“Baby, what would you like to drink?” asked Elisabeth.

“Some whiskey will do sweetheart. Now come here with me a bit” replied Rachid.

Elisabeth came back holding a glass of red wine and a glass of whiskey. She had changed her clothes and was now wearing a black sleeping gown with such soft material that when the light would dance behind it, one could see through it. Rachid saw her coming towards him like that and felt he must be in heaven. She handed him the whiskey, and with extreme enthusiasm, he drank the glass all at once. He stood up and approached Elisabeth and grabbed her into his arms. “You are a goddess of beauty Elisabeth” said Rachid as he looked her in the eyes and kissed her. Suddenly; he started to feel strange, as if the world was turning around, as if he were swept into a tornado.

“What’s the matter my love? Are you ok?” asked Elisabeth.

“I don’t know. I feel dizzy” replied Rachid.

She helped him lay on the couch and within a couple of seconds the young man was in a deep sleep. Elisabeth then ran into her room and picked the syringe. She stood in front of Rachid as he slept deeply and whispered in anger; “I shall fill your filthy male blood with air, paralyze your pervert man brain, and when you’re gone, I shall cross out your black darkened heart that has no mercy for the fragile women! I shall have our revenge!”

Just as she raised her hand to stab Rachid into the artery with the syringe filled with air, the door of the apartment burst open and Inspector Leveuf barged in with his gun pointed at Elisabeth and screamed; “Freeze, you are under arrest. Surrender or I will shoot you.”

Elisabeth turned around and looked straight towards the inspector’s eyes. Her lips drew a devilish smile of satisfaction. Never had the man seen such an angelic face turn into such a demonic creature. She turned back suddenly and prepared to stab her victim despite the warning.

A gun shot.

She fell.

*****

Inspector Leveuf and Valerie walked out of the hospital after visiting Rachid who was now recovering. The amount of sleeping powder was so high, it caused severe damage to his brain, but he was still alive. The night had fallen and darkness reigned over the city once again.

As they walked away from the hospital building, Valerie asked; “Inspector, there is one dilemma in this case that continues to intrigue me. How did she manage to move the bodies?”

Inspector Leveuf smiled and looked at Valerie explaining; “Remember the wheelchair we found in her bedroom during the search?” Valerie nodded in agreement. “Well Valerie, it seems that she used that chair to move the victims. After killing them, she would close their eyes and mouths, making them look as invalid, sleeping on the wheelchair, while she would transport them to her destination. The task was even easier given the fact that the lift in her building well all the way from in front of her apartment, to the ground floor directly. We also found witnesses who confirmed having seen her with the wheelchair and claimed to have though the victim to be an invalid sleeping and who she was driving home.”

Valerie shook her head and said; “Such a diabolic mind! How could somebody have so much hate in them? How could she be capable of harming people so easily? She has such a black and dark heart!”

Inspector Leveuf looked up to the moonless night sky and said; “She doesn’t have a black heart, neither do any of the guys who she killed. It is life that brings us to this. It is life that breaks us apart and tares us into pieces, and makes us become who we are. If life were a human being, it would have the darkest heart of all, as black as midnight on a moonless night.”

Inspector Leveuf lit a cigarette, and walked away into the distance.

THE END

Black as midnight on a moonless night (by Omar Kamal)...Part.3

Once they arrived on the scene of the crime, the inspector walked hastily towards the body. It was another young man, this time 29 years of age; David Lachaise.

“Open his shirt!” said the inspector to a police officer with a serious and determined voice.

The inspector’s mind could not absorb what he had just seen. On the chest of the young man, the exact same X sign was marked at his heart. The inspector thus came to the realisation that this was no longer a mere murder case; he was now on the chase for a serial killer, whom he needed to stop before any further victims fell.

“Send the body to the laboratory for the autopsy immediately; we haven’t a minute to loose!” said the inspector to the police officer. He then turned to Valerie and said; “Valerie, I want you to gather every detail you can about this man. I want to know everything about his life; private, professional, educational; family. Everything!”

As the night slowly set itself in, the inspector sat waiting impatiently the result of the autopsy and Valerie’s research. He drifted away into his thoughts as he tried to imagine what could the X mark possibly indicate, and how could he stop this killer before striking again. A knock at the door awoke him from his moment of mind drifting. The doctor came in and in his hand the report.

“Doctor, please tell me, what have you found?”

“Well inspector, it’s practically the same case. The man was 29 years old; the time of death was once again between 11PM and 1AM. The same means of death, which I suppose was induced by a syringe filled with air, into the artery. Once again; we found some sleeping substance in his system, in addition to consumption of alcohol in relatively high amounts. As for the X mark, it is done in exactly the same manner, most probably even with the same knife, as the depth of the wound, and its width, are the same.”

“Have you found any signs of any sexual activity from that night on the body?”

“None whatsoever sir” replied the doctor.

The inspector thanked the doctor for his report, and just as the man left the office room, Valerie walked in with the result of her research.

