April in Paris

by PD4758PW

Perry and Della end up in Paris at the end of "TCOT Betrayed Bride". In the television show, Perry says that they are there because their client Marie needed help explaining her ordeal to her parents. So have you ever wondered why it was necessary for Perry to bring Della along to Paris? I hope my story will explain that.

7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Della's close circle of friends in Los Angeles include many women who hold important clerical positions in either other law firms, the court system, and even some in law enforcement support. When the girls all get together for social activities, the question Della answers the most outside of the normal professional inquiries is, "How can I get a date with Paul Drake?"

So many of the single girls just swoon over the presence of the dynamic private detective. Paul's good looks and overall charm make him an easy mark for clerical staff giving him their personal attention when he is out gathering information on the job. Della lost count of the number of women who have asked her to give Paul their phone numbers hoping that Paul would call for a date.

Paul Drake thrives on constant action in his life. He built his private detective agency from the ground up, beginning with only himself as the investigator, to adding on more operatives as he found success with his cases. A man that dedicated to his job found minimal time for a more private social life as his job took him all over the place at all hours of the day and night. This was especially true when Perry offered him a hefty retainer for his services. As his detective agency grew and some of the jobs were assigned to his most trusted operatives, he found more time to relax, finding several young ladies to socialize with. Paul had always avoided marriage, though. Perry was really happy when Della finally gave up on playing matchmaker for Paul. The feedback from many of the women that she set him up with told her that going out on a date with Paul was like a carnival ride. Although they all said the dates were fun, those carnival rides were described by the ladies as roller coasters, tilt-a-whirls, and merry-go-rounds, but not very often the tunnel of love. Many blamed their disappointment on his job interfering with their date, not his overall desirability.

And now Paul Drake says that he was married in Mexico. From his hotel suite in Paris, Perry ended the phone conversation with Paul in Los Angeles with compassion and understanding. Both Perry and Della were slightly shaken by Paul's news of his purported marriage. Paul was obviously very unnerved by his situation, but Perry assured Paul that when he gets to Paris, he will help him work things out with the marriage situation.

Less than eighteen hours later, Paul arrived in Paris and Perry went to meet him at the airport. Paul was a little disheveled looking, mostly due to the long flight to Paris and his lack of sleep. He was standing on the sidewalk outside of the airport terminal arrivals doors smoking a cigarette when Perry walked up to him.

"Thanks for coming here, Paul. I'm sorry that I took you away from LA when you're feeling so despondent."

A somber Paul exhaled the cigarette smoke and looked down at the ground slowly shaking his head. "It was probably good for me to go away right now anyway. I thought a lot about this on the flight over here. It's better for me to be busy doing something else." He reached into his pocket and brought out the Bar Association identification card and the credit card that Perry requested. He handed them over to Perry. "Here's the stuff you wanted from your desk. The birth certificates are in my suitcase. So what kind of trouble are you in now?"

Perry put the cards away and reached down to grab one of Paul's suitcases. "Thanks, Paul. Let's get a taxi. I'll fill you in on the way back to the hotel. You look like you can use a nap. Or maybe a good stiff drink! I have a good bottle of brandy just waiting for you."

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When Della finished her brief art class early that afternoon, Perry met her at the school and they rode back to the hotel in a taxi.

Della had a lot of questions for Perry. "It was so hard to concentrate in class today. I don't have any classes for two days, so maybe I just need a break. How is Paul? Did he give you any hints about his alleged marriage in Mexico? Did you tell him about our marriage plans?"

Perry shook his head and smiled. "You sure have a lot of things going on in your pretty little head..." He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. "We didn't talk about his troubles at all. He just wanted to know why we asked him to come to Paris so I told him about that. He was really beat, so I just thought he should get some rest and we can all talk about it when he's ready. Considering that he has some sort of marriage issue, I haven't told him about our wedding plans yet. He's using the extra room in our suite for right now. After a few hours of sleep in a nice bed, maybe he'll be ready to talk."

Della just smirked at Perry's reply. "If he's anything like you – and I know he is – he won't talk about it at all unless we pry it out of him. He'll want to get busy on the job right away."

Perry smiled and shook his head again. "I'm not like that. I don't keep things locked inside. I always confide in you..." Then he paused to think about it. "Am I really that difficult to talk to?"

Leaning into him, Della chuckled. "You men are all alike sometimes... And yes – you have your moments!"

