Here is another chapter, but please please review this story!
I don't own any of this.
Bezu Fache turned on the radio on his way to work Monday morning. Backing his small car out from his space he traveled down the various streets of Paris until he was stuck at a red light. A news bulletin interrupted a radio commercial.
"Breaking news," a voice said, "Saturday afternoon, in Edinburgh, Scotland, world-renowned Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon was shot twice near Rosalyn Chapel. The attacker is unknown, as are Langdon's reasons for being in Scotland and his current condition,"
Fache was shocked and extremely angry. He had a great deal of respect for Professor Langdon after the horrible mix-up a few months ago. Langdon hadn't blabbed that Fache had made a huge mistake; he even went along with the whole Sophie-I-were-part-of-a-ruse-plan. He was curious about Langdon's well being. He wondered how Sophie Neveu would take this. He had sensed an interesting chemistry between them when he arrested Teabing. He pulled into his parking space and walked into his office. At around 10:30, Sophie Neveu came to him as he was going through papers in his office and said,
"Monsieur Fache, there is a problem,"
He didn't take to being somewhat ordered around so he answered in an annoyed tone,
"What is it, Miss Neveu?"
"I have been assigned to interrogate a certain criminal and I cannot do it,"
Fache gave a sigh and said, without looking up at Sophie from his papers at his desk, "You know Miss Neveu, interrogations are assigned randomly and personal choices aren't considered. You will conduct the examination or I shall terminate your employment in the French police force,"
"Then I quit," Sophie said reaching for her badge and extending it towards Fache with the file on the criminal in question. This got Fache's attention. He glanced up. Sophie's face had a tense expression on it. He said,
"Close the door, Agent Neveu, and then sit down. Hold on to your badge but give me the folder,"
Sophie did as she was bidden and extended the folder towards the chief. Before opening it, he asked, somewhat concerned,
"Now, Agent Neveu, why, exactly, can't you conduct this examination?"
Sophie glanced around the room; saw that they were alone, and said to Fache hurriedly and in a hushed voice,
"All right, I'll tell you, but the dialogues and conversations of this meeting are strictly confidential,"
Fache was now curious,
"Of course," he replied.
"That man is here for an assassination attempt, oui?" Sophie questioned Fache.
"Yes," he said, looking down.
Quickly glancing around, Sophie leaned forward and whispered,
"Monsieur Fache, I am sure that you remember why my grandfather was murdered,"
Fache was struck by the solemnity of her tone. He was saddened remembering Sauniere's murder. He quickly remembered the gruesome details and mysteries surrounding the case,
"Yes," he slowly replied.
Sophie leaned a little closer and said,
"Well, I do what my grandfather did now,"
Fache's expression was unchanging, however, he said,
"I am assuming, that since you are still working here, and Maximilien St. Juste has taken over your grandfather's previous occupation, I assume you do not mean that you have taken over as curator of the Louvre and you are referring to the other title which he held,"
Sophie nodded.
"This is impressive, but what does this have to do with the man that is chained to the desk in the interrogation office?"
Sophie hesitated, leaned back, and said,
"The assassination attempt was on myself,"
This caught Fache by surprise. He quickly leaned forward and said,
"Were you hurt?"
"No," Sophie faltered for words, "another was in my place."
She hesitated again before adding,
"A mutual friend of ours,"
Fache was confused but then he remembered the news bulletin on the radio. Professor Langdon. Sophie had probably been on vacation in Edinburgh and met up with him! He said,
"Do you mean to tell me that the man chained to the desk in the interrogation room is responsible for Professor Langdon's stay in a hospital in Edinburgh, according to the news bulletin that flashed through on the radio this morning?" Fache questioned.
Sophie just nodded, a distant look in her eyes.
"I'll kill him. I have a deep amount of respect for Mr. Langdon after that whole...fiasco. Nevertheless, tell me, are you two still friends? Why were you together?" Fache questioned curiously. He saw Sophie's left hand clench into a fist instinctively and saw an emerald ring. Well how do you like that, he thought.
"Oh. More than just friends I see,"
Sophie looked up, surprise and anger flashing in her eyes, thinking that Fache was mocking her. When she realized that his face held an expression of kindness, she just nodded.
"Is he all right?"
Here she seemed to lose control. She got up and walked over to the window, surveying the Parisian scene from his office window. After what seemed like forever, she responded,
"No. He is in a coma and the doctors cannot do anything to help him. They think he will never wake up,"
Fache felt pity and sorrow flood through his veins like fire. Another feeling was there as well, anger.
"I'll examine the man, myself, Miss Neveu," he said, standing up and walking over to her, for the first time referring to her with some respect instead of his usual commanding bark, "I shall see that he receives life imprisonment or worse for attempted murder of a French police officer and an American celebrity. This conversation will be kept secret. I shall tell no one of my involvement, and," here he hesitated and looked to the ground, " you have my condolences about Professor Langdon. Perhaps a miracle will happen, and if it does, I expect to be invited to the wedding. I promise, no work, just play," he smiled.
Sophie turned around and smiled her thanks as she watched Fache leave his office. He sure had changed in the past few months after his humbling experience. She followed him to the interrogation room but slipped into the observation room with mirrored glass, through which she could see in but the accused could not see out. She watched as Fache angrily interrogated the man with the mustache. He was from a Church Zealot group that was anti-science and anti-Priory. Fache walked over to the other side of the desk that the man was chained to and said,
"We shall transport you to your trial later where you will be sentenced to life imprisonment. That is for your responsibility in Professor Langdon's plight."
The man mumbled, "Well, it was his own fault. He got in the way,"
Bezu was angry. He saw Sophie come to the door. He then said to the man, and said,
"And this is for trying to assassinate one of my most esteemed coworkers," and started walking over to him. The man glanced at Sophie in the doorway, his face a vision of shock as she flashed her badge. That was the last thing he remembered, however, because Fache walked over to him and punched him as hard as he could in the jaw. The man being chained to the desk couldn't retaliate and his head hit the table hard. He closed his eyes and fainted. Sophie Neveu was very surprised. She walked away and went to her desk for lunch.
A few hours later, Fache and two other policemen loaded the man into the back of a squad car to escort him to his trial. The two policemen sat on either side of the man and Fache sat in the front seat next to the driver. The drive was somewhat of a long one, about an hour. The car rolled down the roads and the man woke up. He knew where he was going, and he knew he had to escape. His hands were handcuffed in front of him. Quickly throwing his left arm up, he hit the policeman to his left in the jaw extremely hard, which caused him to hit the window with his head. He was left unconscious. While this transpired, the man threw his arms around the neck of the policeman to his right, stretching the handcuffs around his neck, attempting to strangle him. Fache turned around, saw what was happening to Michael, and pulled out his gun.
"Let him go. I will gladly shoot you to save him. Then, it will actually be legal. I would have gladly shot you in my office, but then I would have been fired,"
The man squeezed harder. Without pausing, Fache lifted the gun, clicked the trigger back, and fired at the man's chest. Being a cop, Fache was trained where to shoot, and the man died instantly. Michael was gasping for breath, but was able to breathe now and removed the arms from around his neck. Alan came to and saw the dead man next to him and shot a wild look at Fache, who filled him in. They called the trial, told them what happened, and turned around. The last thing that Fache thought when they had driven to the morgue and he had said goodbye to Sophie Neveu and locked up the office was,
"This has been the most exciting Monday of my life,"