“Ah Valerie, just the person I needed to see. Please enlighten me with the results of your research.”

“Inspector, I have gathered all the information I could get from the system, and I questioned the flatmate, and here is what I know about our victim. David Lachaise comes from a middle class family; he was raised to be independent and self-sufficient. He studied medicine and was working in the same time while studying to finance his living. Upon graduation, he managed to find a job as an assistant in a private practice in town, where he was working until now. He is a hard working young man, and everybody in the practice praises him for his devotion and intelligence. In his private life; he seems to be very easy to live with, according to his flatmate; he is very well organized and clean, and very respectful of personal space. He is single and was never married. His flatmate claims that despite having had many relationships, David never passed the threshold of six months with any girl. It seems he is frightened of the idea of commitment.”

The inspector stood up and walked around the office as he lit a cigarette, and said; “this is quite interesting. We have two victims of different social and educational backgrounds, but both are successful in their professional lives and manage to live well it seems out of their jobs. Yet both of them are unstable in their emotional life, but they are not necessarily victims of heartbreaks, they are rather unable to commit. But where does that lead us with knowing who the killer is and why do they murder them? And what is that X mark?”

A moment of silence passed, which seemed to Valerie as an eternity as she watched the inspector dive into his thoughts. Suddenly, the inspector turned towards her and said; “Valerie, I want you to find out the favourite places where those two young men hung out; their favourite bar, coffee shop, restaurant, club, anything. And I want to know if they have been to any of them on the night of the murder, and if yes, were they with someone.”

Hours passed as Valerie researched; questioned and gathered information from all corners and all sides. She had not remembered a single case where she had worked this much, but most importantly, she could not remember a single case that the inspector was so enthusiastic to resolve as this one. Despite the tragedy of the murders, it seemed the inspector was happier than he had ever been. As if the challenge of cracking a case was the fuel for his life, the source of satisfaction and energy to move forward. He was as a new born man.

As the inspector walked into the office the next morning, Valerie intercepted him to brief him with the information she succeeded in gathering.

“Good morning Valerie, tell me what have you found?”

“Sir, I have found the favourite places of the two young men. Our first victim, Jeremy, was a regular of a brasserie in Neuilly called Chez Marcel. He was seen entering there on the night of his death at about six in the evening with a young lady. The lady is described as about 165cm tall, shoulder length brunette wavy hair, fair white skin and in her mid-twenties. I had a sketch made of her portrait if you would like to see it” Valerie handed the inspector the sketch and continued explaining; “they were then seen leaving the brasserie together sometime before ten in the evening. They were also seen hoping in his car, a Mini Cooper S, and leave the area. This same car was found on the scene of the crime in Neuilly, we identified the license plaque, and it is confirmed to be the victim’s car.”

“Very well, and for the second victim” asked the inspector.

“David Lachaise’s favourite place was an Italian restaurant in Saint Michel called Bella Napoli. He went there at least once a week, sometimes more. On the night of his death, he was seen walking in with a young girl; her description fits exactly the description of the girl who was with the first victim. They also arrived at the restaurant at about six in the evening and left a bit before ten. But it seems in this case they took the metro, but we do not know where they got off.”

Inspector Leveuf sat down at his desk and rolled a cigarette in absolute silence. Valerie stood there awaiting comments or instructions, but no words came out of the inspector’s mouth. He lay back on his chair, lit his cigarette and took a first puff. As he blew the smoke out, his eyes drifted up to the ceiling as if following the ascending smoke. The silence was finally broken as the inspector looked at Valerie and said; “All the indications seem to point out at that young girl as the potential killer. It is too much of a coincidence for her to be seen with both victims in both crime scenes two nights in a raw. In addition to that, the means of killing seems to fit a female killer. It would be very difficult for a girl with this description to struggle with fit young men like our two victims.”

The inspector took another puff of his cigarette, got up from his chair and started walking around the office while explaining:

“I believe that the crime most probably happened in this way; the young girl somehow meets the victim somewhere some days before, they look at one another, she attracts his attention, they flirt a bit. Eventually she gets a date with him. As most men, he will take her to his favourite place, to share with her the moment, but also to show off his new conquest in a familiar space where people know him. They sit, they eat, maybe drink some wine. After more than three hours spent in that place, they move; possibly to his place, maybe to her place. I would assume to her place, where she can feel more comfortable to get to the act. The autopsy proved that no sexual action was taken during the nights of the murder, in other words, our killer did not let herself go with the young men. She probably takes them to her place, offers an additional drink, in which she slips some sleeping pill or powder. The victim drinks and immediately falls into a deep sleep. Once she is sure that the young man is asleep, she injects his artery in the neck with a large syringe filled with air; death is immediate. She then undresses the victim, gently carves the X on the chest at the heart, then puts his clothes back on and carries the body and leaves it where we found the victim.”

