Chapter One

It was a day, which at first seemed to be normal, that all began. On a bright morning, the streets were full of people chatting and shopping. But, unfortunately, something had gone wrong the previous night. A woman's scream was heard. Soldiers ran to see what was happening, the woman had became hysterical and kept on crying.

"Murder ! My sister ! Catch the murderer, I want him hung!!" she yelled, tears flooding her face.

She was crying so loud that the minister of justice, himself, ended up examining the corpse after having ordered his soldiers to keep away the hysteric woman, his new captain, Phoebus de Châteaupers, at his side.

It was quite strange, but not completely unusual. It wasn't rare to find murdered women, especially whores, on the street; but the women found dead seemed to be a noble, judging from her dress and jewels. Strangely, the murderer didn't steal any of her precious jewels nor intended to rape her, her dress wasn't tore and no trace of violence could be seen on her body. If it weren't for the blood, he could have thought she had just fainted. Furthermore, the street where she was lying was not the safer street, particularly not for a woman of wealth. She must have been 23 at the most.

"It seems she had been stabbed right in the chest, sir" commented the captain.

Frollo nodded, thinking, he had seen this woman several times this week before. He remembered that her name was Catherine and that she was the daughter of a rich merchant in Paris. Her family was part of what was commonly called "petite noblesse" (gentry) and she was a married woman, but it was all he knew about her. She wasn't a person the minister really wanted to see frequently. But her death was weird. If it wasn't for her jewels, nor her virtue, why would someone kill her?

Leaving his thoughts behind, he glanced around, this street was composed of low-class inns and whorehouses, but it wasn't the most worrying thing at the moment. The dagger which had been used wasn't there, of course, and looking at the wound and blood on the clothes, the judge could deduce that the murderer had stabbed the poor woman and took the dagger out of her corpse with considerable strength.

Suddenly, Phoebus called him, and then pointed out that there seemed to be letters written with blood, but the corpse was hiding a part of them. The young captain carefully moved her, gulping a bit, and they could clearly read on the wall "pretentious slut".

The two men glanced at each other, this murder would not be easy to solve, definitely not.

The sister of the victim had calmed down; she was sitting in a corner, hiding her face in her hands and weeping. Soldiers stood next to her, others went to people who lived around her and asked if they had seen, or heard, something this night. But the only answer they got was "nothing".
A soldier with a large mustache walked along the street, hoping to find something, the dagger maybe. Instead, he saw blood, at the entrance of a house which was surely deserted. He stepped in and glanced around, then noticed some blood drops on the stairs.

He ran back in the street to find the captain and minister to tell them that maybe the murderer was still hiding inside. The two thought the idea ridiculous, but didn't ignore it since there could be another corpse there. The soldier with a big mustache went with them, followed by a stocky soldier.

Phoebus went upstairs first, in case something or someone dangerous might be waiting for them, followed by Frollo who was wondering why he had such fools following behind. The two soldiers were shaking so much that their armor was clinking loudly, their helmets knocking against one another.

'If someone is really up there, he knew already and had time to prepare himself for an attack !' thought Frollo sighing in exasperation. Plus he hadn't even asked these two idiots to follow.

Once he was standing on the first floor, he felt suddenly oppressed without explanation. Phoebus was walking carefully looking around; there was nothing, just a big empty room. Phoebus held his hand to his nose saying "This smell, like blood… But it's not recent, as if the place had become saturated with the smell long ago… And to be honest, I don't feel very well in here."

"If this smell is blood, lots of it must have been drawn… " pointed out the judge.

Before they could add something else, a shriek from behind startled the two. The stocky soldier was still shaking, looking overly panicked, and glancing around nervously, mumbling something to the soldier with a large mustache. He seemed frozen, his mouth slightly open, not aware of the severe look from his captain and the minister.

"What now ! What's wrong ?" asked Phoebus trying to hide his annoyance. It wasn't the first time these two were acting like rookies.

"If you're too scared to stay here, just go ! You incompetent fools !" said Frollo, getting worked up.

"S…sorry captain…sir… It's just…" began the smaller soldier. "I remember that many corpses have been found here, many years ago…and the house was already deserted…"

"And it had been a carnage !" finished the other one. "When we found them all, it was because people living around had smelt the smell of the death and rot! They had been there for a while before they were discovered! There was so much blood… look !! The floor is still red!"

Even if this seemed to be a tale created to scare people, Frollo couldn't deny that the ground had an odd shade changing from gray to a strange mix between brown and dark red. Plus, the oppression he was feeling since he was here. Maybe something really happened here, but was there something to do with the current murder? These two idiots had at least another string to their bow for once.

"Do you know anything more precise about this ?" he asked.

"Err…Four people were found, I think…" answered the one with a mustache." But it was strange, because one was a gypsy, another one was a thief and…oh yes! The last two had quite a high rank, one of them was even a woman."

"And it happened 18 years ago ! We know it because some old soldiers working for the minister before you, sir, had seen it! The story is well known by soldiers, and since it's been only a week you arrived captain, you couldn't know about it. The murderer was never found!"

Frollo stood silent a moment. Meanwhile the captain was very surprised to hear such precise information from these two. The judge wondered why he couldn't remember anything of this, he had become the protégé of the past minister when he was fifteen, twenty-one years ago to be precise. How could he have forgotten such a thing? But when he heard one of the two men say that it had taken place at the beginning of spring, it was clear that he couldn't have helped his old master at this moment.

Back then, even if he couldn't clearly remember, someone had attacked him and made him fall in the Seine. Since the Spring warmth hadn't returned yet, he had taken ill with a fever, and the loss of blood from several wounds didn't help at all. Fortunately, the fever hadn't been high enough to kill him, but he had stayed in bed for almost three months.

He could vaguely remember that his master kept notes from all strange and unresolved things in his old room; he told him long ago that when he would become minister, he could read them if he felt the need to. The past minister had been a kind of father for him, so he never changed anything in the room. Maybe it was time to go back in this room and look for these notes.

Then, he realized that this dark affair had nothing to do with the murder which took place last night, the girl was far too young to have any link between her and these 18-years-old murders.

Frollo shook his head, this was confusing. Then, something caught his eye, a person was there, with them! He was standing, half hidden behind a wall. Frollo ran toward him, but he apparently had run away, if someone had really been here.

"Sir ? Are you alright ?" asked the captain walking to his side.

"Yes, I just…thought someone was there…"

Except for an old broken mirror, and some of its pieces on the ground, nothing else was standing here. Looking at the mirror, the captain felt a bit uneasy, he could swear there was dried blood on some pieces. 'Uneasy' was a an appropriate way to describe what Frollo felt, his stomach twitched a moment, giving him nausea when he looked at the broken reflection, as if an old memory would appear. There were so many things he wished he had completely forgotten.

Once outside, Frollo ordered the two soldiers to stay in the street and to watch over the scene, while Phoebus would pass another order to his soldier to be careful to anything happening in the streets of Paris.

"Two pieces of silver that he listens to his libido !" said the stocky soldier.

"Three that he listens to his conscience !" answered the one with a large mustache.

Phoebus rolled his eyes; a man was hesitating to go see a whore standing outside the whorehouse, although it was daylight, soldiers tried to have a bit of fun the way they could…

Frollo walked to his horse, but didn't ride it. He walked into town holding the bridle, deep in his thoughts. He thought this murder would not be the only one, he couldn't explain why, but he felt he needed to resolve not only this murder but the 18-year-old mystery had to be explained. He looked briefly the sky, and prayed silently God to help him.