Thief in the Night

A Lupin the Third fan fiction by Lywinis

Chapter Nine: The Inspector Has All the Answers

Jigen practically dragged Nandra downstairs. The Italian matron looked up from her cleaning, but didn't stop them. She'd seen her share of jealous husbands, and she knew that the girl was in for a world of hurt. The long lanky man must be working for a jealous mob boss.

She looked down as Jigen passed, and found another hundred dollars drifting to her feet. "For the room," the lanky man said in a low voice. "Make sure all of her stuff is taken out and burned. No traces."

The matron nodded, terrified. Jigen drew himself up to his six-foot height and marched out of the motel, the Cara impersonator in tow. She stepped to the window, watching them go, and crossed herself involuntarily. Whatever the girl has done, she is in for a world of trouble with that man. He looked like the Devil had gotten hold of his soul a long time ago, she thought. Il mio dio e tutti i suoi san...


Jigen set a fast pace with his long legs, dragging her at a brisk walk through the back streets of Rome. Nandra had to practically run to keep up. She blinked furiously, and felt her other blue contact slip out of her eye. Her arm was in a cruel grip, and she was being dragged to the last person she would want to make a confession to.

She opened her mouth and took a deep breath to scream, but a quiet rumble from Jigen stopped her. "Please, do scream, that means I won't have to walk you all the way to the police department."

She shut her mouth. He smiled, his face shark-like. The quick pace resumed, and she stumbled over the unevenly placed cobbles. He jerked her up with an oath and dragged her along, snarling, "If you can't keep up, take off your damn shoes." He gestured to the high heels she had splurged on. She pulled back on his arm, trying to get away, and he turned, glaring at her.

"I have to take my shoes off, and I need both hands to do it." She gestured to the intricate straps of the stilettos, wrapping nearly halfway up her legs. He nearly laughed at her.

"You don't need to do anything," he said with a strange smile. He pulled out a switchblade, and she nearly started screaming again. He slashed downward on both legs, the sharp blade parting the expensive Italian leather like butter and not leaving a scratch on her. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, the shoes dropping off her feet.

"This'll make us go faster," he said with a smirk, and he started walking again, Nandra jouncing painfully on his shoulder.

It was so undignified; it made Nandra want to cry. She knew she had to look a mess: her shoes were gone, her contacts were gone, and she hadn't even managed to fix her hair yet. Zeni would never love her now…

The walk was interminable, yet it was in near secrecy as Jigen took back roads and paths to the nearest police station. He walked through the door, bearing his gift, and was instantly surrounded by several armed police officers. He smiled and set her on her feet.

"I'd like to see Detective Inspector Zenigata of Interpol, please," he said in halting but well-spoken Italian. He might not be very good at the language, but you had to know a little to get around, especially if some of your contacts weren't bilingual.

"Who are you to make demands like that?" one of the officers asked.

"Because I know where he can find Arsene Lupin the third. My name is Daisuke Jigen. He'll see me, trust me." He waved a negligent hand at Nandra. "And this young lady knows where he can find Cara de Brouligiere."

The cops scrambled, looking for phones and dialing several precincts. Soon enough, as Jigen and Cara were both seated in separate waiting areas, and Zenigata burst in just as Jigen was lighting another Pall Mall.

"Where's Lupin!" he roared, much to Jigen's amusement. Same old Pops.

"More to the point, Pops, where's Cara?"

Zenigata stalled then. He almost seemed to lose steam. "I…don't know. She was taken from the airport; two big guys in black jumpsuits grabbed her. I got the little one, but the bigger one grabbed her shoulder and marched her off."

"Asshole. How could you lose her? Aren't you supposed to be the great Inspector Zenigata? Where were you, right behind her?"

"I was right behind her! There were two guys who went after her and I was only able to get one!" Zenigata leaned over on the table, his palms flat on the scarred wood. His face was contorted in anger, and a little color had gone to his neck. "And I did a lot better than you, considering she's been missing for three days and you're just now catching wind of it."

Jigen nearly punched Zenigata right then. He restrained himself, however, and leaned back in his chair, dragging thoughtfully on his cigarette. "I thought I found her a while ago," he began. Zenigata seemed to catch interest, leaning forward again.

