Chapter Four

Tourists are always an easy mark for thieves in just about every big city, no matter what country. This was especially true for Perry and Della on a rain-soaked side street in Paris. They quickly walked back to the restaurant where they had dinner - Perry's large strides were hard for Della to keep up with. She didn't complain, though. She knew exactly how important it was for them to recover the stolen briefcase, and of course Perry's wallet and checkbook.

The maitre'd at the restaurant was very consoling and phoned for the Police right away when Perry explained what had happened. "Monsieur, there is always a policeman nearby on this street. He will be here soon to help you."

Perry anxiously watched out the window for the policeman to arrive. It began to rain again. Della stood right by his side with a worried look on her face clinging to his arm.

He noticed how upset Della looked and tried to decrease her anxiety. "We'll get it all back, Della. I have a lot of cash in my pocket with my money clip and more in the hotel safe in our room. The checkbook is just our office account and we can cancel that right away. I only had U.S. currency in the wallet."

Della was still quite agitated. "But what about our passports? And our birth certificates? We can't get out of the country without one or both of them. This is awful! This is all my fault! I shouldn't have talked you into stopping for wine. We should have gone right back to the hotel after we met with Mr. Gilles..."

Perry pulled her close and calmed her down. "It's more my fault than yours. Let's not get carried away blaming ourselves for this theft." He looked back out the window. "I think I see a policeman in a yellow raincoat running this way."

The policeman walked in the door and spoke to the maitre'd as he shook off the rain from his hat and coat. "Qui a besoin de la Police?"

He was directed to Perry right away. "Ce qui s'est passe'?"

Perry asked if he could explain the situation in English. "Parlez-vous anglais?"

The policeman looked back at the maitre'd and rolled his eyes. "Aha! Touriste!" He turned back to Perry as he took off his hat and wiped the rain from his brow. "Oui. I know a little English."

Perry caught the hint of the policeman's annoyance at being called to help a tourist, but began explaining what happened right away. "A group of thieves distracted us with their dancing and singing celebration and made off with my briefcase, wallet, and a checkbook." Perry pointed back out on the street towards the fountain. "It happened a block away near the fountain. They danced away around the corner before we realized that they had taken our belongings."

The policeman's attitude softened. "Okay. I understand. I'm Antonin Beauchamp, Police Nationale. What is your name, Monsieur?"

Perry introduced himself and Della.

Beauchamp nodded back to them. "Come with me, s'il vous plait. I will arrange to have someone write a report for you." The policeman stepped outside the door under the entry awning and blew a whistle. Moments later a police car stopped on the street in front of them and Beauchamp directed them to get in the car. The driver took them to a nearby Police Station where Beauchamp, Perry, and Della ran inside out of the rain.

Perry and Della were ushered to a lobby area to sit down while Beauchamp removed his hat and approached another police officer sitting at a desk. The desk area was up higher off the floor in a secure area surrounded by bullet-proof glass. There was a long railing in front of the desk and Beauchamp ducked under it to stand closer to the officer at the desk. Perry watched and listened as Beauchamp informed the desk officer of their situation speaking in French through an opening in the glass wall.

Sitting on a long wooden bench in the lobby, Perry whispered to Della. "He's arranging for a detective to speak with us. I think he's going to go back on his beat to look for the thieves but he wants to talk to us first."

Beauchamp walked back to Perry and Della and opened a notebook. "S'il vous plait, tell me what you can about this roving group of thieves."

Perry spoke up right away. "There were five of them - three young men and two young women. Two of the men wore dark jackets and plaid red-colored berets." He nodded towards Della. "The two young men took her hands to get her to dance with them. The woman who brushed up against me was wearing dark slacks, a white scarf over her head and a long, light blue coat. It happened so fast, I didn't notice what the others were doing."

Beauchamp wrote down the descriptions of the suspects in his notebook. "Tell me again what they took from you."

"My brown leather portfolio briefcase that was near my feet on the sidewalk and contains very important papers. There was also my wallet and checkbook that was in the inner pocket of my suit coat. The wallet has credit cards and U.S. currency among a few other things."