The inspector walked towards the window in his office and watched the streets outside as the cars drifted back and forth in absolute urban frenzy. He turned to Valerie and said; “Our mission now is to identify this girl before she strikes again. We don’t know much about who she is, so we need to somehow track her down. I want double patrols all around town, and I want tripled patrols in Neuilly and Saint Michel; she might decide to revisit the scene.”

Inspector Leveuf sat and smoked another cigarette. He looked at the sketch of the killer and wondered to himself; how could such an innocent and sweet looking girl become such a brutal killer? What happened in her life that led her to this vengeful mentality? The inspector couldn’t even imagine an answer, but he knew that time would bring the answers to him as the case unravelled itself.

*****

Black as midnight on a moonless night (by Omar Kamal)...Part.2

Valerie walked into her office the next morning around seven as per her usual schedule. She was full of energy and ready to work on cracking this mysterious case. As she walked towards her office room, she passed in front of Inspector Leveuf’s office and noticed the lights were on. She walked slowly towards the office, preparing her gun in case there was an intruder as she knew that Inspector Leveuf never came before nine by any means! She opened the door and aimed her gun as she walked in. “Inspector Leveuf! You scared me! What are you doing here so early?”

Inspector Leveuf looked at Valerie and with a smile that she had never seen before said: “Oh why good morning Valerie! I trust you had a good night sleep? I have been here since 6AM trying to get some additional information on our victim.”

“Any success?” wondered Valerie.
“Of course, sit down I will make you a coffee and tell you what I found out about him.” said the inspector.

“Here you go” said the inspector as he handed the coffee to Valerie and went on explaining: “our victim, Jeremy Deschamps, comes from a well off family. His father was a judge, and he himself studied law and graduated nine years ago, at which point with the help of his family, he opened his private practice with two of his university friends. The practice seems to be going quite well as they each specialise in a different area of cases; Jeremy himself specialises in divorce cases. He is single and never married. He does seem to be a bad boy though, or at least use to be; at age 19 he was arrested for illegal possession and use of marijuana, but thanks to the intervention of his father, he ended up only paying a fine. I have already asked for his colleagues from the practice to come over to the office so we can get some additional information.”

“This is quite impressive inspector. I didn’t think this case would interest you that much.” said Valerie in a surprised tone.

Inspector Leveuf smiled and told her; “I am just doing my job my dear.”

About an hour later, a man presented himself at Inspector Leveuf’s office. He was introduced as the partner of Jeremy, Ismail Diouf; a young French man of Senegalese origins. Inspector Leveuf welcomed him in and offered him a seat and a refreshment to calm the man’s nerves down. It was obvious from the young man’s face that the issue was too much for him to handle, but the inspector needed him as calm as possible so that he can manage to get the information he needs out of him.

“So tell me Mister Diouf, how was your colleague Jeremy at work, both on the professional and personal level?” asked the inspector in a stable and determined tone.

Ismail sipped on his drink and tried to gather his thoughts as he answered the question:

“Well, on the personal level, Jeremy was always a light spirit. He would always make us laugh and lighten up the atmosphere, even when the situation in the practice became quite tense due to complicated cases and daily work stress. But despite this light spirit, he still took his work very seriously and devoted himself to the furthest extent when working on a case.”

“Did he get very many cases?” asked the inspector.

“He did yes; he actually had the most cases of us all. Divorce is quite a common thing nowadays.”

“Were his clients mostly men or women, or both equally?”

“He did have some male clients, but the overwhelming majority of his clients were women filing for a divorce.”

“Very well. What age range were these women?”

“There were some middle aged women, but the majority were young women under their thirties. Quite beautiful ladies too.”

“Ah, that is interesting” exclaimed the inspector; “What was Jeremy like with women? Was he somewhat of a playboy?”

“Very much so sir. He was always very popular among the women since we were in university. He never had any trouble to get the girl he wanted. He almost didn't even need to try.”

“Did he have a girlfriend that we could possibly contact and get more information?”

“No sir. Jeremy was single. He did not believe in commitment or even marriage for that matter. Ever since we started with the practice, he lost faith in commitment and has not had a single stable relationship in the past years. He just spends his time jumping from one adventure to the next.”

“What about his clients? Has he had any affairs with any of them?”

“I believe he may have had a few, sir, but I am not sure. He had so many stories and adventures in the past years, it was difficult to follow.”

“What about your other colleague, where is he?”

“François, he is out of the country sir, on vacation. He will be back in two weeks.”

“One last question Mister Diouf, do you know of any enemies Jeremy may have? Anybody who would wanted to see him dead?”

“No sir, Jeremy never had any enemies. He is very careful in his relations with people and has always been very respectful.”

“Very well Mister Diouf, that will be all for now” said the inspector with a smile; “if we would need anything further, I will let you know. And I am very sorry for your loss; we will do our best to solve this case catch the perpetrator.”

As Inspector Leveuf walked towards his office room after seeing the young Ismail out, Valerie dashed towards him with her usual energy.

“Sir, we have another dead body, this time in Saint Michel.”

The inspector’s eyes opened wide; “let’s go Valerie. There is no time to waste!”

*****