Perry and Della quietly made their way into the suite so they wouldn't wake Paul. Their hushed entry into the room was not necessary though. Paul was already awake, smoking a cigarette, and sitting in a chair talking on the phone.

They listened to the last part of his phone conversation. "That's right... Well you know where I'm staying right now, so call me right away when you know more... Yes! Thank you – uh, merci!"

Paul hung up the phone and turned around in his chair to look at them. "I've got two men working with me already. I thought we'd start by trying to locate the perps in your theft." He put out his cigarette in an ash tray.

Right away Della walked over to him and bent down to give him a hug and a peck on the cheek. "You just slow down, Paul. I'll bet that you haven't eaten anything lately. I'm going to call room service and order some lunch for you..."

"There's no time to eat right now, Beautiful. I have a few more men to call on right now." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his little black phone book. "I hope you don't mind that I'm using your phone and room number at this hotel for rounding up my contacts..."

"Don't be silly, Paul. Right now you're doing us a big favor, so of course this can be your headquarters. But you need to eat!" Della snatched the phone book out of his hand and handed him the room service menu. "Choose something to eat or I'll choose it for you!" She stood next to him with a hand on her hip.

Paul looked over to Perry in protest. Perry just shrugged. "I can't argue with her, Paul. She's the boss!" Paul obediently began reading the menu.

Within five minutes, Della hung up the phone and informed the men that their food would be brought up to the suite shortly. "Apparently french dip sandwiches are not french cuisine. They'll put some roast beef on baguettes with au jus on the side for dipping." While waiting for their food order, the trio all quietly sat down in the living room area.

Della broke the silence while sitting next to Perry on the couch. "This elephant in the room needs to be dealt with, Paul... So out with it. What happened in Mexico?"

After lighting a cigarette, Paul slowly exhaled the smoke and looked down at the floor. "I'm almost too ashamed to talk about it..." He paused and took another drag on his cigarette while Perry and Della looked on. "It's like I told you on the phone. I think I got married, and now I need an annulment!"

Perry was concerned. "I'll help you in any way I can, but I'll need more information than that..."

Paul sat back in his chair and sighed. "To make a long story short, Barbara and I were having a great time in Mexico. One thing led to another and before I knew it, there was a government official in front of us and we were both saying 'Until death do us part'... I just don't know..." Paul leaned forward and rubbed his forehead with his large hands.

Perry glanced at Della who nodded back at him to say something consoling to Paul. Before speaking, Perry stood up and reached for the bottle of brandy on the table in front of him. "I know there's more to the story, but may I ask if you have any official documentation from this, uh, ceremony?" Perry poured Paul a glass of the brandy and offered it to him.

After taking a sip of the brandy, Paul continued. "There's an official marriage license all right! I found it on the nightstand in our hotel room the next morning. I couldn't read it very clearly at the time because my head was still pounding from a tequila hangover. But the certificate had my signature on it – a little scribbly, but it was my signature. When I could finally focus I looked around the room for Barbara. I figured that she just stepped out for some reason. Meanwhile, bits and pieces of the day before started coming back to me." He paused and sighed. "Then I found the note..." Paul reached into his shirt pocket and brought out a folded piece of paper and tossed it onto the table in front of Della.

She looked up to Perry and he nodded for her to read the note out loud. Della carefully unfolded the paper and began reading it. "Dear Paul. First let me say that I'll always love you. But I don't think I'm the right girl for you. By the time you wake up, I'll be gone. Perhaps some day I'll explain to you my reasons for leaving you. Right now my reasons are still unclear even to me, but I only know that I have to go. I hope that you understand. I'm sorry. Love, Barbara."

Della handed the note to Perry. He quickly glanced at it, then put it back on the table in front of Paul. "Have you tried to find her?"

Paul emptied his glass of brandy in one big gulp and took the brandy bottle to pour a little more in his glass. "Of course I searched for her. For two full days I looked for her in Mexico. I even paid a few of the local Federales on the side to help me track her down and we came up with zero. By the time I got back to LA to check her apartment, she had already moved everything out. The apartment manager told me that she left no forwarding address..."

Della reached over to Paul and lightly patted his arm with her hand. "I'm so sorry, Paul. Maybe things will work out after a little time. Obviously something is upsetting her. You're a good detective – you'll find her and hopefully you'll be able to figure out why she ran away."