"She was standing outside in the piazza, staring up at the fountain. I could see her from the hotel room balcony where Lupin and I were drinking--" He held up his hand when Pops opened his mouth to speak. "I'm not going to tell you where Lupin's at, you might as well drop it. Anyway, she walked off, and I followed her. We came to a cheap motel, somewhere Cara would never be, and she went inside. I followed her up there, to discover…that you have a stalker."

Zenigata cocked his head to the side. "What?"

"Someone named Nandra has stolen Cara's likeness, and she probably knows where my former partner is. I want her back. So I brought Nandra to you. I figure you'll be able to make her talk where I couldn't."

"Nandra!" He seemed not so surprised. "When Cara and I were in the hotel in Chicago, she was the one who gave me her phone number."

Jigen looked a little surprised. "You have girls that give you their numbers?"

The inspector's smile was bitter as he held up a pair of handcuffs. "I am a man of the law."

The gunman caught the double entendre, and he roared with laughter. He suddenly sobered as he remembered why he was here. He stood up. "I want to see you question her too."

Zenigata nodded. They walked, for once not as rivals, but as allies. They both wanted to see if Cara was safe, for surprisingly similar reasons. They would return to their opposite sides of the playing field when this was done, and both knew it, but they could work together for a time. Both were hoping it wasn't too late.


Nandra was sitting in one of the chairs in the next interrogation room. She looked up at Zenigata when he entered, but no spark of recognition flared into life on his face. She was hoping he'd mistake her for Cara, but his face was stern as he walked in. Jigen was right behind him, another one of his Pall Malls clenched between his lips.

"What's the meaning of all this?" Zeni said tiredly as he rubbed a hand over his face. He had about three days worth of stubble on his chin, and it only made him look better to the green eyed girl that sat in the hard plastic chair in front of him. Jigen saw the fawning looks of adoration she was throwing at Pops, and he nearly burst out into laughter again. This was almost ridiculous.

He nodded at the girl. "So you know her?"

Zenigata shook his head. "She looks like Cara, except for the green eyes."

"I might be able to explain that," Jigen said, reaching out and tugging on Nandra's hairline. The wig and the mask she was wearing both tore free at the gentle pressure, revealing the black-haired little stalker from the hotel in Chicago. "Let me guess, girlie, you hired Pepé and Henrìk to do your make-up until you could get the surgery?"

She nodded slowly and he folded his arms and stared hard at Zenigata. The gunman wore a deadly serious expression on his face. "We need to find out where Cara is."

"You know where she is, don't you?" asked Zenigata. He didn't look at Nandra.

"No."

"Damn it, you're lying!" Jigen nearly throttled the girl. "Someone with access to this kind of make-up specialists and this type of cash to throw away on clothes, all to pretend to be the Ruby Princess? You have to know what happened to her."

She shook her head, her eyes challenging the gunman to do anything in the police station. He matched her gaze, his hat dropping over his eyes and making him seem more dangerous.

Zenigata broke the tension. "Nandra, if you know where she is, I need to know."

Her eyes grew hard. "Why, so you can run to her? Is that it?" She glared at Zenigata, but the Inspector was just too tired and too stressed to be bothered with playing mind games. He brought out his handcuffs and slapped them on her wrists. She looked up at him in anger.

"If you won't tell me, we'll keep you in lockup. Identity theft is a crime too." He knocked on the glass panel of the interrogation room. "Put her in a cell, please," he asked the officer. The young policeman snapped to attention before leading Nandra away.

She screamed down the hallway after them, her voice ringing on the stone walls of the place. "Even if I did know where she was, I wouldn't tell you! You can't protect her anymore!" Jigen went rigid.

protect her…

"Well then, damn it, let me protect you!"

Fujiko. Jigen called himself all sorts of horrible names before he flipped open his cell phone and punched the speed dial. It rang once…twice….

On the third ring a very irritable Lupin picked up. "What?"

"Lupin, where's Fujiko?"

"How should I know? I don't keep a tracking device on her."

"Not even in her panties?"

"You're sick, Jigen."

Zenigata chose that moment to realize whom Jigen was talking to. "LUPIN! Get your ass down here right now so I can arrest you!"

"Jigen, why is Pops screaming in the background?"

"He's got a good idea of where Cara is. She's been kidnapped."

"What? That's impossible!"

"Actually, no it isn't. Her plane landed here three days ago, but she was muscled through the airport and disappeared. The girl I saw by the fountain wasn't her, but a reasonable facsimile that Pepé and Henrìk whipped up for spare change. Please be sure to let them know that when we have them on retainer that means exclusive."