"I will return to my beat to look for them soon. A detective will come for you soon to take your statement. Please wait here." Beauchamp walked back up to the desk officer and began talking and laughing with him.

The desk officer was betting that Beauchamp and his beat partner, Serge Bautiste, would have the usual suspects in custody by the end of their work shift. Beauchamp was laughing because he said that he would have the thieves arrested within an hour. Beauchamp added in a quiet voice that he and Bautiste wanted their regular dinner break in an hour so the arrest would be made before then. He was just waiting for Bautiste to return to the police station and pick him up.

Della watched and listened. "He doesn't seem to be in any hurry to go out and look for them. Can you hear what they're laughing about?"

Because the officers were speaking in hushed tones, Perry couldn't hear what they were saying. Perry shook his head and told her, "No. I suppose we'll just have to wait for a while."

The desk officer and Beauchamp eventually broke up their conversation when Beauchamp saw Bautiste waiting in their police car outside of the front door. He waved to the desk officer as he walked away to return to his beat. "Il est temps de revenir au ma rue! Au revoir!" He put his police hat back on and nodded to Perry and Della as he left the building.

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Police Inspector Henri LeMaire walked in a side door behind the secure desk area and took off his wet trench coat and black fedora hat. The forty-year-old chief detective was neatly dressed in a dark suit and tie. His dark hair was freshly cut and his pencil-thin mustache neatly trimmed. He looked around the lobby and the desk as he shook the rain from his trench coat. Out of sight from Perry and Della, he walked up behind the desk officer to speak with him. "Je espère que ca se arrête de pleuvoir bientôt!"

"Oui, Inspecteur LeMaire." The desk officer only agreed that he also didn't care for the rainy weather. He personally didn't care too much for the egotistical and unscrupulous detective either, but he didn't say it out loud. And like many of the other officers working that area of Paris, the desk officer was minimally courteous and respectful to him – but only because of LeMaire's rank and his connection to the unethical Prefecture of Police. He also knew that LeMaire had been doing personal errands on duty – which included his new haircut and a shoe shine. Personal errands on duty were strictly forbidden, but apparently that policy did not apply to LeMaire as much as it did to the other officers.

Inspector LeMaire nodded towards Perry and Della then asked who they were.

In a quiet voice the desk officer told Inspector LeMaire that Perry and Della were English-speaking tourists that had been robbed by a group of thieves. He added that they were waiting for him to write a police report of the incident. LeMaire listened to the story while he sized-up Perry but then stared provocatively at Della. When the desk officer finished the story, LeMaire gave the desk man an order in French. He quietly told him that when Beauchamp and Bautiste round up their usual suspects, they should bring them in the back room for the usual interrogation. He added that he would bring Perry and Della back to his office momentarily.

Perry and Della calmly watched the activities in the police station while waiting to speak to someone about their theft. A man delivering a stack of newspapers walked in and spoke to the desk officer in French. He commented on the rain letting up and handed the desk officer the newspapers. Moments later a man and woman walked in and asked the desk officer for directions to a nearby theater. After that couple left, the desk officer had to answer a brief phone call.

After waiting thirty minutes, Perry was getting a little perturbed so he approached the desk officer who appeared to be reading the newspaper. "Excusez-moi, monsieur. Parlez-vous anglais?"

The desk officer put the newspaper down to reply. "Oui, monsieur. I speak some English..."

Perry got right to the point. "I want to be clear about why we are still waiting here. Officer Beauchamp told us that someone would speak to us right away. We've been waiting over thirty minutes now. Did I misunderstand the officer?"

The desk officer was beginning to reply when Inspector LeMaire appeared behind him at the desk and interrupted him. "I will speak with you now, Monsieur." He nodded towards the side of the desk to a wooden gate. "Bring the woman with you and I will meet you over there and bring you to my office."

Della heard the conversation and joined Perry at the gate where LeMaire met them to escort them into the secure area. LeMaire led them down a long hallway past several closed office doors towards the back of the building and into his office.