Paul continued to stare at the floor. "I've decided not to look for her. It works both ways here. She knows where I am when she wants to tell me what's wrong." He looked over to Perry. "To get a marriage annulled will she have to be located and served with the annulment papers?"

"You know that marriage laws are not my specialty – especially marriages in Mexico. But when I get back to LA, I'll find the answers for you." Perry offered Paul another shot of brandy.

Paul waved Perry off. "No more brandy right now. We've got work to do here in Paris. I need to make a few more phone calls if Della would kindly give me back my little black phone book."

Della picked up the phone book on the table in front of her and handed it back to Paul. She looked to Perry with an anxious look on her face.

Perry took the hint from Della. "Before you make your calls, Paul, there's something else you need to know."

Paul had pulled the phone over on the table in front of him and was paging through his phone book. He looked up at Perry who was now walking over to sit on the couch next to Della. "What? Do you mean that you didn't give me the whole story on the way to the hotel?"

Perry reached over and held Della's hand before he spoke. "You have the whole story about why we need you here, I just forgot to add another important tidbit about the papers in my missing briefcase..."

Paul interrupted. "No, you told me about the briefcase. It had your passports, birth certificates, and a work file for an estate tax situation..."

Perry grinned after he and Della quickly exchanged glances at each other. "The briefcase also contained our officially completed marriage license application... Della and I are going to get married here in Paris..."

The deadpan expression on Paul's face gave them no clue as to what his reaction would be. Then a sly grin appeared. "Well, it's about time! I can't wait to kiss the bride!"

They all laughed so loud that they almost didn't hear the knock at the door from the room service attendant delivering their food order.

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Captain Maximilian Lavigne's official duties in Paris primarily involved the protection of the President of France when needed, but also the protection of foreign dignitaries. Things were pretty slow going in his office with no important assignments scheduled for the time being. After Lavigne learned of the latest incident threatening Perry and Della - probably orchestrated by Inspector Henri LeMaire, Lavigne gathered his team together to give them their next mission.

Lavigne's team consisted of eighteen very experienced elite men and two trusted women who could be deployed in a police uniform or plain clothes at a moment's notice. The team had both regular marked police cars and inconspicuous unmarked vehicles at their disposal. All of the unmarked vehicles were equipped to be used covertly – for assignments such as surveillance with recording devices, or simply as vehicles used for escorting dignitaries in addition to also following suspects involved in criminal activities.

Lavigne split them into two teams, "A" and "B". The assignments were handed out and the "A" team members knew that their job would be providing clandestine round-the-clock protection for Perry and Della. The "B" team would begin a secret investigation into the antics of one of their own – Chief Inspector Henri LeMaire.

Part of the "B" team headed out on the assignment right away when they learned that Fulbert Gasiere slipped out of the hospital without the medical staff seeing him. Gasiere would need to be taken into protective custody and provide a sworn statement of his involvement with LeMaire. The rest of the "B" team went out to locate LeMaire so they could begin recording his daily activities on and off duty. They found out that LeMaire was due to report for work later that afternoon for his regular evening shift so they would look for him at his home and follow him from there. What the team didn't know right away was that LeMaire's erratic behavior was not going to be easy to predict. LeMaire did not always spend the night in his own apartment.

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LeMaire began his day just before noon waking up in a king-sized bed in the hotel room of his newest girlfriend, Katy Daley. The twenty-four year-old petit red-head arrived in Paris with a tour group from Boston Massachusetts just three weeks before. She met LeMaire the night that she was the victim of a purse-snatcher in the area of the Eiffel Tower. Miss Daley became quite infatuated with the handsome detective who kindly took a police report for her after her frightful ordeal. LeMaire vowed to help her recover her stolen purse which just happened to contain her passport and identification card. It wasn't long before LeMaire was able to seduce the naive young lady showering her with daily attention under the guise of helping her to recover her property.

Katy was sitting in a chair by the small balcony door and saw him moving around in the bed. She immediately walked over to the bed and gave him a kiss on his forehead. "Good morning, Henri. You were resting so peacefully, I let you sleep for a little longer than normal."

LeMaire angrily looked around for a clock right away. "What time is it? I have important things to do today before I go to work! You were supposed to wake me at ten-thirty!" He pushed her away from him and got out of the bed.

Katy was a little surprised at his anger. "I'm sorry, Henri... We were up so late last night, I just thought..."