Lupin grunted, surprised that so much seemed out of his grasp. "All right, I have one way of tracking Fujiko, but I don't know if it'll even work anymore. Do you remember when we turned the tables on Fujiko in that painting heist?" Jigen was silent. "All right, maybe you remember the phony grandson of Tooshuusai Sharaku? I thought so. Well, after that, I took Fujiko out for dinner, and slipped a homing device in her food so that I could track her movements for a while. I don't even know if the transmitter is still active, or even if it's still in her body. It was new technology, but it's worth a shot. I'll be there in a minute."

Jigen made a noncommittal noise and made to hang up the phone, but Lupin's voice stopped him. "Oh, and Jigen?"

"Yes?"

"Make sure Pops is sent on a wild goose chase, please. I don't want him trying to arrest me when we go look for Cara."

"I can't do that, Lupin."

"Why not?"

"He's listening to the phone conversation."

Lupin sighed. "Fine. Let me talk to him."

"You sure? I don't think he's had any ramen today. He looks kind of cranky."

"Oh, you're funny. Just give him the phone, please."

Jigen held the phone out to Zenigata. "It's for you."


Lupin sat back on the couch and sighed. It was going to be a long day. He waited as the phone was transferred, and Pops snarled into it. "Lupin! You'd better have a damn good explanation as to why I shouldn't just slap you in cuffs and haul your ass back to Tokyo!"

Well, at least he's in good form today, Lupin thought. "Well, for one thing, I might know where Cara is. For another, tottsan, I know you have no idea where I am right now, so you can just hush for a minute while I explain my cunning plan."

Zenigata was silent on the line.

"Good. Now, as you might remember from listening in on my conversation with Jigen, that I have a tracking device implanted in Fujiko's body. However, I don't know if it's still operational or even still in her body. Jigen has a hunch that wherever Fujiko is, she has Cara. I'm inclined to agree with him, considering how insanely jealous she's been of my habits lately."

"And what do you plan on doing about it?" growled Zenigata.

"Why, I plan to follow Fujiko and see what she plans on doing with Cara. I doubt it's just shopping and girl talk."

"Humph, I would imagine."

"Anyway, what I'm proposing is a truce."

"Hell no! I'm not stupid. I know that you're just waiting for me to let my guard down so you can escape once Cara's safe."

Lupin rolled his eyes and flopped onto his side, the phone cradled against his ear as he fiddled with the transmitter's receiver. "Listen, it's quite simple. You really don't have a choice if you want to be in on this rescue mission. I'll even let you take the credit for rescuing the heiress of the de Brouligiere fortune."

"She's not the heiress."

"What?" Lupin was baffled by this new turn of events. He set down the small electronic box and paid close attention to hear if Zenigata was telling the truth or weaving another story to try and capture him.

Zenigata's voice was dead serious. "She was disowned by her father, all because she kept company with you."

Lupin closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. Of all the best-laid plans of mice and men…he thought wearily.

He paused a moment before he spoke again. "Well, either way, we're going to get her back. Fujiko can't have left the city."

"Why's that?" Zenigata countered sourly. "You got something planned?"

"Of course, but it wouldn't be sporting for me to tell you what it is. Let's just declare a truce for the moment, at least until we find Cara."

"Hmm, fine. But after that, I get to arrest your ass."

"Deal." The line went dead.

Jigen took his phone back. "Lupin must have a plan other than just tracking Fujiko."

"I hope so, for Cara's sake, and for his." Zenigata looked more serious than usual, and Jigen knew that if Lupin didn't deliver this time, he wouldn't escape. He would eat his hat if he were wrong.


It looks like the players are all set. The next chapter should be the last, unless I get up the nerve to write an epilogue. Bonus points to those of you who can name the episode with the imposter Ukiyoe painter's grandson. That, and an extra big cookie to those of you that can recognize the Baldric quote I used. XD Blackadder is the best. Check it out on the BBC if you happen to get cable.

I never intended for Pops to fall for Cara, but it seems that it happened that way anyway. :) I'll see to it that she treats him well, even though she doesn't feel the same way. And yes, until I decide to write a Zenigata themed fic, he will remain single...much to Nandra's disappointment. :)

Till Later,

Lywinis