LeMaire gestured for them to sit down. "Please sit down." He walked around his desk and sat down in his fine leather desk chair. After Perry helped Della get seated and pulled up a chair of his own to sit on, LeMaire lit a cigarette. "Would you like a cigarette, or perhaps some coffee?"

Perry quickly declined the cigarette and looked to Della to see if she wanted coffee. Della nervously declined. Perry told him, "No, thank you."

"I am Chief Inspector Henri LeMaire. It is my understanding that you misplaced some of your belongings tonight."

Perry began to correct him right away. "Our belongings were not misplaced, Inspector LeMaire, they were stolen from us."

"And I said that I am Chief Inspector LeMaire." He exhaled the smoke from his cigarette towards Perry and tapped an ash into an ash tray.

Perry corrected himself. "Our belongings were not misplaced, Chief Inspector LeMaire, they were stolen from us."

LeMaire was pleased that Perry acknowledged his proper title. "You are tourists, Oui?"

Perry nodded. "Uh, yes... Oui. From the United States."

LeMaire slowly leaned forward over the desktop. "I see... Well I happen to know that many Americans come here to visit and when they imbibe too heavily with our good French wine, they tend to forget the whereabouts of their valuables." His voice got louder. "When you American tourists lose your valuables, you always blame the French citizens for your own stupidity by accusing us of theft!" He angrily pounded his fist down when he finished speaking.

Perry just grinned at LeMaire's tirade and shook his head. He didn't like LeMaire's insulting attitude but responded politely. "I'm sorry that you've had bad encounters with other accusatory drunk tourists, but we did not lose our property. It was taken from us by a group of young adults that momentarily distracted us as we stood by a fountain. We're here to ask for your help. We need the property returned."

LeMaire crushed out his cigarette and hesitantly opened a desk drawer. He brought out a theft report form and a pen. "What is your name?" Now he was all businesslike as he began gathering information to write the report.

Ten minutes later, they were nearly finished with the pertinent information. LeMaire had sternly asked Perry for the details of the incident, but properly recorded the details. Before LeMaire could explain to Perry the next step of his investigation, Officer Beauchamp knocked on LeMaire's office door.

"Un moment Inspecteur..." Beauchamp motioned for him to come out of the office.

LeMaire instructed Perry and Della to stay seated and left the room. He and Beauchamp walked down the hallway to their interrogation room where the handcuffed theft suspects were seated under the watchful eye of Officer Bautiste.

The perpetrators saw LeMaire and they all looked down feeling a little uneasy. LeMaire just stared at them and slowly walked around the room, his hands clasped together behind his back. He knew all of them by name.

LeMaire instructed Beauchamp and Bautiste to escort four of the suspects to another room nearby. He wanted to speak to the leader of the group alone.

LeMaire got right in the leader's face. "Zacharie! You will never learn, will you? The last time you were brought in here, we had an agreement! You were to stay out of my arrondissement!"

Zacharie began to explain why he was in LeMaire's neighborhood. "Oui, Inspecteur. But tonight..."

LeMaire cut him off right away. "I don't want to hear any excuses. How many tourists have you robbed tonight?"

"Umm. Just one..." Zacharie nervously looked down again.

"You lie!" Lemaire stood Zacharie up and slapped his face hard. "How many?"

Zacharie tried to shake off the stinging feeling from the slap. "I do not lie. I only took something from one person. But Gaston and the others took many things from other people..."

"But Gaston only does that after you tell him to!" LeMaire paused. "Where are you hiding the loot this time?"

Zacharie was reluctant to say but when LeMaire backhanded him across the face again, he responded. "In Colette's apartment." A spot of blood was now showing on Zacharie's bottom lip.

"Her apartment has many hiding places." LeMaire slugged Zacharie in the gut.

When Zacharie straightened up and stopped coughing from the blow to his gut, his voice strained to reply. "Under the kitchen sink this time."