LeMaire cut her off right away. "That's the problem! You thought! And you thought wrong! Like you always do!" He finished putting on his trousers and reached for his cigarettes on the night stand to light a smoke. His broken English with a strong French accent was stern. "Now I am running late! And now you will be late going to the bank! The money wired to you from your parents should be there this morning. I need that money from you to pay the thieves that stole your purse... Do you not want your passport back? Do you not want to get back to America soon?" He finished buttoning his shirt and tucked the shirt into his trousers.

"Of course I want my stuff back. And you promised to find it for me... I just don't understand why you cannot arrest these robbers and get my things back without having to pay one thousand francs to them..." Katy was pouting.

LeMaire finished putting on his watch and took a drag on his cigarette. He walked over to her and gently grasped her shoulders. His tone softened. "Oh, mon cherie... I explained all about the system here in France. When these thieves take things, they do not really intend to keep them forever... They just hold them for a ransom and you must pay to get them back." He lightly kissed her forehead. "And one thousand francs is not a lot to pay. Your parents in America agree or they would not have sent you the money..."

Katy backed down and put her arms around him. "I suppose you are right. But I will miss you when I go back to Boston. I will be happy to get my things back so I can go home, but I wish we had more time to be together."

LeMaire broke away from her embrace. "But we will be together again soon – when I come to Boston..."

"But you haven't told me when you will come to Boston..."

"I just need to wait for my holiday time, mon cherie. In one month, I will tell you when I can go on holiday... And I will spend all twenty-five of my holiday days with you!"

Before LeMaire rushed out of her hotel room, he arranged to meet her in a cafe near his workplace that evening. She agreed to bring him the money so she could get her property returned. He kissed her goodbye and walked away from her to his car. As he got into his car he was muttering to himself. "Stupid American girl! Does she really think I will go to America on holiday to see her? She has only been good for sex and money! American girls are so naive!"

Lavigne's "B" team still had not located LeMaire that afternoon and they would never have thought to look for him at INTERPOL headquarters. Shortly before one o'clock, LeMaire drove into the parking lot of 'Organisation Internationale de Police Criminelle' hoping to find out more background information on Perry and Della. His mission at INTERPOL now was to plant false information about this American couple – he just had not decided yet if he was going to make them international smugglers of fine art, fine jewels, or both.

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After their late lunch in the hotel suite, the trio split up for the rest of the afternoon. Paul left to meet with some of the men he had recruited to help in his investigation. He wanted to look for the thieves right away and would need local assistance for that. When Paul left, Perry and Della discussed their plans for the day.

"I really need to see a hairstylist, Perry." Della fussed with her hair waiting for Perry's reply.

Perry walked over to her and ran his fingers through her soft curls. "Your hair looks just fine. But if you really want to go to a salon, we can do that..."

"What do you mean, 'we'? I won't need you to tag along while I get my hair cut and styled..."

"I only say 'we' because I won't let you out of my sight while that jerk LeMaire is out and about. And until Captain Lavigne contacts me with more information on how he is planning to help us, I think it's best that we do not split up." Perry pulled her closer and kissed her tousled hair. "Where were you thinking of going?"

Della had not decided yet. "There's a small salon right here in the hotel. I could see if they can accommodate me this afternoon."

Perry had a better idea. "The concierge might know of a better place. A place that has the latest Paris hairstyles. Why don't we ask him for a recommendation? He can probably even get you an appointment for a full spa treatment."

Della thought it over and took a quick look at her fingernails. "Well, maybe I could use a manicure also..."

"Then let's go! I'll leave a message for Paul as to where we'll be once we find you a salon de beauté!"

Just as Perry predicted, the hotel concierge found a nice salon for Della within walking distance of the hotel. As they walked into the place, Della was immediately greeted by the receptionist. Perry seated himself near the receptionist's desk when Della was brought into the salon to meet her beautician. Within five minutes, Della and the beautician emerged from the back room to inform Perry that his wait would be over two hours for the various services that they were offering Della.

Della made a suggestion to shoo Perry away. "I'll be fine here, Perry... Really... Why don't you find something else to do while I'm being pampered here? I promise that I'll wait here for you when I'm finished..."

Reluctantly, Perry finally agreed to meet her when she is finished and told Della that he was going to try and meet up with Paul. He checked at the hotel for any message from Paul, and finding no message, he called Vincent to see if Vincent could offer more cooking lessons.

