Avery Bisson is a tall, dark, handsome, and intelligent young Paris police officer had worked very hard to earn the rank of Detective Inspector before age thirty. As usual, he arrived at the station early to review the morning reports from his office computer and studied the one about the apparent murder last night on Rue Louie with special interest. There was a stabbing in public following a bar fight outside of the Che Riviera - probably over a woman. In his years of police experience, there was almost always a woman involved in these sorts of crimes.
French men are passionate about their perceived claim on their women. Following a dinner, a few drinks or sometimes even just a good evening greeting received in a friendly manner from a lovely mademoiselle could start things going in the wrong direction. The old-fashioned Art of the Duel had been illegal for quite some time, but rumor has it the very first Duel fought was over a woman. Being on a date is one thing easily understood, but generally a dispute in public among strangers is quite another. There are many lovely ladies in Paris, so an ordinary tourist would hardly be aware of this.
The suspect had, so far, eluded arrest, but soon his days of freedom would quickly end. As soon as the fingerprints left on the bloody knife found still in the chest of the victim were compared to those of known criminals, the remainder of the investigation would be relatively easy. This was a crime of passion, pure and simple. It was also very personal. The evidence at the scene indicated the victim and the suspect were face-to-face when the deed was done. Reviewing the list of witnesses, two female names were listed at the top of the very short list. He would interview them first and let the other, lesser ranked detectives interview the other - male witnesses - privileges of rank, you know.
During his interview of the first woman, Inspector Bisson took down notes of her personal description as well as her account of what she witnessed, thinking this killer may have a certain type of woman he favored. The two men she witnessed were of near equal size and had been drinking heavily before they were both tossed-out of the bar for bothering women with their unwanted advances. Normally, this type of thing was tolerated in a place where single people meet and mingle, but these two fellows were particularly aggressive and seemed to be attracted to the same women simultaneously. They would approach women together and essentially try to force them to choose between them or they wouldn't leave. They just couldn't accept the words; no, neither, nor none of the above. Finally, the bouncer tossed them out, but the aggressive competition between them continued outside.
The second female witness, one Miss Christine Mortier, was an American of French descent. Her father was originally French, and her mother was American who had been raised in the New Orleans culture. She spoke French very well with a Bordeaux regional accent. She was an attractive young girl in her mid to late 20's with long, just past shoulder-length, shiny black hair, a creamy white complexion, a pointed upturned nose, attractive smile with a narrow gap between her top front teeth - a feature that many European men thought to be very sexy. At 171 centimeters tall and 54 kilos, she was built for love with svelte curves and a keen sense of fashion.
Those were all attractive features as far as the Inspector was concerned but her most outstanding features were her crystal blue eyes that looked like gemstones and sparkled like diamonds framed through a minimum of eye makeup and naturally long eyelashes. Her full and pouting lips displayed a deep Cupid's bow which was quite another attractive item altogether. There was something else. Something that Detective Inspector Bisson could not quantify about her in his policeman's mindset. There was an odd attraction between them, but he had to remain professional during the investigation. Perhaps, the reasons why would come to him later, or so he thought.
Miss Mortier confirmed what the other witness saw and corroborated those accounts in detail and in her own words. She went on to say that both men acted very strangely and were either on drugs or devil-possessed - as in voodoo beliefs. She wasn't sure which, but it surely seemed that way when they had approached her inside the bar. They clearly weren't behaving normally. Inspector Bisson asked if she could recognize the man again and she said that she could - just as the other female witness had said. She also added, the two men looked enough alike to have possibly been related in some way.
As Inspector Bisson listened to Miss Mortier describe her account, he began to form a mental picture but not in the way he would have perceived the events himself were he there, but rather as Miss Mortier had perceived them - thru her own eyes - the night before. He continued asking questions and she related her answers as Bisson mentally visualized her experiences. This seemed very odd and had never happened to him before. "One last question, Miss Mortier... "
"Call me Christine, Detective Inspector, please." She interrupted.
"Yes, well, Miss Mortier, until this criminal is captured, may I have your personal telephone number - not only the one for your hotel? I want to follow-up with all female witnesses occasionally - especially in a case such as this - to be sure they are safe during the investigation processes wherever you are on your visit of Paris. As I'm sure you are aware, we want Paris to remain a very tourist-friendly city. When this is all over, I assure you the number will be erased from official files."
As Christine gave the Inspector her cell phone number, she looked onto his notepad and touched him lightly on his hand to get a better look at his notes. There was a sudden static discharge between them, but neither of them acknowledged it. It was the type of short, charged flash that sometimes happens when a power plug is connected to a wall outlet. The Inspector blinked his eyes twice and forgot the numbers he had been writing in his notebook and had just stopped writing. Christine touched him on the hand again, releasing yet another static charge, "6-7-4-5, Inspector".
"What? Oh, yes. Yes, of course." He pulled his calling card case from his inside coat pocket and selected one to give her. "If you remember anything further and specific to this case, Miss Mortier, please don't hesitate to phone me directly. Will you?" They both held the calling card momentarily as they looked deeply into each other's eyes. The moment seemed longer than normal. His mind went blank.
"Thank-you. Hhmm, Detective Inspector Avery Bisson", she repeated. "I wonder if I shall ever need this business card or if we shall ever meet again, Inspector?"
"I'm sure we will, Miss Mortier. People often remember extra details even at the most inopportune times. Please, don't leave Paris for a while. We may need you to testify in court."