LeMaire stepped out of the room and spoke with Beauchamp in the hallway. "Colette's apartment this time... Under the kitchen sink. Have Bautiste bring the others back in here and then prepare the lineup room."

Perry and Della silently waited for LeMaire to return to his office. They could hear activity in the hallway but didn't go to the open office door to look.

When LeMaire returned to his office he had a triumphant look on his face. "I believe that I have caught your thieves. I will take you one at a time to see if you can identify them. Monsieur Mason, you will be first. Come with me."

Perry stood up right away and patted Della on her shoulder before he followed LeMaire out of the office. He was brought to a dimly lit viewing room with one-way mirrored glass. At LeMaire's command over an intercom system, Bautiste brought in Zacharie for Perry to look at.

LeMaire looked to Perry. "Monsieur? Is this one of them?"

Perry thought it was an odd way to conduct a police lineup since there was only one suspect to look at. "Yes. He was one of the men that danced with Miss Street. He's wearing the same jacket and beret."

Lemaire went back to the intercom. "Bautiste, bring in the next one."

While Zacharie was being led out of the lineup room, Perry questioned the legality of the show-up. "May I ask why that man was the only one in the room? Why do I need to be behind this one-way mirror to identify the suspect? I could just as easily stand face-to-face with him and tell you that he was in the group..."

LeMaire scowled at Perry. "Monsieur Mason, we have different procedures here in my country. Just let me do my job!"

One at a time, each theft suspect was brought out and Perry identified all of them. When they were finished in the lineup viewing room, Perry was brought to a vacant office. LeMaire explained that he didn't want him to speak to Della or give her any hints about the suspects before she could see them for herself. Perry sat down in a chair in the vacant office leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together in front of him. He still thought that LeMaire's method of identification was unusual, probably illegal, but he just wanted to get the process over with and hopefully recover their property.

LeMaire spoke to Bautiste in the hallway. "For the next lineup, bring in three of the drunks we have locked up in the drunk tank downstairs. And see if two of the secretaries from the typing pool can stand in for this next lineup."

Bautiste nodded and walked away to do as he was instructed. Right away he knew LeMaire was going to deliberately try to further mess up the identification process. He didn't agree with LeMaire's tactics, but he had no choice if he wanted to continue working with his friend Beauchamp.

Before LeMaire went back to his office to get Della, he went through a side door next to his office where his washroom was located. He quickly washed his face and splashed on some cologne. He looked in the mirror over the sink, adjusted his necktie, and quickly checked his teeth. He popped a breath mint in his mouth and made his way into his office.

"Okay Mademoiselle. We are ready for you..." He reached out for her hand to escort her out of his office.

Della was at first reluctant to hold his hand, but smiled politely and allowed him to lead her out into the hallway. As she got closer to him, she caught a whiff of the strong smell of his cologne. Right away she was uneasy being alone with Lemaire and began to wonder where Perry was.

"Is Mr. Mason finished already? I thought I would see him before I would have to look at..."

LeMaire interrupted her. "Monsieur Mason is finished for now. He's waiting down the hall. I cannot allow you to see him or speak to him before you have your chance to see the suspects. That would not be very fair if he gave you any hints, would it?"

Della smiled nervously as they arrived in the viewing room. "I understand..."

LeMaire brought her over to a chair in the darkened room and got her seated. "We will begin in a moment. When the suspects are brought in, just tell me which ones you have seen before." He walked up to the one-way mirrored glass to look into the vacant lineup room. He walked back to the light switch on the wall and turned down the lights even more. "It is best to have the room darkened on this side – especially so that the suspects cannot see you."

Della held her purse on her lap and sat back in the chair. She tried blinking her eyes to get them to adjust to the darkened room. The lights in the lineup room were not turned on yet so there was no light being reflected into the viewing room. She squirmed a little in her seat but stopped right away when she sensed LeMaire standing right behind her.

"How soon will the suspects be brought into the lineup room?" Della nervously waited for LeMaire to answer her.

LeMaire placed his hands on her shoulders. "It won't be long now." He began gently massaging her shoulders. "You're a little tense, Mademoiselle. Just relax."