"Hello, Perry! I was hoping you would call today! The school is closed, but I will meet you there! I think we should learn about desserts today. I'm suggesting desserts because I need to bring dessert to a dinner party I am going to tonight. And you, my friend, will make these desserts!"

Perry met Vincent at the school as they had agreed upon. Perry cautioned Vincent right away that he was not very good at making desserts. Vincent just shrugged him off. Walking up to the kitchen classroom, Vincent was all excited.

"Your situation with Della made me think about what I am missing in my life. So look at this..." He stopped outside of the classroom to show Perry a small jewelry box.

Perry took the box and carefully opened it. "Wow, Vincent! A ring! Who's the lucky lady?"

Vincent was beaming with pride. "It's for my girl, Monique. She's an accountant here at the school. After the dinner party tonight I will ask her to marry me... So when I show you the finer points of making good desserts, I will take two of them aside and save them for when I pop the question to Monique."

Perry just grinned and shook his head. "I hope she says yes in spite of any dessert I make!"

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While thinking his investigative strategy over, Paul had changed his mind about confronting the thieves responsible for taking Perry's things and wanted to try another approach. Around four-thirty that afternoon Paul and one of his Paris operatives stood outside of LeMaire's police station. It wasn't long before two policemen walked out of the building to begin working their beat. The operative tapped Paul on the shoulder and pointed to the two policemen. Paul crushed out his cigarette on the sidewalk with his shoe. He then handed the operative fifty francs, and began walking over towards the policemen.

Paul caught up to the officers and got their attention. "Excusez-moi... Officier Beauchamp? Officier Bautiste?"

The officers stopped and turned to face Paul. Beauchamp spoke first. "Oui. Je suis Beauchamp."

Paul was relieved that he found the right men. He brought out his private detective credentials to show the officers. "Merci! I was told that you speak English, Officer Beauchamp. I am Paul Drake, a private detective from America – uh, in Los Angeles. I am working on a case that you gentlemen were involved with recently..."

Beauchamp and Bautiste glanced at each other then looked Paul up and down. Beauchamp took a hold of Paul's credentials for a closer look. "What is it that you want from us, Monsieur Drake?"

Paul quickly explained that he was working for Perry Mason regarding the theft of their property while Beauchamp and Bautiste carefully listened to him. When Paul mentioned LeMaire's name, Beauchamp stopped him right away. "Monsieur Drake. I understand your need to look into the theft case for Monsieur Mason, but Inspector LeMaire is the man you need to speak with. He is now working the case and all questions need to be directed to him." The officers began to walk away as Beauchamp tipped his hat to Paul. "Adieu, Monsieur Drake."

"Please wait!" Paul begged them to stop. "You are the only ones who can help! LeMaire is unscrupulous and from what I hear, you officers are not like him at all. Work with me and I guarantee you that Mr. Mason will keep your good names out of any corruption charges LeMaire will eventually be facing..."

Beauchamp stopped suddenly and grabbed onto the front of Paul's suit coat with his strong hands. "Do not ever mention our names with LeMaire's and corruption again!" He released his grip and pushed Paul away. "Now be on your way, Monsieur Drake. You do not want to make trouble with us!"

As they again began to walk away, Paul desperately wanted them to stop. "Please officers! Listen to me! How would you like to get rid of LeMaire once and for all? I have a plan!"

The officers stopped quickly and Beauchamp was about to grab on to Paul again, but Bautiste held him back. Bautiste quietly spoke to his partner. "Antonin. Écoutons son plan..."

Beauchamp relaxed and nodded back to Bautiste before he replied to Paul. "My partner thinks we should hear your plan..."

Paul really didn't have a good plan worked out yet, but at least he got them to stop. Bautiste seemed very interested in getting out from under the control of LeMaire. Paul looked around the area where they were standing. "It's not a good idea to tell you of my plan right here by your police station. Can we meet somewhere else later on? Maybe a cafe on your beat? I will bring along Mr. Mason for the meeting and he can explain what he needs from you."

The officers thought it over. "Okay, Monsieur Drake. We normally get a coffee break between seven and eight o'clock." Beauchamp took out his notebook and wrote down the name and address of a cafe for Paul. "Bring your Monsieur Mason to this place. We will listen to your plan at that time."

"Merci beaucoup! We will be there!" Paul put the note in his pocket and walked away. Now he needed to find Perry right away. He knew that only Perry would have the ability to convince these officers to work with them and take LeMaire down.

