DEATH IN PARIS

By the time Jamie had completed his task, such that he could and managed to find his way to the Hall of Residences, dusk had fallen. It was a beautiful Parisian moonlit night, except the moon was blue!

When he approached the entrance, a porter stopped Jamie and told him he was expected and directed him to where the Doctor and the Brigadier were sat, deep in conversation, in a huge book lined room. "Ah McCrimmon, any success?"

"Ah, yes, Jamie!" a cloud of thought still hanging over the Doctor's face. "What can you tell us?"

"Och, not a lot Doctor. This Zzorrann or whatever his name is, he's definitely into something. His name keeps popping up in those papers. Sometimes on the front page, but mostly in smaller articles inside. Nothing much, small business ventures. All sorts, mainly scientific. All over the place. He always seems to be a spokesman, especially when there's an accident at a factory belonging to one of these businesses."

"What sort of accidents, Jamie?"

"Well, they all seem to have happened at night. Always a man on his own. Always found dead. And the oth. . ."

"At night, Jamie? How did they die?"

"It dinna say exactly, just suspicious, but I want to tell you . . ."

"I can probably find out more about the deaths for you," the Brigadier offered.

"Awe Doctor, will ye no listen to me?"

The Doctor felt like a tennis ball, bouncing from Jamie, to the Brigadier, then back again. "Yes Jamie, what is it?"

"When this Zzorrann does appear on the front of these papers, he's always with very important people. King this, or President that and Prime Minister of somewhere else - and even a Queen! He seems to be well in with them. He must be important himself, but he seems like a nobody, otherwise."

"Mmmm, yes Jamie. Now that is very interesting. Alistair, I'll need to know more about these deaths. Who exactly were these people? What sort of factories were they found in - I take it they were factories of some sort, Jamie?"

"Och aye, Doctor, but I couldna understand what they were. There were awfully long words, I didna understand them."

"Right, gentlemen. I'd better start off some lines of enquiry. I'll see you later." as the Brigadier rose, to leave, "Leave word with Pierre, at the entrance, he's a good man." tapping his nose knowingly, "Tell him where you set off to, if you get any inspiration. I know you will. But I must know where you are - you know, just in case . . ."

With that he strode off, leaving them both deep in thought.

*****

Rather than hail a carriage, Lethbridge Stewart chose to walk the relatively short distance to the coroner's office. For one thing, he welcomed the exercise, and it gave him the chance to reflect on recent events.

When he had seen the TARDIS in the town square, he knew the Doctor couldn't be far away. But what he hadn't expected was to see the one he first knew from 'The London Event'. And when the Doctor had referred to him as Colonel, he quickly realised that, as far as the Doctor was concerned, they were still yet to meet again in London during that business with Tobias Vaughan and the Cybermen.

Over the years, the Doctor, in his various incarnations, had warned the Brigadier about the dangers of time travel and foreknowledge of future events. Now those words came back to him, realising that he would have to be careful not to let slip any information regarding the problems to come during the Doctor's exile on Earth, and his time at UNIT.

By now he had arrived at his destination. Once inside, he was immediately recognised. "Brigadier. Good to see you."

"And you, Doctor Shjarp," he replied. "Though I'm afraid I'm here on business." He explained the suspicious deaths, and the need to find more information.

Shjarp nodded. "The records should be readily available," he mused. "Come with me, and we can check them over."

*****

"It's very worrying," the Doctor said, after much deliberation. "The fact that these deaths occur at night."

"Perhaps the killer just didn't want to be seen," Jamie suggested.

"Either that, or he's the type of person who can only work at night."

Jamie knew when the Doctor was onto something. "What is it, Doctor? I can see something's troubling you."

"It's a lot of things, Jamie." He spread his arms in helplessness. "The energy in those globes on the street, and now these deaths. I have a nasty feeling they're connected in some way, but I can't work it out. Not yet."

"And there's something else, isn't there?"

The Doctor seemed surprised. "Whatever do you mean, Jamie?"

"Well, when the Brigadier turned up at the library, I'm thinking that he wasn't who you were expecting. Am I right?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," came the answer. "I had expected to meet someone altogether different."

Jamie was tempted to press the matter further, but he could see how dejected the Doctor looked. Instead he gave what he hoped was a convincing yawn. "Aye, well I'm off t'mae bed. Let's hope the Brigadier finds something."

*****

"Have you seen this?" Shjarp joined Lethbridge Stewart as they read the findings of one of the reported deaths.

"My God!" he swore. "According to the report, this poor fellow died from natural causes - but in his twenties?"

"It's the same with these other two," the Brigadier confirmed. "Marcus, could I see the bodies? I assume the families haven't arranged for burial yet?"

"No, they'll still be in the mortuary." The two men walked down a flight of stairs to the lower floors.

Presently they were watching the attendant pull open the locker for the first body. When he pulled back the covering sheet, he turned away in disgust. "It's not a pretty sight."

They looked down at the corpse. The skin was emaciated and dry as parchment. "Good Lord," the Brigadier gasped, swallowing hard. "Are the others like this?" The attendant nodded.

A thought occurred. "Marcus, can you do a cross check to see if any other deaths have occurred in these same circumstances."

"Yes," Shjarp replied. "Now that we know what to look for, it should be straightforward enough." He regarded his friend of many years. "Alistair, what's going on?"

"Just playing a hunch, for now," Lethbridge Stewart replied.

*****

Jamie stirred in his bed, waking to the sound of footsteps outside. With a deep sigh, he rose from his slumber and opened the bedroom door. In the connecting room, the Doctor was pacing the floor, a sombre look on his face.

In all the time he had known him, Jamie had never seen the Doctor like this before. Usually he could deal with any threat he could recognise, but this was different. The young Scot could see just how troubled his friend was. "Would it help to talk about it, Doctor?"

He continued his pacing. "Something is very wrong, Jamie. And right at this moment, there's nothing I can do about it." He stared at the highlander. "Don't ask me how I know, but something is going to happen tonight. Something terrible."

*****

"Alistair, your hunch was right." Shjarp had returned from his work and handed over the results for Lethbridge Stewart to see. "Those recent deaths were just the tip of the iceberg."

The Brigadier scanned the figures, a grave look on his face. "It rather looks as though we have a murder epidemic on our hands."

*****

Outside, in the city's capital, a tall figure stepped from the shadows. "At last. The night has come. Now, I can feed."