Della straightened up and moved away from him. "I'll be more comfortable if I can stand."

LeMaire became a little frustrated at Della's resistance to his subtle advances. "If you wish to stand, you may." He walked over to the intercom box and called for Bautiste. The lights in the lineup room came on and Bautiste marched three older drunk men and two neatly dressed women into the room.

With his arm around her now, LeMaire turned to Della, "Tell me which ones you recognize."

Della stepped away from LeMaire's embrace and moved closer to the one-way mirrored glass. "I don't recognize any of these people. The men are older and dirtier and these women are both wearing dresses. None of them were involved in the incident."

LeMaire went back to the intercom. "Take them away. We're finished here." LeMaire went back to the light switch and turned on the lights in the viewing room. "I'm afraid we have a problem here, Mademoiselle. Let's go back to my office."

Perry and Della were reunited in LeMaire's office a few minutes later when LeMaire rushed them back inside. Della tightly grabbed onto Perry's arm right away. Perry saw the distraught look on her face so he patted her hand on his arm and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Well, Chief Inspector LeMaire? Are they under arrest? Did you recover any of our things?"

"They are not under arrest. They might not be the ones involved at all."

Perry challenged him right away. "But they are involved. I told you that! Every one of them!"

"But the Mademoiselle told me differently," LeMaire replied right away. "I should let them go."

Perry looked at Della who glanced back with a worried look on her face. He looked back to LeMaire. "I want you to detain them. I'll make a citizen's arrest if I need to. You can't just let them go..."

LeMaire began herding them towards the door. "I haven't decided their fate yet. But I am finished with you tonight. When I know something more, I will contact you. Bonsoir. You can find your way out." He pointed towards the front of the police station.

Perry stopped outside of the door. "May I see these suspects for a moment – right now? I just want to ask them a few questions..."

LeMaire became a little more belligerent. "I said we are finished! Now leave the building or I will arrest you for obstruction!"

Perry shook his head and was about to say something else, but Della gripped his arm tighter and pulled him towards her. They walked to the front desk area where Perry asked the desk officer if he could call a taxi for them. The desk officer politely directed them to walk to the left outside of the front door where they would find a taxi stand.

As Officer Beauchamp pulled up to the police station in the police car, he saw Perry and Della getting into a taxi. He watched the taxi drive away as he unloaded a large box from the police car and walked to LeMaire's office. He knocked on the door and LeMaire shouted for him to enter.

Beauchamp was proud of his recovery and began unloading the box. "We have many valuables here Inspector." He placed several passports, wallets, purses, jewelry, and a leather briefcase on top of the desk.

LeMaire started sifting through the pile. He looked up to Beauchamp. "You may go now. I can take this from here. Bautiste will need your help taking care of Zacharie's group now. And this time be sure they understand that I don't want them back in my area anymore!"

"Oui, Inspecteur." Beauchamp left the office.

LeMaire picked up the leather briefcase and opened it up to check out the contents right away. He looked through the file of paperwork for Arnault's estate tax resolution and tossed it aside. The next file folder contained Perry and Della's documents that they presented at the marriage bureau to apply for their marriage certificate. LeMaire found the certificate and looked away after reading it. "Hmm," he thought to himself. "They are here to get married... I will have to find a way to stop that." He put that file aside and came across Perry and Della's passports. He opened Della's passport to find her birthdate and other pertinent information. A devious smile came to his face when he noticed that her birthday was coming up soon.

He put everything back in the briefcase and looked through the rest of the property in the box and on his desk top trying to find Perry's wallet and checkbook. When he found the wallet, he looked inside and noticed the U.S. currency. After counting out three hundred and fifty-eight dollars, he folded up the bills and placed them in his desk drawer. The American Express credit card and other credit cards for American gas stations he left alone. Then he found the photo of Della and pulled it out. After staring at it with a great desire to win her over from Perry, he removed the photo from the wallet and put it in the drawer with the money. When he found Perry's checkbook, he gathered it together with the wallet and briefcase and brought it over to a closet in his office. He opened a safe in the closet and placed all of Perry's property in the safe.