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Paul was anxiously awaiting Perry and Della's arrival back at the hotel when he saw them walk into the suite. Paul looked up and down at Della and whistled his approval at her new hairdo. While Della blushed and blew him a kiss, Paul walked over to her for a closer look. "Wow! Look at you! If you weren't already engaged to be married, I would..."

Perry cut him off mid-sentence. "Down, boy! May I remind you that you're already in a bind with one marriage...? Now what was so urgent that we had to meet you back here right away?"

Paul explained right away. "Instead of looking for the idiots that stole your property, I decided to find the cops who brought you to the police station and set you up with LeMaire for the police report. We already know that LeMaire is dirty and probably has your property hidden somewhere, so maybe these cops know where LeMaire keeps this stuff. We can use them as an inside source. Now I just need you to come up with a plan as to how we can convince these cops to help..."

Perry thought it over. "Did you find the officers?" Paul nodded that he had. Perry paused and looked at Della. "You remember the names of those officers, don't you?"

Della nodded and replied right away. "Antonin Beauchamp and Serge Bautiste. Nice-looking young men..."

"Nice-looking or not, I just knew you'd remember their names..." He turned to Paul. "How can we meet with them and when?"

Paul brought out the address of the cafe and showed it to Perry. "They said that they can meet here between seven and eight on a coffee break..."

After quickly looking at his watch, Perry told Della and Paul that they would all go to meet the officers as planned.

Just before seven o'clock, the trio got seated in the cafe near the entry door. Perry ordered coffee and small French pastries to enjoy while they waited for the officers to arrive. When eight o'clock came around and the officers had not shown up, Paul was a little worried.

"I hope I didn't scare them off... If you two want to wait here, I can go out and try to find them..."

Perry advised Paul to just be patient. Before they could discuss their next move, Captain Lavigne walked into the cafe and spotted them right away. He walked over to their table and pulled another chair over to the table to sit with them.

Lavigne greeted Perry and Della and was introduced to Paul. Lavigne then told them the purpose of his visit. "If you are waiting for Officers Beauchamp and Bautiste to meet with you, I am here to tell you that they will not be coming..."

Perry exchanged confused glances with Paul and Della before he spoke. "It was to be a brief meeting to convince the officers that I need their help in exposing Inspector LeMaire for the swindler that he is. We meant no harm in contacting these officers."

"Please, Monsieur Mason... I know that you mean well and are desperate to locate your missing property. When you came to me, I told you I would help, so let me do my job..." Lavigne then clasped his hands together and leaned forward on the table. "I have recruited Beauchamp and Bautiste to assist me in gathering the evidence I need to deal with Inspector LeMaire... Now if you will come with me, we will go to LeMaire's office to recover your property while LeMaire is away from his office under surveillance."

Arriving at the police station, the group entered a side door and walked directly towards LeMaire's office. Beauchamp and Bautiste were waiting in a hallway. Captain Lavigne was confident that they would be able to check LeMaire's office without LeMaire knowing they were there. He directed Perry, Della, and Paul to wait in another office nearby.

While one man on Lavigne's team worked on opening the safe in LeMaire's closet, Beauchamp, Bautiste and Lavigne began looking in the file cabinets and desk drawers. Within moments, Beauchamp called Lavigne over to LeMaire's desk.

"Capitaine... C'est important."

Lavigne walked over to the desk where Beauchamp had found Della's photo from Perry's wallet on top of a stash of US currency.

Lavigne slowly shook his head. "Obtenez la camera. Prend une photo." It was Lavigne's plan to take photos of the evidence against LeMaire and leave the property in its place until a later time.

Beauchamp took a photo of the evidence with the camera, then wrote notes on what he found and where he found it. They all continued looking for other items of interest taking more photos and notes all over the office. Lavigne's plan was going well until the officer at the safe frantically called Lavigne over to the safe.

Hoping that the safe would contain substantial proof of LeMaire's misconduct, Lavigne rushed over to the safe. Beauchamp and Bautiste quickly joined them, looked into the safe, then clearly saw the disappointment on Lavigne's face.

Lavigne slapped his hand on the closet wall then ordered the men to quickly gather their things and get out of LeMaire's office. After closing the door to LeMaire's office, Lavigne walked down the hall to give Perry and Della his bad news.

TBC

I appreciate your patience in having to wait so long for the posting of this chapter. Thank you for reading. As always, I appreciate your comments and reviews!