Chaper 6: Investigation

Marinette showed the article to Alya the next day at school at their desk in class.

"Good lead, girl," said Alya. "It's worth an investigation."

"But how can I follow it up?" asked Marinette. "The article is dated 16 years ago."

"We need to find witnesses," said Alya. "People who were around then."

"Who?" asked Marinette.

"There are the people who were at the party," said Alya. "If it's the same André Bourgeois... we know who that is."

"Chloé's father, the Mayor. Not very approachable," said Marinette.

"Her mother must be the Audrey Descartes that was at the party," said Alya. "Audrey Bourgeois now."

"She's a famous fashion designer," said Marinette. "But she lives in New York, so she's even less approachable."

"What about Tomoe Tsurugi?" asked Alya.

"I've never heard of her," said Marinette,

"I have," said Adrien, turning around to look at them. (They had been talking loudly enough that he overheard).

"We don't need any help from you, Agreste," said Alya.

"Yes, we do," said Marinette. "Please tell us."

(Other classmates glared in Adrien's direction, and they looked puzzled when Marinette spoke to him.)

"She's a world champion fencer," said Adrien. "I've read about her on websites I follow."

"Maybe not the same person," said Marinette. "The one I'm talking about is probably blind."

"She is," said Adrien. "Her other senses are so sharp that she can duel almost perfectly."

"Where does she live?" asked Marinette.

"In Japan, Kyoto I think," said Adrien. "My father may have business dealings with her, too. I've heard him mention her name to Nathalie, Should I ask him?"

"No!" said Marinette and Alya in unison,

"I'd rather keep your father out of this," said Marinette. "We want to find out all we can about this case first."

Marinette showed the article to Adrien.

"I can talk to the Mayor, since Chloé's my friend," said Adrien. "He'd probably be willing to tell me about the movie, since my mother was in it."

"That would help," said Marinette.

Alya said, "Sabrina's dad would have been a rookie police officer back then. He might know something about the case."

"Maybe," said Marinette doubtfully. "Would Sabrina talk to us?"

"I think she would, right now," said Alya. "She's not happy with Chloé getting her father fired."

Marinette caught up with Sabrina later at her locker and explained what they were doing.

"I'm willing to help," said Sabrina. "A scandal that hurts the Mayor would be a good revenge for what he did to my father, firing him because he wouldn't arrest you without proof. It might ever give us something on him, to help my father get his job back."

"You don't mind going against Chloé?" Marinette asked.

"I'm not speaking to her right now," said Sabrina. "I'm in the market for a new BFF after what she did. Would you like me to do your homework?"

"I'd like to be your friend," said Marinette. "But I do my own homework."

Marinette also spoke to Max. "What can you tell me about methanol?"

"Methanol is a form of alcohol, with the formula CH3OH," said Max.

"How toxic is it?" asked Marinette.

"Highly toxic. Thirty milliliters is enough to kill an adult, and ten milliliters can cause blindness," said Max.

"How likely is it for regular drinking alcohol to be contaminated with it?" asked Marinette.

"I estimate 0.01 percent," said Max. "It used to be a problem in the days of American Prohibition, when alcohol was illegal. Poor quality bootleg whiskey was sometimes contaminated with it. But normal commercial products are free of it."

The next day, Sabrina reported what she found. "Dad only knew a little about it. He wasn't on the case himself, but it got some publicity because of the rich people involved. There were rumors that some of the party-goers were involved in some kind of cult."

"A cult? Wow!" said Marinette. "Good work."

"One other thing," said Sabrina. "The party was held on a boat."

"That limits the number of suspects," said Marinette. "Do you know whose boat it was?"

"It was called the Liberty," said Sabrina.

Adrien also reported back to Marinette. "Mr. Bourgeois was happy that I showed an interest in his movie. He even has a secret stash with the old scripts. He let me borrow them."

Adrien showed the two scripts, each with a woman's picture on it. One resembled Adrien and the other was a dark-haired woman with Asian features.

"There are just two characters, played by my mother and Miss Tsurugi," said Adrien. They start out in soltiude, then they meet and fall in love. Then something tragic happens and my mother's character goes back to solitude."

Marinette examined the scripts carefully.

"There's something written on the back of this one, but I can't read it," said Marinette, showing it to Adrien.

"That's Japanese," said Adrien. "I can't make out much of it, but I've studied Chinese characters. This word means 'Tibet' and this word means 'miraculous'."