Back at his desk, he sorted through the rest of the stolen property taking the jewelry that looked valuable and putting it in another box in his top desk drawer. After emptying cash and other valuables from the other purses and wallets, he dumped the rest of the stolen property in another larger desk drawer.

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In the taxi ride back to their hotel, Perry was furious that LeMaire would not let him talk to the suspects. He did not want to upset Della any further so he tried to calm down before he asked her about the lineup she viewed. "I identified each and every one of them. I just know that you would have recognized at least two of them... How can that damn Chief Inspector just decide to turn them loose? I don't like this Chief Inspector LeMaire at all!"

Della was dispirited thinking that maybe she had blown the case against the suspects. "Perry, the people I saw were definitely not involved. He showed me three scruffy-looking old men that could barely stand up straight and two women that were wearing very tidy dresses. There's no way I could have said with any certainty that they were the ones involved..."

Perry was still annoyed at LeMaire. "I think LeMaire is playing games with us. We probably didn't get to see the same lineup of people. I don't understand him at all. Huh! Chief Inspector LeMaire! What an arrogant son-of-a-bitch!"

Della let out a heavy sigh. "He makes me very uncomfortable..."

Perry became more concerned. "Did he threaten you? What happened?"

"I think he was trying to come on to me."

Perry pulled Della close. "That won't happen anymore! From now on, any time we have to speak to him, we'll be together. I won't let you out of my sight if we're with him again!"

Della leaned her head on Perry's shoulder. "Let's not do anything foolish. He's unpredictable!"

Perry sighed and changed his demeanor. "We'll be all right, Della." He kissed her forehead. "We've been in some tough situations before and we always manage to work things out."

It was nearly ten-thirty when they got back to their hotel. While Della waited by the elevator, Perry made a quick stop in the hotel bar to buy a bottle of cognac to take up to their suite. When they got into their suite, they sat together cuddled on the couch in the living room and sipped their cognac while discussing their next move.

Perry made the first suggestion. "We'll take a trip to the U.S. Embassy right away in the morning. What time does your art class begin tomorrow?"

Della yawned before she answered. "Ten o'clock. But I can call them to cancel my classes and tell them about our situation..."

Perry interrupted her. "Oh no you won't cancel... I can take care of things while you go to school."

Della began to protest, but Perry cut in again. "Shh. You're here to enjoy art school. Let me take care of things." He kissed her cheek. "You're a tired girl. Let's get you to bed so you're rested up for school. I'm going to call our bank in Los Angeles to close that office checking account and cancel my credit cards. I'll come to bed shortly."

Della took another big sip of her cognac. "Don't be too long..." She put her glass down on the table and walked into the bedroom to get ready for bed.

After speaking to his banker in Los Angeles, Perry turned off the living room lights and took his glass of cognac to stand in front of the balcony doors looking out over the city. The more he thought about the stolen property and LeMaire's attitude, the more irritated he became.

After ten minutes of waiting for Perry to come to bed, Della called out for him. When she didn't get a reply, she got out of bed, put on her robe, and walked to the bedroom door to look into the darkened living room for him. She saw his silhouette standing by the balcony doors with the glow of a lit cigarette in his hand.

"Perry! What on earth?" She walked over to him as he turned towards her. "Where did you get that cigarette? May I remind you that you promised to quit smoking last New Year's Eve?"

Perry crushed out the cigarette in an ash tray right away and was apologetic. "I'm sorry... When I bought the cognac, I just automatically bought a pack of smokes..."

Della put her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. "So much for your New Year's resolution..."

Perry embraced her and kissed her forehead. "I'll throw out the rest of the pack..."

She backed away and took a hold of his hands walking him to the bedroom. "Come on... It's bedtime... Like you said earlier, we'll get through this somehow. We always do."

They went to bed and quickly drifted off to sleep in each others' arms still wondering what would happen in the morning.

TBC

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